Annan Sees 'Alarming Resurgence' of Anti-Semitism

[hightime]

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan declared on Monday there was an "alarming resurgence" of anti-Semitism in the world and called for U.N. bodies to adopt resolutions and investigate the ancient scourge.

Greeted with a standing ovation, Annan opened the first U.N.-organized seminar dedicated to anti-Semitism in response to charges that the world body dwelled on Palestinian rights and deliberately ignored injustices to Israelis and Jews.

"When we seek justice for the Palestinians -- as we must-- let us firmly disavow anyone who tries to use that cause to incite hatred against Jews, in Israel or elsewhere," Annan told the gathering, which included a wide spectrum of American Jewish groups and representatives of other religions.

Annan said it was hard to believe that 60 years after the Holocaust that anti-Semitism was rearing its head.

http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/410394|top|06-21-2004::17:32|reuters.html

top|06-21-2004::17:32|reuters.html|link

AAARRRGGGGGHHHHH. I am trying to get the HREF link with text display to work and am having no luck. Sorry. It seams to se the first instance of the "|" and thinks it is the "text" part. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Jim Sagle]

1. In other news, Rip van Winkle woke up.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

4. Does your definition of the word "anti-Semitic" include ALL Semites...

...as described in the following definitions, or are you taking the VERY narrow definition of "anti-Semitic" to include only the Israelis?

I wonder what Annan actually meant by his comment?

=======================================
<http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn?stage=1&word=semite>

1. Semite -- (a member of a group of Semitic-speaking peoples of the Middle East and northern Africa)
======================================

<http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/semitic>

WordNet Dictionary

Definition:

a major branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family
of or relating to or characteristic of Semites; "Semite peoples"
of or relating to the group of Semitic languages; "Semitic tongues have a complicated morphology"

Synonyms: Semite

See Also: Afrasian, Afrasian language, Afroasiatic, Afroasiatic language, Akkadian, Amharic, Arabic, Arabic language, Aramaic, Canaanitic, Canaanitic language, Ethiopian language, Hamito-Semitic
================================

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Definition: \Sem*it"ic\, a.
Of or pertaining to Shem or his descendants; belonging to
that division of the Caucasian race which includes the Arabs,
Jews, and related races.

{Semitic language}, a name used to designate a group of
Asiatic and African languages, some living and some dead,
namely: Hebrew and Phnician, Aramaic, Assyrian,
Arabic, Ethiopic (Geez and Ampharic). --Encyc. Brit.
================================

[LittleApple81]

6. Some time ago I used the word "anti-semite" to indicate all

the populations of semitic descent.... boy, somebody got really upset... apparently because of usage it may only be used for people of Jewish descent. Which I don't agree with.

[Baltimoreboy]

7. Complain to Webster's

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=antisemitic

[Media_Lies_Daily]

12. That's Webster's problem, isn't it?

[Jacobin]

2. Amazing he's ignoring the anti Palestiniansim increase

[54anickel]

3. I'm not sure I like the sounds of this from Annan. If you're anti-Sharon

policy does that translate to anti-Semitism? He explains it well as inciting hatred against Jews in Israel or elsewhere, but that opening line of the article just rubs me the wrong way.

That almost sounds like Shrub calling anyone against him, his policies, his "war on terra" Anti-American and unpatriotic. Just short of saying you're in bed with the "terrists", oh wait, he did say "yer with us or against us" didn't he.

Don't mean to degrade Annan by comparing him to Shrub, I just find this a touchy subject these days.

[Toucano]

5. Thanks, Mel Gibson!

They swore up and down that it wouldn't happen. But it did.

[Matilda]

8. I don't think Mel is to blame.

I think perhaps a certain amount of anti-semitism has always been
with us, just lying dormant. But there is also a response to what
is happening in the territories - most of us can separate dislike
of Israeli policy and Ariel Sharon from Jews as a people, but some
obviously can't.

I find it harder these days to look kindly on the Israeli people,
because Sharon does have majority support in what can only be
called ethnic cleansing. I can no longer say I'm completely
unbiased, I do feel a lot of anger and disgust at what is being
done to the Palestinians, but the answer doesn't lie in attacking
synagogues or individual Jews, but in mass protest, particularly
in the U.S. against the unquestioning support given to Israel.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

13. Good post.

[peacetalksforall]

9. No one is calling a spade a spade.

There is a growing anti-Sharon party movement.

