Timing is everything, so they say – and, until a couple of weeks ago, we never really knew who the “real” “they” were. Now, of course, we do. The “they” have now been unmasked. “They” are “the Lobby”, or “the Israel Lobby”. Let’s be honest about this, shall we. It seems that, in actual fact, everyone knew this anyway, but was too frightened to say anything. But, now, it’s out in the open, it’s on the agenda, and we can all talk about it to our hearts content. The last taboo is broken, and those unhappy about our new found freedom, well, they are only the embers of the once powerful, now about to be brought down. Justice and honesty has prevailed.

What is so fortuitous about what has become known as the “M and W article” is that it seems so suited to the moment. In what can only amount to a wet dream of the more disreputable and/or unthinking wing of the antiwar and antiglobalisation “movements” of the “left”, of those poor, poor, liberals who just want an “honest debate”, and of the far right, it seems that three of their leading bete noir – Bush’s foreign policy, the war on Iraq and the Israeli occupation of Palestine and its brutal treatment of Palestinians - have now been brought together under the cohesive power of one maelvolent body: “The Lobby”. All of the greatest plagues of the present moment found in one house. The curse has turned into a blessing.

Having brought together three of the most difficult and pressing issues together under one simple formula, it offers hope to the seeming irrationality, hopelessness and paranioa that appeared to have grasped the world. Confused by the inability of the world superpower to defeat a ramshackle but determined enemy, scared at the possibility of random acts of terror and violence (9/11; Madrid, London, Baghdad, Israel, Palestine, Dafur amongst many others), disenchanted with the formal processes of democracy, the Lobby article seems to provide meaning to this meaningless. Armed with the argument of “the Lobby’s” power, everything now makes sense. Another sigh of relief; the world may still be terrible, but at least we know why, at least we have an answer. Thank God for that!

The answer provided by “M and W” is timely in a further sense. It fits perfectly into a political world reduced to the political principle of “you are either with us or you are against us”. It was not only Bushites who found virtue in this aphorism. What was less certain was who it was one was “for” and one was “against”. Now, however, that uncertainty has been settled. “They” are the enemy, “we” are the friend. “They” have caused all wars and destruction, “we” oppose all wars and destruction. Another sigh of relief as grey on grey becomes black and white.

Lest we ever doubt the answer that has been provided, it is reinforced daily. With every criticism, we every allegation of “antisemitism”, the truth of the initial thesis is confirmed. It shows, moreover, that “the Lobby” is on the run. Refusing any engagement with the contents of the argument – because “they” know that “we” know that it is true – this once invincible monolith has been reduced to braying on about antisemitism. The claims of antisemitism that was once the rallying call for all anti-fascists and anti-racists has now become inverted into its opposite – a weapon of mass destruction launched without equity on the innocent by the - now unmasked - “truly powerful”.

Rather than recognise for what they undoubtedly are – shouts of genuine fear made by those who know precisely how vulnerable they are, despite all the “power” they hold – claims of antisemitism are now treated as nothing other than an attack on the fundamental rights of others. No one has had the sense to notice that, actually, the claim of antisemitism is the first and last line of defence for Jews attacked as Jews. It is not a “trump” card; it is their only card. It is a sign, not of the Jews’ strength, but of their weakness. Indeed, that one shabby article could cause such a furore is itself evidence enough of that powerlessness.

“M and W’s” article is having the impact is it, not because of any “truth” it claims to contain, but because of its timing. The false balms and salves of certainty and meaning offered by Mearshiemr’s and Walt’s thesis of “the Lobby” is nothing other than the reflection and expression of a paranoia that is grasping a world increasingly scarred and scared by the fears of terror, war and defeat. And, as we know all too well, when reason sleeps, the monsters do awake.

David M Seymour
Lecturer in Law
Lancaster University