What Institutional European Anti-Semitism?
London mayor and furloughed lunatic Ken Livingston has figured out how to win the hearts and minds of the growing fanatical-Muslim voting bloc in the heart of London. Nothing says "I'm feel your pain" like the demonization of Jewish figures:
Livingstone launched a provocative critique of Israel with accusations of "ethnic cleansing" and demonizing Muslims before calling for the imprisonment of Sharon, according to the British daily.
Now, I know that accusing anti-Zionists of being anti-Semitic is just a tool used to stifle legitimate criticism of Israel, but we really have to draw a line at not-so-subtle comparisons between Jews and Nazis - they should be beyond the pale of legitimate public discourse. Livingstone is particularly good at those comparisons, having charmingly compared a Jewish reporter who had the gall to question him to a concentration camp guard and then refusing to apologize. And why should he apologize? It's not like he's alienating his voting base:
We remind you all Ken has been a firm friend of the Muslim community and this smear campaign is a despicable effort by Zionist and anti-Muslim forces to discredit and indeed destroy him for his support of Muslims, Palestine and his legitimate criticism of Israel...
Please note the Zionists have not rested for even a moment. The Board of Deputies of British Jews complained bitterly, demanded an investigation and handed in a dossier to the Standards Board of England. An investigation has begun into allegations the Mayor has brought his office into disrepute. The Standards board has the power to suspend or bar the Mayor from office for five years.
Whipping up the population into an anti-Semitic frenzy in order to gain political power. Hey Ken, tell me again about how Sharon acts like a Nazi. I'm just so sick to death of this absurd "we can say anything we want about Jews and get away with it if we say we're just criticizing Israel" - it's not like the religious fanatics that are rushing to his defense distinguish between Israelis and Jews. They throw around "Zionists" and "Jews" as if they're synonyms - hating one is the same as hating the other, and being one is the same as being the other. Livingstone isn't just flirting very closely with outright and open anti-Semitism - he's crossed the line. When one chooses one's insults to particularly injure someone because of their ethnicity or religion (as in, when you choose a particularly hurtful insult to hurl at a Jewish reporter), that can't be called anything other than racism. And there's only so long that subtle anti-Semitism will work. Like an addiction, you need more and more of it to be effective. Something the British Labor party has figured out:
Greg Rowland was so incensed that he canceled his 22-year membership in the Labour Party. It was an online election advertisement that prompted his drastic move. There was British Conservative Party leader Michael Howard - a Jew - in a pose that for Rowland had undeniable anti-Semitic associations.
It's no wonder that Britons can convince themselves that this kind of crap is true:
Then there was an opinion poll in the Daily Telegraph revealing that the vast majority of English people viewed Israel as one of the most undemocratic and unfriendly countries in the world. Israel topped the list as the country where Britons least wanted to take a holiday and was beaten only by China, Russia and Dubai in the "least democratic" category.
Just to be clear, that means that Britons believe that all of the following countries are more democratic than Israel: Saudi Arabia, where women can't vote; Egypt, where there is only one party; Jordan, which is a monarchy with a parliament, and Qatar, which is literally just a monarchy but still somehow more of a "democracy" than Israel(!!); Sudan, where I'm pretty sure there's no government; Cuba, enough said; and Pakistan, which is a military dictatorship. But seriously, anti-Zionism is a rational and reasonable political position that has absolutely nothing to do with any kind of irrationality or hatred.
Speaking of which, Jewish-Nazi comparisons are a particularly coercive and subtle kind of anti-Semitism because they simultaneously demonize Jews while minimizing the Holocaust. The comparisons link Jews to Nazis, thus preventing Jews from genuinely articulating the horror of the Holocaust - the strategy denies Jews the ability to describe why the anti-Semitism of today might explode into the genocide of tomorrow. They are also particularly hateful and disgusting kinds of demonization, comparing Jews to the people who murdered their grandparents and parents and children. And of course, they function as guilt-reduction strategies: "if the Jews are doing the same thing to the Palestinians that the Europe did to the Jews, then how can they really complain about what we did (and maybe they even kind of deserved it)". And England needs a healthy dose of guilt reduction.
These comparisons are thus part of a conscious rhetorical strategy designed to prevent Jews from challenging anti-Semitism - so it's no surprise that the same speeches that have those comparisons also explicitly argue that anti-Semitism is really nothing to worry about:
[Livingstone] also claimed that the Israeli government presented a "wholly distorted picture of racism and religious discrimination in Europe in order to convey the impression that Jews suffer most discrimination."
