It used to be easy to know who an anti-Semite was.
He or she was someone who did not like Jews, wouldn’t hire Jews, wouldn’t socialize with Jews, and, at worst, would inflict physical harm against Jews because they were Jews.
That has all changed. Today an anti-Semite is someone who doesn’t like the State of Israel and sometimes merely someone who disagrees with the policies of the State of Israel.
These people can have friends who are Jews, have Jewish spouses and children and may never have entertained a negative thought about Jews, as Jews, in their lives.
On the other hand, there are people like Glenn Beck who openly dislike Jews, say awful things about Jews but are not deemed anti-Semites because they support the policies of Israel.
A Jewish Holocaust survivor who sailed to Gaza on a Turkish relief ship is an anti-Semite but a rightwing preacher like John Hagee who believes that all Jews must die to bring on a messianic age is not an anti-semite because he likes Israel and/or Netanyahu.
To put it simply, anti-Semitism today seems to mean nothing.
Of course, to real victims of anti-Semitism like those French kids in France who were killed because they are Jewish, it has meaning. To a child in the Midwest who is ridiculed for being Jewish it has meaning. To any Jews, anywhere, who face discrimination or ostracism because they are Jews, anti-Semitism has all too much meaning.
Unfortunately real anti-Semitism is of little interest to the “pro-Israel” organizations which give very little attention to it. They are only interested in what they call “the New Anti-Semitism” by which they mean contempt for the State of Israel.
Meanwhile one of the two major political parties in the United States has been taken over by Christian Rightists who would implement policies that would make us strangers in our own country.
Any Jew who lived 40 or 50 years ago wouldn’t think twice before understanding the threat the Christian Right poses to Jews, nor would they hesitate before understanding exactly who and what the Rush Limbaughs and Glenn Becks of the world are and the threat they pose.
But, hey, Rush and Beck and the others are okay because they “love Israel.” Who are they kidding? Not Jews. Just the Jewish organizations that since 1967 have decided that the well-being of Jews here is of little concern compared to Israel’s freedom to occupy the West Bank and Gaza, and threaten Iran.
They are wrong. Anti-Semitism is about disliking Jews. It is not about Israel. Even at its worst, hating Israel is not anti-Semitic, it is simply wrong and ugly. And it can be dealt with.
Just stop calling it something it isn’t and stop using the charge of anti-Semitism to prevent opposition to Israel”s policies. That is bullshit.
Mosaic,
don’t you think there’s people who develope some sort of monomania or stuff and thus they need (or they are limited) to focus on a target a time?
In this respect, we may only ask why towards Jews. And here rests ignorance, contingency (see Germany), some sort of self-brainwashing and suggestion, or both. The same goes for the single “professional hater”. But their illness remains as such.
If it was not against the Jews, well, they would have found somebody else. Imho.
Obviously I can’t see any rationale in order to justify and/or allow racism and true anti-semitism.
Pipistro (Mr)
Mr. Pipistro, please review Father Coughlin’s book “Am I an anti-Semite” for free here.http://archive.org/details/AmIAnAnti-semite & explain why his texts are horrific examples of Jew baiting. Refusal to do this would render reasonable the inference that you do not find Father Coughlin anti-Semitic. Monomania is actually one indication that Jew baiting is present. Why would you suspect that to be the case?
I will read.
“Refusal to do this would render reasonable the inference that you do not find Father Coughlin anti-Semitic.”
I do not agree. Generally speaking, I wrote of ignorance, paranoia and monomania. But of course I’m not the thermometer of every-Coughlin’s eventual reasons for being or having been a possible anti-semite.
So what?
I think the discourse has somewhat been driven into a (useless) “Reductio ad Hitlerum”, usually, aimed at countering any possible critics by driving the discussion on a different matter.
In this respect, I don’t find a relation between real anti-semitism, that maybe you can apply to Coughlin (or whoever), and the preposterous yelling of anti-semitism towards any critics to the policies of the State of Israel. That, by the way, is the theme and conclusion of the post above: “Anti-Semitism is about disliking Jews. It is not about Israel.”
It’s actually very important. Each prejudice has is peculiarities. Anti-Catholic prejudice, for some weird reason, emphasizes damage to Catholic clergy. Never could understand that for the life of me. The priests, nuns, bishops, etc., are, like all clergy, good people in general, out to do good for very little money. There’s damage to rabbis, ministers, imams, etc., but not to the same degree by any means. Also, when you look at the particulars, cutting the Cardinal’s head off in Turkey, for example, it becomes particularly gruesome.
