In light of the events in Charlottesville I ask, paraphrasing the words of the immortal Coen Brothers: “O Bibi, Where Are Thou?”
After France and its Jewish community suffered Islamist terror attacks, you were a veritable Lion of Judah. You hopped the first flight to Paris to stand courageously with your Diaspora brothers and sisters in solidarity…well, sort of. You couldn’t restrain your inner-Zionist and told French Jewry (and all of European Jewry for that matter) that it had no future in its homeland. That it’s only hope was to make aliyah and be “safe” in the land of their fathers, Israel.
Many of the French Jews in the synagogue that day didn’t take well to your Zio-chauvinism and linked arms singing the Marseillaise–to drown out those other audience members singing HaTikvah. But many French Jews responded to your call and did make aliyah. The numbers doubled that year. Oh how you crowed for joy to realize the Zionist dream of the ingathering of the exiles. But then the flow receded the next year and returned to their normal level in the following year. So Bibi’s call for mass emigration didn’t work out as he planned. French Jews remain French.
But ironically, Bibi’s response to anti-Semitism in the U.S. is entirely different. Basically, there is no response. Radio silence. When anti-Semites desecrated Jewish cemeteries in St. Louis: silence. When Trump failed to mention the 6-million in his Holocaust Day message: silence. When armed neo-Nazis menaced the Jews of Charlottesville davening on Shabbat: silence.
This is no accident. Bibi not only doesn’t care about American Jews (they’re far too liberal and Democratic for his taste), he’s joined at the hip to his soul brother, Donald Trump. Bibi has a permanent alliance with the GOP. Trump is his man. Bibi, like any good vassal, brings tribute to his master. His tribute is absolute loyalty (a quality Trump particularly values).
If Donald Trump says the Nazis were “fine people,” then who is Bibi to question? If they shouted anti-Semitic slogans, well who says “Jews will not replace us” is anti-Semitic anyway??
Anti-Semitic Attack on Charlottesville Temple on Shabbat
Just in case Bibi is living in same sort of gold-plated cocoon as Donald Trump, let’s inform him–here’s what real Jews suffered through last Shabbat:
Forty congregants were inside [the temple last Shabbat]. Here’s what I witnessed during that time.
For half an hour, three men dressed in fatigues and armed with semi-automatic rifles stood across the street from the temple. Had they tried to enter, I don’t know what I could have done to stop them, but I couldn’t take my eyes off them, either. Perhaps the presence of our armed guard deterred them. Perhaps their presence was just a coincidence, and I’m paranoid. I don’t know.
Several times, parades of Nazis passed our building, shouting, “There’s the synagogue!” followed by chants of “Seig Heil” and other anti-Semitic language. Some carried flags with swastikas and other Nazi symbols.
In this eyewitness testimony penned by the Temple president, he notes that alt-right websites went crazy after the Saturday protests, calling for the synagogue to be burnt to the ground. To any Jew with even an ounce of historical memory, this recalls an actual tragedy in which hundreds of Jews were burned to death in Poland inside their synagogue. But to Bibi and Trump, victims of profound amnesia, this signifies nothing.
How does a Jew and Zionist ignore such displays without responding with even an ounce of sympathy? The short answer is that self-interest permits him to abandon these values. This means Bibi isn’t a ZIonist. He’s an Opportunist. Thus, when it comes to a choice between your fellow Jews and your political patron, Bibi has an easy choice. He chooses Trump every time. It doesn’t matter that Trump’s father was arrested at a KKK rally, that Trump hires Hungarian Nazis to work in the White House. Much can be forgiven from a man who offers Israel a green light to do anything and everything it wishes in the region.
Nor is this an anomaly: Bibi has struck alliances with other anti-Semites across Europe and the Middle East. Despite the protests of Hungarian Jews, Bibi excused the anti-Semitic ravings of the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orban; and his anti-Semitic attack on Hungarian-American Jewish financier, George Soros. In fact, Bibi piled on by accusing Soros of supporting enemies of the State of Israel (Israeli human rights NGOs, which have apparently become ‘traitors to their race’).
