“Jew Flu”: With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies

Ronn Torossian

Lenin called those who work against their own people’s best interests in support of their enemies “helpful idiots,” and I am sure that many in the Arab world feel the same way about entities like J Street and Peter Beinart . Throughout history – both ancient and modern, there has never been a shortage of people or groups from within and without the Jewish community who harm Jews – and the most effective stick for beating Israel over the head is a Jewish or Israeli stick. There are many terms that have been used to describe such people, including, self-hating Jews and sufferers of the “Jew flu” – and it is not a new phenomenon. From Nicholas Donin, who in 1240 helped establish a decree to publicly burn all available copies of the Talmud, to Karl Marx. Theodor Lessing authored the 1930 book Der Jüdische Selbsthass (“Jewish Self-hatred”), and Labor Zionist leader Berl Katznelson asked, “Is there another People on Earth so emotionally twisted that they consider everything their nation does despicable and hateful, while every murder, rape, robbery committed by their enemies fill their hearts with admiration and awe?”

Growing up in the ‘80’s & 90’s as a member of the Betar Movement of Ze’ev Jabotinsky, I remember in the cast as Michael Lerner, Shulamit Aloni, Abie Nathan and other fools. One wonders what these disproportionately loud critics of Israel and the Jewish communities think.

Jews who sympathize with our enemies represent a tiny portion of world Jewry – but the prominence they command in public discourse creates a tyranny of the minority. There is no shortage of Anti-Israel books, but media coverage of them soars when Jews are the authors. Newsweek hosts a far-left wing extremist blog by Peter Beinart providing a mainstream media dedicated platform for a viewpoint which is completely apart from the mainstream Jewish community’s way of thinking.
Journalist Uzi Silber coined the term “Jew Flu,” saying, “those infected with the virus wildly inflate Israeli sins real or imagined, while excusing or rationalizing Palestinian anti-Semitism and outrages against Jews.”
Kenneth Levin, a Harvard psychiatrist, says that Jewish self-hatred is in part a result of Stockholm syndrome, where “population segments under chronic siege commonly embrace the indictments of their besiegers however bigoted and outrageous.”
This was epitomized by Rosa Luxemburg, a prominent Bolshevik who said, “I have no room in my heart for Jewish suffering – Why do you pester me with Jewish troubles?”

Throughout history, Jewish self-haters have been influenced by a perversion of Judaism which says that universal social justice is the core Jewish mission. It’s simply not true that this is the central point of Judaism – and one wonders why these people ignore all of the other Jewish commandments. They seem to miss the point that if they and other Jewish enemies succeed in their collaboration, Israel won’t be a nation – and can’t be a “light unto the nations”.

In the year 2012, we must heed the words of Jabotinsky, “We were not created in order to teach morals and manners to our enemies.”

While Beinart and J-Street continue on with their self-hating and shameful behavior, they fail to note that the “Arab spring” hasn’t brought any Arab country closer to Israel – Arabs in Libya or Cairo haven’t been speaking up about the Jewish need to live in peace, or tweeting about the positive example of the Jewish democracy. These “helpful idiots” continue writing and issuing statements while there are no Arabs speaking up for Jewish causes. These liberal Jews speak out for the whole world – Tibet, Sudan – and of national rights for all people – except the Jews. They speak of a “humanity” that will divest the Jewish people of their humanity.

Harvard professor Ruth Wisse says, “the rapid demoralization of Jews in the face of anti-Zionism… shows the depth of the influence of the past, for many have yet to achieve the simple self-respect that has been eluding the Jews collectively since the dawn of modernity.”

As it says in the Talmud “Israel are the sons and daughters of Kings,” – We, the Jewish people, are sons and daughters of the first king and queen, Abraham and Sarah. These self-hating Jews have forgotten that Jews are the chosen people and descend from royalty – and we will continue to pray and work for the State of Israel and Jewish people.

Author of “For Immediate Release”, Ronn Torossian owns 5WPR, 1 of the largest US PR Firms, and is a Jewish philanthropist and board member of numerous Jewish organizations.