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Ken Burch

(50,254 posts)
Wed Aug 6, 2014, 11:32 PM Aug 2014

The BEST way to fight antisemitism is to stand up to Netanyahu.

At one point, it appeared to most people of good will and decent intent that the best way to fight the scourge of antisemitism was to give unquestioning, unconditional support to the State of Israel in general and, in particular, whatever the Israeli government of the day claimed that it had to do in the name of what it called "security"...and to provide whatever assistance, particularly military assistance, that state claimed to need.

It has now become clear that support and military aid provided to ANY Israeli government involving the Likud Party and the coalition partners of Likud which take positions to Likud's right actually increases antisemitism and puts both the Jewish population of Israel AND of the Diaspora into imminent physical danger.

Binyamin Netanyahu has demonstrated, by his actions, that he does not want Jews to live in safety outside of Israel and that he does not wish Israel itself to ever make peace with its neighbors. All that Netanyahu and his cabinet do seems clearly designed to create nothing but rage towards Israel among the surrounding countries and hatred not only of Israeli actions but of Israel itself and of Jews as a group(despite the fact that Jewish people outside of Israel are neither responsible for the actions of Netanyahu's government nor united in support of those actions). While the vast, indeed the overwhelming majority of those who oppose the bombing of Gaza are passionate opponents of antisemitism, Netanyahu's actions have created many opportunities for those who hate Jews to take advantage of the situation and spread their poison much farther than they could have otherwise. And this is exactly what Netanyahu wanted.

In this, he is acting as the true heir of the reprehensible political tradition from which he sprang-Revisionist Zionism, the hate-based, hopelessness-based, reactionary strain of the Zionist movement which holds that antisemitism can never be brought to an end, that a Jewish state can never live in peace with the Arabs, that the Palestinians must all be driven away from their land, and that every Jewish person in the world should move to Israel-which would make the rest of the world voluntarily Judenrein and give the antisemites exactly what the want.

This is not only a hopeless vision for the Palestinians, it is also a hopeless vision for both the Jewish population of Israel but for all of those in the Diaspora...it means giving up forever on the rest of the world, it means being trapped in a tiny and likely permanently right-wing and ultra-religious(in solely the joyless, bigoted and repressive sense)state, it means nothing but despair under the desert sun.

We can't let Israelis, Palestinians, Diaspora Jews or the rest of the planet be doomed to Netanyahu's life-hating vision of the future.

The way to defeat antisemitism is not through unquestioning support of ANY state, but to the creation of an uncompromising global campaign for human liberation and against ALL forms of hatred and bigotry, as well as all forms of exploitation and inequality.

In the mean time, we should suspend all further military aid to Israel(or any other Middle Eastern country)as long as the anti-peace, anti-justice and anti-hope Netanyahu government(or any parties currently within it)remains in power. To do otherwise is to work for permanent war in the region.

Hate can never be defeated in a world that remains unjust, or by a state that sees injustice as security.