Israel’s new bromance with the Sunni states also demands that Bibi hold his nose at the overt anti-Semitism for which the Saudi Wahabis are known (Protocols of the Elders of Zion, anyone?). Because the Saudis can advance Bibi’s political interests by demonizing Iran (thus giving Israelis yet another reason to keep him in power), their moral flaws are excused and ignored.
Israeli Media Offer Platform for Neo-Nazi, Richard Spencer
Meanwhile, American Jews were treated to the revolting spectacle of Israeli Channel 2 offering a platform to the leader of the Charlottesville terror attack, Richard Spencer. Among the numerous outrageous stunt-like comments Spencer offered was that he was a “white Zionist.” He also parroted another hoary Nazi slur–exploiting it in order to justify the anti-Semitic slogans heard last Saturday–that Jews are “overrepresented” in the “historic left:”
One question for the producers of this monstrosity: would you have interviewed Adolf Hitler in 1933??
StandWithUs Facebook Friends Support Charlottesville Nazis
On Facebook, the Israel advocacy group, StandWithUs, posted a typically cliched statement denouncing “hatred and bigotry.” But what they didn’t bargain for was the defense of Nazi violence in the comment thread. Among the choicer ones:
“Dont forget the Black Lives Matter hate group too! Seems like they were flown in from all over the US and really started the violence. They are extremely anti- Jewish and anti- Zionist as much as the Neo nazis.”
‘Was the broad who got killed part of that Antifa trash?”
“All THREE groups are Nazis!”
“I will be withdrawing my support and membership of this group as it is clear to me that rather than take the trouble of researching what actually occurred and who was responsible, you have taken the lazy option of becoming apologists for a lie…….I no longer trust you to report the truth.”
“I vehemently disagree with your opinion. I consider BLM to be a domestic terrorist group and a black supremacist formation…”
Jamie Ross “No condemnation for the racist people who attacked a peaceful march standing up for white historical heritage which is being attacked and removed because blacks cannot deal with history they don’t like.”
Kenneth Ellis “Why don’t you mention blm or the antifa. One is a hate group the other Fascist . Who were bused in to start trouble. Why the police just stood and watched.”
Carol Hasidim StandWithUs “are you going to get it wrong too?! Condemning the alt-right and the Nazis is fine but you left out the far left. Their anti-Semitism is just as palpable and was on display. Shame on you for getting caught up in the PC nonsense.”
“Our President was absolutely right in his initial condemnation of ALL those hateful groups. Initially, there was no confirmation which group the actual murderer belonged to. Those criticizing his statement have their own agenda and peace & love is not part of it.”
“Southern Pride is not about hate, it’s about preserving history and heritage; and every Jew in the United States owes just a little bit of gratitude. Sadly none of you are aware of this because the only thing that is taught today is how evil the South was; and while it is true, they did do unspeakable things, there were many people who stood for what is right. Remember that.”
Mindless Response of an Israeli Zionist
Israeli political journalist, Tal Schneider, had a different, but no less troubling response to Charlottesville:
watching the horrifying torches& swastikas in #charlottsville I want to say to my fellow Jews brothers & sisters: come to Israel, just come!
— Tal Schneider (@talschneider) August 14, 2017
Note that Tal doesn’t offer an ounce of sympathy for American Jews. She doesn’t seek to understand their emotions. She immediately goes into Zio-mode and decides the real and only solution to the problem is for American Jews to make aliyah. This is a mindless, insensitive, but typically Zionist response. It ignores who Diaspora Jews are as Jews or human beings. It sees them instead as disembodied figures in a Zionist passion-play.
One of the egregious faults of her tweet lies in the assumption that American Jews would be safer or more secure in Israel than in their native land. Clearly, this isn’t the case, as Israeli Jews are not only subject to terror attacks, but their children must serve in the IDF, where they also may die in an endless series of wars against the Arab peoples of the region.
