Monday, March 21, 2016
From Ian:
Anti-Semitism Always Comes Down to Hating Freedom and Democracy
Anti-Semitism Always Comes Down to Hating Freedom and Democracy
Despite his name and ancestry, the British journalist Nick Cohen never considered himself a Jew; he was raised without religion, his mother was not Jewish, and he grew up without any sort of Jewish affinity. But after confronting the rising tide of anti-Semitism in the Labor party, he realized that his approach was wrong:WaPo Validates Anti-Israel Groups?
Nick Cohen: Why I’m becoming a Jew and why you should, too
[U]nless I wanted to shame myself, I had to become a Jew. A rather odd Jew, no doubt: a militant atheist who had to phone a friend to ask what on earth mazel tov meant. But a Jew nonetheless.
As one of the finest liberal ambitions is to find the sympathy to imagine the lives of others, you should become a Jew, too. Declare that you have converted to Judaism or rediscovered your Jewish “heritage” and see the reaction. It’s not just that, if you are middle-class and fortunate, you might experience racism for the first time, which in itself would be a “learning experience” worth having. You might also learn the essential lesson that anti-Semitism is not about Jews. Like rape, it’s about power.
Whether the anti-Semitic conspiracy theory is deployed by German Nazis or Arab dictators, French anti-Dreyfusards or Saudi clerics, the argument is always the same. Democracy, an independent judiciary, equal human rights, freedom of speech and publication—all these “supposed” freedoms—are nothing but swindles that hide the machinations of the secret Jewish rulers of the world. . . .
Consider how many leftwing activists, institutions, or academics would agree with a politer version: Western governments are the main source of the ills of the world. The “Israel lobby” controls Western foreign policy. Israel itself is the “root cause” of all the terrors of the Middle East, from the Iraq war to Islamic State.
Polite racism turns the Jews, once again, into demons with the supernatural power to manipulate and destroy nations.
On Friday, Carol Morello, diplomatic correspondent for the Washington Post, covered a conference lambasting Israel’s supposed influence over America. The conference was sponsored by the Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs (WRMEA), which Morello described as “a D.C.-based magazine featuring articles questioning Israeli government policies and U.S. aid to the country.” That’s a curiously mild description given WRMEA’s history, legacy, and outlook.Global Teacher Prize Winner's Husband Massacred Jews Celebrating Sabbath
WRMEA is famous for an obsession with Israel that goes beyond simple criticism and instead centers itself in conspiracy. Consider, for example, its suggestions that the Mossad killed John F. Kennedy, its belief that Israel was involved in the 9/11 attacks, its embrace of the most noxious USS Liberty conspiracies, and its description of American supporters of Israel as a “cancer.” In its May/June 1998 issue (no longer online), it suggested that Nazi Germany did not kill six million Jews. “New evidence, if true, would cut in half the Zionists’ original claim that six million died under the Nazi regime,” it argued, adding, “It would also raise the questions (sic) of, “Why did the Zionists grossly exaggerate the original numbers of Jewish victims?”
The conference organizers also advertised a book by Roger Garaudy, a Holocaust denier convicted in France for racial libel, which purported to examine “the Holocaust myth of Jewish extermination.” Anti-Semitic obsessions go deep. In June/July 1997, its publisher’s page declared, “Israel controls Congress, the media, the White House, and the State Department.” And, as for the media, Morello and her editors at the Washington Post might consider exactly what the conference sponsors say about her publication and other mainstream newspapers in December 1997: “[E]very New York daily newspaper… is Jewish owned …Technically speaking, the Washington Post… is not Jewish-owned. But it is owned by the descendants of the late Eugene Meyer, who was Jewish…”
Let’s give the Washington Post benefit of the doubt: It is doubtful Morello understood the background of the conference sponsor, although that itself is deeply problematic. She also apparently didn’t know much about the speakers either. She describes Larry Wilkerson as “chief of staff to former secretary of state Colin L. Powell,” [and advisor to Bernie Sanders] but didn’t see fit to mention that he’s spent much of the period since his retirement arguing that Syria’s chemical weapons use was actually a Zionist false flag.
The actual story is that her husband took part in the brutal terrorist attack on Jews walking home from synagogue. This was the Beit Hadassah attack. (Dabboya is the name used by Muslim settlers in '67 Israel to refer to the Jewish area.)
Six, not thirteen, Jews were murdered. Twenty others were wounded. There was no pursuit. This was a cold-blooded ambush. The terrorists set up their position on a rooftop and opened fire on Jews celebrating the Sabbath.
Every Friday night, following Shabbat worship at Ma'arat HaMachpela, a group of men would sing and dance their way down the street to Beit Hadassah, where they continued the festivity, joined by the women and children living in the building, adding to their Shabbat spirit.
Friday night, May 12, the 17th of Iyar, only one day before the Lag B'Omer celebrations. The men arrived as usual and began forming a dance circle…and then it happened. Shots rang out, blasts enveloped the pure Shabbat air.
Six were killed and about 20 injured. Among the killed was a young Torah scholar from the United States studying at Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav in Jerusalem, Tzvi Glatt. Another victim was also a former America, who had fought in Vietnam and converted to Judaism, Eli HaZe'ev.
