Judeophobia Alive and Kicking

Chronologically, this came first:

US ambassador in Belgium provides controversial explanation for Muslim anti-Semitism

Growing global anti-Semitism is linked to Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians, the American ambassador to Belgium told stunned Jewish conference attendants in Brussels earlier this week.

Speaking Wednesday at a Jewish conference on anti-Semitism organized by the European Jewish Union (EJU,) Howard Gutman told participants he was apologizing in advance if his words are not to their liking. He then proceeded to make controversial statements about his views on Muslim anti-Semitism, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday.

A distinction should be made between traditional anti-Semitism, which should be condemned and Muslim hatred for Jews, which stems from the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, Gutman said. He also argued that an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty will significantly diminish Muslim anti-Semitism.

The American envoy, a lawyer by training, is Jewish and played a major role in fundraising for the Democratic Party. He was appointed to the post by President Barack Obama.

The conference was attended by Jewish lawyers from across Europe. The legal experts at the event were visibly stunned by Gutman’s words, and the next speaker offered a scathing rebuttal to the envoy’s remarks. “The modern Anti-Semite formally condemns Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust and expresses upmost sympathy with the Jewish people. He simply has created a new species, the “Anti-Zionist” or – even more sophisticated – the so-called ‘Israel critic,’” Germany attorney Nathan Gelbart said.

“The ‘Israel critic’ will never state ‘Jews go home’ but is questioning the legality of the incorporation of the State of Israel and therefore the right for the Jewish people to settle in their homeland. He will not say the Jews are the evil of the world but claim that the State of Israel is a major cause for instability and war in the region,” he said. “There is no other country, no other people on this planet the ‘Israel critic’ would dedicate so much time and devotion as to the case of Israel.”

“For no other country he would criticize or ask to boycott its goods or academics. And this for one simple reason: Because Israel is the state of the Jewish people, not more and not less,” Gelbart said.

and then we learned this:

Paul Flynn MP in 'anti-Semitic' remark row

Newport West MP Paul Flynn has been accused of making anti-Semitic remarks after questioning whether the British ambassador to Israel should be Jewish.

Mr Flynn called the claim "ludicrous" but he has been called in by Labour Party whips to explain his comments.

He had suggested that Matthew Gould, Britain's first Jewish ambassador to Israel, had "divided loyalties".

Harlow MP Robert Halfon, who is Jewish, said Mr Flynn was not anti-Semitic but he had made an "outrageous attack".

Mr Flynn has been criticised by MPs from his own side as well as by the Jewish Chronicle newspaper after saying the post of ambassador to Israel should go to "someone with roots in the UK".

He made his comments to Sir Gus O'Donnell, the UK's most senior civil servant during questioning about the relationship between former Defence Secretary Liam Fox and Mr Fox's friend and advisor Adam Werritty.

The Labour movement blog LabourList said the party's leadership was thought to be unhappy with the remarks, claiming a source said party leader Ed Miliband "thinks these comments are totally unacceptable".

Labour MP Ivan Lewis, the Shadow Secretary for International Development, described Mr Flynn's remark about Mr Gould as a "smear".

The year is almost 2012 and they still haven't learned anything.

And what about that "damn" table?

This one (*):

Panetta to Israel: ‘Get to the Damn Table’ for Peace Talks

The top U.S. defense official is warning Israel it cannot afford to further isolate itself from Arab neighbors in the Middle East. During a forum in Washington late Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Israel needs to start by getting back “to the damn table” and negotiating peace with the Palestinians. He also called on Israel to mend its fraying relationships with traditional partners like Turkey, Egypt and Jordan.

And here's some thinking by Barry Rubin:

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta Shows How the Obama Administration Is Selling Out Israel...And U.S. Interests

Let me state this in undiplomatic language: U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is a clown. True, this will not be the kind of thing written about in the mainstream media but it is true nonetheless. Panetta has no knowledge of the Middle East, no experience in grand strategy, no concept of Islamist politics, no awareness of Israel’s defense needs, and doesn’t know much about military issues generally. All that would be forgivable if it weren’t for one more problem: He has no understanding of what has happened in the last year either.

Panetta has now bashed Israel based on a premise. Here it is:

"I understand the view that this is not the time to pursue peace, and that the Arab awakening further imperils the dream of a safe and secure, Jewish and democratic Israel. But I disagree with that view." Nevertheless, Israel needs to take risks and particularly, "The problem right now is we can't get them to the damn table, to at least sit down and begin to discuss their differences."

