Friday, January 30, 2009
It's getting to be so this sort of thing is so commonplace it's barely remarkable anymore. It's Almost Supernatural has the story: Fatima Hajaig's anti-Jewish comments on YouTube
Kudos to the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) for releasing a recording of SA Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fatima Hajaig's, revolting antisemitic remarks. The recording was played on e-TV last night (and 702 Talk Radio this morning) and the footage has since been uploaded to YouTube. It includes an interview with SAJBD Chairman, Zev Krengel...
...[Hajaig:] "They in fact control [America]. No matter which government comes in to power, whether Republican or Democratic, whether Barack Obama or George Bush. The control of America, just like the control of most Western countries, is in the hands of Jewish money and if Jewish money controls their country then you cannot expect anything else."
Here's the video:
A racist islamofascist named Fatima?
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!
Next we'll hear some good ole racist crap from someone named Muhammed.
Meanwhile, the ENTIRE WORLD is gouged, is forced to pay AFTER TAX DOLLARS for overpriced OPEC cartel oil.
You should include a post from the blog you linked to above about the Muslim's requesting a boycott of Jewish owned businesses
Muslim anti-semitism takes a leaf from the Nazis
The e-mail continues with a Nazi style list of business in South Africa with major Jewish involvement. ...............
...............
*To get your business removed from this list you can contact Nathan Geffen from the SA Human Rights Delegation, signatory number 1 on the recent "not in my name" style letter.
*See update below.
Clarification
This morning I woke up to accusations of anti-Semitism and defamation due to the final paragraph of the above post. For the record, I apologise to all readers who got the impression that Nathan was in some way involved in the Muslim boycott of Jewish businesses. I never intended to create this impression and wish to distance myself from it. Nathan was in no way involved.
My point was two-fold: (1) That Nathan's efforts are being abused by real anti-Semites who are actually supporting him, and (2) that as a consequence, his attempts to bring Muslims and Jews in South Africa closer together are actually driving them further apart.
The facts however, are clear, irrespective of what Nathan intended. The Muslim boycott email specifically exempts Nathan and Co. from the boycott.
Nice example of "useful idiots" under the guidance of Muslims.
This is bad news on many levels.
Obviously concocting and disseminating Jewish conspiracy theories, then targeting individual Jews or Jewish owned businesses is straight out of Nazi Europe.
Beyond that is a subtext - dissent within the Jewish community that is getting really ugly. I wonder if it isn't similarly difficult within the Arab, Palestinian or Muslim/Eastern Christian communities as well?
Internal dissent and anger at would-be peacemakers is probably hampering well-meant attempts by people in both groups to reach out to one another.
Attempts to try to promote a spirit of peace and cooperation are often misunderstood and people who express any sympathy at all for either group are regarded as traitors.
That's clearly absurd - Arabs interested in peace with Israel, who understand Jewish history etc and Jews who empathize with the Palestinians are hardly traitors or "kapos" or what have you. Yet people who fear change, who fear period, fear most of all the possibility that long-held preconceived ideas about "the other" might be wrong.
Look at our own civil rights struggle here in the US for another example. We're still dealing with it though we've taken enormous steps toward real interracial respect and understanding.
By the same token, the term "criticize Israel," as in "nobody can criticize Israel without being deemed an antisemite" is abused. The fact is, everybody criticizes Israel just about 24/7, not least within Israel, and much of this criticism is justified.
It should be said, though, which criticism exactly is justified can depend upon one's political philosophy and where one is living too.
From here, the Gaza attack affected me with dread and sorrow. No doubt in Gaza it was terrifying and people were killed and maimed, lives irrevocably lost.
From the point of view of my friends who live with the constant threat of rockets and bombs in Israel, it ended too soon, without any real peace agreement or long-term promise of - if not peace - at least quiet. They quite simply dread the return of bigger and better rockets. Their point of view must be honored too.
Regardless it is ok to question government policies anywhere in the world and it doesn't matter who we are - it's only human to mourn the loss of life, to empathize with the powerless including people in Gaza as well as people who suffer from terrorism in Israel.
BUT - the catchphrase "criticism of Israel" all too often masks real antisemitism as well as the desire to see Israel punished and destroyed either physically or demographically or economically - one way or another Israel must be made to suffer and bleed.
There are well-organized attempts, from the Left and the Right, to destroy American and other Western support for Israel and public relations attacks on Israel are professional and they are global and include many mainstream mass media outlets as well as platforms within the UN and state and religious leaders (some Christian - not all are Muslim).
Indeed it's becoming obvious that "criticism of Israel" extends to "criticism of the right of Jewish people around the world to have political viewpoints with which we disagree."
So the glib use of the term "criticism of Israel" is often used to deflect criticism of antisemites. It's being used as an excuse now to attack Jews, per se.
I'm beginning to think that such "criticism of Israel" was always about Jews, per se, all too often, from all too many sources, right or left, East or West.
This makes it really difficult to discern thoughtful, constructive, well-meant criticism from actual racism. That's a shame because without constructive criticsm and self-criticism, humanity itself cannot evolve, let alone Israeli politics or policy.
And - it's interesting that all this "criticism of Israel" frequently excludes mention of the problems confronting her people, nor their history, nor political and religious realities in the Middle East and North Africa.
That's worrisome too.