Saturday 2 October 2010

Criticism of Israel is not anti-Semitism, stupid!

Posted on October 2, 2010 by rehmat1|
“When you read the history of Israel from objective sources, you discover that it is an outlaw state, created by the powers that be by stealing the land from its original inhabitants, and systematically exterminating them ever since,” John Kaminski, a US writer.

“Anti-Israel sentiment is really just thinly disguised veil for good old-fashioned anti-Semitism,” Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada in an interview with CJAD/CFRB radio, May 2008.

Encouraged by Harper’s blind support for the Zionazi state, two Zion-crusaders, Jason Kenney, Harper’s Immigration Minister (he banned entry to Canada of British MP George Galloway and India’s Muslim scholar, Dr. Zakir Naik) and Irwin Cotler, former Liberal Justice Minister – to the great pleasure of their buddy, Israeli ambassador in Ottawa, founded the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism in March 2009 – as an Israel Lobby.

A former Israeli cabinet minister had clarified this hoax of ‘anti-Semitism’ created by the people to protect themselves from genuine criticism – who themselves, mostly, are not Semites but descendents of Asiatic Khazarian Turks and North African Berbers.

Shulamit Aloni (born 1928), during her August 14, 2002 interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! said: “Well, it’s a trick, we always use it. When from Europe somebody is criticizing Israel then we bring up the holocaust. When in this country (US) people are criticizing Israel then they are antisemitic. And the organization (Israel Lobby) is very strong and has lot of money. And the ties between Israel and American Jewish establishment are very strong – and they are strong in this country as you know. And they have power which is ok”.

Canadian academic and author Professor Michael Keefer in his latest book, titled, Antisemitism: Real and Imagined, exposes the myth used by Harper government to stop criticim of the Zionist entity while encouraging vilification of Islamic Republic on cooked-up accusations.

On September 27, The Vancouver Courier published Mark Hasiuk’s book review, titled, Israel apologists cry wolf with claims of antisemitism.

“If you come forward with ethical objections to the behaviour of Israel—that they’re violating Geneva conventions, they’re violating international law—this group will target you,” says Keefer, pointing to Israeli policy in Gaza and the West Bank. “The effect is to reverse the victimization so we’re no longer talking about the real evidence.”

During a speech on Parliament Hill last February, Kenney cited a “2008 audit of anti-Semitic incidents” tabulated by the B’nai Brith, a lobbying group known for its dim view of free speech. According to the audit, there was a “nine per cent increase” of reported “anti-Semitic incidents” in Canada between 2007 and 2008.

In 2008 in Toronto, home to more than half of Canada’s Jewish population, the police reported an 18 per cent spike in reported hate crimes. Sensational news stories followed, stoking fears of widespread antisemitism while ignoring the previous year’s hate crimes figures—the lowest numbers on record.

Similarly, following a StatsCan report released last June detailing a spike in so-called reported hate crimes in Vancouver, one local newspaper said the news was “particularly disturbing for blacks and Jews.” That same newspaper failed to mention that many of the “hate crimes” weren’t crimes at all, and were dismissed due to lack of evidence or proof of innocence. Also in June, Vancouver East NDP MP Libby Davies was crucified in the mainstream media for telling a video blogger that the Israeli occupation of Palestine began in 1948, a historically accurate assessment depending on your definition.

An impartial reading of Keefer’s book exonerates him from wrongdoing. He dedicates large chunks of the book to the evils of antisemitism, noting the bloody history of Europe and the current situation in the Middle East, and spotlights Canada’s shameful thwarting of Jewish immigration before and during the Second World War.

But critics will remain. Because without significant evidence of antisemitism in Canada, folks like Cotler and Kenney must construct straw men of bigotry to discourage genuine debate about Israel and Canada’s increasingly cozy relationship with the Jewish state.

In a tragic paradox, their campaign—driven mainly by ideology and cheap political gain—diminishes the term anti-Semite and taints legitimate contemporary claims of that ancient hatred. By prostituting past horrors, these hatemonger-mongers forfeit all credibility.

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

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