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STRANGE SYMBIOSIS – ISRAEL & ANTI-SEMITISM
Antiwar.com ^ | December 28, 2001 | Justin Raimondo

Posted on 12/29/2001 12:08:08 AM PST by H.R. Gross

Behind the Headlines
by Justin Raimondo
Antiwar.com

December 28, 2001

STRANGE SYMBIOSIS – ISRAEL & ANTI-SEMITISM
That 'sh*tty little country' is dangerous – to its allies, and to Jews everywhere

As Israel prepares to expel its Arab helots from Palestine, its "amen corner" worldwide is also on the march, excoriating anyone who looks cross-eyed at Ariel Sharon as an "anti-Semite." The latest front in this campaign is England, where Barbara Amiel, wife of media magnate Conrad Black, went on a rampage in the Telegraph, claiming that, at a recent dinner party, the French ambassador referred to Israel as "that sh*tty little country," and wondered why the world had to be dragged to the edge of World War III on account of it. On the basis of evidence gleaned at ritzy cocktail parties, says Ms. Amiel, the world is experiencing a revival of anti-Semitism, which is now "respectable" again.

OSAMA ON MTV?

Oh, please! Does she really expect us to believe that Osama's infamous videos denouncing the "Jews and Crusaders" are the "in" thing with the hip cognoscenti? Lay off the crack pipe, lady, and get real: anti-Semitism is less respectable than pedophilia. After all, hordes of people aren't buying The Protocols of the Elder of Zion the way they're snatching up those Abercrombie & Fitch catalogs, now are they? Amiel's essay is just one breathtaking inversion of reality after another. Getta load-a this:

"For the past 25 years, I've watched sad-faced Israeli activists trudge around Western capitals with heavy hearts beating under ill-fitting suits. They carry folders of transcripts and videotapes to document the misrepresentations in the press and the moral hypocrisy of the world towards Israel. They want to win the war of ideas on its merits. Their attention to detail in translating the hate literature of the Middle East and the hate-filled speeches of its leaders is commendable."

FOLLOW THE MONEY

One can only wonder what "Western capitals" she means: surely not Washington, D.C. Everyone acknowledges that the Israel lobby is among the most powerful in the Imperial City. How else have they managed to get their hands on a grand total of $90 billion-plus in American military and economic aid since Israel's inception?

A STRANGE IRONY

Aside from US exporters, Israel is the single largest beneficiary of our "foreign aid" program: US tax dollars paid for a booby-trap bomb planted near an Arab elementary school, which blasted a group of Palestinian children – children! – to bits. American tax dollars also pay for Israeli "settlements" inhabited by violent, fanatical fundamentalists intent on provoking war no matter what. This image of sad bedraggled little underdogs making their rounds, desperately fighting an uphill battle against overwhelming odds, is nothing but a bad joke – either that, or it is meant to be ironic.

I SHOULD BE SO POWERLESS

If the Israeli lobby is so powerless, then why this American largesse? We not only arm Israel, but we also prop up their sh*tty little socialist economy with constant infusions of cash. Whatever those Israeli "activists" are carrying around in their folders, whatever is on those videotapes, it must be some pretty powerful stuff. Given the Fox News revelations about the extent of Israeli spying in the US, I don't even want to hazard a guess as to what's in them.

THE ONEIDA PURGE

They want to "win the war of ideas on its merits"? Tell that to Jean Ryan, former managing editor of the Oneida (NY) Daily Dispatch, and city editor Dale Seth (a 15-year veteran of the paper), who were both fired when a delegation of Israel Firsters approached the editor and then the owner demanding the paper retract an allegedly "anti-Semitic" post-9/11 editorial written by Seth. Seth's crime was to recall the terrorist origins of the Jewish state – as if no one had ever heard of the Irgun and the Stern Gang, both of which waged war on the Arab civilian population – and without which the state of Israel would never have come into existence. He also made the true but politically incorrect observation that the whole region is rife with religious fanaticism, and Israel is no exception to the rule:

"The United States, through its close association with Israel since its inception, has now been dragged kicking and screaming right into the middle of that centuries-old Middle Eastern conflict. From that position, it would behoove that party in the middle to consider the hearts of the warring parties. Neither can be simply beat into submission."

UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER

A local attorney, Randy Schaal, demanded a meeting with Ryan to protest the editorial: Ryan refused to meet with him, pointing out that that if the staff met with everyone who disagreed with an editorial, they would never get a paper out. She told him to write a letter to the editor, which he did. But Schaal also contacted local politicians, as well as the Anti-Defamation League, and it wasn't long before pressure was brought to bear on the paper's management, which then ordered its editors to come up with a "clarification." This was published alongside Schaal's letter, a letter from Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), and a missive from the mayor of Oneida. Still, Schaal and his fellow Ameners weren't satisfied. They went to the President of the Journal Register Co., and demanded a retraction and an apology: it was unconditional surrender, or nothing.

GROVELING TOWARD BETHLEHEM

After a series of meetings with various self-appointed representatives of the Jewish community, the owners of the Daily Dispatch caved and published a groveling mea culpa: "We understand many felt [the editorial] expressed anti-Semitic sentiments," it said. "We will not further offend our readers by attempting in any way to justify what was written; we can only assure readers that The Dispatch is not anti-Semitic and that we acknowledge the editorial should not have been published."

So much for the Israeli lobby winning the war of ideas on the "merits" of their case. Clearly, another strategy is at work here: not debating their opponents but silencing them.

ODE TO BRUTE FORCE

The rest of Amiel's essay is really a kind of paean to the efficacy of brute force. While those poor bedraggled Israeli "activists" may have been fighting an uphill battle, according to Amiel, in the post-9/11 era the tide seems to be turning, and she can hardly keep herself from gloating that now the Arabs are really going to get it:

"Powerful as the truth may be, it needs a nudge from 16,000lb daisy cutter bombs once in a while. The Arab/Muslim world's intransigence comes into sharper focus when we see the Americans liberate Afghanistan from the Taliban in six weeks and a cornered Arafat unable to go to the bathroom without the risk of being blown into the next world."

PSYCHOPATHIA SEXUALIS

Here is the kind of Zionist who clearly enjoys the brutality and indignity of the Israeli occupation. Such people now feel free to publicly exhibit and even flaunt their perversity, which seems like something straight out of Kraft-Ebbing. What else can one call Amiel's odd interest in controlling Arafat's bowel movements other than a sh*tty little perversion?

THE TERRORISTIC IMPERATIVE

"Nothing succeeds like powerful bombs," exults this war goddess, "as bin Laden explained in his latest video release. 'When people see a strong horse and a weak horse, by nature they will like the strong horse,' he said." How natural for her to approvingly cite bin Laden on the terroristic imperative: but then that is what tribal warfare is all about, no matter which side one fights on.

CHOO-CHOO

Yes, it is force, not reason or negotiation, that is decisive, avers Ms. Amiel, who gleefully predicts that "All those people badmouthing the Jews and Israel will quieten down." Or else be quieted down, involuntarily, like Jean Ryan, Dale Seth, and now perhaps Carl Cameron, of Fox News. "You are looking," Amiel continues, "at the tail end of the train but the engine has already turned a corner and is going in the opposite direction" – and anyone who shows up at one of those ritzy parties she's always attending had better get on board, or else.

AMIEL'S JIHAD

No one would think to label denunciations of, say, Robert Mugabe, as the equivalent of anti-black racism: but we are expected to just accept that virtually all criticism of Israel and Ariel Sharon is due to "anti-Semitism." Amiel's blatantly dishonest and self-serving jihad is naturally bound to cause resentment among all thinking people – an emotion that could, easily, turn into genuine anti-Semitism. But that, I believe, is the point: anti-Semitism serves the interests of the most extreme wing of the Zionist movement, and always has.

100 YEARS AFTER DREYFUSS

Founded as it is on the permanence of Jewish victimology, and the idea that anti-Semitism is inevitable, Zionism thrives when Jewish persecution grows. It is a natural tendency of Zionist propaganda to exaggerate hostility to Jews. The founder of Zionism, Theodore Herzl, was confirmed in his opinion that it was "futile" to combat anti-Semitism when the infamous Dreyfuss case was at the center of a storm of controversy. Today, however, with the rapid decline and marginalization of anti-Semitism everywhere but in the Middle East, the pressing need for a Jewish state requires more justification.

WHY A JEWISH STATE?

