H/T This Ongoing War
I once asked a highly respected academic, and colleague, why so many (but, to be clear, not all) progressive Western anti-racists, who are committed to a two-state solution, often ignore evidence of Palestinian hate and incitement which is routinely propagated in Mosques, by government officials, in state-controlled media, and popular culture.
My colleague’s answer was quite interesting.
He thought that many liberals would view the dissemination of such information (news about Palestinian anti-Semitic incitement) as an impediment to peace, insofar as such news would damage the trust Israelis need to make strategically risky concessions necessary to achieve a final status agreement.
Further, my colleague added, it was curious to say the least that such peace proponents would never once consider that such incitement and hatred was, in itself, the real impediment to a true and lasting peace, insofar as it represents how a majority of Palestinians genuinely feel about Jews, as such (and not merely Israelis), and the existence of a Jewish state within any borders.
The Palestinian Authority, it should be noted, controls its own government-funded media channels.
Palestinian Media Watch consistently carries out the arduous task of translating into English what’s published in Arabic in such state-sponsored Palestinian media, and puts out warnings when explicit and unambiguous anti-Semitism is propagated, which is quite often – though you wouldn’t know this if you depended on the Guardian for your news on Israel and the Middle East.
Yesterday PMW issued an alert. It reproduced several quotations carried in a publication called Al Hayat Al Jadida (Arabic for “New Life”) – an official daily newspaper of the Palestinian National Authority.
PMW’s Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik summarize the PA-sanctioned messages as:
- The enemies of Islam are “cultivating evil” against it.
- The state of Israel is a “malignant cancerous growth” and its conflict with the Arabs is about faith and existence, and not about land and borders.
- The Jewish religion is false, distorted and corrupted.
- Jews are inherently evil and have been so since the time of Cain and Abel.
- Jews, through their political philosophy Zionism, have a religious plan to take over the world and rule it while forcing non-Jews to submit to their will.
Arabic edition of "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", published in Egypt, 2002
One of the things which baffles me the most is the deafening silence by otherwise sensitive souls when confronted with undeniable evidence of such chilling Jew-hatred.
Why isn’t this a bigger issue at the Guardian and at other mainstream media publications who routinely dramatize and inflate every conceivable instance of Israeli bigotry, real and imagined?
What does liberalism mean – in the context of the Guardian’s desire to be the “world’s leading liberal voice” – if not a passionate opposition to hate and bigotry?
The Al Hayat Al Jadida piece cited above advances explicit hatred towards Jews to a degree which can reasonably be compared to Nazi anti-Semitism – in accusing Jews of being evil and suggesting a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world – and yet, beyond the pro-Israel blogosphere, the mainstream media, as far as I’m able to determine, has completely ignored the story.
What more evidence to those who insist that Palestinian enmity towards Jews is merely crudely expressed anti-Zionism need to reconsider their position, and contemplate the unpleasant, politically inconvenient but dangerous reality of a Palestinian culture infested with classic, unambiguous anti-Semitism?
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21 comments
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June 19, 2011 at 10:48 am
Judy
An Israeli blogger I used to respect once told me she would never use information from Palestinian Media Watch. When I asked her why, I never got a fully coherent answer, but it boiled down to two “reasons”. One was– they were a “right wing” source. In her mind, this seemed automatically to discredit what they had to say. Secondly, she did not want to use any information that would discredit the Palestinian cause. This is a more extensive version of “it’s necessary to build up Israelis’ trust of the Palestinians”. It’s a direct descendant of the old Communist Party line of suppressing any information that might make the Soviet Union seem less than the workers’ paradise they portrayed it as.
More to the point here, it’s not just “progressive anti-Western racists” who ignore Palestinian anti-racism. It’s also the EU, which is playing an increasingly decisive role in speaking for the 27 nations in the union. After all, Baroness Ashton was present at the signing of the pact between Fatah and Hamas.
June 19, 2011 at 11:39 am
ziontruth
For “Progressive Western anti-racists,” there are some groups that are never racist no matter what they do. A Helen Thomas calling for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine of all its Jews (God forbid) is never “racist.” They brush off the Jew-hatred of the Arab imperialists as “conditioning to a long period of racist Western colonial oppression.”
