Hussein ShobokshiI AM a huge fan of Jewish humor. I simply find Jewish comedy exceptional and unique. Some of the best comedians in the world happen to be Jewish. Renowned superstars such as Groucho Marx, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Rodney Dangerfield, Jerry Seinfeld and John Stewart, to name a few, have made it big by bringing smiles and laughter to millions around the world. Jewish comedians have developed an artful way of depicting their anxieties and miseries in a very humorous manner.

Jewish politics in Israel is an entirely different matter, however. Israel, which prides itself and never stops reminding the world of its political ethnicity and that it is a uniquely Jewish state, has institutionalized some of the most blatantly racist laws and regulations known to the world today.

The treatment that is being handed out to Arabs and Palestinians in Israel is slowly becoming a complete replica of how Jewish communities themselves were treated and dealt with in Europe in the past century — one of the ugliest eras of oppression known to mankind that must not be allowed to repeat. Politicians, religious leaders, artists and media personnel are “allowed” to bash Arabs and Palestinians with impunity and this type of “behavior” has become completely natural and very much acceptable.

The Jewish political propaganda machine has managed well to depict the citizens of Israel as “miserable innocent souls” desperately seeking deliverance from the tyranny of fascism and racism. This was a formidable and successful theme that was translated into enormous gains for Israel and its Zionist political project, but there are growing voices in the Jewish community of the United States that realize this theme is no longer sustainable. The community is no longer able to convince a rising number of American tax payers the wisdom and viability of continuously filling the coffers of the Israeli treasury with endless billions of US dollars.
The attractive and sentimental biblical analogy that depicted Israel as a modern day David versus the contemporary Goliath — the Arabs — simply does not hold.

With the Arab Spring making further impacts on such sensitive issues as democracy, human rights and judicial freedom erodes the raison d’etre that Israel only represented these Western values in the Middle East. To continue to believe that argument on behalf of the Israelis would be the ultimate farce indeed.