Gaza Strip: The Jews who Loathe Israel

As the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel gets underway, anti-Israeli groups including high profile Jews have vehemently condemned Israel's offensive against Gaza that has killed more than 1,800 civilians since July 8. Here we take a look at some of Israel's enemies.

Norman Finkelstein

Norman Finkelsteinwikipedia

Norman Finkelstein, an American political scientist, activist, professor, and author, born to Jewish parents, is currently organising a mass pro-Gaza rally in New York on Friday to protest against Israel's actions in the month long conflict.

He wrote on Stop the Terror Bombing! Lift the Blockade! Facebook page: "I am shocked by the cowardly Israeli massacre in Gaza, and Barack Obama's cynical complicity. I am despairing that anything can be done to stop it. But its' still in our power to bear witness, so it cannot be said that we stood by silently."

Finkelstein's primary fields of research are the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the politics of the Holocaust, which was motivated by the experiences of his parents who were Jewish Holocaust survivors. He has been branded a Holocaust denier after his work 'The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering' was published in 2000. He argues that Hungarian-born Elie Wiesel, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, who was a prisoner in the Auschwitz, and others exploit the memory of the Holocaust as an "ideologicaly weapon" so the State of Israel "one of the world's most formidable military powers, with a horrendous human rights record can cast itself as a victim state". Finkelstein's work has attracted a number of supporters including US philosopher Noam Chomsky as well as detractors from around the world.

Palestine rally

Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomskyhttp://en.wikipedia.org

Born to a middle-class Ashkenazi Jewish family in Philadelphia, US philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky, who was once voted the world's top public intellectual is a leading critic of US foreign policy.

He believes Israel should be held to account over its actions,writing: "Israel's crimes have by now reached such an appalling level of savagery that any legitimate means should be used to protest them and bring them to an end, and soon, while something still survives their vicious and sadistic onslaught."

Being Jewish, he faced anti-semitisim as a child, particularly from the Irish and German communities living in Philadelphia. His career was damaged when he defended the right of French historian Robert Faurisson to be a Holocaust denier, prompting France's mainstream media to accuse Chomsky of being a Holocaust denier himself. His plea for the historian's freedom of speech was published as the preface to Faurisson's 1980 book -'Mémoire en défense contre ceux qui m'accusent de falsifier l'histoire', (Defense against those who accuse me of falsifying history).  Chomsky was married to Carol Doris Schatz (Chomsky) from 1949 until her death in 2008. They had 3 children together: Aviva, Diane and Harry.

Mira Bar-Hillel

Mira Bar-Hillel

Mira Bar-Hillel, the property and planning correspondent for the Evening Standard, was born in Jerusalem in 1946 has described herself as a "deliberate outsider" in the British Jewish community since the most recent Gaza conflict - admitting to being on the verge of burning her Israeli passport. She was Israel's first female radio news reporter after serving as a "non-aggressive" army member before moving to the UK in 1972.

She recently defended re-tweeting a far-Right hoax, re-telling tropes about 'Jewish power' in the USA, Hoax or not, saying, "Hoax or not the message is entirely true, and increasingly so."

She made a vow she would never write about Israel  but changed her mind when she discovered Holocaust survivors were living "below the breadline" in the country.  She has also claimed in a recent interview on BBC's Radio 4 Today programme to have "a lot of evidence" that many of Britain's 260,000 Jews will not speak up against Israel out of fear of being "ex-communicated" from their local community - fearing they will be blocked from their local synagogues, their children would be bullied and they would even be denied a Jewish burial. Her father was Yehoshua Bar-Hillel, an Israeli philosopher, mathematician, and linguist.

Alexei Sayle

Alexei Sayle

The Jewish-British stand-up comedian, actor and author, whose mother Molly is from Lithuanian Jewish descent, is not a stranger to holding anarchic views and has recently been quoted as saying on Twitter in regard to the Israeli-Gaza conflict: "It is the psychology of the murderer, the rapist, the bully. That's what Israel is in this situation."

In an interview with Caabu (Council for Arab-British Understanding), he described Israel as the "Jimmy Saville of nation states", which "clearly doesn't care about damaging the lives of children."

