RacecardIsrael and Palestine
Is anti-Zionism the same as anti-Semiticism? Can gentiles legitimately criticize Israel? Are Israelis or Zionists "playing the racecard" to quell legitimate opposition?
20030828
Anti-Semitism Can be Self-Serving
American Committee on Jerusalem: "Anti-Semitism Can be Self-Serving | By Akiva Eldar | Haaretz, Opinion (Israel) | May 2, 2002
Abba Eban used to say anti-Semitism is the problem of the goyim. Now it turns out that it can also come in handy for the Jews too. If the whole world is against us, what's the use of dismantling settlements and withdrawing from the territories?
Israel and the Jews of the Diaspora must do everything to confront anti-Semitism and lop off its head. But we must not allow it to be commandeered by opponents of compromise who masquerade as patriots. "
American Committee on Jerusalem: "Anti-Semitism Can be Self-Serving | By Akiva Eldar | Haaretz, Opinion (Israel) | May 2, 2002
Abba Eban used to say anti-Semitism is the problem of the goyim. Now it turns out that it can also come in handy for the Jews too. If the whole world is against us, what's the use of dismantling settlements and withdrawing from the territories?
Israel and the Jews of the Diaspora must do everything to confront anti-Semitism and lop off its head. But we must not allow it to be commandeered by opponents of compromise who masquerade as patriots. "
Anti-Zionism is not same thing as anti-Semitism
Daily Herald: Suburban Chicago's Information Source: "Anti-Zionism is not same thing as anti-Semitism | Daily Herald Reports | Posted on May 02, 2002
If I weren't a Jew, I might be called an anti-Semite. I have occasionally been critical of Israel. I have occasionally taken the Palestinians' side. I have maintained occupation of the West Bank is wrong and while I am, to my marrow, a supporter of Israel, I insist that the Palestinian cause - although sullied by terrorism - is a worthy one.
In Israel itself, these positions would hardly be considered remarkable. People with similar views serve in Parliament. They write columns for the newspapers. And while they are sometimes vehemently criticized, they are not called either anti-Semites or self-hating Jews.
I cannot say the same about America. Here, criticism of Israel, particularly anti-Zionism, is equated with anti-Semitism. The Anti-Defamation League, one of the most important American Jewish organizations, comes right out and says so. 'Anti-Zionism is showing its true colors as deep-rooted anti-Semitism,'"
Daily Herald: Suburban Chicago's Information Source: "Anti-Zionism is not same thing as anti-Semitism | Daily Herald Reports | Posted on May 02, 2002
If I weren't a Jew, I might be called an anti-Semite. I have occasionally been critical of Israel. I have occasionally taken the Palestinians' side. I have maintained occupation of the West Bank is wrong and while I am, to my marrow, a supporter of Israel, I insist that the Palestinian cause - although sullied by terrorism - is a worthy one.
In Israel itself, these positions would hardly be considered remarkable. People with similar views serve in Parliament. They write columns for the newspapers. And while they are sometimes vehemently criticized, they are not called either anti-Semites or self-hating Jews.
I cannot say the same about America. Here, criticism of Israel, particularly anti-Zionism, is equated with anti-Semitism. The Anti-Defamation League, one of the most important American Jewish organizations, comes right out and says so. 'Anti-Zionism is showing its true colors as deep-rooted anti-Semitism,'"
State of Israel is causing the resurrection of anti-Semitism all over the world, threatening Jews everywhere
Manufacturing Anti-Semites: "Uri Avnery | 28.9.02 |
... Zionist myth on which we were brought up ... It stated that Israel is a haven for all the Jews in the world. In all the other countries, Jews live in perpetual fear that a cruel persecutor will arise, as happened in Germany....
The very opposite is happening: the State of Israel is causing the resurrection of anti-Semitism all over the world, threatening Jews everywhere.
The Sharon government is a giant laboratory for the growing of the anti-Semitism virus. It exports it to the whole world ...
Sharon's propaganda agents are pouring oil on the flames. Accusing all critics of his policy of being anti-Semites, they brand large communities with this mark. Many good people, who feel no hatred at all towards the Jews, but who detest the persecution of the Palestinians, are now called anti-Semites. ...
The practical upshot: not only does Israel not protect the Jews from anti-Semitism, but quite on the contrary - Israel manufactures and exports the anti-Semitism that threatens Jews around the world.
Manufacturing Anti-Semites: "Uri Avnery | 28.9.02 |
... Zionist myth on which we were brought up ... It stated that Israel is a haven for all the Jews in the world. In all the other countries, Jews live in perpetual fear that a cruel persecutor will arise, as happened in Germany....
The very opposite is happening: the State of Israel is causing the resurrection of anti-Semitism all over the world, threatening Jews everywhere.
The Sharon government is a giant laboratory for the growing of the anti-Semitism virus. It exports it to the whole world ...
