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When 'Anti-Semitism' Is Abused: Disagreeing With Israel Doesn't Make One a Bigot
The Jewish Daily Forward ^ | January 05, 2012 | Sarah Wildman

Posted on 01/09/2012 9:10:42 PM PST by Brian Kopp DPM

When 'Anti-Semitism' Is Abused

Disagreeing With Israel Doesn't Make One a Bigot

Real Anti-Semitism: We should all fight anti-Semitism. But some apparently need a reminder about the difference between real anti-Semitism and honest debate about Israel.

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Real Anti-Semitism: We should all fight anti-Semitism. But some apparently need a reminder about the difference between real anti-Semitism and honest debate about Israel.

By Sarah Wildman

Published January 05, 2012, issue of January 13, 2012.

We were raised to be vigilant. We were taught to fight oppression, admonished to be New Jews — strong, muscular, defiant.

We were told to look for the signs, the slogans and the double-speak. We learned at the knee of those with tattooed forearms; knelt at the feet of those who lost brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, parents, grandparents, lovers, spouses, children.

We have cried, we have wailed, we have lit thousands upon thousands of memorial candles. And we have sworn, again and again, that we would never forget.

That is why when anti-Semitism is falsely applied, we must also stand up and decry it as defamation, as character assault, as unjust. That is why when we debase the term by using it as a rhetorical conceit against those with whom we disagree on policy matters, we have sullied our own promises to our grandparents. For if we dilute the term, if we render the label meaningless, defanged, we have failed ourselves, our legacy, our ancestors, our children.

I am speaking of the recent rise of the bogeyman of anti-Semitism wielded to criticize everyone, from the American ambassador to Belgium (himself the Jewish son of a Holocaust survivor), who was trying to negotiate the uncomfortable lines of Muslim-Jewish conflict in modern Europe, to foreign policy bloggers at Media Matters for America and ThinkProgress, the online magazine housed at the left-leaning Center for American Progress. Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post, responding to a story about divisions on Israel policy in the Democratic Party, freely called these blogs anti-Semitic. Commentary took up her lead, and The Jerusalem Post than found a historian to ruminate over word choices on the blogs, likening their use to classic anti-Semitism. In the meantime, Elliott Abrams of The Weekly Standard took on Thomas Friedman, beginning his piece, “If you were an anti-Semite dedicated to spreading your hatred of Jews….”

We should know by now that supporting the State of Israel does not mean uncritical support by all, that Jewish identity is not always under attack when a government of Israel faces criticism. Love for the Jewish state does not, by definition, mean a love for all things the state undertakes. For some that may mean fighting the segregation of women in Beit Shemesh; for others that means pushing for Israel to get out of the territories.

We can — we must — write about these things. We can argue over borders and refugees, democracy and lack of democracy, worry over the increasingly uncomfortable tension between the ultra-Orthodox and the secular in the state to which so many of us in the Diaspora feel connected.

We can do so because such criticism is not, by definition, anti-Zionism. We can do so because such criticism is not, by definition, anti-Semitism.

There comes a time when we must insist on common sense. We must reject the absurd. There comes a time when we must say, “Enough.” Real anti-Semitism exists. Real, ugly, hatred of the Jewish people is all too easy to find.

But when we are forced to sift through the thousands of posts of an organization affiliated with the Democratic Party in order to come up with six or seven sentences that may, taken out of context, feel uncomfortable to the community with regard to Israel, that should not lead to pointing fingers, libeling writers and screaming about hate speech. We cannot jump up and shout that these think tanks are harboring anti-Semites or brewing hatred because we disagree with something they have written. We cannot call that anti-Semitism. We can call it policy disagreement.

When we take apart a speech about anti-Semitism by one of our ambassadors who has, through observation and analysis, come to the reasoned conclusion that the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, and the failure of the peace process, has an impact on Jewish communities abroad, we should not call for his resignation. Instead, we must acknowledge that when Israel takes an action against the Palestinians — whether we agree with that action or not — the action may, and often does, reverberate elsewhere. But we cannot call those who acknowledge these things anti-Semitic. We can call that an uncomfortable truth.

And when Haredi men and women put their children in striped pajamas and place a yellow star emblazoned with the word “Jude” on their chests and parade in the streets of Jerusalem to protest the secular world, we can call that spitting on the graves of our ancestors.

And we can weep that we have lost all perspective.

Enough.

Sarah Wildman is a columnist for the International Herald Tribune and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and is a contributing editor to the Forward.



TOPICS: Current Events; Ecumenism; Judaism; Religion & Politics
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1 posted on 01/09/2012 9:10:46 PM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp

Being against Israel does not necessarily make one anti-Semitic but this woman is a liberal who objects to LIBERALS being called anti-Semitic.