...Every Middle East historian—well, every Middle East historian who knows something about the Middle East—knows that The Arab Awakening was the famous book written by George Antonius (subsidized by a U.S foundation to do so, by the way) advocating Arab nationalism and opposition to Zionism in 1938...
But there are three major questions raised in Panetta’s silly statement.

First, does the current “Arab Awakening” imperil Israel? Yes, of course it does. By changing a reasonably friendly Egyptian government into a totally hostile Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi dominated political system closely allied with Hamas, the Gaza Strip’s ruler, and by helping establish Islamist regimes in Tunisia and Libya allied with this Muslim Brotherhood International; the changes create a four-member alliance intent on wiping Israel off the map...

...Panetta’s statement that Israel has a responsibility to build regional support for Israeli and United States' security objectives is nonsense...

...Panetta’s suggestion, like that of Chamberlain in 1938 is that Israel should mend relations with such “traditional security partners.”...That statement is false. Israel can’t reach out and mend fences with Turkey and Egypt because they do not share an interest in regional stability. They are no longer status quo powers; they are countries that want revolutionary change in the Middle East. And this claim takes on special irony since Israel must now not just mend the fence but build an entirely new fence to protect itself from cross-border attacks from Egypt.

...What does an Israeli audience think of when it reads this? Of the same old message from the West to Israel: make gestures, give concessions, take risks, and when they are rebuked “the world will see.” This is precisely the same advice given regarding the 1990s’ peace process, the freeze of construction on settlements, and the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. And every time the world doesn’t see...Finally, Panetta also uses another weird phrase. He urges Israel to "lean forward" to obtain peace with the Palestinians...Actually, though, Israel has been leaning over backward for years to make peace without getting any credit for it.

Let me summarize. Panetta and the Obama Administration aren’t just wrong. They are dangerously and absurdly wrong...

___________________

(*)

and if you think that was out of context or directed at both sides, resad on:

MR. POLLACK:  And this will have to be your last question.  Mr. Secretary, you made a strong statement about Israel’s responsibility towards peace. What steps should it take now?  Withdraw the Israeli army from the
Palestinian territories?  It’s a suggestion and a question.  It’s a suggestion in the form of a question.
   SEC. PANETTA:  Just get to the damn table.  Just get to the table.
(Applause.)  The problem right now is we can’t get them to the damn table to at least sit down and begin to discuss their differences – you know, we all
know what the pieces are here for a potential agreement.  We’ve talked it
out, worked through, we understand the concerns, we understand the concerns of Israel, understand the concerns of the Palestinians.  If they sit at a table and work through those concerns, and the United States can be of
assistance in that process, then I think you have the beginning of what could be a process that would lead to a peace agreement. But if they aren’t there – if they aren’t at the table, this will never happen.  So first and foremost, get to the damn table.  (Applause.)

U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Transcript
On the Web:
http://www.defense.gov/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=4937
Media contact: +1 (703) 697-5131/697-5132  Public contact:
http://www.defense.gov/landing/comment.aspx
or +1 (703) 571-3343

(k/t=IMRA)

And now this:

In response to the recent criticism of Israel by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman, today the chairman of the Emergency Committee for Israel, William Kristol, issued the following statement.

and received this:

The Simon Wiesenthal Center urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to " immediately and unequivocally disassociate herself from comments made by US Amb Howard Gutman who told a Jewish group that "a distinction should be made between traditional anti-semitism which should be condemned and Muslim hatred of Jews which stems from the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians".

"The Simon Wieaenthal Center calls on Secy of State Clinton to immediately rebuke Gutman for excusing Muslim hatred of Jews"' said Rabbis Marvin Hier, Dean and Founder and Abraham Cooper, associate Dean in a statement on behalf of its 400,000 constituent families of the leading Jewish Human Rights NGO...

More:

CJHS Calls on White House To Renounce Belgium Ambassador Who Blamed Israel
For Muslim Antisemitism

December 3, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Doris Wise Montrose
Phone: 818-704-0523

Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors (CJHS) condemns in the strongest terms the recent statements by US Ambassador to Belgium and Obama donor Howard Gutman, who said last Wednesday that global and Muslim Jew-hatred were the result of Israel's policy toward the Palestinians. CJHS calls on President Obama and the White House to renounce the Ambassador and his statements.

"As an organization devoted to making sure that the West upholds its promise of 'Never Again' by recognizing the genuine causes of genocidal Jew-hatred and the Holocaust" said CJHS founder and President Doris Wise Montrose, "we'll remind the Ambassador that Muslim antisemitism stretches back centuries before the creation of the modern state of Israel and is explicitly advocated by the Koran."

And presciently this.


^

For the Record and For Reflection

In an ugly speech on Monday that served to divide and incite rather than find constructive solutions to racism, Mr. Ahmadinejad said the formation of the state of Israel left “an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering” in order “to establish a totally racist government in occupied Palestine.”

Source


Reflections:

1. If the formation of the state of Israel refers to 1948, why were Arab residents of the British Mandate living in Judea and Samaria and Gaza "homeless"? All of them?

2. Was Jewish suffering a pretext or, perhaps, the justification of Zionism that only in our own country could Jews defend themselves against suffering?

3. If the Arabs had agreed to the UN Partition resolution and established their Arab State, would it be racist too, or is only a Jewish state racist?

4. What are the borders of "occupied Palestine"?

Bill Moyers Skips Over His Judeophobia

Bill Moyers, as we all know, suffers Judeophobia.

How do we know?

He said so:

What we are seeing in Gaza is the latest battle in the oldest family quarrel on record. Open your Bible: the sons of the patriarch Abraham become Arab and Jew. Go to the Book of Deuteronomy. When the ancient Israelites entered Canaan their leaders urged violence against its inhabitants. The very Moses who had brought down the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” now proclaimed, “You must destroy completely all the places where the nations have served their gods. You must tear down their altars, smash their pillars, cut down their sacred poles, set fire to the carved images of their gods, and wipe out their name from that place.”

So God-soaked violence became genetically coded.

Genetically?

Through blood? DNA? What genes?

(see here for some interesting material)

Bill Kristol took Moyers on and wrote this:

The liberal sage Bill Moyers has been a harsh critic of Bush. On Jan. 9, on PBS, he also lambasted Israel for what he called its “state terrorism,” its “waging war on an entire population” in Gaza. He traced this Israeli policy back to the Bible, where “God-soaked violence became genetically coded,” apparently in both Arabs and Jews. I wouldn’t presume to say what is and isn’t “genetically coded” in Moyers’s respectable Protestant genes. But I’m glad it was George W. Bush calling the shots over the last eight years, not someone well-thought of by Moyers.

Moyers responded

Re “The Next War President” (column, Jan. 19):

I take strong exception to William Kristol’s characterization of what I said about Israel’s action in Gaza and my position on violence in the Middle East. According to him, I “lambasted Israel” for what I “called its ‘state terrorism.’ ”

Here is the exact transcript of what I said:

“Every nation has the right to defend its people. Israel is no exception, all the more so because Hamas would like to see every Jew in Israel dead. But brute force can turn self-defense into state terrorism. It’s what the U.S. did in Vietnam, with B-52s and napalm, and again in Iraq, with shock and awe. By killing indiscriminately the elderly, kids, entire families, by destroying schools and hospitals, Israel did exactly what terrorists do and exactly what Hamas wanted. It spilled the blood that turns the wheel of retribution.”

Furthermore, I do believe that the violence in the Middle East has roots deep in history, and in the competition of the three monotheistic faiths, each of which claims divine title to much of the same land. But from my days in the Johnson White House, I have defended Israel’s right to defend itself, and still do.

When I was the publisher of Newsday, I instructed our newsroom to cover atrocities in Vietnam. I believed (and still do) that it is important to know what our military was doing in our name.

Killing civilians is wrong, whether done by Hamas, Israel or the United States. To be indifferent to that suffering is, sadly, to be as blind as Samson in Gaza.

Bill Moyers

And the "genetically coded" remark?

That he skipped.

And the New York Times, in its anti-Israel bias, permits him to get away with it.

Architecture Causes Judeophobia

Here.

Gawker Does "The Jews"

SHONDA IN SHIMMO
Jews Arrive, Give Nantucket Blues

Men's Vogue fella Hud Morgan is finally reporting in from somewhere as WASPy as his name: Murray's, on Nantucket's Main Street, where the pale people buy those heinous Nantucket Reds. But bad news!

[A]n hour on the premises will reveal items you never ever knew you wanted until you saw them (an over-the-shoulder tote that stows 10 bottles of wine—husbands, lock up your wives) as well as items probably better suited to a Yale secret society (a skull and crossbones needlepoint cummerbund). The Reds alone take up the entire back wall, and in recent years the collection has expanded to shorts, hats, sweaters, and — que scandale! — yarmulkes.

