The Jewish Civil War: Identifying The "Good Guys" and "Bad Guys"

With a Jewish Civil War (between American Jews, for the moment) now underway, ignited by the election of Republican Bob Turner in NY-9 last week, the question many might be asking is, "Who can we tell is on what side?  I mean, they all will sometimes wear yarmulkes, and most do have large noses, but some will trick us by spending freely or having Aryan features!"

It's a valid question, folks.  And it is somewhat easy to answer. 

Good Jews:
Conservative Jews.  Of course.
Liberal Jews -  provided they are willing to be honest about the world around them, do not propagate on behalf of obvious leftist falsehoods, and are capable of defending their beliefs on intellectual and/or moral grounds, as opposed to resorting to insults and name-calling so typical of the Left.
Apolitical Jews.  In a free country, no one forces you to take a stand.  However, complainimg about the outcome is unacceptable, if one did not take sides in the battle. Fairly warned be ye...

Bad Jews:
The rest.  Primarily, Jews that support policies that are clearly bad for their people and for Israel in order to maintain fealty to a higher power: Leftism, or the Democratic party. Clearest sign:  Jews that are willing to take the tools of their enemies - the hateful blood libels and vicious stereotypes that have cause pogroms for centuries - and use them against their own people for personal gain or political purposes. Think the Kapos...or the folks who write at Tikkun.

Examples would include DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who, after her party's loss in NY-9, was the first to divide "good" and "bad" Jews:

“In this district, there is a large number of people who went to the polls tonight who didn’t support the president to begin with and don’t support Democrats — and it’s nothing more than that,”

And Congressman Henry Waxman, who busted out classic antisemitic smears against Jews who defied The Party's orders:

There are Jews who are trending toward the Republican Party, some of it because of their misunderstanding of Obama’s policies in the Middle East, and some of it, quite frankly, for economic reasons. They feel they want to protect their wealth...

But these two made it easy.  And some confusion is to be expected. And some Jews themselves may be confused about which side they are on!  So here are a  few more hints to determine if the Jew you see raising rhetorical spear is one of the good guys, or one of the liberal "bad" guys.

If you spend more time worrying about whales and dolphins than about Jews, then you just might be a Jewish liberal.

If you think that the essence of Jewish ethics is supporting the political agenda of the left wing of the Democratic Party, then you just might be a Jewish liberal.

If you think the highest priority for your ‘Temple’ is to have a good recycling program, then you just might be a Jewish liberal.

If you think that American pressure on Israel to make peace is necessary and valuable, then you just might be a Jewish liberal.

If you do not understand why America still needs a strong military, then you just might be a Jewish liberal.

If you seriously doubt that the media are dominated by liberals, then you just might be a Jewish liberal.

If you think the Israeli settlements are the main obstacle to peace, then you just might be a Jewish liberal.

Well, I hope this primer helped. This war has barely begun; I expect it to heat up this Sunday after the AM talk shows, assuming the media has the courage to bring up the "Jewish Question" at all.   Follow this blog for updates on what will be a long, and quite possibly ugly, battle.  Because civil wars always seem to draw the most blood...