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03/02/08

Permalink 06:02:27 am, Categories: Voices, 1006 words    

Distorting anti-Semitism

Khalid Amayreh in Occupied East Jerusalem

Zionist apologists and hasbara doctors have been trying of late to convince the European public opinion that opposition to Israel’s brutal treatment of the Palestinian people amounts, more or less, to a new form of anti-Semitism.

This week, the Israeli foreign ministry, in cooperation with Zionist circles in North America, announced the creation of the so-called “International Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism.”

“We’re witnessing a new, global, virulent and even lethal anti-Semitism without parallel or precedent since World War II,” said Canadian MP Irwin Colter, one of the organizer. “It is not only essential to sound the alarm, but it’s time to act.”

However, from reading in between the lines, it becomes amply clear that the real target these Zionist supremacists have in mind is not the morbid hatred of Jews for being Jews, otherwise known as anti-Semitism. It is rather the growing global awareness of and opposition to Israeli apartheid, criminality and genocidal policies being pursued in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In fact, it is not anti-Jewish racism that these liars are really seeking to fight; it is rather anti-Palestinian Israeli racism that they are trying to defend and protect. Racists, after all, are qualified to combat racism as much as pyromaniacs are qualified to fight fires.

Today, Israel, more than any other country on earth, is the number-1 generator, inducer and encourager of anti-Semitism.

Israel calls itself “the Jewish state” and claims to represent the Jews of the world. And as such, Israel’s Nazi-like actions and behaviors are bound to boomerang in one way or the other.

In the years following its misbegotten creation, Israel sought largely successfully to induce hatred for Jews in their respective places of residence in order to get them to fulfill Zionism and emigrate to a land made unholy by decades of lies, oppression and murder.

Now, Zionism is trying intimidate Europeans, especially European states, into endorsing Israeli Nazism, or at least playing deaf and dumb and looking the other way while generations of helpless Palestinians are murdered on a daily basis as the entire future of the Palestinian people is being decapitated in full view of the entire humanity.

In so doing, Israel and its hasbara mouthpieces is actually seriously cheapening anti-Semitism and helping, knowingly or unknowingly, the true haters of Jews.

True anti-Semites used to be those who hated Jews for being Jews. Today, the rabid dogs of Zionism would want us to believe that anti-Semites are also those who speak up in defense of human rights in Palestine, people, like Christian peace activists in Hebron, who escort terrified Palestinian kids to their schools, lest they be attacked by a ghoulish breed of Zionist Jews called “hilltop settlers.”

Well, who do these depraved Zionists think they are any way? Do they think they have a license from the Almighty to murder, lie, and steal, and when people speak up against these evils, all they have to do to stop them is to shout anti-Semitism! Anti-Semitism!

It is therefore imperative that all men and women of conscience, including thousands of honest Jews whose devotion to justice and morality always comes first, make clear to Israel and her tribal supporters that anti-Semitism will no longer be allowed to be used to justify genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine.

In the final analysis, we should be living in a moral universe, and if rejecting Israeli crimes in Palestine is anti-Semitism, which of course isn’t , then this proverbial “anti-Semitism” should itself become a moral obligation of the highest order upon all conscientious men and women around the world.

It may well be true that there are those who utilize legitimate criticisms of Israel to promote real anti-Semitism. But who is to blame for this outcome? The Palestinians, the victims of Zionist racism, or the child-killers in Gaza and the West Bank who want the world to atone for one holocaust by allowing and enabling Israel to obliterate an entire people, the Palestinians, just as the Nazis had wanted to obliterate another entire people, the Jews, more than six decades ago.

But, likewise, is it not also true that “anti-Semitism” is often utilized to the fullest by many Zionist Jews to silence legitimate criticisms of this evil state that murders, lies and steals and then claims to be the only true democracy in the Middle East and a light upon the nations.

Some Zionist propagandists, who lie as often as they breathe, are also trying to make analogies between classical European anti-Semitism and the so-called Islamic anti-Semitism.

This is a cardinal lie as many honest Jews would readily admit. Muslims don’t hate Jews for being Jews. And Judaism enjoys a clear historical and religious legitimacy in Islam.

