Anti-Zionism = Antisemitism
[Note: The true author of the following essay is unknown. However, for the past several decades, the authorship of this essay has been falsely attributed to Dr. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. -- the famous civil rights leader who was felled by an assassin's bullet in 1968. Although Dr. King didn't write this, I wish that he had; for, it rings so true. -- Mark Rosenblit]
LETTER TO AN ANTI-ZIONIST FRIEND
". . . You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews; you are merely 'anti-Zionist.' And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountain tops, let it echo through the valleys of God's green earth: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews -- this is God's own Truth.
Antisemitism, the hatred of the Jewish people, has been and remains a blot on the soul of Mankind. In this we are in full agreement. So know also this: 'anti-Zionist' is inherently Antisemitic, and ever will be so.
Why is this? You know that Zionism is nothing less than the dream and ideal
of the Jewish people returning to live in their own land. The Jewish people,
the Scriptures tell us, once enjoyed a flourishing Commonwealth in the
The Negro people, my friend, know what it is to suffer the torment of
tyranny under rulers not of our choosing. Our brothers in
How easy it should be, for anyone who holds dear this inalienable right of
all Mankind, to understand and support the right of the Jewish people to live
in their ancient
And what is anti-Zionist? It is the denial to the Jewish people of a
fundamental right that we justly claim for the people of
The Antisemite rejoices at any opportunity to vent his malice. The times have made it unpopular, in the West, to proclaim openly a hatred of the Jews. This being the case, the Antisemite must constantly seek new forms and forums for his poison. How he must revel in the new masquerade! He does not hate the Jews, he is just 'anti-Zionist'!
My friend, I do not accuse you of deliberate Antisemitism. I know you feel, as I do, a deep love of truth and justice and a revulsion for racism, prejudice, and discrimination. But I know you have been misled -- as others have been -- into thinking you can be 'anti-Zionist' and yet remain true to these heartfelt principles that you and I share. Let my words echo in the depths of your soul: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews -- make no mistake about it."
[Note: The following article by former Soviet Union political prisoner and current Israel cabinet minister Natan (formerly Anatoly) Sharansky more precisely explains how, and the mechanisms by which, anti-Zionism becomes a mere fig leaf for Antisemitism. Read on! -- Mark Rosenblit]
Seeing anti-Semitism in 3D
By NATAN SHARANSKY
(
The question is how the sincere intentions of the participants to combat this evil can be translated into effective action.
My experience has convinced me that moral clarity is critical in taking a stand against evil. Evil cannot be defeated if it cannot be recognized, and the only way to recognize evil is to draw clear moral lines. Evil thrives when those lines are blurred, when right and wrong is a matter of opinion rather than objective truth.
That is what makes the battle against the so-called new anti-Semitism so difficult. To the free world's modern eyes, classical anti-Semitism is easily discernible. If we watch films that show Jews draining the blood of gentile children or plotting to take over the world, most of us would immediately recognize it as anti-Semitism.
Such movies, produced recently by the government-controlled media in
But the new anti-Semitism is far more subtle. Whereas classical
anti-Semitism was seen as being aimed at the Jewish religion or the Jewish people,
the new anti-Semitism is ostensibly directed against the Jewish State. Since
this anti-Semitism can hide behind the veneer of legitimate criticism of
In fact, over the past year, whenever we have criticized particularly
virulent anti-Israel statements as being rooted in anti-Semitism, the response
has invariably been that we are trying to stifle legitimate criticism of
What emerged from this conference was an admission by European leaders
themselves that not all criticism of
If not all criticism is valid, how then do we define the boundary line?
I propose the following test for differentiating legitimate criticism of
The first D is the test of Demonization.
Whether it came in the theological form of a collective accusation of Deicide or in the literary depiction of Shakespeare's Shylock, Jews were demonized for centuries as the embodiment of evil. Therefore, today we must be wary of whether the Jewish state is being demonized by having its actions blown out of all sensible proportion.
For example, the comparisons of Israelis to Nazis and of the Palestinian
refugee camps to Auschwitz -- comparisons heard practically every day within
the "enlightened" quarters of
The second D is the test of Double Standards.
For thousands of years a clear sign of anti-Semitism was treating Jews differently than other peoples, from the discriminatory laws many nations enacted against them to the tendency to judge their behavior by a different yardstick.
