Part IV -- Rogen Backtracks: I Was Just Joking
As noted, Rogen has been described as a personality with a unique ability to "capture the Jewish cultural conversation"at least for his generation. The reaction he got from the Zionist establishment certainly made him aware of a counter-conversation that has the potential to challenge his status as a Jewish cultural icon. He confessed to being "sensitive" to the backlash"I'm sensitive to Jewish people thinking I'm not a proud Jewish person, which I am" -- and now claims that much of what he expressed about Israel was said in jest. "I should not have spoken jokingly" on this issue and "I do not want Jews to believe I think the Jewish state should not exist." This hedging came after a Zoom conversation with Isaac Herzog, chairman of the Jewish Agency.
The one part of his interview with WTF that he stuck by was the assertion that his Jewish education was both incomplete and misleading. Yet here lies a trap of his own making. In his conversation on WTF the principal missing part of that education was the fate of the Palestinians. His complaint in this regard now becomes hollow in the face of his prioritizing, under pressure, the fact that "I do not want Jews to believe that I think the Jewish state should not exist." The Nakba and the apartheid society that resulted from Zionist Israel's existence are what Rogen is being made to begrudgingly swallow to avoid charges of being a "self-hater" and a relentless campaign that can undermine his career.
Part V -- Conclusion
An opinion piece (29 July 2020) in the Forward written by Joel Swanson and entitled "Wake up, Jewish establishment: Seth Rogen speaks for a lot of us young Jews," asserts that "the Jewish establishment" can't keep pretending that young Jews who reject Zionism and the state of Israel are relegated to a tiny, insignificant fringe of the community." The "Jewish establishment" may or may not be "pretending," but Rogen's experience demonstrates that "the establishment" has no intention of negotiating, much less compromising with "young Jews who reject Zionism."
The true-believer Zionists have accepted the breach in the Jewish community, and guess what, loyalty to Zionist Israel is more important than Jewish unity. Those who fail the loyalty test, whatever their number, are not only expendable, but must be purged or silenced. Seth Rogen got a taste of that determination following his "jokey" assertion of historical truths. Those who dare to speak out publicly will face a similarly strong reaction.
There is no question that this is the preferred Zionist tactic. The only question lies in how much courage and strength those who reject the apartheid state of Israel will muster in the face such pressure. Hopefully, a bit more than Seth Rogen did. To the extent that such courage and strength is growing, the Jews are making progress.
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