I’ve written before about the often eerie similarities between the rhetoric of the Right and that of the Left. At some point the similarities become congruencies, leaving the causal observer mystified about the unbelievable metamorphoses of public figures. Famous jumpers from across the political spectrum include the “drink-sodden popinjay” Christopher Hitchens (who managed the shift from Trotskyist to neo-conservative with great deftness), David Horowitz (formerly of the New Left, now not), and David Brock (former attack dog for the “vast right-wing conspiracy,” now a different sort of canine for the Left).

So what exactly is a person to do upon finding that his cause is uncomfortably close to that of groups that he’s always found repugnant? I came up against this problem during the Boston Celebrates Israel festival in the summer of 2003. This day (June 15th) is protested by local pro-Palestinian groups every year — Independence Day for Israel marks the beginning of The Catastrophe in the Palestinian narrative. Much to my dismay, I found myself standing shoulder-to-shoulder (in spirit, if not in flesh) with the following groups:

  1. Hardline Palestinians

    Chants of “From the River to the Sea” made me very uncomfortable — what future would Jews have in the river-to-sea setup? Into the sea with them, perhaps?

  2. Ultra-Orthodox Jews

    Regular readers of this blog are well-aware of my aversion to religion. Sharing an opinion with people who believe that God forbids the establishment of a Jewish state is not a position I like being in.

  3. Neo-Nazis

    The racist invective employed by these people was shocking beyond belief. Skinheads with swastika banners giving Hitler salutes aren’t exactly the support any cause needs. My only consolation: immigrant scum was just as low a species to these creatures as Jews. Needless to say, the skinheads had their own sidewalk.

I left the protest deeply disturbed but not quite capable of pulling a Hitchens.

So here’s the big question: How does Hitchens feel about sharing an ideology with Henry Kissinger, a man he once reviled? Or how does Professor Alam feel about speaking with the voice of Qazi Husain Ahmed?

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind.