Roger Cohen's "Jews in a Whisper": Not a Self-Hating Jew?

In his New York Times op-ed entitled "Jews in a Whisper" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/opinion/sunday/cohen-jews-in-a-whisper.html), Roger ("Iran is not totalitarian") Cohen compares anti-Semitism in England with the US, and observes that in America he has been labeled a self-hating Jew:

"In America, because I’ve criticized Israel and particularly its self-defeating expansion of settlements in the West Bank, I was, to self-styled 'real Jews,' not Jewish enough, or even — join the club — a self-hating Jew."

In today's column, Cohen again uses this opportunity to express his opposition to settlement of the West Bank by Israel:

"The lesson is clear: Jews, with their history, cannot become the systematic oppressors of another people. They must be vociferous in their insistence that continued colonization of Palestinians in the West Bank will increase Israel’s isolation and ultimately its vulnerability."

Well, I also believe in a two-state solution, and also favor returning the West Bank with land swaps as necessary. However, I also deem it necessary for the Palestinians to renounce terror, to put an end to racist incitement, and to recognize Israel's right to exist. Peculiar how no one is labeling me a self-hating Jew.

Why then are there those who would demean Cohen with this appellation? Could it be that Cohen's criticism of West Bank settlement is not the only reason? Note that there is not a single mention in Cohen's piece concerning Thursday's odious terror attack by Palestinians against Israeli civilians on the Egyptian border. Likewise, Cohen does not bother to observe that more than 100 mortar shells, rockets and missiles were fired from Gaza at Israeli civilian targets over the weekend, killing and wounding Israelis.

Let's also look at the title of one of Cohen's prior op-eds, "Obama in Netanyahu's Web," which was painfully in keeping with the anti-Semitic tradition of depicting Jews as voracious spiders, and which, according to a very senior Times editor, "was not a good headline" (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.com/2009/10/further-insensitivity-of-new-york-times.html).

Then, too, there was Cohen's willingness to paper over the fear and suffering of Iran's tiny Jewish minority in "What Iran's Jews Say" (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.com/2009/06/was-roger-cohens-what-irans-jews-say-in_17.html).

More? In an op-ed entitled "Lo, the Mideast Moves" (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/opinion/30iht-edcohen.html), Cohen compared Netanyahu with Khrushchev, the Soviet dictator who threatened to destroy the US during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and the issue of "self-hating Jews" again was raised by Roger.

The matter of whether he is a self-hating Jew appears to be something of an obsession for Cohen. Is Cohen indeed a self-hating Jew, or is he only able to see out of his myopic left eye? You decide.