Which will be welcome news to all of the Jews facing daily physical threats in Greece for being Jewish:
Anti-Semitic invective has been constant and escalating over the period of this report. Beginning with newspaper caricatures using Holocaust imagery to Nazify the Jews, this has continued with media articles attacking Jews and Judaism as responsible for all the ills of Greece, in the language of 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'. In this poisonous atmosphere, we have witnessed the desecration of both ancient cemeteries and Holocaust memorials. Most recently, even the Jewish faith itself has been vilified and the loyalty of Greek citizens of Jewish ancestry and identity has been questioned. An exhibit which glorifies suicide bombing opened in Athens in late 2003. Its favourable review by the so-called quality press is a dangerous endorsement of terrorism and a new threshold that could encourage the indiscriminate targeting of innocents in the Jewish community and beyond, in Greece and other OSCE states.
Probably the work of a few lone crazies. Certainly there's no institutional anti-Semitism in Greece:
Vavili [has]... murky connections to the Greek state and Archbishop Christodoulos [and had]... Archbishop [Christodoulos's] backing when he conducted a dirty tricks election campaign for the current Jerusalem Patriarch Irineos. Archbichop Christodoulos denies this, but Irineos confirms that Vavilis was sent to him by Archbishop Christodoulos.
The Greek Orthodox Church is the oldest, richest and most powerful church in Jerusalem. As head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Irineos is responsible for its extensive land holdings, including the land on which the Knesset was built, the Prime Minister's and the President's official residences, parts of Jerusalem's wealthiest neighborhoods and many locations in the Old City.
Here's an excerpt from a letter sent by Patriarch Irineos to Arafat:
You are finally aware of the sentiments of disgust and disrespect that all the Holy Sepulcher Fathers are feeling for the descendants of the crucifiers of our Lord Jesus Christ, actual crucifiers of your people, Sionists (sic) Jewish conquerors of the Holy Land of Palestine.
Patriarch Irineos denied that he wrote this and he sued Ma'ariv, the newspaper that originally published the letter, but withdrew his lawsuit soon after and paid the newspaper's legal expenses.
Not that it matters at this point, but Livingstone's comments about how Jews are just making up all this stuff about anti-Semitic attacks comes at a time of record anti-Semitic attacks in Britain.
Livingstone launched a provocative critique of Israel with accusations of "ethnic cleansing" and demonizing Muslims before calling for the imprisonment of Sharon, according to the British daily.
Now, I know that accusing anti-Zionists of being anti-Semitic is just a tool used to stifle legitimate criticism of Israel, but we really have to draw a line at not-so-subtle comparisons between Jews and Nazis - they should be beyond the pale of legitimate public discourse. Livingstone is particularly good at those comparisons, having charmingly compared a Jewish reporter who had the gall to question him to a concentration camp guard and then refusing to apologize. And why should he apologize? It's not like he's alienating his voting base:
We remind you all Ken has been a firm friend of the Muslim community and this smear campaign is a despicable effort by Zionist and anti-Muslim forces to discredit and indeed destroy him for his support of Muslims, Palestine and his legitimate criticism of Israel...
Please note the Zionists have not rested for even a moment. The Board of Deputies of British Jews complained bitterly, demanded an investigation and handed in a dossier to the Standards Board of England. An investigation has begun into allegations the Mayor has brought his office into disrepute. The Standards board has the power to suspend or bar the Mayor from office for five years.
Whipping up the population into an anti-Semitic frenzy in order to gain political power. Hey Ken, tell me again about how Sharon acts like a Nazi. I'm just so sick to death of this absurd "we can say anything we want about Jews and get away with it if we say we're just criticizing Israel" - it's not like the religious fanatics that are rushing to his defense distinguish between Israelis and Jews. They throw around "Zionists" and "Jews" as if they're synonyms - hating one is the same as hating the other, and being one is the same as being the other. Livingstone isn't just flirting very closely with outright and open anti-Semitism - he's crossed the line. When one chooses one's insults to particularly injure someone because of their ethnicity or religion (as in, when you choose a particularly hurtful insult to hurl at a Jewish reporter), that can't be called anything other than racism. And there's only so long that subtle anti-Semitism will work. Like an addiction, you need more and more of it to be effective. Something the British Labor party has figured out:
Greg Rowland was so incensed that he canceled his 22-year membership in the Labour Party. It was an online election advertisement that prompted his drastic move. There was British Conservative Party leader Michael Howard - a Jew - in a pose that for Rowland had undeniable anti-Semitic associations.
