Thank you guys so much for all you are doing to highlight and push back against left-wing anti-semitism. It’s so hard to find fellow Liberals who are apolitically pro-Israel. It seems all the other Jews who are part of the anti-Trump coalition of influence in media just trip over themselves to prove to fellow progs that they are “good Jews” who hate the IDF and the country as a whole.
Agreed up to a point .The Netanyahu government sucks, much like the Trump admin did. Israel is a beautiful place full of people who dislike the way he runs their country. Sounds familiar.
Oh, totally agree. He’s proven himself to be a despicable man willing to cater to even more despicable forces. The Supreme Court “reforms” were dangerous. His green lighting if additional settlements was spiteful. And his government’s general hostile takeover of the system in part clearly led to the security failure regarding 10/7.
I have no problem with criticizing actual flaws, but I think that people say things that are pretty, maybe e been unconsciously antisemitic (it’s an “apartheid state” for instance; defending chants of from the river to the sea, being open to the BDS movement when such idea is leveled at literally no other country on earth), and then when called to the carpet on it claim, “what? You can’t critique Israeli policy anymore?”
1. The recent decision from the International Court of Justice in The Hague called Israel “apartheid”. (From Amnesty.com: “The International Court of Justice has issued its opinion [that Israel’s] discriminatory laws and policies against Palestinians violate the prohibition on racial segregation and apartheid.” [https://tinyurl.com/bdcwscrh]) I like to quote Casey Stengel, who once said of an opposing pitcher, “I don’t know if he throws a spitball, but he sure spits on the ball.” That is, it doesn’t matter what you call it, it’s the behavior that matters.
2. Likud has, for decades, claimed that Israel includes all of Judea and Samaria, which is, in fact, all of the territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
3. The BDS strategy was first used against South Africa.
While it is crucial to distinguish between Israel as a nation and as a society, and the (I assert neo-fascist) Likud government (and its lying racist leader), and while anti-Semitism and violence of any kind must be condemned, we cannot deny the legitimacy of the intellectually-honest criticism of Israel’s government’s policies (your concluding straw man notwithstanding) by relying on what seem to be no more than talking points. 🤔😉😊
My nana always had nice things to say about the British “murdering, Protestant bastards” and “hands stained with blood”, then again she was Irish you know how we are thank god the Brits civilized us.
I'm of Jewish ancestry via both parents, not religious at all, but I do try to keep abreast of the nonsense going on & I do not know how we get past the historical fact of Jewish persecution & automatic hatred that seems endemic in society for no reason. What did any of these people do to any of those bitching & moaning ? How do the scapegoats defend themselves when all they are doing is trying to live a quiet life & NOT give non-Jews reason to hate them. Whereas it's easy to see why people might feel a dislike of those dressing in extreme ways which makes them easy to label, why that totally misplaced dislike then extends to anybody discovered to be Jewish is beyond ridiculous. I'm basically a 'Leftie' politically, but this antisemitism streak has NOTHING to do with the politics, if anything the dislike should be levied IMO at those extremist on the Muslim side who perpetrate the concept that NOBODY who is not yet Muslim is safe !!! We are ALL subject to the instructions in their 'book' - one command of which is to CONVERT or SUBDUE or KILL all of us who are not within Islam ! So there's your real enemy, what have the Jewish people ever done to deserve the hatred ???
You’re right, it’s not about the Jewish PEOPLE (one of which, like yourself, I am), it’s about the corrupt, racist, neo-fascist current leadership of the government of the state of Israel. Sadly, too many people conflate the totally justified criticism of Netanyahu, et al, with anti-semitism, allowing them to dismiss the criticism, and thus, tacitly supporting the policies of the Netanyahu government. That is unfortunate.
And just so nobody misunderstands me, of COURSE, Hamas is horrible. It almost goes without saying. (Almost.) They are an uncivilized bunch of Islamist savages. Nobody expects them to act in a civilized manner, or respond to legitimate criticism. The State of Israel, on the other hand presents itself — and, I believe, legitimately tries to be — a democratic society. They must be held to THAT standard, not the standard to which we hold Hamas.🤔😉😊
Thank you guys so much for all you are doing to highlight and push back against left-wing anti-semitism. It’s so hard to find fellow Liberals who are apolitically pro-Israel. It seems all the other Jews who are part of the anti-Trump coalition of influence in media just trip over themselves to prove to fellow progs that they are “good Jews” who hate the IDF and the country as a whole.
