The smear of "anti-Semite" is leveled critics of the Israeli government's criminal policies in order to intimidate them into silence.
British Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and many others in the UK and the US are attacked for being anti-Semitic if they criticize Israel. But John McCain had very friendly meetings, and posed for photos, with prominent neo-Nazis in Ukraine and the Middle East – without being accused of being anti-Semitic.
People involved in political activity on the left have to learn to ignore charges of anti-Semitism stemming from their criticism of Israel. These accusations are just thrown out as a tactic to gain political advantage – like with “anti-American” and “conspiracy theorist” – and do not deserve to be taken seriously. Whenever possible, such name-calling should be made fun of.
There’s an unwritten rule in right wing circles: It’s okay to be anti-Semitic as long as you’re pro-Israel. Evangelical preacher Pat Robertson is such an example.
While in the past an “anti-Semite” was someone who hates Jews, nowadays it is the other way around: An anti-Semite is someone the Jews hate.
“God appointed America to save the world in any way that suits America. God appointed Israel to be the nexus of America’s Middle Eastern policy and anyone who wants to mess with that idea is a) anti-Semitic, b) anti-American, c) with the enemy, and d) a terrorist.” – John LeCarré
George Bush, Sr.’s Secretary of State, James Baker, famously said to a colleague: “Fuck the Jews! They don’t vote for us anyway”.
Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Adviser under Jimmy Carter: “An anti-Israel bias is not the same as anti-Semitism. To argue as much is to claim an altogether unique immunity for Israel, untouchable by the kind of criticism that is normally directed at the conduct of states.”
This article is excerpted from The Anti-Empire Report #160, originally published at WilliamBlum.org.
Being anti- Israel is becoming a badge of honour…and the Zionists brought it on themselves. Zionism brings the entire Bible into disrepute. The world needs to get over such Abrahamic tribalism.
I intensely dislike the current use of the word “anti-semitic”. I implies that Jews are somehow special as victims – more so than all the other victims of racism – that racism against Jews deserves special name – that all the other victims can be just lumped together as a faceless, nameless, amorphous mass.
As for use of accusation of anti-semitism as a political weapon to smear people who criticise Israel ( theoretically allowed under free speech) I argue that such criticism is “Anti-IHRAIC” and not “racist/anti-semitic”.
I would agree, evasmagacz, Israeli P.M. Netanyahu, continuously states that Judaism and Zionism are the same!
They are not of course, Judaism teaches “Love your neighbor as yourself”- Zionism demands exclusive occupation of Palestine with the removal of the intrinsic population wherever possible.
Actually Zionism demands the land from the Nile to the Euphrates! As confirmed in the 1982 “Yinon Plan”, Yinon himself was a confidant of Ariel Sharon, who in 1982 was Israel`s Minister of Defence, they all used the term “Anti-Semite” when they meant “Anti-Jewish”
“Semite” was a word coined in the mid 19th century (Though there are some claims the word “Semite” existed in the late 18th century), it`s original meaning then was “Of Middle East Origin”.
All Arabic (Semite) dialects were listed (Several dozen) of which Hebrew was one.
It was the World Zionist Council that adopted “Semite” as exclusively meaning “Jewish” and it has stuck ever since.
Judaism is the foundation on which the two later Semite religions of Christianity and Islam were built, to restrict the word Semite to Jewish exclusively, very effectively disenfranchises both Christianity and Islam.
For those who use the term “Anti-Semite” when they mean “Anti-Jewish”, begs the question “Why don`t they say what they mean?”.
Judaism is a well respected old religion, Zionism is a European Nationalist Racist Political movement no different to the European National Socialist Political movement, particularly in Zionisms emulation of those Nazi superiority ideals.
And Zionism hides behind the skirts of Judaism – The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, makes that very clear.