Michael Cohen: Some of His Best Friends Are…
Trump’s real estate lawyer and lately a White House functionary, Michael Cohen, had his own unique Jewish response to Charlottesville. Apparently, he’s feeling a tad defensive about standing by his man and meal ticket despite the overt Jew hate heard throughout the town that day. So he tweeted this doozy:
As the son of a holocaust survivor, I have no tolerance for #racism. Just because I support @POTUS @realDonaldTrump doesn’t make me a racist pic.twitter.com/lfIwdosreE
— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) August 16, 2017
All I can say is that for a child of Holocaust survivors to believe he can stand behind a man who openly supports neo-Nazis and white supremacists, requires a devastating bout of historical amnesia. But like Bibi, Cohen can excuse many things from the man who has been his meal ticket for a decade or more. When David Friedman called J Street “worse than kapos,” he had the wrong target. If anyone aids and abets Nazis it’s Jews like Cohen.
The leadership of the Israel Lobby has reacted in typically schizoid fashion. Sure, there have been the standard denunciations of anti-Semitism. That’s to be expected. But there was also the dawning realization that the antifa activists defending the status of Thomas Jefferson on the UVA campus; and the left-wing protesters who fought back the next day against the gun-toting white supremacist thugs, were not precisely pro-Israel caliber. They understood that this movement, these social justice warriors would never take Israel’s side. Therefore, they too were suspected in a fashion similar to the way Trump suspected them.
That’s why the ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt could denounce Trump’s waffling in one tweet and retweet an Anshel Pfeffer Haaretz column saying “a pox on both your houses,” since the “hard-left” is no friend of Jews or Israel:
dude you tweeted these like 8 hours apart… pic.twitter.com/6b27SSJ1dx
— Isaiah Breen (@isikbreen) August 16, 2017
Bibi actually did tweet – (in the English account)
https://twitter.com/IsraeliPM?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
http://www.kan.org.il/Item/?itemId=21655
A bit belatedly. But he’s on vacation – PR pictures of him and Sarah up north.
You might, however, want to look at what his son had to say:
http://www.mako.co.il/news-israel/local-q3_2017/Article-482d812387aed51004.htm
In which he calls the neo-nazis an old and declining threat – and treats BLM and antifa as a stronger and stronger threat.
@ lepxii: Bibi made no comment about Trump’s response. And those tweets were parve at best. Even Aipac criticized Trump ferchrissakes!!
I saw Yair’s comments. He’s quite the little Trump acolyte, isn’t he??
“Anti-Semitic Attack on Charlottesville Temple on Shabbat ”
Richard. The eyewitness Congregation President doesn’t say that his synagogue was attacked.
That’s you editorializing.
This synagogue is located one block away from Emancipation Park, ‘ground zero’, for the disturbances. Therefore, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that armed militiaman were across the street from the synagogue, nor should it surprise anyone that Nazis walking past the synagogue would yell, ‘Seig Heil’. They’re Nazis after all.
If you mean that the subsequent posting on a Nazi website calling for burning the synagogue was the ‘attack’, than you should say so.
@ Anya: You get techy when accused of defending Nazis & yet here you do it again. You must realize that by defending, explaining or rationalizing Nazi behavior you are, in effect, speaking on its behalf, even if indirectly. You’re naive if you don’t realize it & I’ll call you on it every time. There is absolutely no excuse for what Nazis did in front of that temple. None. For a Jew to do what you are doing is inexcusable & indefensible.
And to parse words about whether armed Nazis outside a synagogue constituted an attack on the synagogue is also incomprehensible. You’d quibble with the shamash of the Polish synagogue burned to the ground with hundreds of Jews in it, if he called it an “attack” before the Poles set their torches to the synagogue. Really, you’re a pedant in the face of Jewish suffering. Inexcusable & heartless.
You are officially done in this thread. No more comments here.
We will have these sorts of confrontations as long as people are encouraged to identify with their biological heritage or shared biology, so to speak. If Jews can organize on the basis of “Jewishness” and blacks on the basis of skin and African heritage, why can’t white guys organize on the basis of being white, rather than on the basis of some non-biologic grouping, e.g. American, car enthusiasts, bowling etc. If American Jews and Blacks each have group interests, so also do white guys. Surrounded by such identifications, white guys are just realizing their race identity and do not want to be the background of power which is assailed by other groups, but rather just another race group with interests and grievances.
Everyone blames the “white man” for all the world’s problems and there’s lots of truth to this. However, in America, among the population, “white” is just another identity. The US can today be shoved into war by collusion between a black General and a handful of Jewish neo-cons. It’s not whites only anymore.