45 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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The BEST way to fight antisemitism is to stand up to Netanyahu. (Original Post) Ken Burch Aug 2014 OP
That would be a great start. Why aren't we calling for "regime change?" nt kelliekat44 Aug 2014 #1
Excellent question. Aerows Aug 2014 #18
Like right wing movements everywhere, Netanyahu's Likud thrives on fear. BillZBubb Aug 2014 #2
anti semitism has nothing to do with netanyahu, it was there before him and will continue after him JI7 Aug 2014 #3
Of course it was there before him, but he's clearly trying to make it worse. Ken Burch Aug 2014 #5
this is like blaming some black person who did something bad for right wingers being racist against JI7 Aug 2014 #6
No it isn't. n/t. Ken Burch Aug 2014 #9
yes it is, right wingers do it all the time, like with trayvon shooting, they point to chicago JI7 Aug 2014 #10
I didn't say it was ok for anybody to be killed. Ken Burch Aug 2014 #11
no, what you did was try to make excuses for anti jewish thugs JI7 Aug 2014 #12
I hate anti-Jewish thugs and hate antisemitism. Ken Burch Aug 2014 #13
and it's the fault of al qaeda for people who attacked brown people after 9/11 JI7 Aug 2014 #14
In part, yes. Ken Burch Aug 2014 #19
Yes, it actually is a direct analog. joshcryer Aug 2014 #39
I didn't say Netanyahu invented antisemitism. Ken Burch Aug 2014 #40
I didn't say you did. joshcryer Aug 2014 #41
do you excuse anti muslim bigotry by blaming al qaeda ? JI7 Aug 2014 #4
I don't excuse any bigotry. Ken Burch Aug 2014 #8
Prepare for a hide Aerows Aug 2014 #7
Your post comes so close to the truth Warpy Aug 2014 #15
there have been attacks on jews BEFORE this latest war, the same thugs are using JI7 Aug 2014 #17
And the attacks have always been indefensible. We agree on that. Ken Burch Aug 2014 #20
Far too many people Aerows Aug 2014 #24
That's a lot to soak in, Boom Sound 416 Aug 2014 #16
Brilliant use of propaganda on his part. n/t. Ken Burch Aug 2014 #21
You mean they are fake? Boom Sound 416 Aug 2014 #22
Not faked, but achieved through propaganda. Ken Burch Aug 2014 #23
Maybe, but it seems pretty black and white Boom Sound 416 Aug 2014 #29
Probably because he hates Obama so much shaayecanaan Aug 2014 #34
That doesn't prove him right, though. Ken Burch Aug 2014 #36
Netanyahu Aerows Aug 2014 #26
Maybe on DU Boom Sound 416 Aug 2014 #27
Polls don't make him Aerows Aug 2014 #28
'Some' which means 'at least one' Boom Sound 416 Aug 2014 #30
You know what? Aerows Aug 2014 #35
There, he's a popular asshole. Ken Burch Aug 2014 #37
Very powerful article 4now Aug 2014 #25
Brilliantly put Ken, Excellent Post, Well Done! 2banon Aug 2014 #31
K&R DeSwiss Aug 2014 #32
Well said. k&r n/t jaysunb Aug 2014 #33
Propaganda is an amazingly effective tool. jaysunb Aug 2014 #38
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Aug 2014 #42
Antisemitism predates Bibi by thousands of years, if your answer was correct TheKentuckian Aug 2014 #43
By that logic, anti-Hamas rage must obviously be fueled by Islamophobia and anti-Arabism. DanTex Aug 2014 #45
Which Israeli political parties do you like? oberliner Aug 2014 #44
 

Aerows

(39,961 posts)
18. Excellent question.
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 01:08 AM
Aug 2014

I had some pithy things to say, but I erased them because I would have just garnered another hidden post. All I can say is that this situation is messed up.

BillZBubb

(10,650 posts)
2. Like right wing movements everywhere, Netanyahu's Likud thrives on fear.
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 12:27 AM
Aug 2014

Generating an "existential threat" is the most powerful tool in the right wing play book. Netanyahu and the other right wingers have a massive propaganda reach to convince people worldwide that Israel wants peace but it cannot find peace because the other side wants to destroy Israel and "kill every Jew". The right will trot out pipsqueak organizations like Hamas as proof.

Once people have that falsehood instilled in their heads, any action Israel takes is viewed through the lens of a desperate fight for existence. That corrupts the minds to accept and even promote any sort of outrage that ordinarily they would condemn.

The right wing uses the power this gives them to further squeeze the Palestinians. When the Palestinians finally have had enough, some segment the Palestinian population takes violent action. The Israeli right then uses that as further proof of the Palestinians dreadful intentions. More fear, no peace, and more settlements--the Israeli right wing Stairway to Heaven.

 

Ken Burch

(50,254 posts)
5. Of course it was there before him, but he's clearly trying to make it worse.
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 12:32 AM
Aug 2014

I didn't claim he invented it.

JI7

(89,172 posts)
6. this is like blaming some black person who did something bad for right wingers being racist against
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 12:33 AM
Aug 2014

blacks.

JI7

(89,172 posts)
10. yes it is, right wingers do it all the time, like with trayvon shooting, they point to chicago
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 12:37 AM
Aug 2014

or some other thing which has nothing to do with that individual case.

as if any of those things they list makes it ok for some black teen to be killed in florida.

 

Ken Burch

(50,254 posts)
11. I didn't say it was ok for anybody to be killed.
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 12:44 AM
Aug 2014

What I am saying is that, in the name of his ideology, and of maintaining support for his political parties and its allies, Netanyahu is endangering the people he purports to defend. That he cares more about "winning" and about making sure the Palestinians never get their freedom than he does about ending the war and getting a peaceful future for the country he governs.

And it's that it's also clear that Netanyahu cares nothing about ending antisemitism...that, in fact, he NEEDS antisemitism to get worse, in order to silence dissent at home and end debate here.

You can't seriously quarrel with those conclusions.

 

Ken Burch

(50,254 posts)
13. I hate anti-Jewish thugs and hate antisemitism.
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 12:49 AM
Aug 2014

Netanyahu doesn't, however. He wants there to be more of them.