Anti-Semitism in the West, as "hate crime" statistics and other research has shown in recent years, is practically nonexistent. This good news was hailed by Jewish organizations in the US when it was first announced, but the extreme Zionists were no doubt made uneasy. For if anti-Jewish prejudice is distinctly beyond the pale, at least in the civilized world, i.e., the West, then what do we need a Jewish state for? This is a question many Jews, when faced with an appeal to emigrate to Israel, must ask themselves, and, at least up until Ms. Amiel's outburst, the Zionists have had no good answer. Now they appear to have solved the problem by simply redefining "anti-Semitism" to mean any criticism of Israel's expansionist policies and its current radical right-wing government.

THE OLD ANTI-SEMITISM

Anti-Semitism used to mean legal and cultural proscriptions directed against Jews. In medieval Europe, Jews were forced into ghettos, in Nazi Germany they were branded with the yellow star and exterminated, and, in America and Europe, it used to be that some establishments, both high and low, would not do business with Jews. Certain hotels and men's clubs would not admit them, and anti-Semitism was especially rife in the universities where an unofficial Jewish quota kept their numbers and influence limited. This is real anti-Semitism, and, today, it is not only illegal but socially and politically unacceptable: anyone deemed an anti-Semite in this, the original sense, is in effect a pariah, and rightly so.

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To: veronica
"...and the Islamic crazies who murdered 3000 Americans."

You forgot to add: with Israeli foreknowledge and complicity.

121 posted on 12/29/2001 12:11:03 AM PST by Justin Raimondo
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To: Byron_the_Aussie
Byron, you are a lovely-assed roo. must be raimondo's receptacle. You better keep out of this. If you want to start a personal fight with me better come outside.
122 posted on 12/29/2001 12:11:14 AM PST by imperator2
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To: Justin Raimondo
You forgot to add: with Israeli foreknowledge and complicity.

Foreknowledge AND complicity now? LOL... Go to gym already. Maybe you can shake or bake all those lies out of your noggin. 5 or 6 hours in the steam room might be just the ticket.

123 posted on 12/29/2001 12:11:17 AM PST by veronica
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To: veronica
Foreknowledge IS complicity -- if they didn't tell us. And it looks like they didn't, or else 9/11 would never have turned out the way it did....
124 posted on 12/29/2001 12:11:21 AM PST by Justin Raimondo
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To: veronica
I think I'll start a movement for the WASPs such as myself, let us call it Saxonism and I'll be the first leader of the Saxonists. So will you support this or will you sic the ADL, SPLC, FBI and other monitors of proper behavior upon our legitimate Biblicaly ordained movement?
125 posted on 12/29/2001 12:11:21 AM PST by junta
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To: tex-oma
So, this is your agenda? Most FreeRepublic posters try to get to the truth of an issue, through discussion. Your blatant admissions are quite telling.

Hmm.Considering the massive flame you laid on me yesterday for violating YOUR posting rules,you seem to contadict yourself,and just for you,a pic.


126 posted on 12/29/2001 12:11:21 AM PST by cardinal4
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Comment #127 Removed by Moderator

To: tex-oma
Sorry,Tex,couldnt resist!The truth of the matter is,I just learned how to post HTML.Perhaps I am going overboard!As for the flame,I think you could have pointed out my inadequacies a little more diplomatically.Have a nice day!
128 posted on 12/29/2001 12:11:32 AM PST by cardinal4
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To: College Repub
Make no mistake, when Justin talks about US funds here, his concern is not for the US. He is talking out of hatred for the State of Israel, and he probably hates Jews too (even though he won't admit it)

I've always found it a bit presumptuous to put words in other peoples' mouths. I've read a lot of Mr. Raimondo's work, and whether I agree with him or not, I'm convinced he has the rhetorical capability to speak for himself. Presenting your opinions of his opinions as fact doesn't do your case much good.

129 posted on 12/29/2001 12:11:37 AM PST by IronJack
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Comment #130 Removed by Moderator

To: Justin Raimondo
Is it opposition to Israel -- or a belief that all Jews are evil.

When libertarianloons like you demand Israel retreat to indefensible borders. To make the job of the Jihadists easier.This is anti Semitism. Clear enough for you now?

BTW>What's this deal about you being Jewish? So says Irv Rubin from JDL. True or untrue? I'm betting your mother is Jewish thus making you Jewish.