Sayle was born and raised in Anfield, Liverpool. His parents, Molly and Joseph, were both members of the Communist Party of Great Britain, which he joined  in the aftermath of the May 1968 French uprising. Sayle's diverse career stems from playing a central part on the alternative comedy circuit in the early 1980s to featuring in films including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Gorky Park. He also has written books such as 'Mister Roberts' and published his autobiography - 'Stalin Ate My Homework'.

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Tony Greenstein

Tony Greensteinazvsas.blogspot.com

Political activist Tony Greenstein comes from an Orthodox Jewish family but is a passionate anti-Zionist comparing Nazism to Zionism - accusing the Jews of ethnically cleansing the Palestinians.

He is a founding member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in Britain and Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods.  Greenstein has written for many publications including Tribune, Labour Briefing and Weekly Worker. His work has been published in Hodder & Stoughton's The Essentials of Philosophy & Ethics (2006).

Greenstein has also written a number of articles for the Guardian's Comment is Free section before he was banned for rejecting the idea that comparing Zionism and the Israeli State to the Nazis was anti-Semitic.

In an interview with the Brighton Argus newspaper, he said: "The first book I ever read was called The Scourge of the Swastika by Lord Russell of Liverpool which was about Auschwitz and the horrors of the Nazis.It made me think about how hateful human beings could be to other human beings. Soon I became aware that those arguing for the Jewish state were actually arguing for separation on racial grounds, which was exactly what the Nazis were doing. I thought it was wrong that a people who had been oppressed felt it was then OK to oppress others – so I decided to fight against it."

Greenstein is a member of Brighton & Hove Trades Council, UNISON and Secretary of Brighton & Hove Unemployed Workers Centre. He is an activist in the Brighton Benefits Campaign. He is also a law graduate who works in the area of employment rights.

Neturei Karta

Rally of solidarity with Gaza - July 18, 2014www.nkusa.org

Neturei Karta - meaning "Guardians of the City" in Aramaic - is a Orthodox Jewish religious group, who refuses to recognise the existence or authority of the State of Israel and is calling for its dismantlement. They attend many pro-Gaza rallies across the world to publicly demonstrate their position of unadulterated Judaism and condemnation of Zionism. They believe Jews are forbidden to have their own state until the coming of the Jewish Messiah.

Last month Rabbi Yoel Glauber spoke up for Gaza at the Al-Quds Day rally at Times Square in New York.

He said: "We Orthodox Jews have come here today to present the religious community from around the world including Jerusalem. We are here to express our solidarity and sympathy with the suffering of the people of Palestine and Gaza, and to express our outrage and condemnation of the ongoing atrocity by the Israeli army against the people of Gaza. Our hearts cry for the people of Gaza."

Israel Shamir

Israel ShamirWikipedia

Russian-born Jewish intellectual, Israel Shamir, is a writer and journalist, famously known as a Holocaust denier and being anti-Semitic.

He was born in Novosibirsk, Siberia, a grandson of a professor of mathematics and a descendant of a Rabbi from Tiberias, Palestine. He writes and comments on Arab-Israeli relations, believing in an one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He also opposes Zionism and Judaism. 

"We should live in one state, not only because of the blatant failure of Oslo. The very idea of partition is wrong." he said.

He criticises the Jewish quest for world hegemony, writing: "Palestine is not the ultimate goal of the Jews; the world is."

He refutes accusations that he is a Holocaust denier despite alleging that gas chambers at Auschwitz did not exist on his own website.

Defending himself he wrote: "My family lost too many of its sons and daughters for me to deny the facts of Jewish tragedy, but I do deny its religious salvific significance implied in the very term 'Holocaust'; I do deny its metaphysical uniqueness, I do deny the morbid cult of Holocaust and I think every God-fearing man, a Jew, a Christian or a Muslim should reject it as Abraham rejected and smashed idols."

Most recently he has been associated with controversial site, Wikileaks,  which publishes classified government information. Shamir is accused of giving the Russian Reporter "privileged access" to US diplomatic cables in 2010. He has also been blamed for allegedly leaking cables involving EU diplomats and passing on "sensitive cables" to the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.

Shamir's son, a journalist named Johannes Wahlstrom is a spokesperson for WikiLeaks in Sweden.