Why shouldn’t these guys be able to peaceably march with flags and banners like any other group? So, they want a country free of other groups: A good many Jews want the same thing in the ME. Who are the latter to complain about the white groups ambitions when they have been busy sponsoring ethnic cleansing for decades? The same people who carry signs attesting to the Holocaust and other Jewish tragedies are busy providing material support for a program of inflicting misery on Arabs in Israel/Palestine precisely because they are not Jewish. There is something a bit hypocritical here.
These biologically formed groups are a disaster for the US which sovereignty ought to form the first level of identification, e.g. “American”. for all of us living in the US, Donald Trump notwithstanding.
@ David: Please do not use a generic handle in your comments since there have been, are & will be other commenters with your same name. Adding a last initial should be fine.
It’s preposterous to talk about a “white” culture or heritage as there is no such thing. There are billions of Caucasians in the world & they share neither language, religion, nationality or virtually anything else common to other groups you mention. Jews share language, religion & at one time a common nationality. Blacks in this country have a separate, unique culture from the rest of white America.
I find the notion that there is a white culture to be borderline Nazi ideology. At the very least its a notion to make the Tea Party & neo-Nazis proud. I will not permit such nonsense here. If you want to peddle it, do it somewhere else.
Because they were armed and killed someone & have expressed an intent to kill more. Your comment is so offensive & vapid I’m flabbergasted.
What is “a good many Jews?” 10, 1,000, 10,000, 10-million? Just because some (not “a good many”) Jews want a Jewish state rid of non-Jews doesn’t mean that’s what Israel is or will become. There are far more Israelis who reject this notion. You can’t use a minority to justify the racist aspirations of neo-Nazis. I won’t permit it. You will not sabotage my right to reject white supremacism just because some Israeli Jews are racists. I will not let you do it.
Sorry, but America is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic society. Though Donald Trump & neo-Nazis would have it otherwise there is no homogenous, monolithic definition of “American.” We are a melting pot & it’s what makes us great. We do share things in common, but we have differences too. And the differences are no less important than the commonalities.
I find this comment so off-putting that I reserve the right to moderate or ban you should you violate the comment rules again.
White people in the US DO organize as Irish, Italian, Dutch, Armenian, Greek, German, Jewish…. you name it, and nobody castigates them for celebrating their heritage. Food festivals and cultural festivals around their heritage abound, so what is the problem?
The only reason why blacks celebrate as ‘black’ and not as Senegalese, Congolese, Ghanean etc. is because they have no idea which African country they were taken from. Their ethnic heritage was taken from them and erased, so the only thing they have left and can celebrate, is their common experience and identity as ‘black’ after arriving in the US.
” For a Jew to do what you are doing is inexcusable & indefensible.” “Really, you’re a pedant in the face of Jewish suffering. Inexcusable & heartless.”
First quote: What the writer is doing is thinking clearly. That’s inexcusable because what is required, Richard says, are tears and sympathy. Even so, some people (even Jews) can’t help thinking and trying to understand what is going on, how to put the pieces together.
Second quote: I think we have all heard enough about Jewish suffering to last a good while. Holocaust committees are dedicated to focusing American HS education on the subject, even though the Holocaust was a European phenomenon. And new Holocaust museums spring up all the time in the US. There are now hundreds of Holocaust-centered films from Hollywood most of them fueled by stereotypes. One recent one, a woman retrieves a valuable painting from a German museum. Palestinians, however, cannot retrieve their dish towels, appliances or books. Hollywood doesn’t do features about those people and their suffering. What about the 15 million Chinese slaughtered by the Japanese or the 20 million Soviets who died from Barbarous? Jewish suffering is always in our faces. And maybe this accounts for Jewish privilege.
One way or another, I think this guy’s comments are easily excusable given that RS provided a lot of spin in the first place. I take it that a guy with more “heart” would have let it all slide out of respect for Jewish suffering. This appears to be RS’s position. If so, it is ridiculous.
I guess I am now barred from the blog. Adieu.
