Somewhere in Western newsrooms and political backrooms, there must be an instruction manual or playbook entitled “How to make accusations of antisemitism with hardly any facts.” I imagine that Steve Paikin got hold of it and employed it to write his latest column. I am afraid that the piece is seriously lacking in intellectual honesty.
The attempt by Netanyahu and his far-right allies to get us all to conflate a dislike of them and their actions with a dislike of Jews is one of the most antisemitic messages around. They are the ones who are trying to taint people’s understanding of Jewishness itself by associating it with being a belligerent, murderous asshole, and they do it with utter disrespect for Jewish identity, for Jews who disagree with them, and for the damage this could do to Jewish people’s lives and other people’s understanding of Jews. If you want to resist antisemitism, resist the cynical, self-serving and short-sighted messaging of Netanyahu and his friends.
If there’s one upside of Israel’s actions in the last year, it’s that this gap between attitudes to Israel and attitudes to Jewishness, and the distortion Israel’s government attempts by painting its critics as antisemites, have become much clearer to people around the world. They have been so heavy-handed about it that people are now less likely to conflate these things.
Hear, hear.
Wow. I don’t even know where to begin with this. You do realize how bigoted this is, don’t you? You’re basically saying, “I can totally understand why people have a problem with Jews because of the behavior of some extremist right wing Jews.” You might want to take a step back and think about that.
Holding all Jews responsible for what happens in Israel, let alone what a particular Israeli government does, is antisemitic. And no, it’s not our fault. It’s the fault of the antisemites. Our very long history is full of antisemites gaslighting us and blaming us for our persecution. Jews killed Jesus. Jews were behind the Black Plague. Jews are greedy capitalists. Jews are communists. Jews refused to accept Islam as the one true religion. Jews are trying to take over the Middle East. The Jewish state is racist and genocidal. The Jewish state loves to kill Palestinian children. See the pattern here?
The upside to Israel’s actions over the past year is sending a clear message that the Jewish state isn’t going anywhere, and if you try to kill us you will suffer greatly.
You yourself admit that worldwide antisemitism is a problem. These people are not thinking subtly. I can understand why people do all kinds of horrible things, but it doesn’t mean I’m sympathetic or defending them.
I’m saying that a particular group of extreme right wing Jews is encouraging people the world over to make that antisemitic conflation. They do so because in the short term it serves their interests, but in the bigger picture it causes damage.
It’s the fault of antisemites and those that egg them on.
Of course. Vile antisemitism has a long history.
In the process it sends a message to the world that Israel is brutal, racist and hateful. It may end up damaging Israel’s interests more than helping. Netanyahu does what’s best for Netanyahu, not for Israel or for Jews.
Your thought process is so ass-backwards it’s mind-boggling.
Israel gets invaded by barbaric terrorists who butcher 1200 people and take 250 more hostage. The next day another terrorist organization operating in a different country begins launching rockets into Israel in sympathy. Both those organizations are sponsored by a repressive radical Islamist regime that has openly stated its genocidal intention towards Israel and Jews. So Israel does what ANY other country would do - it fights back. And you turn around and say, “Fighting back makes them look brutal, racist and hateful. It’s no wonder people hate them.”
How do you not see how fucked up this is?
Fighting back for Israel does not have to take the form of a genocidal slaughter of innocents.
“Isreali bombs killed and continue to kill thousands of children, but at least they sent a message” lol. Tell us more about your moral superiority. Isreal gets to do whatever they want so long as unquestioning, uncritical support from the US remains. I think that particular type of support from the US may be more fragile than you think.
You don’t understand the Middle East, do you? Strength and power is what leaders respect in the Middle East. They’re not sending a message to Palestinian children, they’re sending a message to Iran and its proxies.
Do you think Israel should just stand down and let Iran move in for the kill?
You literally just missed my point and proved it all at once. How many children are you willing to kill to send your message to the right people?
There is literally no possibility of that happening.
“Won’t anyone think of the poor children?” If you don’t want children to die in war, don’t fucking start war.
Literally no possibility, huh? WTF do you think they sponsor Hamas and Hezbollah and the Houthis for? Why do they have a doomsday clock in Tehran literally counting down to Israel’s destruction? Just for shits and giggles? But here’s the bottom line: Neither you, nor any other ignorant Western leftist, has the right to demand that Israel takes that chance. That’s exactly what Jewish self-determination (AKA Zionism) is all about.
Cool, so because of Oct 7, Isreal has an infinite moral right to kill children? The ones that had nothing to do with this war? LOL. Ridiculous nonsense that you know is wrong. You consider Palestinians subhuman and so does Netanyahu’s regime.
Yes, there is literally no possibility. Isreal will nuke Iran before that happens.
WTF do you think they sponsor Hamas and Hezbollah and the Houthis for? Why do they have a doomsday clock in Tehran literally counting down to Israel’s destruction? Just for shits and giggles?
Because being against Isreal is the Iranian regime’s political stance that they can’t sway from, mostly in order to stay in power. Similar to how Netanyahu expanded and prolonged this war in an effort to stop his government from falling - a ploy that worked. He didn’t invent this strategy of staying power, but he executed it very well.
There’s no chance being taken. Isreal has nukes, infinite US support, and the US seventh fleet on speed dial. Nothing you said is relevant, Isreal remains completely morally responsible for every bomb they drop and for every child they kill. Apparently the Isreali right to security is so great that literally nobody around them has any lol. The desire for security is NOT a unique Isreali right nor does that desire offer a blanket moral justification for any action.
No it’s not, and you know it. You just don’t care. The Isreali state as a whole is not in danger.
This isn’t difficult to grasp. Israel has the right to go to war against its enemies, and children die in war. If you can explain how to fight a war without children dying, I’m all ears. But the responsibility for those deaths lies with the people who started the war - especially since they started it knowing full well that large numbers of Palestinians would die in the process. They want those deaths.
Honestly, you’re just incredibly naive about this. It’s frightening that so many people are so blinded by their hate that they have come to see barbaric terrorists and radical Islamists as the good guys. Your moral compass is just so messed up.
Oh, and don’t lecture me on what Zionism is. It’s our movement. We defined it.
Really? Does every country have this “right”? Or just Israel? Cause it sounds to me like you granted all of Israel’s enemies the right to go to war against Israel.
The responsibility of the consequences of a bullet being fired or a bomb being dropped rests with the person who pulls the trigger. This is true even when those actions are justified. Israel still has agency, and therefore moral responsibility. Nothing you said even brings to refute this.
I have not said or implied this. You’re setting up a strawman because you have no real argument.
Says the guy trying so hard to justify the murder of children lol. Just a few thousand more bruh, that’ll make Israel safe.
Your movement is defined not by your words by the actions taken in its name. The moral bankruptcy of those actions speaks for itself .