It's no wonder that Britons can convince themselves that this kind of crap is true:
Then there was an opinion poll in the Daily Telegraph revealing that the vast majority of English people viewed Israel as one of the most undemocratic and unfriendly countries in the world. Israel topped the list as the country where Britons least wanted to take a holiday and was beaten only by China, Russia and Dubai in the "least democratic" category.
Just to be clear, that means that Britons believe that all of the following countries are more democratic than Israel: Saudi Arabia, where women can't vote; Egypt, where there is only one party; Jordan, which is a monarchy with a parliament, and Qatar, which is literally just a monarchy but still somehow more of a "democracy" than Israel(!!); Sudan, where I'm pretty sure there's no government; Cuba, enough said; and Pakistan, which is a military dictatorship. But seriously, anti-Zionism is a rational and reasonable political position that has absolutely nothing to do with any kind of irrationality or hatred.
Speaking of which, Jewish-Nazi comparisons are a particularly coercive and subtle kind of anti-Semitism because they simultaneously demonize Jews while minimizing the Holocaust. The comparisons link Jews to Nazis, thus preventing Jews from genuinely articulating the horror of the Holocaust - the strategy denies Jews the ability to describe why the anti-Semitism of today might explode into the genocide of tomorrow. They are also particularly hateful and disgusting kinds of demonization, comparing Jews to the people who murdered their grandparents and parents and children. And of course, they function as guilt-reduction strategies: "if the Jews are doing the same thing to the Palestinians that the Europe did to the Jews, then how can they really complain about what we did (and maybe they even kind of deserved it)". And England needs a healthy dose of guilt reduction.
These comparisons are thus part of a conscious rhetorical strategy designed to prevent Jews from challenging anti-Semitism - so it's no surprise that the same speeches that have those comparisons also explicitly argue that anti-Semitism is really nothing to worry about:
[Livingstone] also claimed that the Israeli government presented a "wholly distorted picture of racism and religious discrimination in Europe in order to convey the impression that Jews suffer most discrimination."
Which will be welcome news to all of the Jews facing daily physical threats in Greece for being Jewish:
Anti-Semitic invective has been constant and escalating over the period of this report. Beginning with newspaper caricatures using Holocaust imagery to Nazify the Jews, this has continued with media articles attacking Jews and Judaism as responsible for all the ills of Greece, in the language of 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'. In this poisonous atmosphere, we have witnessed the desecration of both ancient cemeteries and Holocaust memorials. Most recently, even the Jewish faith itself has been vilified and the loyalty of Greek citizens of Jewish ancestry and identity has been questioned. An exhibit which glorifies suicide bombing opened in Athens in late 2003. Its favourable review by the so-called quality press is a dangerous endorsement of terrorism and a new threshold that could encourage the indiscriminate targeting of innocents in the Jewish community and beyond, in Greece and other OSCE states.
Probably the work of a few lone crazies. Certainly there's no institutional anti-Semitism in Greece:
Vavili [has]... murky connections to the Greek state and Archbishop Christodoulos [and had]... Archbishop [Christodoulos's] backing when he conducted a dirty tricks election campaign for the current Jerusalem Patriarch Irineos. Archbichop Christodoulos denies this, but Irineos confirms that Vavilis was sent to him by Archbishop Christodoulos.
The Greek Orthodox Church is the oldest, richest and most powerful church in Jerusalem. As head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Irineos is responsible for its extensive land holdings, including the land on which the Knesset was built, the Prime Minister's and the President's official residences, parts of Jerusalem's wealthiest neighborhoods and many locations in the Old City.
Here's an excerpt from a letter sent by Patriarch Irineos to Arafat:
You are finally aware of the sentiments of disgust and disrespect that all the Holy Sepulcher Fathers are feeling for the descendants of the crucifiers of our Lord Jesus Christ, actual crucifiers of your people, Sionists (sic) Jewish conquerors of the Holy Land of Palestine.
Patriarch Irineos denied that he wrote this and he sued Ma'ariv, the newspaper that originally published the letter, but withdrew his lawsuit soon after and paid the newspaper's legal expenses.
Not that it matters at this point, but Livingstone's comments about how Jews are just making up all this stuff about anti-Semitic attacks comes at a time of record anti-Semitic attacks in Britain.
