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Monday, May 07, 2018

Antisemitic op-ed in Salt Lake City Tribune (UPDATE)

An op-ed at the Salt Lake City Tribune by a Michael S. Robinson crosses the line into direct antisemitism:

Well folks, we don’t have to worry about Freddy Krueger or Chucky. We have our own real monsters to deal with.
Whether it’s a passive complicity or active participation, our country is partnered with one of the worst human-rights violators in our world. There’s a very logical reason The Donald has wooed Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu. Oh, sure, it’s partly our president’s narcissistic need to cultivate anyone who’s willing to tell him he’s wonderful. But it’s equally probable that Trump has noticed the Israeli leader’s strategic positioning in fomenting, even at the price of outright lies, a more precipitous situation with Arab nations.

Saying that Netanyahu is one of the worst human rights violators in the world is absurd, but not antisemitic. Comparing him to Hollywood monsters is insane, but not antisemitic.

This is antisemitic:
Can the power of the U.S. Jewish lobby really be so strong that we are blinded to Israel’s atrocities? Aside from the votes that are paid for by that lobby, there seems to be a mindless philosophy that, because the Jews have historically suffered so much, we must never criticize them. Even Dr. Spock would frown on this type of parenting. It doesn’t make a naughty child any better when parents decline all discipline, just because little Suzie had a nasty owie two weeks ago.

Yes, Robinson is comparing the Holocaust with "little Suzie's nasty owie two weeks ago." 

This is antisemitic:
Oh, yes, the Jews know all about concentration camps, but they seem unable to muster any human compassion for the suffering of their neighbors. Instead of a normal and healthy outgrowth of empathy, Israel has instead become the monster.
The "Jews are acting like Nazis" meme is a modern blood libel.

I wrote a response although I concentrated more on his lies than his obvious problem with Jews.
Already at the beginning of this absurd article we see how ignorant and hateful the author is.
Netanyahu is "one of the worst human-rights violators in our world"? Really? even if you believe every single lie about Israel in this article - and rest assured, there are dozens of them - the number of people killed or injured or displaced by Israel in 70 years is minuscule compared to its Arab neighbors, let alone Russia or Iran or Rwanda or even the US. In fact, Arabs have killed more PALESTINIANS than Israel has (Black September 1970, Syria now, Lebanon over years of civil wars.) Kuwait expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians for supporting Saddam. Arab countries refuse to give Palestinians citizenship, forcing them to remain stateless no matter how many generations live in their borders. The list goes on and on - and that's just Palestinians, not other Arab on Arab violence.
When you actually look at things objectively, Israel has a better human rights record than any country you can name when at war. A higher percentage of those killed by Israel are militant (vs. civilian) than in nearly every war in history. Israel works harder than any nation in history - including Great Britain and the US today - to minimize civilian casualties. I have the facts to back this up.
But Robinson isn't interested in facts.No, he wants to compare the murder of six million Jews to "an owie that little Suzie got two weeks ago." He wants to say that the only people who support a liberal, progressive nation are "the powerful Jewish lobby." He freely admits he hates Israel. He doesn't seem to have the same hate for suicide bombers, rocket launchers or bus bombers. I wonder why.
UPDATE: Robinson responded to my comment, and I responded back:
I clearly hate the Netanyahu government and its flagrant human rights abuses. Obviously the holocaust is not a mere owie. At the same time you can't justify Israel's brutality by events that are 70 years old. I think I made it clear. The sad plight of the Jews as victims of the Third Reich should have taught them some empathy and compassion. The persecuted, instead, are now the persecutors.

Elder of Ziyon  in a few secondsIsrael doesn't justify any violence because of the Holocaust. That's a straw man. You seem to find it too inconvenient to remember exactly what Hamas has done to Jews in pizza shops and birthday parties. Terror attacks that Palestinian media celebrate every day in their media.
Israelis are interested in peace. Palestinians are interested in destroying Israel.You have shown which side you are on.
I challenge you to find a single map in a Palestinian schoolbook that shows Jaffa, Tiberias, Safed or Tiberias as Israeli towns. Just one.
Israel's human rights record compares favorably to ANY nation during wartime. Compare the statistics of percentage of civilians killed in any of Israel's wars with any other war you care to name.
No nation is perfect in how it fights wars, but if you actually did the research you would see that Israel does a better job than any nation you can name - Middle Eastern, Asian, European or North American.
Yet you are only upset at the one nation that spends more time and money trying to minimize civilian casualties than any other you can name. Go ahead - I'm waiting to hear you name one nation that tried harder to avoid civilian casualties, in all of human history. Certainly you can name one.
Sorry for bringing up actual facts rather than empty slogans. You are not interested in facts. You are interested in demonizing Israel.
Now, why would you be so obsessed with the Jewish state that happens to have a better human rights record in wartime than any other nation?



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