On the other hand, all it takes for a member of one of the groups hated by the Progressivists to be called a racist is to assert that the members of the “oppressed” groups may have imperfections; especially, to assert that those “oppressed” might have a will of their own instead of just reacting to “Western colonial oppression,” and that that will includes the desire to achieve imperialist ends! No, but in Progressivist eyes those groups are incapable of willful malice and greed.
Ask yourself why those Progressivist never stand up to the rights of the indigenous of Europe to be secure in their own lands. In fact, why they never grant them the status of “indigenous” at all, despite the iron-clad case for it. That is because “indigenous” is not merely a term of fact for Progressivists; it is a moral pronouncement that gives carte blanche to the indigenous to repulse the colonialist invaders by any means possible. They could never grant the status of “indigenous” to the indigenous Europeans, let alone to the indigenous Palestinians a.k.a. the Jews, because that would be a giving of the green light to turn on the Progressivists’ dearest friends and allies in the post-U.S.S.R. world: The Islamic imperialists.
It’s all about political expedience. Ideals have nothing to do with it.
June 19, 2011 at 3:12 pm
peterthehungarian
He thought that many liberals would view the dissemination of such information (news about Palestinian anti-Semitic incitement) as an impediment to peace, insofar as such news would damage the trust Israelis need to make strategically risky concessions necessary to achieve a final status agreement.
Amos Oz begs to differ:
“The Left must be the first to condemn any Palestinian statement, issued in Arabic for “internal consumption”, that calls for the destruction of Israel….
…the dovish Left must make a moral, ideological and emotional commitment: to take up arms, to be the first to take up arms, if, after the establishment of a Palestinian state the Palestinians try to implement what they call the “phase by phase strategy” by means of terror, military provocations or incitement against Israel.”
Yedioy Aharonot, December 30 1988
June 20, 2011 at 4:14 am
Judy
Amos Oz didn’t follow up on that statement. He has continued to sign all the usual condemnations of Israel habitually signed by its left wing intellectuals, and does not condemn the many calls for the destruction of Israel coming from the radical wings of Fatah, from Hamas and from the various even more extreme exterminationist Jihad groups in Gaza.
He isn’t publishing calls these days about the need to commit to taking up arms if a new Palestinian state tries to implement the “phase by phase” strategy that both Fatah and Hamas regularly tell their own constituency they’re committed to.
June 20, 2011 at 7:28 am
peterthehungarian
You are correct Judy, but this wouldn’t change the truth in his above statement.
June 20, 2011 at 7:56 am
ziontruth
The creeping lunacy of Amos Oz, and of his political camp as a whole, is even better showcased by a pre-1967 quote of his. Unfortunately I’m quoting from memory; I read this in the print Yediot Ahronot newspaper long ago, and because I don’t remember the exact phrasing (even in the original Hebrew), web searches have failed me so far. Here’s the quote:
“From their hilltops they [the Arabs] pelt us with their hatred that has no reason nor sense.”
This quote is something Oz’s friends in the Progressivist camp, not to mention the Arabs, would dispute vehemently. As in, “No reason nor sense?! You think Zionists only started stealing Palestinian lands in 1967?”
Then again, the further you go back in time reading the Hebrew-language archives, it strikes you how the Israeli Jewish left-wingers of the past sounded like the most ferocious right-wingers of today. One man and his quote, a whole nation-state and its story.
June 19, 2011 at 7:46 pm
Jimbo
‘Why isn’t this a bigger issue at the Guardian and at other mainstream media publications who routinely dramatize and inflate every conceivable instance of Israeli bigotry, real and imagined?’
Because antisemitism and Jew-hatred is so endemic to Arab society that it has to be treated like a kind of background radiation: notable when at ‘excessive’ levels, but otherwise to be treated as a necessary evil to be ‘endured’ i.e. ignored if one is to have any relations with such society at all.
June 20, 2011 at 4:48 am
benorr
You might want to have a look at this…JP Mon Jun 20
Palestinians no longer welcome says Lebanese Mufti….”You’re trash,you’ll never be victorious,”Sheikh Quabbani tells stunned Palestinians reps.
