I was biking home from Center City today when a bumper sticker caught my eye. It was in Hebrew and it read Israel for the Jewish People (or more directly translated as The Jewish State Exists for the Jewish People).

I've seen both right- and left-wing Israeli stickers in Philly before. Well, more right than left, but that's no big surprise considering the politics of most American Jews. What was weird about this specific sticker, and the reason it merits a post, is that it was right next to about four stickers which proudly proclaimed that the driver of the vehicle not only hated George W. Bush - Bush bin L'yin - but also had a strong disdain for state-sponsored violence - In War, There Is No Right, Just What's Left.

I was confused. How can one hate war and George Bush and everything else and at the same time advocate the belief that Israel should only be for Jews? That's like... I don't even know what that's like! It's terribly stupid.

For those of you who don't know too many Jews personally (or biblically!), let me explain. This, this ability to not see the contradiction between liberal/left-of-center politics and an admittedly irrational love of Israel ("Wherever we stand, we stand with Israel" being a great example of this type of propaganda), this Jewish liberal ethos, is totally typical. There's this strange belief amongst American Jews that one cannot criticize Israel, no matter what the government there does. It comes directly out of anti-Semitism and the fear that if one shows weakness and even the hint of internal strife, one's enemies will be quick to take advantage.

Back to my story! As the car was double parked, I figured to wait around until the owner decided to come back. I didn't know what I was going to say but I was hoping for confrontation.

So I sat! And waited! And plotted! I was hoping the driver would be someone that I could feel comfortable confronting. For me that means someone between the ages of 16 and 45, preferably male, and probably white. I didn't want this to turn into anything other than me calling them on their political views. Unfortunately, fate was not to smile on me, as it was a woman! well dressed, early 20s, and moving fast, who got into the car. And by that point, it was too late, even if I had decided to go for it.

As she drove away, I noticed two more stickers on her car, one for Green Mountain College (Vermont's Environmental Liberal Arts College), the other a Grateful Dead bear. Seeing those stickers made me quite happy I decided to not confront her. If there's anything more annoying than a Jewish liberal with silly and contradictory politics, it's a Jewish liberal with silly and contradictory politics who is also a hippie of some kind. I went to middle and high school with many of them. They were into Phish, Dave Matthews Band, and Bill Clinton. It was obnoxious.