I suppose this is a symptom of the don't tread on me attitude that appears to emanate from the israeli government, and sometimes hedged around here when there is a criticism directed at israel, the accuser is branded as anti-Semitic when all they are really doing is criticising a political regimen and not a race/religion.
Quote:
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"As a Jew who experienced real anti-Semitism as a child, I'm deeply disturbed that a man like Tutu could be labeled anti-Semitic and silenced like this," he says. "I deeply resent the Israeli lobby trying to silence any criticism of its policy. It does a great disservice to Israel and to all Jews."
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Says it all for me, all of the hand wringing and wailing about persecution which in some cases recently has had absolutely nothing to do with anti-Semitism and everything to do with bias and spin for political gain. Too many people seem unable or unwilling to separate the history and racial connotations associated with jews and persecution leading to the cry that any criticism of them must be motivated by something altogether darker than simple foreign policy or human rights issues.
To my mind there's still too much animosity for anyone who has a deep belief here to react in a sensible manner. We all laugh when the 'crazy arabs' declare death to the great satan and burn flags and talk about purging westerners from their lands etc, but there is plenty of the same rhetoric in israeli foreign policy which we all take rather studiously seriously, because 'jews are not funny' or something. I think it's right that we recognise that there are just as many jews or israelis who hold nutty views as anyone else. These articles show clearly how the nutters still have the loudest voice when it comes to defending their point of view to the extent that public institutions are influenced to not invite a speaker as Desmond Tutu to their faculty. Worse yet, reasonable people aquiess to these demands in spite of the obvious contradiction surrounding it.
But again, this is some sort of twisted politics that rely on spin and deception to pursue its goals. We have it here in the UK with most of our nu-lab government, where our collective scorn of their policies and motivation is free from the burden of issues like the holocaust which add emotive dimensions to arguments that ought not to contain or be polluted by such things. I can appreciate peoples concerns in some of these matters, but they're just not looking at the big picture.
The accusation that the state of israel is comparable in some of its actions, to hitler is a very strong one; I dare say this is to an extent hyperbole but you cannot argue that the result of foreign policy action has not led to the death of innocent people, because it has. That we are talking about a governments foreign policy should not be clouded by things like racism and bigotry. But there you go. The same can be said for many of the worlds governments including my own. What kind of administration (and its supporters) cannot stand up to a little criticism without having to resort to the lowest blow of all to defend itself and in doing so sully the memory of so many who suffered so terribly in the past?
Toubling thoughts for me.