NO, YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE VISITED ARAFAT'S GRAVE Dear Harvard College Israel Trek 2014 – #Israeltrek2014 participants,

As you well know by now, your current trip to Israel has drawn international attention and media coverage.  While a group of college students traipsing through the Jewish State is probably not worthy of such focus, your visit to Ramallah and specifically your smiley group photo at the grave of Yasser Arafat, the father of modern-day terrorism, has drawn condemnation from many (myself included).

At the same time your organizers on the ground in Israel, as well as your sponsors back in Boston including Hillel and the CJP (Combined Jewish Philanthropies, under the umbrella of the US Jewish Federation system), have vociferously defended your itinerary, and have made a point to attack those who have come out against your visit, labeling them/us as fringe extremists.

I have read all of your explanations, justifications, clarifications, etc. for the smiley gravesite photo, and frankly I’m just not impressed.

While you claim to be fully aware that Arafat was behind countless Israeli deaths, I want to go over his abridged resume of mass murder just one more time to be sure you have the facts. Also, since you are representing a US institution, it’s important to note how many American citizens are dead as a result of Arafat’s murderous ways.

As chairman of the PLO, Arafat was responsible for (or linked to):

·         The murder of 12 Israeli Olympians during the 1972 Munich games

·         The murder of the United States ambassador to the Sudan, Cleo Noel, in 1973

·         The bombing of the United States Marines barracks in Beirut in 1983 that killed 241 people

·         The hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship in 1985 and the murder of hostage Leon Klinghoffer

·         The Oslo War (2^nd intifada) that claimed the lives of over 1,000 Israeli civilians and soldiers, including US citizens

But you probably knew all that, right? If not, you do now.

Nevertheless, your organizers say that the visit was:

“about creating an honest conversation regarding some of the most contentious issues facing both Israelis and Palestinians today… Whether we like or not, Yasser Arafat is important to the Palestinian narrative, and as educators committed to an honest exploration of these issues we could not afford to deviate from Trek policy that encouraged students to document and share their experiences with their respective communities.”

So my question for you is this: if you were looking for an “honest conversation,” HOW WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE CONVERSING WITH A DEAD TERRORIST?

I’m assuming it was pretty one-sided.

If that’s not the case, my sincerest apologizes for misunderstanding.

Perhaps what you meant was that you spent your day in Ramallah hearing that “narrative” you were seeking from LIVING ‘Palestinian’ leaders.

I highly doubt though that the PA officials you met with spoke about the town squares throughout the PA  named after suicide bombers. I also doubt they gave you a glimpse into the PA’s official educational system or media which daily incites against the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

I’ll save what was missing from your visit for another discussion, and give you time to explore that reality here. 

But back to the Arafat smiley.

The bottom line is whether you like it or not, whether it was your intention or not – a smiling group photo at the grave of someone who led a life of pure terror, murder, and evil, DOES in fact honor his memory, and does serve as a statement of approval.

I have no doubt that the current social media explosion over your photo is delighting the Palestinian Authority leadership to no end.  I’m sure they won’t hesitate to use it for their public relations purposes in the near future if they haven’t already done so.

Since you are students of Harvard, I don’t doubt your intellectual abilities, but I leave you with a piece of advice – next time, perhaps be a bit smarter.

Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: Boston Jewish organizations sponsor student trip to Arafat's grave

The Boston Jewish community sponsored a tour of Israel for Harvard University students called Israel Trek:

The inaugural Harvard College Israel Trek (Spring Break, March 14th- 23rd) will bring 50 Harvard undergraduate students to Israel in hopes of facilitating a nuanced first encounter with the country, its history, narratives, culture, politics and people. Student participants represent diverse religious, national, and cultural backgrounds, and are all leaders in various capacities on campus.

The Trek is being led by a dynamic team of Israeli undergraduates, and will draw on the narratives of its participants and leaders, placing a special emphasis on fostering meaningful personal relationships. This component will add a unique and personal dimension to this particular Israel experience.

Students will learn about Israeli history, culture, and politics. Some of the topics explored will include the hi-tech industry, the emerging cultural landscape, questions regarding religion and state, the peace process and Israel’s geopolitical position in the region.