 

Ken Burch

(50,254 posts)
19. In part, yes.
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 01:08 AM
Aug 2014

Which doesn't mean it's ok that Arabs and Muslims were attacked, any more than what Netanyahu does makes attacks on Jews ok.

 

Ken Burch

(50,254 posts)
40. I didn't say Netanyahu invented antisemitism.
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 02:22 AM
Aug 2014

What I said is that he's glad that it exists and hopes that his actions make it worse, because Netanyahu needs antisemitism to get worse to silence dissent and further his agenda.

It has nothing to do with Netanyahu's ethnicity, culture, or religion...it's about ideology and political survival.

 

Ken Burch

(50,254 posts)
8. I don't excuse any bigotry.
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 12:35 AM
Aug 2014

It is likely that AQ's actions have caused it to get worse, and it is likely that AQ wanted that to happen...because AQ would never have had any support in a world where Muslims felt they weren't under siege.

Warpy

(110,900 posts)
15. Your post comes so close to the truth
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 01:02 AM
Aug 2014

that the Usual Suspects have probably already alerted on it.

I wish they'd read it and think about it. People outraged by slaughter in a disproportionate war want to hit back and the local Jewish population, many of them non Zionist, bears the brunt of it.

This is what we're seeing around the world. It has to be laid at the feet of the present Israeli government.

JI7

(89,172 posts)
17. there have been attacks on jews BEFORE this latest war, the same thugs are using
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 01:05 AM
Aug 2014

it as an excuse to be more open about it.

 

Ken Burch

(50,254 posts)
20. And the attacks have always been indefensible. We agree on that.
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 01:10 AM
Aug 2014

There's nothing wrong, though, in saying that Netanyahu isn't displeased to see the attacks occur, since they serve his essentially anti-Jewish agenda.

Netanyahu wants every Jewish person in the Diaspora to live in constant fear.

 

Aerows

(39,961 posts)
24. Far too many people
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 01:19 AM
Aug 2014

believe that to criticize Netanyahu is to criticize every single Jew in the world.

They forget that yes, even Netanyahu, PM of Israel, can be an unbearable asshole.

Your Jewish friends and neighbors? They are the same kind people they always were, they aren't Netanyahu level unbearable assholes.

Just Netanyahu.

Unbearable asshole.

 

Ken Burch

(50,254 posts)
23. Not faked, but achieved through propaganda.
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 01:16 AM
Aug 2014

Like with Reagan in the Eighties or Dubbikins for a couple of years after 9/11.

 

Boom Sound 416

(4,185 posts)
29. Maybe, but it seems pretty black and white
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 01:24 AM
Aug 2014

He's very obviously waging a multi front campaign.

Citizens either are either with him or against him.

shaayecanaan

(6,068 posts)
34. Probably because he hates Obama so much
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 01:51 AM
Aug 2014

Given that 49% of a purported sample of Israel's population would like to infect Obama with the Ebola virus, mutual antipathy between the two likely doesn't do his poll numbers any harm.

So I guess it is black and white, although probably not in the sense that you meant it.

 

Aerows

(39,961 posts)
28. Polls don't make him
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 01:24 AM
Aug 2014

any less of an unbearable asshole.

It just means that some people accept unbearable assholes.

 

Aerows

(39,961 posts)
35. You know what?
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 01:54 AM
Aug 2014

I don't even care anymore.

I can't post on DU without getting a hide because I am absolutely disgusted with the actions the Israeli government is taking in Gaza.

Go ahead and cheer.

4now

(1,596 posts)
25. Very powerful article
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 01:20 AM
Aug 2014

Thank you for posting this.
I like this line:
"Hate can never be defeated in a world that remains unjust, or by a state that sees injustice as security."

jaysunb

(11,856 posts)
38. Propaganda is an amazingly effective tool.
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 02:05 AM
Aug 2014

The following letter is a cross post of a cross post at DK.http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/04/1318998/-Gaza-Is-Transforming-American-Jews-Words-from-an-Overflowing-Inboxhttp://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/04/1318998/-Gaza-Is-Transforming-American-Jews-Words-from-an-Overflowing-Inbox

I was amazed to see the model displayed that brought Americans the color coded alert system that made Tom Ridge a household name and turned Americans into fearful people suddenly afraid of their neighbors they'd know forever.