Very interesting…………
June 20, 2011 at 6:51 am
pretzelberg
I once asked a highly respected academic, and colleague, why so many (but, to be clear, not all) progressive Western anti-racists, who are committed to a two-state solution, often ignore evidence of Palestinian hate and incitement which is routinely propagated in Mosques, by government officials, in state-controlled media, and popular culture.
Please define “progressive”.
The vast majority of Western anti-racists have no truck with the anti-Semitism you refer to.
many liberals would view the dissemination of such information (news about Palestinian anti-Semitic incitement) as an impediment to peace,
Your colleague is either dishonest or profoundly ignorant.
Simply ridiculous.
June 20, 2011 at 7:23 am
peterthehungarian
Pretzel it seems to me that you are writing about something that you are not familiar with. Many supporters of the peacecamp are trying to diminish the effect of the anti-semite and belligerent rethoric of the Palestinians saying that this is only “for inner consumption”, that if there will be peace the phenomenon will disappear, that making a big fuss will make the Israeli public opinion hostile to any accord, etc
See the quote from Amos Oz (my previous post), Do you think that he wrote this in order to amuse himself?
Sadly in this case you accused others of ignorance – and have shown that you don’t have a clue about this subject.
June 22, 2011 at 6:35 pm
pretzelberg
Many supporters of the peacecamp are trying to diminish the effect of the anti-semite …
But they are a tiny – even if very vocal – minority. That is my point, Peter.
June 20, 2011 at 8:02 am
ziontruth
“The vast majority of Western anti-racists have no truck with the anti-Semitism you refer to.”
A half-truth, and thus, arguably worse than an outright lie.
Their position is as follows: “We don’t condone these sentiments, BUT you need to realize how Israel’s actions have made them possible.”
Strangely, when someone suggests the actions of Israeli Jews might stem from reacting to Arab hatred, no such allowance is ever made. Instead, it’s unrelentingly “Racists!” with those guys. Double standard. And behind every double standard is a single agenda.
June 22, 2011 at 6:30 pm
pretzelberg
A half-truth, and thus, arguably worse than an outright lie. Their position is as follows:
You are talking about a miniscule minority – who, sadly, get overproportionate exposure.
I repeat: the vast majority of Western anti-racists have no truck with the anti-Semitism you refer to.
It’s the simple truth.
June 20, 2011 at 8:56 am
Adam Levick
Its a fact, Pretz, that you’d be hard pressed to find coverage of Palestinian anti-Semitism and incitement in most liberal mainstream newspapers. NYT, Wash Post, LA Times, The Guardian, the list could go on. Whether or not, when pressed, such liberals would condemn such acts, as I have no doubt most would, is besides the point. Most people don’t know of such hatred because its not routinely reported as the highly disturbing phenomenon it is. Editors at major dailies, and cable news shows like CNN and the BBC, all but ignore such incitement as a serious impediment to peace. Why is this?
June 22, 2011 at 6:33 pm
pretzelberg
Yes, I agree that the widespread anti-Semitism in the Arab world should have far more coverage. But the comments cited about liberals are a distortion of the truth.
June 22, 2011 at 3:50 am
JerusalemMite
The Guardian claims that it is ‘progressive’.
Mind you, it also claims to be ‘fair and balanced’.
June 20, 2011 at 6:59 am
pretzelberg
A publication run by the PA says “Jews are inherently evil and have been so since the time of Cain and Abel”??
June 20, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Germolene
And what precisely does your comment mean, Pretzelberg. Are your two question marks asking whether it’s true that they say this or are you presenting it as proof that liberals ignore evidence of Palestinian antisemitism.
June 22, 2011 at 6:34 pm
pretzelberg
The former.
June 20, 2011 at 2:27 pm
Linkdump, part 1 «ScrollPost.com
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June 26, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Adam
We all know the real reason. They are Arabs, and no one in the west, left wing or right wing, expects any better behavior from them. To the right, they are inherently evil, and to the left, they are noble savages who can’t tell right from wrong.