They even have a tag "The Jews".

So genteel.

While the main story is somewhere else, they do a great job highlighting the Jews.

Reviewing Comments at Wonkette

All all remember my contretemps with Wonkette?

If not, here's a roundup and the itsy-bitsy NYTimes reference.

Anyway, I decided to give another look and, thank the Lord, there were some brave people who got good comments in (they, of course, did not include mine).

Here they are:-

BY BUBBE AT 07/23/07 12:33 PM
So it's open season on Jews? Is this just NY or all the US?
BY THE DUDE AT 07/23/07 12:33 PM
Why the blatant Anti-Semitism? It's not only revolting but it helps discredit any valid point you might make.
BY THE DUDE AT 07/23/07 12:33 PM
And why am I the first to point this out? [no, you weren't but they threatened me]
BY DR.DAWG AT 07/23/07 02:25 PM
"Jew-liani?" "Jew York Times?" I thought I'd come to a left-wing site. I used to see that sort of thing in places, well, like this: [www.stormfront.org] [www.stormfront.org] Have you lost your minds? Do we need that kind of vulgar anti-Semitic flourish to drive home the progressive point of view? And here I've been arguing, literally for years, with conservatives who claim that the Left is anti-Semitic. I'd been doing pretty well until now. Thanks a bunch, people.
BY PALEOAMERICAN AT 07/23/07 03:10 PM
Don't blame Booby Jewliani for being out of touch he hasn't dropped by his strategic command and intelligence center located at 7 WTC in quite awhile. [the closet antisemite]
BY JEN06 AT 07/23/07 05:03 PM
One of the great things about this Wonkette post is how beautifully it demonstrates that Jew-hatred exists totally independent of fact. Rudy is not a Jew. The family that owns the New York Times converted to Episcopalianism some time ago--and the paper itself is at best center-disparaging when it comes to issues affecting Jews.
Yet it it seemed good--even witty--to the Wonkette poster (and, one assumes, Wonkette itself) to make these stupid, fact-free name changes.
BY AMERICANA AT 07/23/07 06:06 PM
It took far too long for people to call this moronic poster our for his blatant antisemitism.
BY KHARGUSHOGHLI AT 07/24/07 11:43 AM
I agree with the Dr. Dawg et al. I read about this posting on a loony right blog, American Thinker [www.americanthinker.com] and figured it was just another case of the manufactured scandal about The Daily Kos. Shocked and saddened to see that this time it's true. How the HELL did this posting get on Wonkette? I think the author owes the readers and explanation and/or an apology. And the posters should do a bit of introspection about why this stupid Jew-baiting didn't phase them.
BY ANNOYEDMAN AT 07/24/07 02:04 PM
Talk about "shock and awe"...I am shocked by and in awe of the Jew hatred displayed here, and I am continually amazed at my liberal Jewish friends who blithely countenance this kind of Nazi bullshit from their political fellow travelers. Truly, antisemiticism and Jewish self-loathing are alive and well. What a terrible shame.
BY 9031 AT 07/25/07 02:37 AM
@Hans_Auff:
grow up
BY ELISSON AT 07/25/07 10:15 AM
"Rudolph Jew-Liani"? What, exactly, is your point? This sort of casual anti-Semitism isn't something I would expect to see in an intelligently-written political blog. (And I don't whip out the "anti-semitism" term at the drop of a canard.) I guess I'll have to revise my opinion...that bit about the "intelligently-written political blog" will have to go. Sad.

Big Head Blog Posts Me

Here

We recently heard from Yisrael Medad, the Israeli editor of the Jewish blog that Wonkette editor Ken Layne threatened a libel lawsuit against. We asked Medad why he thinks Layne wrote to him in the first place.

Medad’s response:

Truth, I don’t know but:

a) He could have been having a bad day and then this “little guy” comes along and tweaks him. after all, he’s probably famous in Washington.

b) Maybe he’s done this before and I’m the only one with the cajones to have stood up.

c) Maybe he doesn’t realize the “Jew York Times” is a redux of 1984 Hymietown.

d) Maybe, just maybe, he’s a closet antisemite himself; Okay, let’s just say drawing-room Judeophobe to use the Continental phrase, and he thought that I really did know that he was sliding into antisemitism - I think he’s the one who posted it actually - and so he swung out. Maybe he thinks Jews think money and lawyers means money, so I would back off. I’m not rich, so it doesn’t bother me. I knew I was right.

But is there an “all of the above” option?