@ David:
I think we have all heard enough from you period. That comment is out & out anti-Semitic on its face. And you will hear about Jewish suffering if you continue to read this blog. So if you don’t like it you should head off somewhere else like Mondoweiss where deracinated Jews like Phil Weiss hang out.
No, no, no buddy. You don’t get away with that shit around here. The Holocaust was a human & universal phenomenon as proven by the fact that there have been Holocausts both before it & after. Of course, I don’t believe that Jews have a monopoly on suffering because of the Holocaust, unlike Bibi & his ilk. But I sure as hell won’t permit you to limit the import of the Holocaust to a “European phenomenon.”
THere are literally hundreds of TV & film documentaries on Palestinian suffering. And yes, there has been a Hollywood feature film as well, Miral, based on Rula Jebreal’s book. Sure, there should be more. But permitting Hollywood to be the arbiter on these matters is a major mistake. I don’t let the lack of a film on a subject determine how important the subject is.
I think you’ve banned yourself which is fine with me. You act much like Steve Bannon, who deliberately sabotaged his own job by giving a scabrous Prospect interview. You said things here which you deliberately meant to incite your banning. I’m just glad I didn’t have to do it for you. If you comment again here, you are on notice. Your next offense will be your last.
1. In terms of the study of history, the Holocaust was a European phenomenon. Sure, it was a human tragedy, but it happened in European and involved European type humans. Nothing wrong in identifying this appropriately. The import of the phenomenon is what scholarship is all about. Nothing is accomplished by broadening the category to humankind.
2. One film compared to hundreds of Holocaust films. RS has some trouble with the idea of commensurate, equally so with generalizations he doesn’t like. Generalizations, e.g. “American Jews support the Zionist State.” are tools for discourse and for thinking. It is absurd to actually point out that not ALL American Jews support the Zionist State as this information is both obvious and it is contained or implied within the generalization formatted as a generalization. Everyone understands the idea that a generalization does not have to air tight.
3. The Holocaust has become a sort of business and certainly a weapon in the hands of Zionists. RS uses the Holocaust just like the far right of Israel or right leaning Jews in the US. If RS continues to bandy about this tool, it will remain an effective weapon of choice for defending Zionist Israel. If one sits down to talk about the liberation of Palestinians, the interlocutor immediately alludes to the Holocaust as the sui generis of all arguments. This was 70 or 80 years ago: Let’s get over it and talk about Palestinian suffering here.
4. About identification as an American, perhaps a first cut ID, means to identify with the multicultural, melting pot concept. I don’t know how RS launches into “Sorry, but…” but he is tilting at windmills.
5. So now it is a “minority” of Jews who want a Jewish state with a Jewish majority. Sorry, but that is not the case. I have no doubt it is a large majority of world Jewry, especially among American Jews who have been propagandize relentlessly for decades. I think most Jews are either Zionist (even without knowing it, e.g. “Jews are entitled to a state.”) or indifferent. These sympathizers support Israel on a material basis and are, to this extent, accessories to the crimes of Israel in my estimation. They just don’t know they are accessories to the slaughter of 551 children in August 2014, for example. AIPAC draws 15,000 to its annual love fest. RS is deluded to think that it is just some minority of Jews who want the Jewish state and who support Israel, right or wrong. I cannot account for where RS may have picked up such an idea.
6. There may not be a white culture or even a white American culture, but these people are trying to find one and, in this sense, they are just another ethnic group with there own agenda and interests. To say this is not “borderline” Nazi or White Supremacist and RS comment is just offensive. Given the realities of Jewish support for an ethnic state and all the misery it implies, given this basic racism, i.e. that race is most important, it is fair to ask how such Jews can put themselves in the front line condemning the white supremacists. So, I asked the question by what right do these Jewish racists (“Palestinians are not human” says one.) call these white guys racists? It is the pot calling the kettle, you know. Yet, there they are, these sanctimonious people against racism and especially white supremacist racism. This not hypocrisy I suppose because we all know that Palestine is always the exception. Yet, people die or are incarcerated in Israel primarily because they are not Jewish. There are not “far more” Israelis who don’t support the “Jewish majority” concept. I doubt there are “far more.” In any case, the future of Israel is not bound to the Israelis, is it? It is mixed up with world Jewry, its strategic allies, what Palestinian blow back is undertaken etc. If Israel maintains nuclear hegemony…
In my opinion, liberal Zionism cannot cope with the realities on the ground in IP or in the US. In this particular article, RS expends a lot of energy defending Israel and Jews who support Israel, the Jewish state. I accumulate “Sorry, buts..” from RS almost reflexively and defensively without measured consideration as RS jumps to a conclusion emphasizing statements I “can’t get away with”. I used to think we were on the same team, but that’s just not true anymore. I want Jewish people to stop oppressing Palestinians and, until then, I have no tears to shed for Jews, stolen artworks, holocausts etc. What Jews have done in Palestine and to Palestinians is so hideous as to dominate my sympathies and thinking at this point in time.
