Meet Borat. A lovable, racist, adorable, pompous, offensive character that has swept our box offices with a full-length feature film on "Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." Now let's leave Kazakhstan out of the picture and focus on the recurrent themes of Borat's discoveries in America. Borat never holds back from a good Jew-lashing and always finds an American partner to join in.

In an old skit, Borat visits an avid hunter who, unprovoked, raises the "problem" of the Jews in the 1930s where, "they were so bad in Germany … the Nazis said … we're going to have a final solution." With a huge range of anti-Jewish comments being brought up by Borat and his guests, it is an awkward and tense humor when watching him on Da Ali G Show — because, fundamentally, Borat is comedic.

In an interview two years ago, Sacha Baron Cohen, the inventor and portrayer of Borat, describes why, when confronted with this eastern-European radical, people go along with his anti-Jewish comments. He says, "People really let down their guard with him. They are in a room with someone who seems to have these outrageous opinions. They sometimes feel much more relaxed about letting their own outrageous politically incorrect opinions come out."

But are these politically incorrect, outrageous opinions compatible with mainstream critiques of the Israeli government? I know, but follow me here: There is an uncomfortable relationship between critics of Israeli politics and bigots against the Jewish culture. Asking the U.S. government to reduce the $3 billion of aid yearly does not seem anti-Jewish in nature. Demanding that aid packages are awarded to a country only subsequent to diplomatic achievements or sustainable peace agreements is not directed vindictively at the Jews. To me, the difference is obvious. Nonetheless, making this appeal to others is no peaceful task. Granted, anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli views can be held by the same person, but these are two separate issues to address.

There is a wide array of social problems currently arresting Israel, and to mask them is a discredit to the movements of change. American journalists are hesitant to advertise factionalism in Israel for the same reason Fox News personality Sean Hannity is popular: Americans don't want to think very hard about the degree to which our world is changing. Hannity points at the inflation-raising Liberals and Communists as the threat to America, and our only salvation is the infant state of an exhausted and oppressed people. Jewish dignity remains a contentious issue in American society, but our policies cannot reflect cultural guilt. We've been grandfathered into accepting Israel as the coveted child of America.

There are no political overtones when I watch guests entertain Borat's campaign to "Attack the Jew." I sit scared and laughing when people actually sing along with "Throw the Jew Down the Well, So My Country Can Be Free." The cultural problem of accepting hatred is not humorous, but my laughter is inspired as much by absurdity as discomfort. And still, what unnerves me most is that the more I see the skit, the less funny and more insulting it becomes.

But should our cultural revulsion of anti-Jewish ideas dominate our relationship with a predominately ethnic Jewish nation? This exact question is posed in Mearsheimer and Walt's "Israel Lobby" article highlighting the fierce blockade against American-bred criticism of the Israeli government and against any evolution in policy. Mearsheimer and Walt assert that, save the Israeli Lobby, "No lobby has managed to divert U.S. foreign policy as far from what the American national interest would otherwise suggest." A stretch and oversimplification of the corruptibility of our city on the hill, but inherently a political machine that citizens have a right to dismantle.

Israeli exceptionalism is too controversial to talk about, and yet it is a foul play on our democracy. The Israel Policy Forum president Seymour Reich explained, "The word pressure is not in my vocabulary when it comes to Israel." And that is our (the taxpayers') very expensive problem. America has found a pal and refuses to let go. It isn't a problem of exclusively Jews, and should never be framed as so. When I want to throw passive foreign policy legacies down the well, so my country can be free — I don't imagine Jewish people. Trust me.

Suzanne Zoheri ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in history and global cultures.