Israel Trek is made possible by the generous contributions of a number of family foundations and Boston’s Combined Jewish Philanthropies. The Trek is supported byHarvard Hillel.

Sounds great, right? It is wonderful to give students the opportunity to see the side of Israel that they wouldn't otherwise be exposed to. The students are led by Israelis - Arabs and Jews - who know the country. The students who are on the trip are a very diverse group of undergraduates. 

So why the hell did this trip, sponsored by Jewish organizations and Harvard Hillel, take the students to pose at the grave of a mass murderer of Jews?

Its wonderful to expose people to both sides of the story, but it is stupid to embrace the side of the story that wants to see you gone.  Israel Trek could have arranged for a few hours with an Arab tour guide in Judea and Samaria, or they could have given students a free day, or any number of other options. But to have supposed Jewish organizations arrange for a visit to a terrorist who was responsible, directly or indirectly, for the gruesome murder of thousands - and to take a photo of students smiling in the presence of such disgusting filth - is beyond belief.

News bulletin: People respect you more when you have some self respect. Telling the students that they are free to do what they want, but that the leaders of the trip find the idea of  paying respects to a terrorist is repugnant, is far preferable to promulgating the "all narratives are equally valid" idiocy that passes for enlightened opinion nowadays.

This is a sickness.

Obama's Jews call on Israel to stop the operation and keep absorbing the rockets

This is simply beyond belief. Well, actually, it's not. What's beyond belief is that anyone still dares to refer to these people as 'pro-Israel' and that there are Jewish Federations in the US that are actually willing to include them. Here's a statement issued by 'Jewish Voice for Peace' on Operation Pillar of Defense (Hat Tip: Wrath of God).

As Israel launches operation “Pillar of Defense” in Gaza, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) calls for an immediate cessation of the air strikes and naval bombardment into Gaza and an end to the ongoing siege of Gaza. JVP urges Israel not to exploit its asymmetric power to exacerbate the instability in the region. We urge President Obama to  take a stand against these attacks and to use the power of the United States to insist that Israel pursue all diplomatic measures possible for the sake of life, safety and security on all sides.  JVP also urges the end of  rocket attacks from Gaza into civilian communities in Israel, which we believe is never justifiable, and which only serve to derail efforts for a just resolution to the conflict.

This operation is named in reference to a  biblical passage in which a pillar of cloud protects the Israelites as they wandered in the desert after leaving bondage in Egypt.
And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; that they might go by day and by night. Exodus 13:21
It is unseemly to invoke the protection afforded the Israelites wandering in the desert when Israel is the dominant military power in the region. JVP rejects the possibility that such a military operation and escalation of violence will be of any protection for Israelis or Palestinians. As Israel continues to control Gaza by air, land and sea, Israel holds responsibility for the well-being and safety of Palestinian civilians in Gaza who will be traumatized, injured and killed through this escalation of violence.

JVP calls on our chapters, members, and supporters to join us in redoubling our efforts to advocate for an end to the U.S.’s unconditional military aid to Israel and to intensify our calls for divestment from all companies that profit from this escalation of violence and Israel’s ongoing siege of Gaza.

These are Obama's 'Jews.' But don't worry too much about them. At the rate they're going, they're likely to breed themselves out of existence in a generation or two via intermarriage and childlessness.

Meet "rabbis for Obama" member Lynn Gottlieb

One of Obama's 'rabbis' member of "top ten anti-Israel groups" 'rabbi" Lynn Gottlieb one of Obama's 600 'rabbis'....

(excerpted from the JTA): 'rabbi' Lynn Gottlieb endorsed the Palestinian BDS call and is a member of the advisory board and rabbinical council of the far-left Jewish Voice for Peace.

She was the only 'rabbi' to speak at a controversial 2008 interfaith dialogue dinner in New York hosted for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad....

Obama 600 'rabbis' 

'http://www.barackobama.com/rabbis

 

Dined with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad

http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=115752 

 

First American rabbi to visit Tehran

http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=115752

 

Endorsement of the BDS campaign

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4KRChA0Ik

Serves on rabbinical council of Jewish Voice for Peace

http://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/blog/rabbi-lynn-gottlieb-speaks-at-j-st-conference

 

ADL calls Jewish Voice for Peace a top-ten anti-Israel group
http://www.adl.org/PresRele/IslME_62/5875_62.htm 

 

(from the RJC) There can be only two explanations for her inclusion in the list: 1) the Obama campaign failed to properly vet the rabbis on their official list, or 2) they did properly vet the rabbis and chose to ignore 'rabbi' Gottlieb's radical views.