In fact, the Quran, Islam’s holy book, challenges Jews to live up to the sublime teachings of justice and morality that the Israelite prophets preached.

In recent history however, Zionism nearly succeeded in alienating hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world who share with Jews many fundamental beliefs, including the belief in the oneness of God and the centrality of justice and morality to human behavior.

Moreover, many Zionists Jews these days, especially in North America, are making strange bed-fellow with Pseudo-Christian lunatics who claim that Muslims have no souls and ought to be wiped off from the face of earth.

So, how does Zionism expect Muslims to react to this venomous enmity? Can Muslims, or indeed the rest of decent human beings, give Israel the benefit of the doubt under these circumstances?

To be sure, real anti-Semitism, along with Islamophobia and other forms of racism, should be rejected and fought relentlessly.

However, Israel and Zionism can’t create and consolidate the “cause” and then complain vociferously about the “effect.”

Besides, the time when Zionism could easily manipulate and blackmail the collective conscience of humanity is over for good.

-###-

March 2, 2008 By Khalid Amayreh in Occupied East Jerusalem

SERIOUS COMMENTS ARE WELCOME, BUT WHATEVER IS FOUND TO NOT POSSESS A MINIMUM OF QUALITY WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT FURTHER NOTICE.

Comments, Pingbacks:

Comment from: dannemil [Member]
"This is a cardinal lie as many honest Jews would readily admit. Muslims don’t hate Jews for being Jews. And Judaism enjoys a clear historical and religious legitimacy in Islam."

This is being completely disingenuous. Why do the sermons at Friday prayers in Gaza refer frequently to Jews as being the sons of apes and pigs? That is hardly what I would call giving Judaism legitimacy - it's exactly what you claim it is not - antisemitism of the worst kind.

Permalink 03/03/08 @ 22:19
Comment from: rj [Member]
Dannemil,
This is being completely disingenuous”. No, it is not! You have attacked Khalid Amayreh by saying this -and for no good reason at all. The error you’ve made is to have gone from the general to the specific, thinking that a single instance of anti-Semitism would suffice to disprove Khalid’s general statement. -Khalid was talking about “Muslims”, meaning Muslims in general. Now, you claim of course that this is not a single instance; that there are other mullahs who also refer to Jews as “apes and pigs”. There may well be. And I certainly would regret it and I would, just like you, rightly consider it to be anti-Semitism. But if Khalid, in good faith, believes that these instances are exceptions and not the rule, you should not attack him for being “disingenuous”. Rather, you should seek to prove, by supplying sufficient data, that he is wrong. Can you do this? Let’s see if you can. -You could write an article and submit it to the editor@thepeoplesvoice.org , and if it has any merit, we will publish it.

Khalid also said:

It is therefore imperative that all men and women of conscience, including thousands of honest Jews whose devotion to justice and morality always comes first, make clear to Israel and her tribal supporters that anti-Semitism will no longer be allowed to be used to justify genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine.”

Now, Dannemil, are you such a person “of conscience”? Are you prepared to put your tribal allegiance to Jews second to universal principles of morality? -Instead of complaining about “anti-Semitism”, why don’t you come clean about the ongoing genocide against the Palestinians? Why don’t you condemn it? –Because if you don’t, I won’t believe that your comment here was posted in good faith. I’ll be glad to hear from you again.
rj
Permalink 03/04/08 @ 05:59
Comment from: dannemil [Member]
"Are you prepared to put your tribal allegiance to Jews second to universal principles of morality? -Instead of complaining about “anti-Semitism”

Why did you assume that I was a Jew? Is it not possible for someone to abhor antisemitism such as is obvious in the Arab press and in Friday Sermons in Gaza without being a Jew? Hatred of any people should be condemned by all.

"Rather, you should seek to prove, by supplying sufficient data, that he is wrong. Can you do this? Let’s see if you can."

