| Author | Message | | Guest | | Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2002 9:25 am Post subject: Why The Rise In Anti-Semitism In Europe? |
| Subj: Alfred M. Lilienthal : Why The Rise In Anti-Semitism In Europe?
Date: 10/31/02 1:04:14 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: nord@famvid.com
To: PalestineDiary@yahoogroups.com
Jewish Historian Dr. Lilienthal first became interested in the Middle
East while in the US military and stationed in Egypt during World War II.
Lilienthal has continued for over a half century to defend the
Palestinian people and call repeatedly for an independent State of
Palestine. He has traveled over 25 times to the Middle East for first
hand investigation of events and has authored several books including The
Zionist Connection that was described by Foreign Affairs journal as "his
culminating masterwork." Visit his website here:
http://www.alfredlilienthal.com
Alfred M. Lilienthal : Why The Rise In Anti-Semitism In Europe?
Sunday, October 27 2002 @ 07:39 PM GMT
Any time that we hear that Jews are "suddenly" being persecuted, we have
to ask what is really going on. Are their opponents attacking them only
because they are Jews?
By Dr. Alfred M. Lilienthal
WASHINGTON (PINA) - An op-ed piece by Abraham Foxman, head of the
Anti-Defamation League, entitled "Europe's Anti-Israel Excuse" appeared
in the Washington Post on June 26, 2002. Foxman claims to believe that
the growing criticism in Europe of Israeli misconduct somehow equals a
resurgence of anti-Semitism similar to the dark Hitler era. For that
matter, he makes an even far wider claim that this supposed new rise in
the old anti-Semitism is somehow central to all human experience:
"Throughout history a constant barometer for judging the level of hate
and exclusion vs. the level of freedom and democracy in any society has
been anti-Semitism -- how a country treats its Jewish citizens. Jews have
been persecuted and delegitimized throughout history because of their
perceived differences. Any society that can understand and accept Jews is
typically more democratic, more open and accepting of 'the other.' This
predictor has held true throughout the ages."
Here in Foxmanís own words, we have a prime example of the kind of
egocentric and grandiose preoccupation with his Jewishness that tends to
give other Jews a bad name. What hogwash that throughout all of human
history and throughout all the societies that have ever existed, the
world has somehow revolved around the status of "The Jews!"
This claim of unique Jewish specialness is preposterous and offensive. If
the Irish, the Chinese, the Arabs, the Catholics, the Buddhists, or any
other ethnic or religious group made such a ridiculous universal claim
about themselves, we would likely find it both disgusting and laughable.
Foxman makes this absurd statement, but if we dare to say it is absurd,
immediately he would counter that we are anti-Semitic to say so.
A half century ago there were only a few of us Jews in America who were
willing to be openly anti-Zionist and publicly question Israel's brutal
conduct toward the Arab inhabitants of Palestine. Rabbi Elmer Berger and
I used to tangle with the Anti-Defamation League even way back then. We
were labeled self-hating Jews, and our criticisms of Zionism were thus
largely dismissed. Berger passed on from this world in 1996, but I am
still around to attempt to refute the many distortions of Abraham Foxman
and the present ADL.
Fortunately, I am no longer alone in my old age to make these challenges!
Younger Jewish people in America and Europe and throughout the world are
now bravely and eloquently speaking out. The Washington Post printed on
July 6, 2002 the following Letter to the Editor by a Board Member of
"Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel":
As an American Jew, I am outraged by Abraham Foxman's irrational
conclusions from the Anti-Defamation League's poll on anti-Semitism in
Europe [op-ed, June 27]. Although attacks on synagogues are undoubtedly
troubling and cause for concern, Foxman's assessments of the trends
associated with these attacks are so contrived as to be utterly puzzling.
If 45 percent of those Europeans polled think that most Jews have a
strong loyalty to Israel, they are right -- from an early age, we are
taught that Israel is a homeland to Jews, and thus most Jews develop a
strong connection to it. This perception being accurate, how is it that
those who have noticed can be categorized as anti-Semitic?
By the same token, Foxman reports that 62 percent of those polled see the
outbreak of violence against Jews as a result of anti-Israel sentiment,
not anti-Jewish feelings. Yes, criticism of Israeli policies is on the
rise. But how is this tantamount to anti-Semitism? If I criticize the
government of Zimbabwe, am I somehow a racist?
Many Jews, myself included, are highly critical of Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon's policies, as they feed into an endless cycle of violence that
threatens Jewish and Arab lives. We are long overdue for a serious
intellectual inquiry as to how the president of a leading American Jewish
organization can falsely equate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism,
or, as I prefer to more accurately call the phenomenon, anti-Jewish
sentiments. Our cousins the Arabs are Semitic too.