Either way, this speaks volumes about the Obama campaign's judgment.

The fact that the campaign announced 'rabbi' Gottlieb's participation in "Rabbis for Obama" at around the same time that it was announced that former President Jimmy Carter -- who has met with Hamas and has been a virulent critic of Israel -- will speak at the Democratic Convention, highlights the insensitivity of the Obama campaign to the concerns of the Jewish community.

JEWISH PRESS: Obama Campaign Enlisting Support from Radical, Anti-Israel Rabbis By: Lori Lowenthal Marcus

Some of the "Rabbis for Obama" group in conversation with an Ayatollah on their recent visit to Iran. Photo Credit: Shalom Rav blog

According to Noah Pollack, executive director of the Emergency Committee for Israel, President Obama’s attitude towards Jewish voters is astonishing.

Speaking to The Jewish Press, Pollack said, “the Rabbis for Obama group, which includes Jews who are amongst the most hostile to Israel anywhere in America, underscores the lack of seriousness with which they take their effort to convince pro-Israel voters that this president is pro-Israel.”

Earlier this week the Obama campaign announced the formation of a Rabbis for Obama group which includes rabbis from nearly 40 states. In heralding the formation of the group, Ira Forman, the Obama campaign’s Jewish outreach director said in a  news release that these “rabbis represents a broad group of respected Jewish leaders from all parts of the country. These rabbis mirror the diversity of American Jewry.”

Not exactly.

It’s not just that the list is heavily dominated by politically liberal rabbis from non-traditional denominations, but, as many have pointed out, there is a large number of rabbis on the list who are in the forefront of organized efforts to delegitimize Israel.

For example, almost a third of the rabbinical council of the radical-left, anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace are members of Rabbis for Obama, including the JVP co-chair, Rabbi Brant Rosen.  JVP is the leading advocacy group for economic terrorism against Israel.  JVP promotes the Boycotting of Israeli goods; Divestment of stocks from Israeli companies, and Sanctions against the Jewish State (“BDS”).

Rabbi Brant Rosen, who recently toured Iran with a JVP delegation (along with BDS promoter Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb), came back convinced that all the governments involved in the dispute are wrong, but, especially, ”the role of the Israel lobby in the Iran issue has been nothing short of shameful.  And at times openly, brazenly disingenuous” (posted on his Shalom Rav blog).

Rabbis for Human Rights is another organization which promotes left-wing causes in the name of Judaism, and is a frequent critic of what they call Israel’s “occupation” of the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria.  Nearly a dozen members of Rabbis for Obama are members of Rabbis for Human Rights, including three members of its executive committee.

To date, nothing has helped to better define Obama as the most anti-Israel president since Jimmy Carter.

The Republican Jewish Coalition issued a press release on Thursday, calling on the Obama campaign to remove what it called the “Obama Campaign’s Radical Rabbi.”  The RJC was referring to Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb.  In its release, the RJC said, “Rabbi Gottlieb has a long and troubling history, which includes dining with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, being the first American rabbi to visit Tehran, and serving in an organization, Jewish Voice for Peace, which the Anti-Defamation League has called one of the ‘top ten anti-Israel groups.’”

Although the RJC only singled out Gottlieb, and only mentioned her membership in JVP in its call for the Obama campaign to reject her endorsement, there are many other anti-Israel aspects to members of the list. For one thing, Gottlieb is the initiator of the “Jewish Fast for Gaza.” This  group, which includes several other members of the rabbis for Obama list, have committed to monthly daytime fasts to “give witness to the violation of Palestinian rights.”  The language of the Fast for Gaza manifesto evokes the Yom Kippur liturgy, but with an odd twist:

Fasting is a form of lament. We mourn the death and injury of tens of thousands of people caused by Israeli enforcement of the infrastructure of occupation. We call on an end to the systematic violence described in The Goldstone Report and many other first hand accounts of occupation.

