-It is now recognized that Wilson's major flaw was his racist worldview and the behavior that flowed from it.
-This racism was the basis of his mistreatment of African Americans.
-As it turns out, that same racist outlook was part of the basis for his support of the Balfour Declaration -- the very act that makes Wilson a hero for both past and present Zionists.
Now we come to the second part of Sarna's suggestion, that an examination of the hero's flaws "invites us to think harder about our own flaws." What are the resulting implications of such a self-examination for today's Zionists?
-What sort of flaw in ourselves should an examination of Woodrow Wilson bring Zionist Jews to consider?
-The fact is that contemporary Israeli Jewish and Zionist attitudes toward the Palestinians in many ways mimic those of Woodrow Wilson toward African Americans.
-If we are to consider Wilson's racism a flaw from which Jews too can learn, the consequence must be a reconsideration of the inherently racist Zionist attitudes and policies toward the Palestinians.
I do not know if Jonathan Sarna really meant to inspire a serious assessment of Israel's and Zionism's flaws through the reexamination of those of their champion, Woodrow Wilson. However, such an assessment would certainly reveal a shared racism. Wilson never ceased to be a racist and, at least since 1917, the Zionists have been following his "heroic" model. How many of them can be counted upon to take up Sarna's suggestion and look into this shared historical mirror in any honest way?
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