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Frank, pointed, discussion and criticism of Israel in the West (and particularly in the US) has long been hampered by the specious conflation of criticism of Israel and anti-Zionism and genuine anti-Semitism.
The label of anti-semite is bandied about by the rightwing and the Israeli lobby with frequency. I think there are three distinct political and cultural reasons for this:
1)Calculated and conscious attempt to quiet dissent on the part of the Israeli lobby and control the framing of the Israeli-American relations debate. These interests want the debate to be "between the Palestinians and the Israelis which party is morally superior?" Obviously between the two most Westerners will choose the Israelis. What they don't want the debate to become is "what interests does the United States genuinely have in Israel and what interests and capital does it loose in supporting Israel?" This debate is slightly more rigorous.
Instead of the ease of condemning suicide bombers and Hamas it becomes "is supporting Israel worth the vast capital we invested in it? Is supporting Israel worth infuriating the entire Middle East? Is supporting Israel worth 9/11?" It no longer becomes "do you like Israel" it becomes "do you think Israel is a legitimate American concern?" Canada is a moral and friendly country, however most Americans would balk if the government attempted to spend the kind of money arming and protecting Canada (and expend the international good will if the rest of the world found Canada offensive) that it spends on Israel.
So the Israel lobby has to bank on anti-semitism to give its national project the facade of defeating a genuine evil.
2)Blatant partisan hackery of various Western rightwing groups. The right (although in the US, most of the left as well), for various cultural, economic and religious reasons is far more engendered towards blindly supporting Israel. However, I believe that the right finds attacking the left with the label of anti-semitism emotionally satisfying as well. The right has long suffered the left's labels of "racism" and "ignorance" and now it's been provided with an opportunity to attack the exact same academic and social institutions that have so long criticized their extreme quarters. They revel in the ability to dismiss the lefts defense of "criticism of Israel without a criticism of Jews" as glibly as the left dismissed their "defense of state's rights without a defense of segregation."
3)Legitimate engrained cultural tendencies within the Jewish community. For most of recorded history the Jews were legitimately the a nationless people of victims. Many Jews and many among the right confuse the Jewish people and the Israeli national project. This allows Israel to cloak itself in the legitimate persecution of a race of people, rather then a nation of people. To a modern observer, with no knowledge of Jewish history, the contrast between Israel and the Palestinians is fairly simple. The Israeli's have cruise missiles, F-16s and tanks whereas the Palestinians have what are essentially over sized bottle rockets, smuggled weapons and nothing but their own mass to protect them. Clearly, Israel is not the victim. However, the Jewish people are still legitimately reeling from untold centuries of victimization. By obscuring the difference between an international Jew and a national Israeli instead of an Israeli soldier herding Palestinians into detention camps, we see European Jews being herded into death camps. This is not nationless victims, it is a nation of people who, rightly or wrongly, are pursuing their national interest with force.
So what happens with one of these operatives are used to label someone as an anti-semite? It closes the debate, but not in the way that the pro-Israeli forces intend to. Yes, the individual critical of Israel may be cowed into silence and swallow his criticism.
However this does not create a supporter of Israel, all it creates is a bitter individual, resentful that exterior forces have censored him.
To do this activates longstanding and ancient conspiracies theories regarding Jews in the media and national control.
When you wont allow people to freely discuss Israel's effect upon the United State's foreign policy without labeling them as anti-semites or terrorist supporters in public- they'll find another place to do it.
They'll find Stormfront, or a Klan meeting or a White Power skinhead group.
By forcing non anti-semetic people to cower and hide their legitimate criticisms of Israel you're forcing them to imbed themselves into the only environments where any (and all) criticism of Israel is allowed. And this can quickly transfer to a place where any (and all) criticism of the Jewish people are allowed.
The nation of Israel and its chauvinism has done more to create contemporary anti-semitism in the West then all the fringe hate groups combined.
The label of anti-semite is bandied about by the rightwing and the Israeli lobby with frequency. I think there are three distinct political and cultural reasons for this:
1)Calculated and conscious attempt to quiet dissent on the part of the Israeli lobby and control the framing of the Israeli-American relations debate. These interests want the debate to be "between the Palestinians and the Israelis which party is morally superior?" Obviously between the two most Westerners will choose the Israelis. What they don't want the debate to become is "what interests does the United States genuinely have in Israel and what interests and capital does it loose in supporting Israel?" This debate is slightly more rigorous.
Instead of the ease of condemning suicide bombers and Hamas it becomes "is supporting Israel worth the vast capital we invested in it? Is supporting Israel worth infuriating the entire Middle East? Is supporting Israel worth 9/11?" It no longer becomes "do you like Israel" it becomes "do you think Israel is a legitimate American concern?" Canada is a moral and friendly country, however most Americans would balk if the government attempted to spend the kind of money arming and protecting Canada (and expend the international good will if the rest of the world found Canada offensive) that it spends on Israel.
So the Israel lobby has to bank on anti-semitism to give its national project the facade of defeating a genuine evil.
2)Blatant partisan hackery of various Western rightwing groups. The right (although in the US, most of the left as well), for various cultural, economic and religious reasons is far more engendered towards blindly supporting Israel. However, I believe that the right finds attacking the left with the label of anti-semitism emotionally satisfying as well. The right has long suffered the left's labels of "racism" and "ignorance" and now it's been provided with an opportunity to attack the exact same academic and social institutions that have so long criticized their extreme quarters. They revel in the ability to dismiss the lefts defense of "criticism of Israel without a criticism of Jews" as glibly as the left dismissed their "defense of state's rights without a defense of segregation."
3)Legitimate engrained cultural tendencies within the Jewish community. For most of recorded history the Jews were legitimately the a nationless people of victims. Many Jews and many among the right confuse the Jewish people and the Israeli national project. This allows Israel to cloak itself in the legitimate persecution of a race of people, rather then a nation of people. To a modern observer, with no knowledge of Jewish history, the contrast between Israel and the Palestinians is fairly simple. The Israeli's have cruise missiles, F-16s and tanks whereas the Palestinians have what are essentially over sized bottle rockets, smuggled weapons and nothing but their own mass to protect them. Clearly, Israel is not the victim. However, the Jewish people are still legitimately reeling from untold centuries of victimization. By obscuring the difference between an international Jew and a national Israeli instead of an Israeli soldier herding Palestinians into detention camps, we see European Jews being herded into death camps. This is not nationless victims, it is a nation of people who, rightly or wrongly, are pursuing their national interest with force.
So what happens with one of these operatives are used to label someone as an anti-semite? It closes the debate, but not in the way that the pro-Israeli forces intend to. Yes, the individual critical of Israel may be cowed into silence and swallow his criticism.
However this does not create a supporter of Israel, all it creates is a bitter individual, resentful that exterior forces have censored him.
To do this activates longstanding and ancient conspiracies theories regarding Jews in the media and national control.
When you wont allow people to freely discuss Israel's effect upon the United State's foreign policy without labeling them as anti-semites or terrorist supporters in public- they'll find another place to do it.
They'll find Stormfront, or a Klan meeting or a White Power skinhead group.
By forcing non anti-semetic people to cower and hide their legitimate criticisms of Israel you're forcing them to imbed themselves into the only environments where any (and all) criticism of Israel is allowed. And this can quickly transfer to a place where any (and all) criticism of the Jewish people are allowed.
The nation of Israel and its chauvinism has done more to create contemporary anti-semitism in the West then all the fringe hate groups combined.
I know this is a volatile subject, but let's keep our emotions in check and cease the namecalling.
