The Guardian Hates Jews
The devil you say! I’d never imagined such a thing. Melanie Phillips (she of Londonistan fame) has an article in the Spectator detailing the Guardian’s anti-semitism.
The Guardian’s hatred of Israel and the Jews truly is a fathomless — and unfathomable — well. The last few days around Israel’s 60th anniversary have seen a further escalation of its obsessive verbal pogrom. Today it published a piece by Samir el Youssef which turned the Arab attempt to exterminate Israel in 1948 into an attempt by Israel to exterminate Palestinian society (which did not then exist, as many Arabs have attested) but for which he magnanimously suggests Israel should be forgiven.
This follows a previous modest proposal by Ahmad Samih Khalidi of the need to choose between never-ending conflict and a new form of power sharing beyond the two state solution (ie the end of Israel); a series on Gaza’s heartbreaking human tragedies (Israel’s fault) plus a series of even more heartbreaking videos on the same; and for good measure the ex-editor of Haaretz, David Landau, (who recently shot to fame by telling Condoleezza Rice that Israel wanted to be ‘raped’ by the US to impose a settlement with the Palestinians) bemoaning the ‘chasm’ within Israeli society at the bottom of which were the indigenous poor.
Today also saw an interview with Daniel Barenboim, who in his moral and intellectual confusion sadly offers himself up as that most prized gift of all to Jew-haters: an Israeli Jew who attacks Israel, thus conferring immunity against the charge of prejudice.
And on it goes. Read the rest here
Part of my seemingly endless series on anti-semites and Israel hating:
CBC head will feel at home at Al Jazeera
Crossing the line from critic to anti-semite
“Tell us who exactly are the anti-Semites that the prime minister is talking about”
Exit Question: Is there such a word as philo-anti-semite? I.e. someone who is really really keen on anti-semites. There should be a word for that.
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Tags: Anti-semitism, Guardian, israel, Media Bias, Palestine
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Heh. So are you actually confused about the distinction between criticism of Israel and hatred of Jews? Or is it simply a rhetorical strategy to defuse criticism of an ideological ally?
Do criticisms of China’s occupation of Tibet mean that the critic hates Taoists?
The point that I made in a previous post was that when a critic strays from criticizing the real short-comings of the country, and starts implying that its people, or actually a single segment of its people (in this case ‘the Jews’), engage in fictional atrocities then it is racism (or again in this case - anti-semitism).
I think the Guardian is clearly guilty of that.
The Chinese thing you proposed is actually interesting - even though I think your terms aren’t exactly spot on. I was reading a blog called Chinese in Vancouver, written by the editor of Ming Pao (I think). She was pointing out that people were outraged at the deaths of ethnic Tibetans, but silent about the deaths of ethnic Han. Some people even said the Han had it coming because they were colonists. I obviously won’t defend the actions of the Chinese government, they are clearly wrong on Tibet. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t also be wrong - maybe she was right, maybe we were racist in our response to the killings.
“The point that I made in a previous post was that when a critic strays from criticizing the real short-comings of the country, and starts implying that its people, or actually a single segment of its people (in this case ‘the Jews’), engage in fictional atrocities then it is racism (or again in this case - anti-semitism).”
Sorry, that doesn’t hold water at all. In a previous post, you listed a number of accusations leveled against Israel by its critics (internal and external, Jewish and non-Jewish.) Some of the accusations were accurate (Israel DOES practice assassination and torture as matters of state policy) and some were nonsense (ethnic cleansing, targeting of civilian babies). That list, as far as I could tell
As I said before, I don’t doubt that some critics of Israeli policy are anti semitic, just as some people who criticize PRC policy probably hate Chinese and some folks who criticize AFN probably hate Indians. That doesn’t mean any of those governments or organizations are, or should be, beyond criticism.
In my opinion, this growing tendency to paint critics of Israel as anti Semites is just another example of the cretinization of political discourse. It’s a whole lot easier than digging to prove or disprove an assertion. Repeat it often enough, and it becomes “true”…at least for the folks who need to believe it.
(Sorry, guy, hit “post” too soon before deleting a sentence fragment. Mea culpa.)
balbulican, I don’t think you can truly comprehend the insanity of the Guardian newspaper. It is not a mere accusation of antisemitism aimed at anti-Israelis in order to silence them; read the linked articles and judge for yourself.
Too many nutcases dismiss any criticism or highlighting of antisemitic themes, bases or overt hatred as an attempt to protect Israel from criticism. That is old hat; antisemitism in Europe is resurfacing again; attempts to deny its existance by attacking the denouncers of antisemitic ramblings and labelling them as immoral fanatics “playing the race card” is nothing more than intellectual hokum. It’s unfounded and wrong, and based on a foolish belief that rabid race hatred is a distant memory and we live in enlightened times. The Guardian and its looney kin love using the ‘anti-Zionism’ protectorate to shade their vile values.
“I don’t think you can truly comprehend the insanity of the Guardian newspaper.”
Actually, I read it and the Economist weekly. I find they’re both extremely well written, and they balance each other out.
Your second paragraph simply reiterates the same cant. Thanks.