One letter of support said, "We oppose anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and all forms of racism." It was signed by many prominent academics including Noam Chomsky, Ilan Pappe and Judith Butler. Here' s one page of its signatories.
Another letter of support came from prominent leftist Jews including Norman Finkelstein, Rabbi David Mivasair and Tony Greenstein.
I think it is time to give these people a chance to show their support for Miller again. Because last week he went full antisemite on Twitter, and no sane person could think that he was only attacking "Zionists."
Here are excerpts of his thread:
There seems to be some confusion about who the occupation for Palestine began. Jonathan @Freedland appears to believe it started in 1967. But it didn't.So did the occupation begin in 1948 - the #Nakba - when thousands were massacred and 750,000 expelled? No, not then either.Did the occupation begin in 1909? That was when the first ‘Kibbutz’ was created in Umm Juni, by Arthur Ruppin, the head of the Zionist Organization office in Palestine....No, not 1909: what about 1878? ‘Petah Tikva’, often described as the ‘Mother of settlements’, was created then with financial help from Baron Edmond de Rothschild. but, it did not begin then, either.What about 1815 when a settlement was created in Hebron by the extremist Chabad-Lubavitch sect (which originated in Russia/Ukraine)? Today it is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York City. Here is what it says about Hebron.But no, it may have been earlier: Russian Chabadniks had created settlements in Safed from 1777.Things you should know about Chabad-Lubavitch: It's a supremacist organisation at the extreme end of the settler movement. According to Shin Bet ( Israeli intelligence agency) it’s responsible for about 80% of ‘price-tag’ revenge attacks on Palestinians.(Here he links to a video from that authoritative source on Judaism, Iran's PressTV.)So, in conclusion: The settlement and occupation of Palestine has been a long time coming. The descendant's [sic] of the earliest settlers are still there continuing the #Nakba through violence and land theft. Time to end the occupation.
David Miller is saying that the continuous return of Jews to Eretz Yisrael over the centuries is all evil Zionist settlement and occupation.
No one would mistake the Chabadniks from the 18th century for modern Zionists. They moved to the Holy Land for the same reasons Jewish groups have been moving to Palestine since the Second Temple was destroyed - because that is the center of Jewish religious life.
In the 13th century many prominent French rabbis moved to Palestine. Nachmanides moved to Israel in 1267. The Arizal, Rabbi Isaac Luria, moved to Tzfat in 1579. Many Chassidic leaders and their followers moved to Tzfat and Tiberias in the 18th century.
Miller also cannot distinguish Chabad from any other religious Jews. Chabad isn't responsible for 80% of "price tag" attacks - that's completely absurd, and the Shin Bet never said that. To Miller, any Jew wearing a kippah is the same.
Miller is saying that any Jew who moved to Eretz Yisrael in the centuries before modern Zionism is an illegal settler and occupier. His link to PressTV's video about Chabad (which also conflates Chabad with all religious Jews) shows not only his ignorance and lack of critical thinking abilities when it comes to Jews, it proves his own hatred of Jews who are public about their observance.
He is saying that not only the Jews who moved to Israel from elsewhere are stealing Palestinian land, but the Jews who lived there beforehand and their descendants are also illegal thieves of the land. Even the PLO and Iranian leaders say that Jews who lived in Israel before 1917 are "Palestinian" and can stay when the other Jews are ethnically cleansed - but that opinion is too pro-"Zionist" for David Miller.
So it is time to explicitly ask Noam Chomsky and Judith Butler and Norman FInkelstein if they still think that David Miller has no antisemitic tendencies. Do these academics who claim so loudly that they are against antisemitism denounce David Miller's clear hatred for Jews, not Zionists?
Pick names from the hundreds of academics and Jews who defended him from the links above, and tweet asking them what they think of someone who calls Jews who moved to Palestine for religious reasons, centuries before modern Zionism, "thieves."
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