I don’t understand what the big deal is. At worst, it sounds like a bit of overexuberant anti-Zionism:
A senior official will be punished for his racist outburst warning Malaysia’s ethnic Chinese minority not to become greedy for political and economic power, the prime minister said Tuesday. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the leaders of Malaysia’s 14-party ruling coalition unanimously rejected Ahmad Ismail’s remarks and that they “want swift and firm action to be taken” against him. Ahmad, a district chief in the United Malays National Organization ruling party, claimed that the Malay majority was losing patience with minorities, particularly ethnic Chinese politicians. “I urge the Chinese not to become like the Jewish in America, where it is not enough that they control the economy, but they also want to dominate politics,” Ahmad told a news conference late Monday in northern Penang state. “Consider this a warning from the Malays,” Ahmad said. “The patience of the Malays has a limit. Do not push us against the wall, for we will be forced to turn back and push the Chinese for our own survival.”
Walt and Mearsheimer keep insisting that their work isn’t anti-Semitic. And yet their work keeps getting used by virulent anti-Semites for virulently anti-Semitic purposes. I wonder if that has anything to do with their insistence that Israel State is the exception to everything else that’s true about how the world works. That’s certainly one explanation, since “Jews are the exception” has a long and storied pedigree as a basis for anti-Semitism. The other option is that their work is just out-and-out anti-Semitic.
On a totally different note: that faux objective “patience is running out” line – the idea being that the speaker is observing rather than advocating – is a hallmark of anti-Semitic hate speech. The last time it made an appearance on MR, it was in the context of interviews involving UC Irvine administrators. Lovely campus environment they’ve got over there. Almost difficult to believe that the Senate Judiciary Committee officially called the university out for anti-Semitism.
References:
* Senior Malaysian official to be punished for anti-Semitic remarks [Ha'aretz]
* Realism and ‘The Israel Lobby’ [Lee Solomon]
* Walt and Mearsheimer’s Best Defense For Their Anti-Semitic-ish Accusations Is In Trouble [MR]
* Senate Judiciary Committee Recognizes UC Irvine Anti-Semitism [Red Country]
Previously:
* BBC, CBS Now Just Making Stuff Up About Israeli Military
* Democrats Take a Brave Stand Against Israeli Self-Defense Israeli Self-Defense and Other Stuff Too
* Walt and Mearsheimer Week 3 – Enough With the "Oh But They’re So Qualified" Thing