If I am out of here, so be it.
@ David J: I was going to delete this comment since it continues along much the same lines as your previous one, in which I warned you you might be moderated or banned if you continued along the same anti-Semitic lines. You have, so I do plan on banning you. Before doing that, I wanted to address the odious, false claims you’ve raised here. By the way, you said in your last comment that you would not comment further here. But I see you go back on your own promises. So I will help you along.
You have the same condition that most hasbara commenters have here. I write something quite clearly. Then to rebut it you don’t quote what I write, but rather summarize it in your own words and inevitably change what I wrote. In your case, virtually every claim you make about my views is completely wrong & not what I wrote or believe. SO let’s review:
Certainly everything is gained by putting the Holocaust in perspective as a human, rather than geo-specific tragedy. By labelling it as European you think you can minimize its significance for the world by narrowing the impact to Europe. Well, you can’t & I won’t let you. The Jews are in a class with Rwandans, Congolese, Cambodians, Armenians, and Bosnians who’s all suffered genocides, slightly lesser in quantity, but no less painful in reality. Jews have as much right to tell the world about their suffering as all other victims of other genocides. You will not take that away.
Wrong again. I said one ‘Hollywood feature film,’ not one film. As I said, there have been hundreds of serious documentaries on Palestinian suffering. Those are “films.” There may also be other feature films I’m not aware of. But I know for sure of Miral, which you conveniently omitted. Given how sensitive you are to Palestinian suffering I’m rather surprised you weren’t aware of it. Or were you & just failed to mention that?
You have just put in quotes a statement I never made. And this isn’t the first time. Unless, you’re trying to put your own version of what I wrote in quotes in which case you’re quoting yourself, which is bizarre.
It’s certainly not absurd when you try to make the false point that all Jews are one thing or another because they all fully support one thing or another, as you’ve done. There is no black & white here as you’ve attempted to argue.
Yes, a generalization that claims that all Jews do or believe something has to be air-tight. In fact, saying all of anything believes something is no longer a generalization. It is an outright declarative statement, and therefore wrong in your case.
That’s neither what you originally wrote (to which I was responding) nor what I wrote. You wrote that Jews what a Jew-free state. Just to be precise, I’ll quote your statement:
You said nothing originally about a Jewish ‘majority’ nor did you restrict your claim to Israeli Jews. You said “Jews.” And it is factually wrong that Israeli Jews or all “Jews” want a Jew free state (“a country free of other groups”). Of course, a majority of Israeli Jews want a Jewish majority state. But not a Jew-free state as you wrote.
I also would never claim a minority of Jews want a Jewish majority in Israel, either. A majority of all Jews (Diaspora & Israeli) want a Jewish majority. Personally, I don’t care about whether Jews are a majority or minority in Israel. Many Jews agree with me. But we’re probably not yet the majority. You are extremely sloppy intellectually and in your writing.
Never said it, nor do I believe the words you put in mouth.
You stated explicitly in your original comment there was such a culture (“white guys are just realizing their race identity”). Now you wisely have backed off that false claim.
Everything about the white identity movement is a fabrication as are your claims about it. Nazism was also a people striving after a fabricated Aryan heritage. Because Hitler strove to find & asserted there was an Aryan race or identity, does that mean we must take him at face value & accept the claim? No, of course not. No more should we attribute any validity to the neo-Nazi bogus claims about a white identity or culture. It doesn’t exist. Never did. Never will.