If you are seriously claiming that the Arab media in the middle east is not antisemitic, then there is really little to be gained from a discussion. All you have to do is look at the editorial cartoons all over the middle eastern press to see the extent of it. This is not an isolated Muslim or two as you would have us believe. Try these links for the evidence that you require:

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/258.htm
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,400161,00.html
http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/ArabCartoons.htm

Be sure to look at the variety of outlets in which these blatantly antisemitic cartoons were published. It does no good to try to deflect attention from this hatred by claiming that it is isolated as you did in your post above

"why don’t you come clean about the ongoing genocide against the Palestinians? Why don’t you condemn it? –Because if you don’t, I won’t believe that your comment here was posted in good faith. I’ll be glad to hear from you again."

I'll condemn the atrocities on the Israeli side as soon as you condemn the taking of innocent life by rockets fired from Gaza into Israel. Are you prepared to do that? Are you prepared to stand up to the mullahs who teach hatred of Jews to children and say enough already? It takes people on both sides to stand up to their misguided leaders and speak the truth. If you are so interested in universal principles of morality, then where are your dispatches about innocent lives lost on the Israeli side?
Permalink 03/04/08 @ 11:22
Comment from: rj [Member]
Dannemil,
You asked me, “Why did you assume that I was a Jew? Is it not possible for someone to abhor antisemitism such as is obvious in the Arab press and in Friday Sermons in Gaza without being a Jew?

I did NOT assume that you were a Jew. The part of my sentence that you refer to here is “your tribal allegiance to Jews” –which means nothing more and nothing less than tribal/allegiance/to Jews. Any Zionist whether he (she) is Jewish or not, ANY person who feels a tribal allegiance to anything or anyone, any such person should be asked the following question, and I repeat myself: “Are you prepared to put your tribal allegiance to […] second to universal principles of morality?”. ‘Tribal allegiance to…’ is something that we see everywhere –like the football hooligans in Europe. They obviously feel a tribal allegiance to their side, team, whatever. The question about Jewishness does not even arise. –Dannemil, it would seem that it is you who have made an unwarranted assumption here, not I.

If you are seriously claiming that the Arab media in the middle east is not antisemitic, then there is really little to be gained from a discussion. All you have to do is look at the editorial cartoons all over the middle eastern press to see the extent of it. This is not an isolated Muslim or two as you would have us believe.”

I don’t intend to seriously claim anything whatever about the Arab media in the Middle East. -Dannemil, you are missing the point. I criticized you for attacking Khalid Amayreh; you said he was being “disingenuous”. He was not. I think he was right in making his general statement (“Muslims don’t hate Jews for being Jews.”) and more importantly, I ‘m convinced he was in good faith making it. He is a very sincere person. You had no good reason whatever to attack him.

You haven’t proved Khalid wrong so far and I rather doubt that you are able to do so. If you think that posting three links qualifies as sufficient data, you are wrong again. It would take more than that and mind you: MEMRI has no cred at all.

"I'll condemn the atrocities on the Israeli side as soon as you condemn the taking of innocent life by rockets fired from Gaza into Israel. Are you prepared to do that?"

Yes, I am, Dannemil, but you first, simply because I asked you first. -You are not coming clean, are you, when you make your condemnation contingent upon mine. If you are sincere, you should be able to do it independently of me and anyone else.

Yes, it does take people on both sides to stand up to their misguided leaders and speak the truth. I agree.

"If you are so interested in universal principles of morality, then where are your dispatches about innocent lives lost on the Israeli side?"

(You started by attacking Khalid, ignoring the rules you have signed up to on the login page, and now you start attacking me too!) -What you don't seem to understand is that the underdog (the Palestinians, mostly civilians) and the very powerful aggressor (the Israeli army) are not on the same level. You seem to want me to cover the two nations with an equal interest and in equal measure. I will not. I will never do this. Israel has enormous backing in the Western world and has an effective hasbara operation working 24/7, worldwide, to put the Zionist point of view across, while the Palestinians have few friends in high places. If you check out the website "If Americans Knew", you will find that the Palestinians are being killed in vastly greater numbers. -So this is my main concern.

Finally, Dannemil, you will have read on the login page that:

By signing up and logging on to thepeoplesvoice.org web site you are agreeing to the following terms of use. These terms may change over time therefore members should occasionally visit the 'Login' page. Violations of these terms could result in the removal of your comments and privileges to post comments without any notice implied or expressed. All 'comments' posted on the site are monitored closely and the following types of comments are not allowed: […] Attacks against the writers of articles rather than the content of the articles.”

