Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism — A distinction in theory, but not in practice
My guest column at The Hill...
My guest column at The Hill...
A rabbi from the Swedish city of Malmo was attacked by men who hurled objects at him from a car and used anti-Semitic pejoratives. Rabbi Shneur Kesselman was assaulted on Saturday night along with a member of his congregation, the Sydsvenskan daily reported Sunday. The attack, which resulted in no physical injuries, came on the heels of vandalism against the southern city’s main synagogue on July 31, when unidentified individuals smashed three of the building’s windows by hurling objects at them.
“And I'll close by saying this. Because anti-Semitism is the godfather of racism and the gateway to tyranny and fascism and war, it is to be regarded not as the enemy of the Jewish people, I learned, but as the common enemy of humanity and of civilisation, and has to be fought against very tenaciously for that reason, most especially in its current, most virulent form of Islamic Jihad.... Our task is to call this filthy thing, this plague, this—this pest, by its right name; to make unceasing resistance to it, knowing all the time that it's probably ultimately ineradicable, and bearing in mind that its hatred towards us is a compliment, and resolving (some of the time, at any rate) to do a bit more to deserve it. Thank you.”http://youtu.be/SVNcCKeRIlk?t=3m20s What we are seeing is anti-Semitism back in the open in the name of anti-Zionism. You cannot separate the two in the political real world. In addition to all the other videos and images we have protested, here is France, where anti-Semitic pro-Palestinian street rioters wear "Boycott Israel" shirts (which we have seen before): Here is Paris burning during anti-Semitic riots (more here): It is important to document this widespread, worldwide anti-Semitism which infuses these "pro-Palestinian" protests.
Several thousand gathered in Place de la République in Paris, France to protest the Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, defying a state ban on the demonstration. Protesters chanted "Israel is an assassin, Holland is an accomplice" and "we are all Palestinians," and some were seen gesturing the quenelle, a reverse Nazi-salute, AFP reported. Tension mounted as hundreds of protesters, some masked, began throwing stones and projectiles at police who responded with tear gas. "This event is illegal, but for us it is more than legitimate. This is to show our solidarity with people who are now being massacred," Hugo, a New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) activist, told AFP. The NPA decided to defy the ban and hold the protest as planned in an assertion of the party's "solidarity with the Palestinian people," NPA leader Olivier Besancenot said. Earlier, France's interior minister called on the protest's organizers to observe the order, fearing anti-Semitic violence.In The Hague, Netherlands, meanwhile, Dutch News reports, The Hague mayor urged to get tough after anti-Jewish chanting at rally(via Jihad Watch):
"Khaybar, Khaybar ya yahud"...
France's politicians and community leaders have criticised the "intolerable" violence against Paris' Jewish community, after a pro-Palestinian rally led to the vandalizing and looting of Jewish businesses and the burning of cars. It is the third time in a week where pro-Palestinian activists have clashed with the city's Jewish residents. On Sunday, locals reported chats of "Gas the Jews" and "Kill the Jews", as rioters attacked businesses in the Sarcelles district, known as "little Jerusalem". Manuel Valls, France's prime minister said: “What happened in Sarcelles is intolerable. An attack on a synagogue and on a kosher shop is simply anti-Semitism. Nothing in France can justify this violence.”The HuffPo post has numerous photos. The Times [of London] Europe Edition reports, Jewish shops set ablaze in Paris’s Little Jerusalem:
Just your typical pro-Pal riot: “Jew, Jew, cowardly swine, come out and fight on your own!” http://t.co/ci8ciMjdQS via @timesofisrael
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) July 21, 2014
Now Yair Rosenberg of Tablet Magazine has the video:
This is part of a worldwide phenomenon, and puts the lie to the claim that in modern political reality there is any difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.
Pro-Pal mob in Berlin: "fucking Jews, we'll get you!" http://t.co/2nnfBe5yFu via @JuedischeOnline
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) July 20, 2014
"The shouts included 'Jews back to Birkenau' and 'Drop dead, you Zionazi whores.'" So very, very glad I left Boston http://t.co/MjJsfXpnsW
— benjamin kerstein (@benj_kerstein) July 20, 2014
If you go to a synagogue instead of a consulate to protest Israel you are an anti-Semite. Pogroms taking place in France. In 2014.
— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) July 20, 2014
A demonstration in Frankfurt against Operation Protective Edge erupted into violence, with protesters tossing stones at the police. According to the Frankfurter Rundschau paper, about 2,500 protesters appeared in downtown Frankfurt, screaming “God is great,” and slogans such as “freedom for Palestine” and “children-murderer Israel.” Eight police officers were injured. One sign at the rally was titled, “You Jews are Beasts.” German media reported that after the protests, groups sought to locate Jewish institutions. The Frankfurt police said Jewish institutions would be protected. It is unclear if the goal was to attack said institutionsThe JPost did not run the photo, but I believe this is the sign "The Jews are Beasts" to which they were referring (see Featured Image also):
Several thousand demonstrators walked calmly through the streets of Paris behind a large banner that read “Total Support for the Struggle of the Palestinian People”. But clashes erupted at the end of the march on Bastille Square, with people throwing projectiles onto a cordon of police who responded with tear gas. The unrest was continuing early Sunday evening. Media reports said that hundreds of Jews were trapped inside a synagogue in the area and police units were sent to rescue them. A person in the synagogue told Israel’s Channel 2 news that protesters hurled stones and bricks at the building, “like it was an intifada.”
They ignore the reality of Jew hatred as a powerful motivating anti-Israel force....
Man beaten with iron pipe for flying Israeli flag...
Three people were killed and another was seriously injured in a shooting Saturday at the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels, Belgian officials said. A person arrived by car at the museum in central Brussels, entered and quickly opened fire before leaving the scene, Belgian Interior Minister Joelle Milquet told CNN affiliate Bel RTL. The circumstances of the shooting have raised suspicions that it may have been an anti-Semitic attack, but no motive has been determined. The shooter remains at large, and the nation's terror alert level was raised. Belgian public broadcaster RTBF quoted Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur as saying those killed were two men and a woman, while a man was seriously injured at the museum, which is near the tourist sites. At a press conference, Milquet said the threat level is highest at locations frequented by the Jewish community. This measure was precautionary, she added.Other news reports, including a BBC News report, indicated that a possible suspect had been detained, but no additional details had been released at the time of this writing (which was Saturday evening).
Pro-Israel student leader at Vassar was warned: "Remember the devil has enough advocates"...
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