I saw Peter Beinart, Journalist for the Daily Beast, speak about his recent article in the New York Review of Books. The article is titled The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment, and in a nut shell the article is about the downward spiral of Zionism in the United States. According to Beinart, liberal democratic Zionism in the United States has grown up along individualism, an individualism that makes young Jews feel separated from Israel. His point is that Israel in connection to Israel is in collapse, and during his lecture he spoke of the article in question as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As a young American growing up with many Jewish friends, I relate to the Beinart’s argument. He spoke of how young American Jews connect to liberalism in America, but they don’t connect to Israel and the problems their fellow Zionists are facing there. It was really interesting to hear someone of Zionist faith to criticize his fellow American citizens so forwardly, but his argument really made sense. The individualism of American Zionists is connected to the separation of church and state, or for the Jewish – of temple and state.
Although I did not understand many of the terms or theories Beinart mentioned, the experience was as much of a learning experience for me as it was entertaining. As a student of political science, I was intrigued by Beinart’s prose. His lecture showcased one of the many important features of journalism, to educate and inspire people to learn. This lecture not only inspired me to learn, but it inspired me to work towards a higher purpose – government.
The final argument of Bienart’s article was that in Israel as well as many other places around the world- there is much debate about what it means to be a sovereign state. The conflict within the debate is the struggle between preserving sovereignty and moral integrity of a people. The concept is very advanced, but I personally find it intriguing. It is great that a journalist can use analytical tools to pick apart literature and draw such broad conclusions about current events. This is a form of journalism that I was not aware of, but after hearing this lecture I will be sure to read as much as I can about analytical journalism to educate myself.
