A House Divided

I remember walking with my father through New York when I was 12 and spotting a paper sign that read "Zionism Is Fascism!" I pointed it out to my dad, not sure that I truly understood what either of the two words meant, but understanding that my family had something to do with the first, while clearly the second was a strong criticism. My father, by his nature a judicious man, raised his voice with a passion I barely recognized and said, "That is nonsense."

I have not yet gone to Israel/Palestine, but the conflict in that land and how it affects both the Jewish and the liberal Protestant communities intersect in my life in a particular way. My paternal great-grandfather was the founder of the American Zionist movement and one of the century's most famous Jews, Louis D. Brandeis. My other paternal great-grandfather was one of the famous progressive Protestants of the last century, Walter Rauschenbusch.

I grew up with the presence of both of these men and their socially progressive agendas, which have been carried out in subsequent generations within my family. My own vocation as an American Baptist minister, as well as my attending Union Theological Seminary, has been formed by Brandeis as much as Rauschenbusch.

So I was greatly surprised when I started to hear Israel vilified in progressive circles. At least in my "Brandeisian" (I didn't make that up) eyes, Israel was a land founded on cooperative and socialist principles (there is a kibbutz named after Brandeis), based on a working democracy, women's rights, even gay rights. To my knowledge, these principles are less firmly embraced by Israel's immediate Arab neighbors in the Middle East.

Continued on page 2: »