2 posted on 01/09/2012 9:16:38 PM PST by Inyokern
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp
Sarah Wildman is a columnist for the International Herald Tribune and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and is a contributing editor to the Forward.

Self-hating Jew fights to defend Soros' Empire of Lies: Media Matters and ThinkProgress. Who needs Hamas when you have Jews like Sarah Wildman?

3 posted on 01/09/2012 9:37:26 PM PST by montag813
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp
Sarah Wildman is a columnist for the International Herald Tribune and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and is a contributing editor to the Forward.

Self-hating Jew fights to defend Soros' Empire of Lies: Media Matters and ThinkProgress. Who needs Hamas when you have 'Jews' like Sarah Wildman?

4 posted on 01/09/2012 9:37:44 PM PST by montag813
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To: montag813

What does one expect out of a SPUSA publication anyhow . . . ?


5 posted on 01/09/2012 9:47:07 PM PST by Olog-hai
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To: Inyokern

Call it hatred, or “Policy disagreement”, it does not matter.

If you are against Israel, then you are indeed an AntiSemite. Israel is the home land and spiritual center of Am Israel -the Jewish People- the Jewish Nation. It has been for thousands of years- since the time of Avraham, when Hashem made HIS sacred covenant and bequeath to the Jewish people. HasHem has kept HIS promise - the Jews have survived, thrive, and Israel was reborn.

And, exactly as it was written, HaShem has begun the gathering of the Jewish people in the Diaspora to bring them back to Israel.

If you are a self-hating Jew, such as this writer, then you are Erev Rav and should open your eyes, change your thinking, or simply remain among the 70 wolves and become a part of them.

If you are against Israel, you are not only an Anti-Semite, you are also against the will of G-D.


6 posted on 01/09/2012 9:57:19 PM PST by Never A Dull Moment
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp

The editors of the Forward (the English language successor to the socialist Yiddish Daily Forvitz) romanticize all things Yiddish and all things “shtetel,” including the dead 6,000,000 Jews, but the editors of the Forward never have a good word for the living millions of proud Israelis (many children of Holocaust survivors) whose language is Hebrew.

Michael Savage would include them under his satiric rubric, Red Diaper Doper Babies. Their parents were the Red Diaper Babies, referring to the color of their parents’ political leanings.


7 posted on 01/09/2012 10:06:13 PM PST by Seeing More Clearly Now
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp

How curious. When the religious Jews had far fewer numbers, nobody ever complained about the abuse heaped upon them from their not-so-religious brethren.


8 posted on 01/09/2012 10:11:26 PM PST by Nachum (The complete Obama list at www.nachumlist.com)
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp

“We cannot jump up and shout that these think tanks are harboring anti-Semites or brewing hatred because we disagree with something they have written. We cannot call that anti-Semitism. We can call it policy disagreement.”

Why do I have this feeling that this author would be among the first to call pro-lifers “anti-woman” and folks who agree with Jesus’ teaching on marriage in Matthew 19:4-6 “homophobic”? It’s interesting to see one of these libs getting somewhat of a taste of their own medicine.


9 posted on 01/09/2012 10:31:07 PM PST by ReformationFan
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To: ReformationFan

Amen! Excellent point!

And they[the Left]love to glory in diversity, and inclusiveness,[as in one worlders] yet they never understand the message of “Salvation in Christ” is the most inclusive message ever given to mankind!


10 posted on 01/10/2012 3:16:57 AM PST by LetMarch (If a man knows the right way to live, and does not live it, there is no greater coward. (Anonymous)
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To: Never A Dull Moment
"If you are against Israel, then you are indeed an AntiSemite."

And if you are against Obama you are "indeed" a racist. If you are against Palistine you hate all muslims. If you don't condone homosexuality you hate all gay people. etc. etc. You've learned the liberal game well.

11 posted on 01/10/2012 4:29:57 AM PST by circlecity
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To: Inyokern
Being against Israel does not necessarily make one anti-Semitic but this woman is a liberal who objects to LIBERALS being called anti-Semitic.

Right. Only conservatives who criticize Israel should be called anti-Semitic. /s

12 posted on 01/10/2012 5:09:23 AM PST by mas cerveza por favor
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp
Liberal American Jews are still not friends of Israel... no news here. Just like the "enlightened" Jews in Germany were the last to figure out the source of anti-Semitism. It isn't the State of Israel. It isn't Zionism. It isn't religious bigotry. It isn't even simple bigotry. Anti-Semitsim is an evil spiritual force the originates in the hatred of G-d Himself. Some hate the G-d of the Bible, so they hate what He loves: His covenant people.