The Emergency Committee for Israel sent a letter to President Obama on Thursday, pointing out the discrepancy between the campaign’s rhetoric of support for Israel, and the inclusion of rabbis in the campaign who have “demonstrated a deep hostility to the state of Israel and a deep commitment to demonizing the Jewish state and undermining the U.S.-Israel alliance.”

The ECI’s Pollack could not understand how a presidential campaign, with hundreds on staff, apparently did not bother to check into the backgrounds of the rabbis whose names are being used to prove the president’s pro-Israel bona fides.  “It’s like they are just phoning it in,” he said.

When asked whether ECI would be content with the removal of Lynn Gottlieb from the Rabbis for Obama list, Pollack said no.

“There are clear red lines here that have been crossed by so many rabbis on this list, support for the now-repudiated anti-Israel Goldstone Report, promotion of BDS, charging Israeli leaders with war crimes, there should have been some level of concern that such anti-Israel radicals are on the list,” said Pollack, “it was clear there was none.”

President Obama’s Jewish outreach director, Ira Forman, did not respond to a request from The Jewish Press for comment, but by mid-day Thursday the Obama campaign had issued an official rejection of the criticism.

“The President’s strong support of Israel and toughest-ever actions against Iran has led rabbis from across the political spectrum to express their support for the president and have committed to seeing him reelected,” a campaign official told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “The President obviously does not endorse or embrace their every affiliation, action or utterance.”

About the Author: Lori Lowenthal Marcus is the US correspondent for The Jewish Press. She is also president of Z STREET, a pro-Israel, pro-truth organization, and chair of the executive committee of the National Conference on Jewish Affairs.

Norman Finkelstein - Political scientist - BBC HARDtalk 2012

"American Presidents have long been criticised for being too in thrall to the Jewish lobby. That American Jews influence US foreign policy and that explains America's unwavering support for Israel. So what happens if American Jews fall out of love with Israel? That's what the Jewish American academic Norman Finkelstein claims is happening. He says they are now so unhappy with what Israel is doing that they want to distance themselves from the country. But then he is nothing if not controversial. He, after all, is famous for accusing Jews of exploiting the Holocaust. And his actions have so incensed Israel it's banned him from entering the country. Could he be right and if he is what does that mean for Middle East policy?"

Who made this statement this past week?

(a) A disgruntled fringe neo-Nazi
(b) Some poor soul ranting on their Facebook page
(c) The BBC

Sadly, as you can see in the clip above, the answer is C. This ugly assertion is the host’s opening line in an episode of this past week’s BBC HARDtalk program. This vicious garbage isn’t “sort of” or “almost” anti-Semitic; it is the real thing: vivid, unapologetic, odious and wrong.

The BBC presenter, hopefully just reading a script that some fool of a writer threw up on the teleprompter, (or, as some readers suggest in the comments since this post first appeared, voicing a view that she does not personally endorse) gives voice to some of the dumbest and ugliest classic anti-Semitic tropes. To speak of “the Jews” in the aggregate, as though they form a monolithic super-entity with a single view and agenda, is exactly the kind of thinking that gutter anti-Semitism embraces in every age. To talk of an all-powerful “Jewish lobby” which controls American foreign policy is to embrace the paranoid fantasies of the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

But don’t take Via Meadia‘s word for it. Listen to some of Israel’s most strident critics in America–Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, authors of the deeply problematic The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy–explain just how wrongheaded the term “Jewish lobby” is. Responding to a negative review of their book in NY Times, the professors write:

Gelb refers repeatedly to a “Jewish lobby,” despite the fact that we never employ the term in our book. Indeed, we explicitly rejected this label as inaccurate and misleading, both because the lobby includes non-Jews like the Christian Zionists and because many Jewish Americans do not support the hard-line policies favored by its most powerful elements. The Israel lobby, we emphasized, is defined by its “specific political agenda … not the religious or ethnic identity of those pushing it.”

(Full disclosure: Les Gelb, author of that review and former President of the Council on Foreign Relations is both a former boss and a valued friend. His review of the book was brilliant.)

Somehow, the BBC intro, which gaily and giddily rushes in where Walt and Mearsheimer fear to tread, managed to miss these basic truths. Apparently in educated British circles you can now voice the most virulent and stupid ideas as if they were simple common sense. What is this “Jewish influence” that the Beeb thinks makes a mockery of American democracy and controls the ignorant Gentile masses, who are but passive putty in the hands of their sinister Jewish overlords?