Letter from Tel Aviv

Many Israelis, including very young children, incessantly consume updates on strikes and interceptions through the “red color” app. The app with the red icon on their smartphones is decorated with a sound radiation sign resembling the nuclear danger logo. Authorities, institutions, employers, all heighten security procedures, producing signs, road signs and flyers with instructions on buildings “safe spaces”. Municipalities put on giant billboards with patriotic slogans, one more offensively patriotic than the other. We received a leaflet to parents from the kids’ summer camp advising us on how to maintain “emotional safe spaces” for our children. On TV mainly men talk: brain-dead, repetitive, militaristic tactic-talk. The blogger Idan Landau once aptly called this tsunami of public appearances at times of war zman hagvarim - "the time of men." At the same time, the witch hunt of dissenters has reached epidemic proportions, targeting many, and women especially, who dare speak their minds against the war. Orna Banai, Gila Almagor, Shira Gefen are famous celebrities who were vilified for speaking out; a Palestinian psychologist working for the Lod municipality and many like her got fired for what they posted on facebook.

The Open House LGBT organization in Jerusalem came under attack after Elinor Sidi, its director, took a stance against the war. In academia, university presidents published statements warning that they monitor staff and students expressions on social media and will resort to sanctions if they express “too extreme” opinions. This blunt assault is what happens publicly. In private, we know from our friends, many who are politically colored as unpatriotic or anti-Zionist pay a great personal price. Candidates for jobs are asked to write letters renouncing their political opinions. University presidents intervene personally to block “controversial” appointments. Ron Shoval, former leader of Im Tirtzu organizations called to put to use the boycott law, from its sinful inception no more than a dead letter law, to preemptively prosecute and jail human rights defenders. The idea is to prevent human rights organizations from reporting to an international investigation like the Goldstone commission after operation Cast Lead. This witch hunt did not begin yesterday, but the war made things much worse. We encounter both this white fascism running through the main echelons of Israeli society, and the street fascism, those small but well organized gangs of the extreme right who mobilize to beat and intimidate anti-war protestors when they take to the street. In the cultural war raging here it is the Mizrahi face of the extreme right chanting “death to Arab” on the street that grabs all the attention. Haaretz is covering this Mizrahi extreme right extensively. Indeed, it is perceived by lefties especially as menacing, as the “sewage” flooding civilized Israel. But, the white fascism of university presidents or Im Tirtzu is far worse, far more dangerous. One Ron Shoval is more effective in crushing dissent than a thousand street gangs. Those are the people who really hold the key to a complete breakdown of the façade of Israeli democracy.

We attempted to describe the regime of manufactured fear and psychological support for the war, penetrating all aspects of life in all directions. For the vast majority of the country this fear is disproportionate to the actual threat. We described also a climate of threat of violence and violence directed against any form of dissent. In an atmosphere of pending emergency dissent is forbidden and any government action addressing the collective paranoia from the threat of Hamas is seen in a positive light. Needless to say, the government does nothing to curb the climate of violence against dissenters. Instead it incites it with reckless disregard to its potentially disastrous consequences. We do not fear to go and demonstrate, we are still able to do that with reasonable safety, but staying safe on the street is a slightly more complicated task than calculating where the nearest building entrance is in case of a siren alarm. This regime of collective fear and collective mobilization in support of the war is so intense, that our “war vacation” is starting to feel like we took the wrong flight and landed in North Korea.

http://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/blog/letter-from-tel-aviv-hilla-dayan-and-pw-zuidhof

TheKentuckian

(24,934 posts)
43. Antisemitism predates Bibi by thousands of years, if your answer was correct
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 07:04 AM
Aug 2014

we'd likely not even have the word today.

What you think about Netanyahu maybe true as the day is long but your leading premise is nonsense and won't approach fixed no matter what he does or doesn't do, he is providing breathing room for them to come out of their holes under cover of more righteous fury some of which seems unusually hot wrath considering what goes on in the world. How many did we kill today a world away? Who knows. How many Gazas in the past decade or two for us? Hundred? Thousands? How many more with our economic war? How many more in the drug war hugely driven and demanded by us?

NOT.IN.MY.NAME!!! Right? 100% understandable but it feels like a special hasty white hot fury springs up here that takes a different tone and passion level for the death and mayhem levels from other actors even if they are much greater.

DanTex

(20,709 posts)
45. By that logic, anti-Hamas rage must obviously be fueled by Islamophobia and anti-Arabism.
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 07:59 AM
Aug 2014

I mean, Israel has killed about 100x as many innocent civilians as Hamas in this latest flare up. If you are insinuating that anyone who gets upset that Israel just murdered a thousand or so innocent Palestinian civilians is motivated by latent anti-Semitism, what does that say about the people who get upset about the fact that Hamas killed, what, three innocent Israelis?

 

oberliner

(58,724 posts)
44. Which Israeli political parties do you like?
Thu Aug 7, 2014, 07:57 AM
Aug 2014

Give me an example of a coalition whose election would cause you to lift this proposed suspension of aid.

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