A semite does not exist in the biblical scriptures, neither is the word semite written in the word of God
From the ignorance of the wild to politics. Anti-semitism has been turned into a hoax, with little or no meaning in the news and in actual discourse. If it’s real, is downplayed, the trivialized version is a joke for politicians and lobbytomized. That’s no good news for “Semites” or anyone.
Guess who said this:
Not a single paragraph can be found in any radio speech ever delivered by me in which I have launched a sweeping denouncement of the Jewish people. I defy any critic upholding this charge to substantiate it from text and context of my writings or speeches. . . . An anti-Semite, generally speaking, is a person who hates and opposes Jews because
they are Jews. An anti-Semite would never invite Jews to join him in any movement;
yet I have issued such an invitation. An anti-Semite would condemn all Jewish activities.
_________________________
Explain how someone can fulfill the requirements of the above & still be a Jew baiter.
Easy guess. He would have hated any other people – and he did – if convenient to his folly. Including himself. The same way, he would have invited even the devil to join him, if he saw fit to his plans.
In my opinion, he didn’t fulfill the mentioned requirements, only his ego and his illness.
Unfortunately, he succeeded in pouring fuel on the flames of racism and contingent. misery of millions. Who followed him, is as much to blame as him.
But, in the end, how many Jew baiters, among Germans, were really anti-semites? How many latent criminals? How many keen bystanders?
I think that ignorance turned all of them into bloody thugs. And ignorance is the mother of any racism.
Yelling anti-semite to everyone, mainly on political opinions, actually, is trivializing the term.
Mr./Ms. Pipistro, Father Coughlin only attacked Jews; there is no reason to believe he harbored such deep hatred of any other race or ethnicity. His statements, as quoted, are accurate when one speaks strictly. Why is the man quite properly reviled for his hatred of Jews?
It’s time to retire the phrase ‘anti-semitism’ It was created by (self styled) Christian Jew haters in the nineteenth century. Why allow our enemies to define us? We are Jews and unfortunately, some misguided people hate us. They’re Jew Haters. That’s what they are. Why give it a scientifically sounding imprimatur ? They don’t have a disease, or practice a respectable philosophy. They hate. That’s what they do…and history SHOWS us that some are willing to take it to undeniably satanic levels.
Pro-Israelists have turned antisemitism into a badge of honor bestowed upon those who fight for justice and the rule of international law in the Middle East.
Jew baiter is a much better term. Do you consider this passage from the Hamas constitution to be Jew baiting?
Article Twenty-Two:
For a long time, the enemies have been planning, skillfully and with precision, for the achievement of what they have attained. They took into consideration the causes affecting the current of events. They strived to amass great and substantive material wealth which they devoted to the realisation of their dream. With their money, they took control of the world media, news agencies, the press, publishing houses, broadcasting stations, and others. With their money they stirred revolutions in various parts of the world with the purpose of achieving their interests and reaping the fruit therein. They were behind the French Revolution, the Communist revolution and most of the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there. With their money they formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions and others in different parts of the world for the purpose of sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist interests. With their money they were able to control imperialistic countries and instigate them to colonize many countries in order to enable them to exploit their resources and spread corruption there.
You may speak as much as you want about regional and world wars. They were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the Islamic Caliphate, making financial gains and controlling resources. They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world. They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains by trading in armaments, and paved the way for the establishment of their state. It was they who instigated the replacement of the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to enable them to rule the world through them. There is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it.
________
I sure think it is & believe anyone not benighted would think so. Because it is part of the Hamas Charter, it follows that Hamas is a Jew baiting organization. What is your take?
Clearly, “new anti-semitism” is a vast improvement over the old model. There is such a thing as progress. Typical transgressions of new anti-Semites are “offending the sensibilities of the Jewish community” (which can be quite refined) or “failing to consider proper historical context” (while considering improper historical context).
Sensibilities of Iranians who like their regime, or sensibilities of Red Sox fans etc. are offended regularly. But “Jewish Community” has the status of Princess that can be hurt wih a pea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_and_the_Pea
Mr. Ahmadinejad says Zionists have controlled the planet for centuries. Is that anti-Semitic to you?
An anti-semite is someone that Israel-firsters and Israelis hate.