No, it isn’t “borderline.” It’s out and out white supremacism. I don’t permit such nonsense here. Another reason you’re gone after my reply.
You’ve exposed yourself once again as a supporter of Nazism. I never said that Jews were a race. Hitler said that. Frankly, I don’t know what a race is. The concept is too vague to mean anything specific to me. I know the concrete aspects of Jewish identity which include religion, language, culture, ethnicity, etc. Race? That’s something you’ll have to take up with Hitler or Eichmann or Richard Spencer.
That’s an easy one: six-million. Six million Jews murdered by a race-obsessed maniac, whose views you are aping.
No it isn’t. I’m neither the pot nor the kettle. I’m a Jew who, knowing my history, denounces precisely the injustices you falsely claim I have no right to object to. Your views are beyond odious.
You’re Jew-baiting now.
Actually, they die & are incarcerated because they are Palestinian. Not because they are not Jewish. If your claim was true then the neo-Nazis visiting Israel would be arrested as both neo-Nazis AND non-Jews. But they’re not because today’s Zionists have a great deal of use for non-Jews. But only the right non-Jews.
Again, false. Israel’s future is Israel’s and Israel’s alone. Most Israelis don’t even believe your claim that the Diaspora has a decisive role in determining Israel’s fate. WHile some Diaspora Jews may still believe this old saw, it’s rapidly dying out. It’s a myth, which is something you deal with quite intensely.
Israelis are oppressing Palestinians. They are not oppressing them in the name of the Jewish people. And any that are are completely renounced by me and many, many Diaspora Jews. I have consistently rejected your anti-Semitic canard & said so over many years.
I had no idea you were such an anti-Semite. You concealed your views quite cleverly. But now we see you in all your ugliness. Be gone!
I must say I admire Mr. Silverstein’s creativity. The ability to take an event, any event, and use it to knock Bibi and Israel- an artist!
It is best not to take too close a look at what he actually says.”After France and its Jewish community suffered Islamist terror attacks, you were a veritable Lion of Judah.”, but in the US “When anti-Semites desecrated Jewish cemeteries in St. Louis: silence. ” Bibi is supposed to react to cemeteries being desecrated the same way he reacts to Jews being murdered? Give me a break.
“Meanwhile, American Jews were treated to the revolting spectacle of Israeli Channel 2 offering a platform to the leader of the Charlottesville terror attack, Richard Spencer.” Guess what? Letting someone you despise speak doesn’t mean you agree with them. In Israel the kind of censorship that is common on US campuses (where violence is sometimes used to silence people who will say the “wrong thing”) hasn’t taken root. There is still a free press. If you want to understand your enemy- you’ve got to listen to them.
In short- a very impressive piece of creative writing. You can enjoy it, just like you can enjoy a good thriller. Just don’t make the mistake of thinking it is reality.
@ Joel:
Gee, the Jew I was raised to be is shocked & outraged by the desecration of Jewish burial grounds. I guess wherever you were raised Jewish cemeteries were of secondary significance. So yes, I expect an Israeli PM who claims to represent all the Jews of the world (even though he doesn’t) to speak up when such an outrage occurs in one of the largest Jewish communities in the world.
As for Channel 2: it isn’t merely that Spencer is someone I despise, he’s someone accused of being an accessory to murder. So if you despise Adolf Hitler would you have interviewed him on your TV channel in 1933? If you say you would you’re either a liar (likely) or a poseur (also possible).
You’re dreaming. Censorship and suppression of political expression is rampant on Israeli campuses. In fact, I’ve documented it in numerous posts. Could you go back to Hasbara Central & ask them to train future air passengers dropping in here to read my blog posts on subjects on which they wish to opine. It would save them the embarrassment of being called out for being either lazy or a fool (which one are you?).
Israel has a free press? Again, a subject on which I’ve written perhaps 100 posts & freelance articles, all disproving your vapid claim.
As for reality, I don’t ever make the mistake of confusing your comments for reality.
Richard Richard.
Desecration of Jewish burial grounds is shocking, but to pretend that it is the same as murder is ridiculous, and you are smart enough to know that. Unfortunately it happens far too often, in the US and in many other countries. The Prime Minister is not the Anti-Defamation League. He does have other things to worry about. So it is completely reasonable for him to respond to the occasional murderous cases of antisemitism, and not to hundreds of less violent events.