Sharon's propaganda agents are pouring oil on the flames. Accusing all critics of his policy of being anti-Semites, they brand large communities with this mark. Many good people, who feel no hatred at all towards the Jews, but who detest the persecution of the Palestinians, are now called anti-Semites. ...
The practical upshot: not only does Israel not protect the Jews from anti-Semitism, but quite on the contrary - Israel manufactures and exports the anti-Semitism that threatens Jews around the world.
Charges of the new anti-Semitism: attempt to deflect criticism from the actions of an Israeli government
The Observer | Special reports | Peter Beaumont: The new anti-semitism?: "Some say that, beneath criticism of Ariel Sharon's policies, lurks a more sinister agenda
Observer Worldview | Peter Beaumont | Sunday February 17, 2002 | The Observer
...
The new anti-Semitism - say those who argue most strongly for its existence - is not simply limited to attacks on individuals like rabbi Gigi, and to a spate of attacks on synagogues and Jewish schools and cemeteries. Instead, they say, it is a pernicious and widespread cancer infecting the media and political classes across Europe.
In Britain the Telegraph 's proprietor, Conrad Black, and his journalist wife, Barbara Amiel, have been at the forefront of the finger-pointing. Black has accused sections of the British media of 'wittingly or not, stoking the inferno of anti-Semitism'. Amiel, for her part, has identified a newly confident anti-Semitism in 'London's political salon scene'.
In Israel the right-wing Jerusalem Post (also owned by Mr Black) and the liberal, Anglophile Ha'aretz have devoted yards of space to defining the phenomenon. Israel's deputy foreign minister Michael Melchior has called in European ambassadors to complain about its rise.
...
Objectively too it is undeniable that there has indeed been a rise in anti-Semitic attacks across Europe. But that fact, often cited in articles identifying the rise of the new anti-Semitism in Europe, hides a more complex picture. For far from proving the dangerous reach and scope of the 'new anti-Semitism' in Europe, it shows it instead confined largely, but not exclusively, to a single group. And to a group that itself feels equally persecuted in European life.
As data collected by the Stephen Roth Institute at Tel Aviv University, and other research, makes clear, the rise in anti-Semitism in Europe coincided with the beginning of al-Aqsa intifada - and Israel's heavy-handed response - with most of these attacks limited to acts of vandalism on synagogues and cemeteries. As the institute also makes clear, the perpetrators of these attacks, like those who attacked rabbi Gigi, were largely disaffected Islamic youths, a group itself that is the victim of some of the worst race hate and discrimination in Europe.
...
It is at this point that the charges of the broad scope of the new anti-Semitism should be rejected for what they are: an attempt to deflect criticism from the actions of an Israeli government by declaring criticism of Israel out of bounds and invoking Europe's last great taboo - the fear of being declared an anti-Semite "
The Observer | Special reports | Peter Beaumont: The new anti-semitism?: "Some say that, beneath criticism of Ariel Sharon's policies, lurks a more sinister agenda
Observer Worldview | Peter Beaumont | Sunday February 17, 2002 | The Observer
...
The new anti-Semitism - say those who argue most strongly for its existence - is not simply limited to attacks on individuals like rabbi Gigi, and to a spate of attacks on synagogues and Jewish schools and cemeteries. Instead, they say, it is a pernicious and widespread cancer infecting the media and political classes across Europe.
In Britain the Telegraph 's proprietor, Conrad Black, and his journalist wife, Barbara Amiel, have been at the forefront of the finger-pointing. Black has accused sections of the British media of 'wittingly or not, stoking the inferno of anti-Semitism'. Amiel, for her part, has identified a newly confident anti-Semitism in 'London's political salon scene'.
In Israel the right-wing Jerusalem Post (also owned by Mr Black) and the liberal, Anglophile Ha'aretz have devoted yards of space to defining the phenomenon. Israel's deputy foreign minister Michael Melchior has called in European ambassadors to complain about its rise.
...
Objectively too it is undeniable that there has indeed been a rise in anti-Semitic attacks across Europe. But that fact, often cited in articles identifying the rise of the new anti-Semitism in Europe, hides a more complex picture. For far from proving the dangerous reach and scope of the 'new anti-Semitism' in Europe, it shows it instead confined largely, but not exclusively, to a single group. And to a group that itself feels equally persecuted in European life.
As data collected by the Stephen Roth Institute at Tel Aviv University, and other research, makes clear, the rise in anti-Semitism in Europe coincided with the beginning of al-Aqsa intifada - and Israel's heavy-handed response - with most of these attacks limited to acts of vandalism on synagogues and cemeteries. As the institute also makes clear, the perpetrators of these attacks, like those who attacked rabbi Gigi, were largely disaffected Islamic youths, a group itself that is the victim of some of the worst race hate and discrimination in Europe.
...
It is at this point that the charges of the broad scope of the new anti-Semitism should be rejected for what they are: an attempt to deflect criticism from the actions of an Israeli government by declaring criticism of Israel out of bounds and invoking Europe's last great taboo - the fear of being declared an anti-Semite "
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