Is it George Soros, Barbra Streisand, Peter Beinart and Noam Chomsky? Is it John Hagee, Mitt Romney, Bill O’Reilly and Sarah Palin?

American Jews voted against George W. Bush in overwhelming numbers. American Jews gave far more money to the Gore and Kerry campaigns than to the Bush campaign. President Obama remains far more popular with American Jews than with any other ‘white’ ethnic group. Yet all over the world, George W. Bush’s Israel policy was seen as the result of the supposedly irresistible power of “Jewish” money and “Jewish” influence. In reality, if Jewish money and Jewish votes controlled the American political system, George W. Bush would never have gotten past the White House door. But little facts like that can’t disturb the Beeb’s serene faith in the overwhelming might and sinister Zionist fixation of “the Jews.”

And the opposition that derailed President Obama’s initial approach toward Israel? Obviously, those dirty Jews again — never mind that a majority supports him still. Facts live in one place and narratives live in another; there is no need for them ever to meet when you are broadcasting for the BBC.

No, the Beeb knows a Jewish lobby when it sees one. This taxpayer-supported broadcast would have viewers believe that there is a shared, sinister Jewish agenda being imposed upon the American body politic through “influence” rather than democracy. To the addled mind of the Jew hater, “the Jews” act in concert, of one mind, with irresistible force and with a single pernicious agenda. Israel policy is thus set by the fiat of the 1.8% of the population that is Jewish, rather than the prevailing opinions of the 98.2% that is not — a formulation that ignores both the diversity of views among the 1.8 percent and the political ideas and preferences of the non-Jewish majority.

The BBC host and her writers would doubtless bristle at the suggestion that they were uncritically blasting the most blatant and ignorant anti-Semitic tropes over the airwaves. After all, the host does forcefully interrogate Israel critic Norman Finkelstein in the interview that follows. There can be no denying that the episode makes a conscious effort to be fair-minded and is much, much better than its catastrophically nasty and inaccurate lead.

But this is why the casual deployment of the phrase “Jewish lobby” at its outset is so disquieting. The presence of the centuries-old canard on a respectable television show reminds us how difficult it can be to root out generations worth of cultural prejudice. The presenter’s opening assertion is so shocking not because she’s trying to be anti-Semitic, but because she’s trying so hard not to be–and yet fails to avoid the crudest kind of mistake.

Just as studies regularly show that subconscious racism still prevails in America even among those without a conscious racist bone in their bodies, moments like this on the BBC reveal just how difficult it truly is to eradicate anti-Semitic attitudes even in the most enlightened and progressive sectors of contemporary Europe.

But fight those attitudes we must. For when these dangerous assumptions about Jews are allowed to fester, they soon create an atmosphere which is dangerous for Jews and where violence against them becomes increasingly commonplace–as we are seeing today across Europe, from France to Sweden, not to mention the rising anti-Jewish invective in places likeGermany, Hungary and Norway. If evils aren’t fought, they will grow.

Via Meadia spends quite a bit of time calling attention to the ominous rise of anti-Semitism around the world. It isn’t because we think that anti-Semitism is the only form of hate and bigotry in the world, or that we think that it is more important to fight prejudice against Jews than prejudice against other people. But anti-Semitism, besides being on the ascent at times when many other forms of hatred are mostly on the back foot, is particularly dangerous, and not just because of what anti-Semitism can do and has done to the Jews.

The rise of anti-Semitism is a sign of widespread social and cultural failure. It is a leading indicator of a loss of faith in liberal values and of a diminished capacity to understand the modern world and to thrive in it. Societies that tolerate anti-Semitism take a fateful step toward the loss of both freedom and prosperity. People who think “the Jews” run the banks lose the ability to understand, much less to operate financial systems. People who think “the Jews” dominate business through hidden structures can’t build or long maintain a successful modern economy. People who think “the Jews” dominate politics lose their ability to interpret political events, to diagnose social evils and to organize effectively for positive change. People who think “the Jews” run the media and control the news lose the ability to grasp what is happening around them. And people who think “the Jews” control America’s Middle Eastern policy lose the ability to understand, much less to influence, American policy in this vital part of the world. Emancipation from anti-Semitism is thus one of the necessary steps that many individuals and cultures have to take before they are able to act effectively and participate meaningfully in contemporary life.

