Pages

Monday, August 17, 2020

“I’m not antisemitic, I’m just against everything Israel (and only Israel) does”

A person who calls himself a comedian, Matt Lieb, tweeted:

lieb1

 

Allow me to expand his tweet, because it applies to all self-righteous Israel-hating hypocrites:

“I’m merely against colonialism, except for Muslim colonialism that made the Middle East what it is today.

“I’m merely against apartheid, except I have no problem with Lebanon or Syria or Jordan or every Arab country discriminating against their own Palestinian residents.

“I’m merely against racism, except for the slavery that happens in Arab and Muslim countries today.

“I’m merely against Islamophobia, except when Muslims are oppressed in China or Myanmar.

“I’m merely against antisemitism, but damned if I will say a word against Roger Waters or Ilhan Omar or Professor Griff or Mahmoud Abbas.

“I’m merely against occupation, even though I have no clue about any real occupation by Turkey or Morocco or Russia.

“I’m merely against ethnic cleansing, which occurs daily all over the world in places I never tweet about.

“I’m merely against bulldozing of Palestinian homes, even though it is perfectly legal and exactly the same as enforcing zoning laws around the world. (Atlantic City bulldozed lots of homes to create room for casinos, but I want to perform there, so it is OK.)

“I’m merely against ethnoreligious states even though I have no problem with dozens of states that declare themselves to be Arab or Muslim or Hindu or Christian – just the Jewish one.

That’s the hypocrisy part. This is not to mention that Israel isn’t guilty of any of these  - it is not a colonialist state, it is not guilty of apartheid, it is not racist any more than any other state, it is more tolerant of Muslims than any non-Muslim state Lieb can name, it is not an occupier (this is the only one he can make a case about but it is not true,) it is not guilty of ethnic cleansing by any definition.

This is what passes for intellectual critique, when it is lazy ignorance. It shows that Lieb as well as many of his fellow Jewish antizionists going along with the crowd while pretending to be “edgy” and “brave.” And by singling out Israel and only Israel for critiques that they don’t give a damn about anywhere else, they are engaging in antisemitism – no matter how much they protest that they light Chanukah candles once in a while for a holiday about Jews fighting for the only land that they insist must be Judenrein.