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Harper and “anti-Semitism”
According to Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper”criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic.” Israel apparently is the only country in the world that can torture prisoners, murder innocent civilians, kill children with impunity, assassinate political opponents, ethnically cleanse Palestinians, demolish thousands of Palestinians homes, steal land that individuals have legal title to without compensation, and have policies that are routinely condemned as racist by leading Israeli commentators including the Israeli Supreme Court, and whose human rights abuses are criticized by Israeli human rights organizations. Many commentators point to Israel’s many crimes and yet to criticize Israel is anti-semitic. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and many other human rights organizations including Israeli human rights organizations all must be anti-Semitic. The question that must be asked is what description should be given to these attitudes towards Palestinians and what are words should be used to describe the mind set that refuses to allow for criticism of Israel no matter what it does. What country is entitled to a blank check that makes it immune to any criticism? In my opinion Harper’s statement does indicate a psychological problem that blinds him to the suffering of the Palestinians and allows the Israel compete immunity no matter what it does. It also gives some insight into why some individuals, and even political leaders in the West, have a complete disregard for Palestinian human rights, display a pathological hatred for Palestinians and an irrational subservience to Zionism.
From Ed Corrigan based on the following article:
Criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic, Harper says By MIKE DE SOUZA Canwest News Service
Friday, May 09, 2008
Some of the criticism brewing in Canada against the state of Israel, including from some members of Parliament, is similar to the attitude of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned yesterday.
“I guess my fear is what I see happening in some circles is (an) anti-Israeli sentiment, really just as a thinly disguised veil for good old-fashioned anti-Semitism, which I think is completely unacceptable,” Harper said in an interview with CJAD radio.
“We learned in the Second World War that those who would hate and destroy the Jewish people would ultimately hate and destroy the rest of us as well, and the same holds today.”
Harper, who was to deliver a speech in Toronto marking the 60th anniversary of Israel in the evening, blamed some of his rivals in opposition for encouraging anti-Semitism in the midst of the conflict between the Jewish state and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006 in Lebanon. At the time, Harper was criticized in some circles for being pro-Israel when he defended controversial military strikes in Beirut.
“Canada, under this government, is never going to cater to that kind of opinion,” Harper said.
“I am disturbed that there are some elements in our political system, there are even some members of Parliament … that were willing to cater to that kind of opinion.”
Matthew Brett is the Canadian Dimension weblog manager. The views expressed on this blog do not necessarily represent his own. Read more by Matthew Brett.
Harper didn’t say that criticism of Israel is anti-semitic. He said that some people who criticize Israel are anti-semitic, a statement that is patently true.
#1. Posted by rabbit on May 11th 2008 at 2:35pm
[...] side with a foreign dictator instead of the labour unions he puts the boots to. The people who will accept the worst libel against the Middle East’s only credibly social democratic state, while accepting without question the word of goose-stepping fascists like [...]
#2. Posted by What does “Left” mean? or What is a &# on May 11th 2008 at 5:50pm
Unfortunately, Mr. Harper is more than correct. He’s brought to the fore the very sad problem of very traditional antisemitism thinly disguised as anti-Israel sentiment that has become so popular in the canadian left and far left these days, and Canadian Dimension is, sadly, no exception.
The syndrome has been discussed many times, and includes the factor of “Jewish antisemitism,” disaffected nominal Jews of the left and far left who “ride” with Hamas, Hezbollah and other noxious organizations…approving blood curdling hate, outrageous lies and repeated calls for the extermination of Jews and Israel, ostensibly in the name of peace and social justice.
It’s pathetic. Really.
#3. Posted by harry abrams on May 11th 2008 at 6:43pm
Here’s an example of the dishonesty.
Per above:
“..Many commentators point to Israel’s many crimes..”
This is not the first time I’ve called Mr. Brett on his position and “hypothetical” sources. Not that there aren’t enough quotes out there from folks who can’t abide THE EXISTENCE of Israel or Jews having a sovereign state.
Here is a 2006 article by Cdn. progressive Terry Glavin in which he bemoans this unreasoning hatred has made so many in the so-called left irrelevant.
http://www.straight.com/article/stopwars-peace-is-about-opposing-israel
StopWar’s peace is about opposing Israel
By Terry Glavin
“...in July 2006, while Israel was fighting for her very life, and Lebanon and Palestine were being ground to bits, and Iraq was descending deeper into a hell of throat-slitting and suicide bombing, Canada’s “antiwar” left had openly opted for war.”
#4. Posted by harry abrams on May 12th 2008 at 3:50am
[...] from Canadian Dimensions magazine responding to this quote from the Prime Minister: I guess my fear is what I see happening in some [...]
#5. Posted by Crossing the line from critic to anti-semite &laqu on May 12th 2008 at 4:29am
I think it’s time Harper disclosed his donors list ...
#6. Posted by Skeet on May 16th 2008 at 9:58am
Why Harper Is Stupid:
I’m referring to the crapola he babbled whilst celebrating Israel’s 60th birthday about how critics of Israel (including MPs in the House of Commons) were just anti-Semites.
Now, mocking somebody’s physical attributes isn’t generally an effective debating tactic. It’s often a dangerous one. God knows that I’m not capable of being immune to ridicule about my looks. But in Harper’s case, he’s got one particular attribute that seems to reflect his ugly, cold, amoral approach to politics.
Somebody on babble once referred to Harper as a “dead-eyed cipher.” And I have to agree, in some pictures, Harper appears to have the eyes of a corpse. They just sort of stare, coldly, blankly, thinking of nothing at all, whilst his body uncomfortably wobbles around in some inappropriate cowboy vest or flak jacket.
Like his eyes, Harper doesn’t seem to care about very much. It’s like he’s going through the motions, or some sort of “process” (like decaying).
I don’t think Harper is very smart. But I don’t think he’s as monumentally stupid (like, say a Stockwell Day or a Jim Flaherty is stupid). I certainly don’t think that he’s as stupid as his asinine comments about criticism of Israel made him sound.
I think that in that case, Harper was merely trying to poison the political climate. In typical Karl Rovian fashion he’s trying to put the most toxic ideas he can out there, in order to establish as a given, the gutter-level politics that 21st-century “conservatism” increasingly finds unavoidable.
I don’t think Harper particularly gives a shit about Israel, one way or the other. That’s for the fundamentalist nutbars like Stockwell Day and his US-American counterparts among the religious right. Israel is just a political symbol for Harper. I’m not sure that it’s within him to understand how this works deep down, .... he just knows that it works. It helps him by giving him red meat to throw at his political supporters ... who he doesn’t care about either. And this is all to help him get and keep power in Canada, a country which he also doesn’t give a shit about.
#7. Posted by Thwap on May 18th 2008 at 8:39am