Nicole Dannenberg Sorger.
Foxman made other charges that call for further challenge:
"During the past year and a half a troubling epidemic of anti-Jewish
hatred, not isolated to any one country or community, has produced a
climate of intimidation and fear in the Jewish communities of Europe.
Never, as a Holocaust survivor, did I believe we would witness another
eruption of anti-Semitism of such magnitude, in Europe of all places. But
the resiliency of anti-Semitism is unparalleled. It rears its ugly head
in far-flung places, like Malaysia and Japan, where there are no Jews."
You don't say! Foxman doesn't even bother to ask himself why, all of a
sudden out of the blue since sometime late in the year 2000, there has
been this supposed outburst of what he sees as a dramatic rise in
anti-Semitism. Could it by any chance have anything to do with the
vicious policies of Ariel Sharon -- beginning with his armed intrusion in
September of 2000 to lay symbolic claim to the "Temple Mount" area upon
which the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock have been built for
centuries? Of course some Palestinians as well as Muslims in other
regions would perceive Sharon's intentional provocation as equivalent to
an act of war against Islam.
Foxman also dares not look too closely at the fact that Malaysians and
Japanese would indeed have no reason to have a negative opinion of Jews
whatsoever unless they were witnessing the misbehavior of "The Jews" in
Israel and in the Occupied Territories toward the Palestinians. What is
on the rise is a clear worldwide condemnation of Israeli war crimes and
Sharon's diabolical plans for ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians from
Gaza and the West Bank.
Next we see Foxman refer to "the incredibly biased reaction against
Israel seen in the poll -- despite the fact that Israel under former
prime minister Ehud Barak offered the Palestinians an independent stateÖ
" How many more times do we have to continue to be bombarded by this
outrageous Zionist lie about the "generous offer" that Barak supposedly
made and that Arafat supposedly refused at Camp David! Professors Francis
Boyle and Jeff Halper have written extensively about these deceptions for
anyone who cares to know the truth.
Finally Foxman says, "It is time for Europe to assume responsibility for
a situation of its own making. The combination of significant, openly
expressed anti-Jewish bias together with irrational anti-Israel opinions
creates a climate of great concern for the Jews of Europe. It is not
surprising that in such an atmosphere Muslim residents feel free to
attack Jewish students and religious institutions not because they are
Israelis but because they are Jews."
Rather I say: It is time for Zionists to assume responsibility for a
situation of their own making. Once they enter aggressively into the
political realm as Foxman has done and turn their whole religion into a
debating society over the rights and wrongs of Israel, they should expect
people to criticize! And I don't think the anti-Israel opinions of many
European leaders and their countrymen are at all irrational. People do
have the right to oppose both Israel and the Zionist Jews in Europe and
America who support Israel as if it were their own nation.
Of course Jews are likely to be resented when they appear to go against
the best interests of the country in which they are living in favor of
the interests of another country. Because the Zionist Jews are
responsible for mixing up religion and nationality in this abnormal
manner, even non-Zionist Jews may find our loyalty to our own nations
questioned. I warned about this danger long ago in my article, "Israel's
Flag Is Not Mine," which appeared in the Reader's Digest in 1949.
Again, any time that we hear that Jews are "suddenly" being persecuted,
we have to ask what is really going on. Are their opponents attacking
them only because they are Jews? Or is the anger directed at them as
promoters of Israel? The more that the media identifies the state of
Israel as "the Jewish state," all the greater is the probability that
innocent Jews in Europe and other regions will be unfairly blamed for the
wrongs of the present Israeli government and military.
Activities of the state of Israel are wide and complex, and some of them
deserve severe condemnation. Immediately the Zionist organizations such
as the Anti-Defamation League label any opposition to Israeli misconduct
as anti-Semitism. It is not anti-Semitism that is growing by leaps and
bounds against Jews for being Jews. It is anti-Israelism that is on the
rise! And rightfully so.
My advice is that Jews, who think like Foxman does about their unique
Jewish specialness, should rejoin the human race. We need to stop
isolating ourselves and relating ourselves to "The Jews" down through the
ages, or to "The Jews" who happen to live in Israel, or to "The Jews" who
have set up the illegal settlements on Palestinian land. When other Jews
are wrong, we should say so. When Israel is wrong, we should say so. Only
from this commitment to truth and justice will peace eventually come to
the Middle East.
The Israeli Holocaust Against the Palestinians
by Michael Hoffman and Prof.Moshe Lieberman
6 x 9 paperback. 110 pages. A MUST READ!!
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