Friday, September 08, 2006
Anti-Judaism Chic
1. September 8, 2006
Anti-Judaism
By WILLIAM KRISTOL
September 8, 2006; Page A14
"How odd / Of God / To choose / The Jews." Thus the British journalist
(and communist) William Norman Ewer, in the early part of the last
century. The reply came from Cecil Browne: "But not so odd / As those who
choose / A Jewish God / But spurn the Jews."
Browne's riposte may have won the poetic exchange. But Ewer's anti-Judaism
prevailed in the next decades in Europe. Buried there after World War II,
hatred of the Jews flourished for the rest of the 20th century in the
Middle East. Is anti-Judaism now enjoying a broader revival? It would seem
so.
University of Chicago political science professor John Mearsheimer came to
Washington late last month along with his sidekick, Stephen Walt of
Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Speaking to the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, they attacked the "Israel Lobby" (of which
they claim I am a part) for its pernicious deeds, and singled out several
Jews who served or serve in the Bush administration. These Jews, they
explained, have special "attachments" in the Middle East. The attachment?
Their religious belief -- Judaism. Bigotry now has an academic cachet.
Some of the activists at Moveon.org, the political organization that
raises millions for Democratic candidates and generates support for
left-wing policies, had a curious reason for cheering the Democratic
primary defeat of Sen. Joe Lieberman. As Robert Goldberg reported in the
Washington Times, after one Moveon member celebrated the defeat of "Jew
Lieberman," 95% of those who responded to the post on the Moveon Web site
expressed their approval.
Meanwhile, over in Europe, Norwegian writer Jostein Gaarder, author of
"Sophie's World," announced in Norway's leading newspaper, the
Aftenposten, the end of Israel: "There is no turning back. It is time to
learn a new lesson: We do no longer recognize the state of Israel . . . We
must now get used to the idea: The state of Israel in its current form is
history . . . Fear not! The time of trouble shall soon be over. The state
of Israel has seen its Soweto . . . May spirit and word sweep away the
apartheid walls of Israel. The state of Israel does not exist. It is now
without defense, without skin. May the world therefore have mercy on the
civilian population."
Mr. Gaarder's distaste for Israel seemed to be based on his dislike of
Israel's policies, his revulsion against the God of Israel ("an insatiable
sadist"), and his anger that, "for two thousand years, we have rehearsed
the syllabus of humanism, but Israel does not listen." It's not clear who
that "we" has been for 2,000 years. But since Israel has only existed
since 1948, it is presumably the Jews, not merely, Israel, who have not
listened. (It was, however, generous of Mr. Gaarder to call for mercy for
the Jewish civilian population.)
And then there's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- bidding fair to be the most
powerful leader in the Islamic world. Mr. Ahmadinejad has called, of
course, for the "the elimination of the Zionist regime" and "the
destruction of Israel." He wants Israel eliminated because he wants
Judaism eliminated (Christianity will take longer). Javier Solana of the
EU and Kofi Annan of the U.N. are eagerly paying him court. Will Mr.
Solana or Mr. Annan stand up in the presence of Mr. Ahmadinejad and
denounce Jew-hatred? No.
Jews are under attack. And no one seems very concerned. Liberal Jews are
more concerned about Mel Gibson than Mr. Ahmadinejad. The mainstream
Jewish organizations have played the "anti-Semitism" card so often that it
has been devalued. Much of the world is in denial about the jihadist
threat. No one wants to be alarmist. This is, in a way, understandable.
There are two large Jewish communities in the world. The Jews of America
prosper in comfort and security. The Jews of Israel have been able to
defend themselves. It's not 1938 again.
But the jihadists are on the move. Recently in Gaza, kidnapped journalists
Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig were forced to "convert" to Islam before
being released. What would have happened to them if they had been Jewish?
And, incidentally -- if they had refused to "convert," as some Jews and
Christians have in the past -- what would have happened then?
Mr. Kristol is editor of The Weekly Standard.
URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115768492628557307.html
2. Jay Leno: "Germany has offered to send troops to the Lebanon border.
You can bet Israel's breathing a sigh of relief there. Because nothing makes
Jewish people feel safer and more secure than having the German army
marching on their border."
3. I know you will think this is just another Plaut spoof, but there is
now a Star Trek book entitled Deny Thy Father (Star Trek: The Lost Era
2355-2357), which you can see at Amazon Books at
http://www.amazon.com/Deny-Thy-Father-Star-Trek/dp/0743464095/sr=8-16/qid=1157628653/ref=sr_1_16/103-2162133-1627032?ie=UTF8&s=books
and there is a key character in the book named Barry Chamish! Really, I
am not making this up. He flies around on a space ship in the book. His
most memorable comment in the book is "You can't make me."
So for those of you unsure of whether Barry Chamish really exists and
where he gets all those theories of his, we now have an answer for you!
He exists as a character in a Star Trek novel!
4. More on Neve Gordon's Mentor, the Holocaust Denier Norman Finkelstein:
http://stand4facts.org/speakers/AIS-20050307-27/flyers/flyer_2.pdf
http://stand4facts.org/speakers/AIS-20050307-27/flyers/flyer_3.pdf
http://stand4facts.org/speakers/AIS-20050307-27/flyers/flyer_4.pdf
5. Israelis awakening?
http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/19355/A_Heartening_Hardening_Of_Israeli_Public_Opinion.html
6. Goobers:
http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/19353/Jimmy_Carter_Just_Won%27t_Go_Away.html
7. Ed Koch on war on terror:
http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/19356/Playing_Politics_In_Wartime.html
8. All we are sayin is give war a chance:
http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/19357/Give_War_A_Chance.html
9. Islamization of Anti-Semitism:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=24272
10. How low can Harvard Go?
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=24296
11. Professors for Appeasing Terror
http://israelnn.com/article.php3?id=6525