Agreed up to a point .The Netanyahu government sucks, much like the Trump admin did. Israel is a beautiful place full of people who dislike the way he runs their country. Sounds familiar.
Oh, totally agree. He’s proven himself to be a despicable man willing to cater to even more despicable forces. The Supreme Court “reforms” were dangerous. His green lighting if additional settlements was spiteful. And his government’s general hostile takeover of the system in part clearly led to the security failure regarding 10/7.
I have no problem with criticizing actual flaws, but I think that people say things that are pretty, maybe e been unconsciously antisemitic (it’s an “apartheid state” for instance; defending chants of from the river to the sea, being open to the BDS movement when such idea is leveled at literally no other country on earth), and then when called to the carpet on it claim, “what? You can’t critique Israeli policy anymore?”
🎯
Please allow me to get picky.
1. The recent decision from the International Court of Justice in The Hague called Israel “apartheid”. (From Amnesty.com: “The International Court of Justice has issued its opinion [that Israel’s] discriminatory laws and policies against Palestinians violate the prohibition on racial segregation and apartheid.” [https://tinyurl.com/bdcwscrh]) I like to quote Casey Stengel, who once said of an opposing pitcher, “I don’t know if he throws a spitball, but he sure spits on the ball.” That is, it doesn’t matter what you call it, it’s the behavior that matters.
2. Likud has, for decades, claimed that Israel includes all of Judea and Samaria, which is, in fact, all of the territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
3. The BDS strategy was first used against South Africa.
While it is crucial to distinguish between Israel as a nation and as a society, and the (I assert neo-fascist) Likud government (and its lying racist leader), and while anti-Semitism and violence of any kind must be condemned, we cannot deny the legitimacy of the intellectually-honest criticism of Israel’s government’s policies (your concluding straw man notwithstanding) by relying on what seem to be no more than talking points. 🤔😉😊
My nana always had nice things to say about the British “murdering, Protestant bastards” and “hands stained with blood”, then again she was Irish you know how we are thank god the Brits civilized us.
I'm of Jewish ancestry via both parents, not religious at all, but I do try to keep abreast of the nonsense going on & I do not know how we get past the historical fact of Jewish persecution & automatic hatred that seems endemic in society for no reason. What did any of these people do to any of those bitching & moaning ? How do the scapegoats defend themselves when all they are doing is trying to live a quiet life & NOT give non-Jews reason to hate them. Whereas it's easy to see why people might feel a dislike of those dressing in extreme ways which makes them easy to label, why that totally misplaced dislike then extends to anybody discovered to be Jewish is beyond ridiculous. I'm basically a 'Leftie' politically, but this antisemitism streak has NOTHING to do with the politics, if anything the dislike should be levied IMO at those extremist on the Muslim side who perpetrate the concept that NOBODY who is not yet Muslim is safe !!! We are ALL subject to the instructions in their 'book' - one command of which is to CONVERT or SUBDUE or KILL all of us who are not within Islam ! So there's your real enemy, what have the Jewish people ever done to deserve the hatred ???
You’re right, it’s not about the Jewish PEOPLE (one of which, like yourself, I am), it’s about the corrupt, racist, neo-fascist current leadership of the government of the state of Israel. Sadly, too many people conflate the totally justified criticism of Netanyahu, et al, with anti-semitism, allowing them to dismiss the criticism, and thus, tacitly supporting the policies of the Netanyahu government. That is unfortunate.
And just so nobody misunderstands me, of COURSE, Hamas is horrible. It almost goes without saying. (Almost.) They are an uncivilized bunch of Islamist savages. Nobody expects them to act in a civilized manner, or respond to legitimate criticism. The State of Israel, on the other hand presents itself — and, I believe, legitimately tries to be — a democratic society. They must be held to THAT standard, not the standard to which we hold Hamas.🤔😉😊