Anti-Semitism today

Never forget, has been the admonition from those who rightly insist that the world should never forget the horror of the Holocaust. Strange then that the term which describes the hatred that gave rise to the Holocaust should have been turned into a cheap political weapon whose primary purpose is to stifle criticism of Israel. It seems that those who say we should never forget, have themselves forgotten the meaning of anti-Semitism.

One of the most compelling illustrations of this fact is Yoav Shamir’s brilliant documentary, Defamation, currently viewable on YouTube (though it has a habit of periodically getting pulled down) and if not watched there, also now available for instant viewing at Netflix.

Glenn Greenwald writes about the latest ruckus kicked up by the Israel lobby and the efforts of former AIPAC spokesmen Josh Block, to silence those who dare criticize Israel or even question the existence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program. (And note, as I pointed out earlier, Block — like many others — treats “nuclear program” and “nuclear weapons program” as synonyms.

Look at what Josh Block told Politico about what makes someone an anti-Semite:

As a progressive Democrat, I am convinced that on issues as important as the US-Israel alliance and the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program, there is no room for uncivil discourse or name calling, like ‘Israel Firster or ‘Likudnik’, and policy or political rhetoric that is hostile to Israel, or suggests that Iran has no nuclear weapons program, has no place in the mainstream Democratic party discourse. I also believe that when it occurs, progressive institutions, have a responsibility not to tolerate such speech or arguments.

So according to Block, you are not allowed (unless you want to be found guilty of anti-Semitism) to use “policy rhetoric that is hostile to Israel” or — more amazingly — even to “suggest that Iran has no nuclear weapons program.” Those ideas are strictly off limits, declares the former AIPAC spokesman. Apparently, then, America’s National Intelligence Estimates of 2007 and 2010 are both anti-Semitic, since they both concluded that Iran ceased work on developing a nuclear weapon back in 2003 and that there is no conclusive evidence demonstrating it resumed; to cite those reports and to embrace their conclusions makes you an anti-Semite, since you’re not allowed to “suggest that Iran has no nuclear weapons program.” Israel’s government is also evidently suffused with anti-Semites, given that Haaretz reported this week that “the Israeli view is that while Iran continues to improve its nuclear capabilities, it has not yet decided whether to translate these capabilities into a nuclear weapon.” Make certain, though, not to mention that because, according to Block, that expression of anti-semitism “has no place in the mainstream Democratic party discourse.” To avoid being an anti-Semite, you must quietly and gratefully accept the most extreme claims about the state of Iran’s nuclear weapons program: it is not permissible to debate it.

Then there’s Jason Issacson of the American Jewish Congress, who told The Jerusalem Post that “references to Israeli ‘apartheid’ . . . are so false and hateful they reveal an ugly bias no serious policy center can countenance.” Make sure to write that down: unless you want to stand revealed as an anti-Semite, you’re not allowed to point out the stark and tragic similarities between South African bantustans and the way in which residents of the West Bank are walled off into tiny enclaves and Gazans are forcibly confined to ghettos. Those guilty of anti-Semitism on this ground not only include the President of Turkey, the Foreign Minister of Finland, and a former American President – all of whom have made that comparison – but also the publisher of Haaretz, who last year repeatedly compared Israeli treatment of the Palestinians to South African apartheid; the Israeli writer Yitzhak Loar, who has argued that the situation in the occupied territories is actually worse than South African apartheid in material ways; and also, once again, Israel’s own Defense Minister (and former Prime Minister), who last year warned that the only alternative to peace is apartheid: “If this bloc of millions of Palestinians cannot vote, that will be an apartheid state.

But the most revealing decree comes from Abe Foxman’s Anti-Defamation League, which said this when arguing that these anti-Semitism smears against CAP and MM are warranted:

Most of their blogs come from a perspective of blaming Israel for the lack of progress in Israeli-Palestinian affairs and minimizing or rationalizing the Iranian threat.

So Israel has been brutally occupying Palestinian land for 45 years, and continues to aggressively expand settlements that all but foreclose any possibility of a two-state resolution. But as an American taxpayer — contributing to the billions of dollars of annual aid sent to Israel and affected in all sorts of ways by this conflict — you are not allowed to opine that Israel is primarily at fault for the lack of a peace agreement. If you do so opine, you’re not merely wrong, but you’ve exposed yourself as an anti-Semite. That opinion regarding the assignment of fault in the Israel-Palestinian conflict is strictly off limits.

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6 thoughts on “Anti-Semitism today

  1. Tom Hall

    Let’s be clear. There’s plenty of genuine antisemitism around, though it no longer forms a central strand in Western thought. You can find antisemitic tirades in chat rooms and comment boxes all over the Internet. Most of it is wildly misspelled, incoherent, repetitive, and runs to an abrupt end due to the contributor’s inability to go beyond one initial premise- hate. It’s also almost invariably posted anonymously.