There is no need to call people who are critical of you lazy or fools. It is a poor way of defending yourself.
Do you want the local press to hide what the Nazi’s are saying from Israelis?
By the way: do you hate Israel, or just want to change it?
@ Joel:
That’s nonsense. THere are NO instances of scores if not hundreds of gravestones desecrated in a single cemetery in recent memory. This was a major event as proven by its coverage in U.S. & international media.
Your PM knows when it benefits him politically to get involved in events of the most miniscule importance. Far less important that this. Further, I’m shocked you haven’t seen the scores of article whic followed mine in both the Israeli & world media which excoriated Bibi for precisely the reason I did. So it seems that most of the world understands & agrees with my shock & denunciation of his behavior. But you, alas, are the outlier (as always in these matters).
BTW, he barely mentioned Heather Heyer’s murder, Trump’s insulting response or the Neo Nazi violence. A short FB video & that’s it. It also received virtually no coverage. Believe me, the PM knows how to receive world media coverage if he wants it. And he clearly didn’t in this case.
I will call people lazy or fools if they deserve it. You deserved it.
This is a major comment rule violation. Read the comment rules. Do not make this mistake again. If you ever even ask the same insulting question you will be moderated or banned. If you want to provoke me you will be the one to lose. Unless that is you wish to be banned.
Richard, let’s try this again.
if we look at the logic of your argument, it goes like this:
Bibi did respond to antisemitic event A in France
Bible did not respond to antisemitic event B in the US
Therefore, Bibi cares about French Jews, but does not care about American Jews.
This makes sense. IF event A and event B were comparable.
Are you saying that desecration of a cemetery and multiple murder are comparable crimes? That the reaction to them should be identical?
I will try to be more polite here, but it would help if you didn’t label people as fools and the like when you disagree with them. It sets a tone.
@ Joel:
No. You hasbarists must learn that the moment you say: here’s what you wrote or “here’s what you believe” or “Here’s your argument” you can be 100% certain that you haven’t captured it at all. In fact, that you’ve deliberately massacred or at least distorted what I said or believe.
Not at all. Bibi doesn’t care for French or American Jews. Neither of them. But he can afford to attack French anti-Semitism because he’s staked his current politics on attacking the EU for being anti-Semitic or insufficiently pro-Israel. So of course he’s going to attack France for killing Jews.
Considerations are precisely the opposite in the U.S. Bibi’s staked his entire political being on alliance with the U.S. far-right (GOP, Tea Party, evangelicals, etc). So of course he can’t attack a U.S. GOP president even if he’s a dipshit anti-Semite (as Trump is).
You’re done in this thread.
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Power user
Israel’s spiral down the toilet of history is truly shocking. Who would have thought the one and only country to stick by Trump would be the state that once declared “Never Again”. It was reported today that even Russia is calling Trump out on his alliance with white supremacists, which says something.
But then, we must remember who and what Netanyahu is. He is, at his core, a white supremacist. He rejected Obama pretty much based on the fact that it was a black man with a Muslim middle name. No other reason, really. And if you question the average Israeli, you’ll find that most agree with Netanyahu’s white supremacist views (which is why they keep voting him into power). Most Israelis are rabid racists, and that is simply a fact.
So here we are: Israel acting as Trump’s loyal poodle, while the rest of the world turns its back on this vile man. It is my fond hope that Israel’s alliance with white supremacists will cost it dearly in world public opinion and serve to focus world view on the racist and ethno-supremacist nature of Israel.
Though much hidden from the media, Israel was tight with Supremacist South Africa for a long time. It wasn’t just weapons sales by sharing of ideas to control “others.” Israel may even have provided some nuclear expertise.
Danny,
“But then, we must remember who and what Netanyahu is. He is, at his core, a white supremacist. He rejected Obama pretty much based on the fact that it was a black man with a Muslim middle name. No other reason, really.”
This is true- in your imagination. Obama was not good for Israel. That deal with Iran was bad news. Please- if you don’t like Bibi, do so for real reasons, and not out of blind hatred.