Jew hatred isn’t more stupid or more wicked than other forms of racial and religious hatred. The anti-black bigot is as delusional as the Jew hater; hatred and prejudice of all kinds corrode the intelligence and degrade the spirit of everyone who suffers from them. But Jew hatred is more disempowering and self-defeating than most other kinds of hate because it involves not only negative emotions about a group of people but a deeply false set of ideas about how the world works.

Confident, forward-looking and dynamic societies are neither threatened by Jewish success nor offended by the cultural diversity that results from the free participation of Jews in civic and cultural life. They can come to grips with the vicissitudes of capitalist economics without being sidetracked by conspiracy theories and fantasies.

Failing societies and weak minds, on the other hand, are easily seduced by attractive but empty generalizations. The comment attributed to August Bebel that anti-Semitism is the socialism of fools can be extended to many other kinds of cheap and superficial errors that people make. The baffled, frustrated and the bewildered seek a grand, simplifying hypothesis that can bring some kind of ordered explanation to a confusing world; anti-Semitism is one of the glittering frauds that attract the overwhelmed and the uncomprehending.

Hitler and his followers believed that “the Jews” were responsible for Germany’s external and internal problems. They really believed that “the Jews” controlled American policy and that in both the US and the USSR “the Jews” worked systemically to weaken and degrade nations so foolish as to host them. Hitler really thought that “the Jews” in the United States and the USSR would inevitably make those countries his enemies — but that “the Jews” had so weakened and corrupted those countries with their destructive, parasitical behavior that neither the US nor the USSR could beat him in battle.  Those errors weren’t just intellectual curiosities; they shaped the key strategic decisions that destroyed his regime. “The Jews” didn’t bring Hitler and his movement down, but his hateful and stupid ideas about them blinded him — and that blindness led to his fall even as it also led him and his followers to commit unspeakable crimes.

Not to compare them to Hitler, but Palestinians and Arabs under the delusion that “the Jews” are responsible for American policy in the Middle East have squandered tens of millions of dollars and wasted decades in foolish strategies to change American opinion based on this grotesque misconception of American realities. Europeans under that same delusion fail to grasp how American policy works, what its priorities and limits are, and where there is room for friendly outsiders to intervene with effect.

Jew haters don’t understand how the world works; anti-Semitism is both a cause and a consequence of a basic failure to comprehend the way pluralistic and liberal societies behave. As a result, nations and political establishments warped by this hatred tend to make one dumb decision after another — starting at shadows, warding off imaginary dangers, misunderstanding the nature of the problems they face.

Via Meadia‘s fight against anti-Semitism isn’t just about solidarity with threatened or scapegoated Jews. It is also about the fight for lucidity, liberalism and sound social and international policy. Where Jew hatred flourishes, no freedom is safe and no country is strong.

Anti-Semitism is not just a moral obscenity; it is the road to intellectual and political ruin. At Via Meadia we will do what we can to dissuade people from venturing down this blindest of alleys.

Birds of a Feather, Flock Together.....

MidEastTruth.com Clown of the Year Award for 2011: Thomas L. Friedman

It was a very bad year for New York Times journalist Tomas Friedman.
The award is going to Friedman not only because of his repeated, outrageous anti-Israel op-eds, or because of his obvious personal hostility towards Israel PM, Benjamin Netanyahu . . .
The reason we chose Thomas Friedman to be the MidEastTruth.com Clown of the Year for 2011 is his pathetically naive optimism regarding the Egypt revolution. When every Mideast expert warned about the possibility of the Muslim Brotherhood taking power, Friedman was euphoric and said he truly believed that the secular, Facebook-using young generation is the "real Egypt".

"Last February, after visiting Tahrir Square, the rallying point of the Egyptian revolution, Friedman exulted that the "people" had achieved "freedom" and were heading toward democracy. He dismissed concerns that the Muslim Brotherhood would become a dominant party." - Isi Leibler, The Jerusalem Post, December 19, 2011