    The present day smear of antisemitism leveled against outspoken, conscientious public critics of the Zionist state is worse than preposterous. This branding of advocates of Palestinian rights as racists is a toxic insult to the memory of those millions of Jews who died at the hands of self-righteous bigots and their bureaucratic allies in Church and State over so many centuries. To conflate the defense of stateless victims with the obscene crimes of history’s oppressors only points to the moral bankruptcy of Zionism itself.

  2. Frigga Karl

    Good video, One really can see the happyness in Finkelsteins face, to be in a complete liberty of authentic and honest reflection of facts and history in contrast to the face of Foxman, who has condemned himself to fulfill the role as a servant of irrational and pathological jewish burden in a constant repetition of victimiszation, in order to keep the indoctrination work for the new Jewish generation, like a clown catched in his unique role for his lifetime. What a misery! He will at least be a professor of the “Auschwitz Academy of Victimization”. Heavy , heavy is his plight. One can feel it when looking to this video.

  3. dickerson3870

    RE: “…Yoav Shamir’s brilliant documentary, Defamation, currently viewable on YouTube…” ~ Woodward

    FROM A FILM REVIEW BY GILAD ATZMON, 01/15/10:

    (excepts) I urge every person on this planet to watch Yoav Shamir’s Defamation, a documentary about anti-Semitism…
    …He provides us with some intimate footage of Israeli youth being indoctrinated into collective anxiety and total neurosis just before they join the IDF.
    The general image we are left with is no less than grotesque. The film elaborates on the aggressive vulgar orchestrated amplification of fear amongst Israelis and Zionist Jews. “We are raised to believe that we are hated” says an Israeli high school girl on her way to a concentration camp…
    …Shamir provides us with an opportunity to see how badly young Israelis behave once in Poland. You watch their contempt to the local population and disrespect to Polish people and institutes. You can also watch Israelis project their hatred onto others. For some reason they are convinced that everyone out there is as merciless as they happen to be. The Israeli youngsters are saturated with fear, yet, they are having a good time, you can watch them having a party dancing in a bus all the way to a Auschwitz…

    ENTIRE FILM REVIEW – http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/defamation-must-be-seen-a-film-review-by-gilad-atzmon.html

  4. dickerson3870

    RE: “So Israel has been brutally occupying Palestinian land for 45 years, and continues to aggressively expand settlements that all but foreclose any possibility of a two-state resolution. But as an American taxpayer — contributing to the billions of dollars of annual aid sent to Israel and affected in all sorts of ways by this conflict — you are not allowed to opine that Israel is primarily at fault for the lack of a peace agreement.” ~ Greenwald referring to Foxman’s view

    CONTRAST WITH: “EU ‘should block finance for Israeli settlements'” ~ by Donald Macintyre, The Independent, 1/18/12

    (excerpts) The European Commission should consider passing legislation to prevent finance generated within its member states being used to support illegal Israeli settlements in occupied territory, the bloc’s top diplomats in Jerusalem and Ramallah have advised…
    …The potentially radical proposal for “appropriate EU legislation to prevent/discourage financial transactions in support of settlement activity” is the first indication that some member states are seeking European divestment from businesses actively involved in the settlement enterprise.
    The finance recommendation has been worded with deliberate vagueness to maintain a consensus among sharply differing views within the EU. But the clear implication is that some of the European Consuls General – ambassador-rank representatives to the Palestinians – want the Commission to consider for the first time whether it has an obligation to legislate on the grounds that the settlements contravene international law.
    Under one interpretation of the proposal, the Commission would use legislation to force companies in Europe to break their links with businesses involved in settlement construction and commercial activities. This follows some high-profile voluntary examples like that of Deutsche Bahn, which last year pulled out of electrification of the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem rail link because it cut through the West Bank…

    ENTIRE ARTICLE – http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/eu-should-block-finance-for-israeli-settlements-6291071.html

  5. delia ruhe

    *Defamation* is a brilliant film. And if you can’t get it online, spring a few bucks and buy it at Amazon. You’ll get your money’s worth. It’s worth it just to see how Israeli “educators” traumatize their 11th-grade students as they visit Poland and tour the death camps. They start out as happy-go-lucky teenagers and finish as hysterics full of vengeance toward the world at large.

    I will say it for the zillionth time: If you haven’t been accused of antisemitism by now, then you’re not doing enough in support of justice and the rule of international law in the Middle East.

  6. eddy mason

    What else is left to say that hasn’t alredy been said by others above about this superb film. Tell the world to watch it!

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