131 posted on 12/29/2001 12:11:39 AM PST by dennisw
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To: cardinal4,tex-oma
Oye! TexAroma did that? Fer shame fer shame.
132 posted on 12/29/2001 12:11:40 AM PST by dennisw
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To: Justin Raimondo
Whose? The murderers of those kids? Gee, I guess it must be hubris -- the Israelis think they can get away with anything, at this point.

For a brief moment I had hope for reason prevailing. As you remember, after a couple of days, Israel admitted its responsibility for the deaths. Then a day later the Palistinian Authority said that it was responsible because the bomb was in their jurisdiction. I was impressed with both of them, then they went back to their old ways.

133 posted on 12/29/2001 12:11:45 AM PST by Ada Coddington
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To: Justin Raimondo
Glad to be of help. That whole region (the Mideast) is ruled by two groups: Terrorists and "ex"-terrorists. That's why we need to STAY OUT of there.

Well, obviuously I don't know enough to make any judgement about what our policy ought to be. Just because there is trouble, doesn't necessarily mean we should hide from it. It's not enough information or experience to go on.

134 posted on 12/29/2001 12:11:53 AM PST by Huck
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To: Justin Raimondo
"Uh huh, I'm suuure you could, bubala. It's funny how the response to this column by the Amen Corner validates the column's theme: that, when faced with facts, the Ameners always turn to censorship (or, in this case, attempted censorship). Good god, even someone who denounces anti-Semitism, as I do above, isn't safe from these tribalist fanatics."

Noone is attempting to censor you, at least not me. I think you're being hyperbolic with the word 'censorship'. And your assertion that FOX said that Israel knew about the WTC attacks it untrue, I read your "article" and the corresponding Fox source, and Fox asserts that Israel knew something was coming, but didn't know the specifics....your insinuation that Israel was spying on us also isn't corroborated by FOX...they were spying on foreign nationals in the U.S. (Arabic nationals).

135 posted on 12/29/2001 12:12:46 AM PST by Frances_Marion
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To: Justin Raimondo
"You want to know what sadism is? You must be referring to the stuff about Kraft-Ebbing -- a kind of joke about Amiel's professed desire to control Yasser Arafat's bowel movements. That's called sarcasm, kid, otherwise known as humor. But of course ideologues like yourself don't know about humor....."

There's humor/sarcasm, and then there's just plain lame-ness. Dennis Miller you ain't, Justin, don't try the obscure reference gig.

136 posted on 12/29/2001 12:12:58 AM PST by Frances_Marion
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To: Justin Raimondo
On November 4, 1997, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by Jewish extremist Yigal Amir, who was active in the "settler" movement," and Shimon Peres became Prime Minister. Go look it up, dude.

Have you read barry Chamish's stuff on this assasination? As if often the case which such matters, all may not be as it seems.

137 posted on 12/29/2001 12:12:58 AM PST by Plummz
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To: Justin Raimondo
"I have to prove that the settlers are fundamentalist fanatics -- when one of them assassinated an Israeli Prime minister and a group of them recently burned a Christian Bible? The burden, sir, is on you to prove that they aren't...."

Yes Justin. All Israeli settlers are fundamentalist whackos....and Black people dance good and make great peach cobbler...oh, and jews are good with money and I (so I hear on this Antiwar.com site) are behind the myth of anti-jewish sentiments....all Palestinian Arabs are maniacal terrorists...oh, and white people abuse diet pills and beat their wives.

Keep the generalizations coming....especially in your "editorials".

138 posted on 12/29/2001 12:13:00 AM PST by Frances_Marion
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And let me just say that I don't see Justin as an anti-Semite, or even a "leftist"...I see him as an isolationist. Isolationism doesn't work...we aren't Switzerland, but I can understand the allure of isolationism.
139 posted on 12/29/2001 12:13:05 AM PST by Frances_Marion
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To: Huck
The point is that this trouble is not OUR trouble. Also, that the whole region is a nest of vipers, and that we are more than likely to get bitten if we stick our hand under that particular rock. Morally, I see no difference between the Arab nutballs and the Israeli nutballs, nor do I see any concrete national interest in taking sides in that particular tribal war.
140 posted on 12/29/2001 12:13:05 AM PST by Justin Raimondo
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