The Aryanists never seem to go away so they don't count unless Annan says they are growing in organized ways.

I'm sure ANTI-ISRAEL movements by Moslems would be alleviated it the Palestinians had a better chance at some land and peace for themselves.

I'm sure many other wouldn't have Anti-Sharon or Anti-Moslem Terrorists resentments if only there was a glimmer of working things out.

I don't think rational people approve of tit-for-tat killing.

If we were giving ideas to a fiction writer we would have to consider that Annan is taking orders from the neo-cons as payola for lighter attacks on the U.N. embargo improprieties, if the improprieties exist.

This appears to be highly partisan of Annan.

Call a spade a spade. I am anti-Sharon. I am not anti-Jew or anti-Semite. I am anti-terrorist. I am not anti-Palestinian or anti-Moslem.

[funnymanpants]

10. Annan a hypocrite

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article2799.shtml


"This concept underlies all of Annan's statements about Israeli actions: the Secretary-General will often criticize Israel for using 'excessive force,' but almost never questions Israel's inherent right to achieve its goals through the use of violence. Since Israel always describes its actions as 'self-defence,' this is effectively carte blanche. But when it comes to Palestinians, I could not find a single statement from Annan positively affirming their right to self-defence against Israeli aggression. By contrast, Annan has made countless statements critcizing, condemning and calling for a halt to Palestinian acts of violence, even when they are directed at Israeli military targets within occupied territory."

[struggle4progress]

11. Minister Condemns Upsurge in Anti-Semitism

A rise in incidents of anti-Semitism in the UK and across Europe was condemned by the Government today.

Minister for Europe Denis MacShane dubbed the upsurge in grave desecrations and other attacks as “disturbing”.

At Commons question time, he pledged Government support for moves to combat anti-Semitism at home and abroad.

“The Government is aware of a disturbing increase in anti-Semitic remarks and attacks across many European nations, including the UK.
<snip>
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3067424

International conference on anti-Semitism, racism on Internet opens in Paris
1:02 p.m. June 16, 2004
European neo-Nazis post online pictures of paint-smeared mosques. Web sites of Islamic radicals call for holy war on the West. Aliases like "Jew Killer" pop up on Internet game sites.

International experts met Wednesday in Paris to tackle the tricky task of fighting anti-Semitic, racist and xenophobic propaganda on the Internet – seen as a chief factor in a rise in hate crime.

Purveyors of hate have found a potent tool in the Internet, spreading fear with such grisly images as the beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002.
<snip>

France, which is spearheading the effort, has faced a surge in anti-Semitic violence in the last two years. Some fault the growth of Internet use among hate groups.
<snip>

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/computing/20040616-1302-onlinehate.html


Anti-Semitism at all-time high
June 14, 2004
<snip>
Since January, there have been several incidents in which Jewish synagogues, schools and cemeteries have been vandalized. For Cotler, the most poignant was the firebombing in April of Montreal's United Talmud Torah School, the oldest Jewish school in Canada, where he studied as a child.
<snip>
http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=70db7ca1-df44-4fec-a488-d4626060b5d0

How Governments Can Combat Anti-Semitism Focus of Helsinki Commission Hearing
6/10/2004 12:37:00 PM
The Helsinki Commission will hold a public hearing to assess the results of the historic April 2003 Berlin Conference on Anti- Semitism, organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and consider appropriate concrete steps to follow up to the conference.
<snip>
An un-official transcript will be available on the Helsinki Commission's Internet web site at http://www.csce.gov within 24 hours of the hearing.
<snip>
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=122-06102004


Anti-semitism is a serious continuing problem. You want a good example? Here's a good candidate for an anti-semitic SOB:

Turkey's prime minister says Israel has only itself to blame for what he called a rising tide of anti-Semitism around the world.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan told members of his Justice and Development Party in Ankara on Tuesday that Israel's crackdown in the occupied Palestinian territories has triggered hatred for Jews.
<snip>
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=A6F06874-8B96-485E-AA9B3403EFA1465A


In my book, anger about Israeli policy may well be justified, but that anger can in no way justify hate crimes against Jews around the world.