Dannemil, calling Khalid “disingenuous” qualifies as an attack against him. You had no right to do this. You should apologize to him.
rj

PS: You still are invited to submit an article to The People’s Voice, stating your point of view. –But you have to condemn the ongoing genocide in Palestine first.

Permalink 03/04/08 @ 13:35
Comment from: dannemil [Member]
"tribal allegiance to Jews" is old code for claiming someone is a Jew whether you admit it or not. You can only have a tribal allegiance if you are a member of a tribe. Argue it all you want, it is clear that the assumption was that I was a member of "that tribe."

"I think he was right in making his general statement (“Muslims don’t hate Jews for being Jews.”) and more importantly, I ‘m convinced he was in good faith making it. He is a very sincere person. You had no good reason whatever to attack him." Well I think that when someone claims to speak for all Muslims as in "Muslims don't hate Jews..." which is what he said, then it is my obligation to challenge what I see as a false statement. And that is my belief.

"you will find that the Palestinians are being killed in vastly greater numbers." I know that well. You are not telling me anything I don't know. I condemn all such killing on both sides, The fact that one side is weaker than the other does not make their deaths any more heinous than the deaths of those on the other side. If this were so, then we would have to claim that the deaths of German civilians in WWII at the hand of allied forces were somehow more heinous than those of civilians killed by the Nazis because the Allies were more powerful than the Nazis toward the end of the war. The numbers are tragic, but using numbers of deaths as the basis for claiming that one side is more deserving of support misses the entire point that any death of an innocent civilian is one death too many.

"PS: You still are invited to submit an article to The People’s Voice, stating your point of view. –But you have to condemn the ongoing genocide in Palestine first."

Now there's free speech for you. You can weigh in with your opinion but only if you agree with mine first. No thanks.



Permalink 03/04/08 @ 14:46
Comment from: rj [Member]
dannemil,
You may challenge anything in the articles, but you may NOT attack the writers. I take note of the fact that you have not

1. apologized for falsely calling Khalid "disingenuous" or
2. condemned the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

Your insincerity is appalling.
rj
Permalink 03/05/08 @ 01:06
Comment from: dannemil [Member]
"1. apologized for falsely calling Khalid "disingenuous" or"

Has he apologized for insulting my intelligence by telling me that "Muslims don't hate Jews" when that statement is clearly false? What, did Memri mistranslate or fabricate that sermon (which by the way occur frequently in the Palestinian territories)? Did those antisemitic cartoons not really appear in all those newspapers? Making general statements like "Muslims don't hate Jews" leaves you open to challenge from the facts. It is certainly true that All Muslims do not hate All Jews, but that is not what he said.

"2. condemned the ongoing genocide in Palestine."

I would never condemn something that is not in fact true. This is not a genocide. If it were a genocide against Palestinians, then every time a Palestinian worker tried to cross into Israel to work, he would be murdered on the spot. Every time a Palestinian student attended classes at Israeli Universities, they would be shot and killed. Every time a Palestinian who lives in Israel was seen walking on the street, he would be shot and killed. Every time a Palestinian was thrown into an Israeli jail, he would disappear, and never be heard from again. If this were a genocide then all of these things would be true because the Israelis would be murdering Palestinians wherever and whenever they came into contact with them.

You do yourselves and your cause a great disservice by trying to paint the Israelis with the brush of genocide. It only makes your other statements seem even less credible because you fail to make important distinctions between killing of innocent civilians which is truly abhorrent, and true genocide. Genocide is what is happening in Darfur. Genocide is what happened in Kosovo. Genocide is what Happened in Rwanda (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide). Genocide is what happened in Poland, Austria, Germany, the Ukraine in WWII. Genocide is not what is happening in the Palestinian territories today, and attempts to frame it that way only undermine your credibility.

Permalink 03/05/08 @ 09:39
Comment from: Editor [Member]
Comments that deride, criticize, or attack the writers are not allowed. If attacks on writers continue posts will be deleted.

If the issue of the Palestinians is discussed it must always be acknowledged that the Palestinians are being mass murdered by the occupier state Israel.

Permalink 03/05/08 @ 11:54

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