By Scott McConnell Philip Weiss s outstanding New York Observer article merits wide discussion. Its subject - the rise of Jewish power in America, and the resulting transformation of the American establishment is a great taboo, even, remarkably, for some of those who write about it. David Gelernter , less comfortable than either Brooks or Weiss with the impact of the transformation, wrote his solemn lamentation on the disappearance of the old American ruling elite without specific mention of Jews or Christians. And these writers are Jewish.
Foreigners are less inhibited, though they usually lack all nuance.
I remember attending an opening party for a New York-based Chinese newspaper when I was at the New York Post , and wasn t there five minutes before a Hong Kong professor corralled me and claimed that of course, US foreign policy was controlled by Jews, and of course, it couldn t be written about because of Jewish control of the press. Weiss leaves a great deal to chew on. He argues that Jews should acknowledge their important place in the ruling elite, allow themselves to speak as insiders, and take some responsibility for the shape of society. Despite important efforts of several Jews in the immigration reform movement, the mainstream Jewish stance has long been for relatively open borders and a diverse or universal immigration stream. Often justified by misty-eyed evocations of Emma Lazarus and the Jewish immigration experience, this stance is sometimes rationalized by arguments many Americans would find shocking.