Similarly, today we must ask whether criticism of
It is anti-Semitism, for instance, when
Likewise, it is anti-Semitism when
The third D is the test of Delegitimization.
In the past, anti-Semites tried to deny the legitimacy of the Jewish religion, the Jewish people, or both. Today, they are trying to deny the legitimacy of the Jewish state, presenting it, among other things, as the last vestige of colonialism.
While criticism of an Israeli policy may not be anti-Semitic, the denial of
To remember the 3D test I suggest we recall those 3D movies we enjoyed as children. Without those special glasses the movie was flat and blurred. But when we put on our glasses the screen came alive, and we saw everything with perfect clarity.
In the same way, if we do not wear the right glasses, the line between
legitimate criticism of
But if we wear the special glasses provided by the 3D test -- if we check
whether
And with moral clarity, I have no doubt that our efforts to combat this evil will prove far more effective.
The writer is
(©) The
[Note: The Palestinian Authority does
not even bother trying to hide its Antisemitism. It has perfected the art of demonizing
Young terrorists are made, not born
By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook
(Jerusalem Post, April 18, 2006) What drives a young Palestinian to turn his
body into a bomb? Children are not born hating. It is something they learn -- and
the Palestinian Authority has been the ideal teacher. It has perfected the art
of fomenting hatred, and promoting suicide terror.
The first component in creating a terrorist is to promote hatred within the
society by demonizing a target group. This target group is portrayed as so evil
and threatening that killing its members is seen not as murder, but as
justified revenge and admirable self defense.
Examples of the PA's incessant demonization of Jews and Israelis include a
recent article in the official PA daily Al Hayat al Jadida describing Israeli
military actions against missile launching sites in Gaza: "It seems that
the rivers of blood in our cities, villages and refugee camps are not yet
satisfying the thirst of the blood-thirsty for Palestinian blood among the
Israeli politicians and military officers." [March 4, 2006]
PA TV has been in recent weeks running daily video clips with actors depicting
Palestinian prisoners going through horrific torture at the hands of Israeli
guards. Hate libels are a common, including the "drug libel" that
Another component of this demonization is to depict
The essence of this first PA message is to turn Israelis into the ultimate
enemy: Israelis are evil and dangerous. Their very existence is illegal, and so
they must be defeated and destroyed. Killing them is transformed into justice
and self defense.
But it's not enough to establish
There are no greater heroes and role models in PA society than terrorists.
Summer camps for children have been named for Wafa Idris and Ayyat Al Achras -
woman suicide terrorists. Sporting events are routinely named for terrorists,
including a soccer match for14-year-olds named after the terrorist who killed
31 Israelis four years ago at at the Park Hotel Passover Seder in Netanya. The
PA Ministry of Culture recently produced a poetry collection named for Hanadi Jaradat,
the woman terrorist who killed 21 in a
And just last month, the PA announced it was granting honorary citizenship to
Lebanese terrorist Samir Quntar, who is serving a life sentence in an Israeli
jail. Smadar Haran, wife and mother of Quntar's murder victims, wrote in The
Washington Post: "It was a murder of unimaginable cruelty. The terrorists
took (husband) Danny and (daughter) Einat down to the beach. One of them shot
Danny in front of Einat. Then he smashed my little girl's skull in against a
rock with his rifle butt. That terrorist was Samir Quntar."
The message that the PA is sending to its people and its children by honoring
Quntar and other terrorists is that killing Israelis is a ticket to honor and
eternal glory.
A special program broadcast just last week on PA TV captures the essence of
this message - and its acceptance within the highest levels of PA leadership.
This is part of the poem a young girl chanted on Palestinian Children's Day:
"Even if all the Jews arrived (in
Her audience included PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, seated in the front row along
with senior PA officials. Their reaction to these words of hate from the mouth
of a young girl? A round of applause.
With messages to children fomenting hatred of Israelis and glorifying
terrorists, and when the supposedly moderate Abbas appears on TV to applaud a
young girl's message of hatred and martyrdom, is it any wonder that a
Palestinian youngster becomes a suicide terrorist?
Itamar Marcus is Director and Barbara Crook is Associate Director of
Palestinian Media Watch (http://jpost.m.xtenit.com/ct.jsp?uz365730Biz1554398)
(©) The Jerusalem Post