Even so-called godly people can be under the influence of this godless spiritual force. A case in point, many Christians who hold to the theological persuasion of Supercessionism (Replacement Theology). "Good" conservative theologians have made up theological excuses for a deep spiritual flaw: unadulterated anti-Semitism.
13 posted on 01/10/2012 6:30:47 AM PST by Tzfat
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To: Tzfat
"Even so-called godly people can be under the influence of this godless spiritual force. A case in point, many Christians who hold to the theological persuasion of Supercessionism (Replacement Theology)."

Christianity has taught from day 1 that the Church is the New Israel. You're saying that makes Christianity "evil" and anti-semitic? I'd have to disagree.

14 posted on 01/10/2012 7:03:48 AM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp
Most evangelical Christians are not Supercessionist. Those that are, see everything in Scripture through the lense of a decidedly anti-Semitic theology. One of the earliest writings of Supercessionism is Justin Martyr's "Dialog With Trypho The Jew" - it is plainly anti-Semitic and promotes a theology that makes Jews the ENEMY of "true believers."

Yad Vashem is the Israeli holocaust museum. The first room is dedicated to the root cause of anti-Semitism in Europe in the Twentieth Century. They correctly identify some Christian groups' Supercessionist theology as the most dominate cause. Have you read John Chystostom's filth from the 5th Century? Or Luther's "Jews and Their Lies" from the 16th Century? Martyr, Augustine, Origen, Aquinas, Luther, and Calvin all contributed to the anti-Semitic theology if Supercessionism. Modern evangelicalism largely (and correctly) rejected this fundamentally anti-Semitic theology.
15 posted on 01/10/2012 8:01:21 AM PST by Tzfat
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To: Inyokern

While Israel is surrounded by new, Muslim Brotherhood
Islamic governments that would love to finish off what Hitler began, I don’t think this is the time to play around with liberal silly putty at the Leftist State Department and UN over women’s seating on the buses in Israel. They are trying to do to the Israeli government what they did to Egypt’s. They want an Israeli Spring to install a weak leftist govenment in Israel who will sign onto Barry’s “peace” demands.

It’s deadly to join Hillary and the UN in fretting over Orthodox Jews as they silently watch Muslims call for pushing Israel into the sea, and set about mass murdering Christians and gang raping and beating women in the Arab streets. It’s not the time to weaken Israel and play genocide games of false peace with Barry.

We have Rev. Wright’s contingent in the White House cheering the Muslim Brotherhood’s rise to power while always condemning Israel. American Jews don’t remember Al Sharpton’s NOI inspired hate mobs in Crown Heights? They have it in the White House and State Department, community organizing the territory of Isarel and armies of the Arabs in Middle East!

Liberalism is destructive on it’s best day and deadly on it’s worst. In my opinion, it is the vehicle of evil in the world today. It’s not time for Jews to play political correctness in the Middle East. I assume this woman is a useful idiot rather than evil.

It may be too late to halt Hillary’s and Obama’s “progress.” This woman is going to progress to be horrified by what she sees unfold. Yeah, lets all follow the PBS dummy over Barry’s cliff.

Alright, answer this Freepers. Given who Barry is and what he has done in the Middle East to weaken Israel and given what he’s done to economically weaken the US and our military, why do you think he is placing US troops in Israel? Appearances would say he is doing it in preparation for war with Iran over their oil blockade. But, I think he has other plans for his enemies - the US and Israel. What do you think he’s doing?


16 posted on 01/10/2012 8:38:45 AM PST by SaraJohnson
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To: Tzfat
Modern evangelicalism largely (and correctly) rejected this fundamentally anti-Semitic theology.

Christianity has taught from day one that the Church is the New Israel. It has not ceased to teach this, even if since Vatican II it has chosen not to emphasize this teaching.

This does not make the Church anti-semitic.

And neither is modern evangelicalism correct in its views on the New Israel.

Here's an Eastern Orthodox explanation:

Who Is The New Israel

17 posted on 01/10/2012 8:55:40 AM PST by Brian Kopp DPM
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To: Dr. Brian Kopp

I don’t know who this Sarah Wildman is, but I’ll trust the opinions of others here who say that she is a liberal idiot.

On the other hand, people who wail falsely about anti-semitism and racism are like the boy who cried wolf. It’s especially dangerous, since the wolf is so vicious in the case of anti-semitism.


18 posted on 01/10/2012 10:20:21 AM PST by WPaCon
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To: circlecity

No, just Torah.....and I will say it again. If you are against Israel, you ARE an Anti-Semite.


19 posted on 01/10/2012 12:13:12 PM PST by Never A Dull Moment
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To: Never A Dull Moment
"If you are against Israel, you ARE an Anti-Semite."

And I will say again, you have learned well from Obama and your liberal victimology brethren.

20 posted on 01/10/2012 12:20:07 PM PST by circlecity
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