Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Yes, all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic!

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Yes, all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic!
By BENJAMIN KERSTEIN
05/20/2012 22:31
That is to say, the historical circumstances under which Israel and the 
Jews exist in the world today render any non anti-Semitic criticism of 
Israel impossible.
 
"But surely you don’t believe,” they always ask you, “that all criticism 
of Israel is anti-Semitic?” It is a noticeably patronizing question, of 
course, in that it is obviously an admonition that all civilized, 
thinking people must answer “no” or “of course not.” It is an important 
question, however, because of its real answer, which is unequivocally 
and unquestionably “yes.”
 
The idea that all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic horrifies some, 
offends and mortifies others, and terrifies still more. The usual 
reaction to it is something along the lines of “how can you say that?!” 
Nonetheless, it is exactly what I am saying in regard to Israel and its 
critics.
 
I do not speak, however, of intentional or conscious anti-Semitism 
(though it is a major factor), nor of inadvertent or ignorant 
anti-Semitism (though this also plays a mighty role). All criticism of 
Israel is not anti-Semitic because of hate, or prejudice, or malice, or 
stupidity, or indeed any of those very human vices so often regarded as 
the devil’s work by upper-middle-class liberals.
 
All criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic because of the specific 
historical circumstances under which we currently live. That is to say, 
the historical circumstances under which Israel and the Jews exist in 
the world today render any non-anti-Semitic criticism of Israel 
impossible. And, ironically, these are circumstances that Israel’s 
opponents have themselves created.
 
To hold that this is not the case requires acting – and demanding that 
others act – as if these circumstances do not exist, even as they sit as 
patiently as a pachyderm in the parlor waiting for us to notice them 
and, sometimes, when our self-willed ignorance grows too infuriating, 
murder our children and set off bombs in our streets.
 
Nonetheless, these circumstances are not complex, nor are they numerous. 
They are simply these: A large portion of the world, West and East, has 
come to believe that Arabs and Muslims have earned the right to murder Jews.
 
Derived from this right, they have also come to believe that the 
destruction dismantling, and erasure of the State of Israel, and the 
slaughter, expulsion, and/or perpetual subjugation of its Jewish 
population are entirely legitimate and indeed desirable.
 
Derived from the preceding is the belief that the Jewish people in 
general, in Israel or the Diaspora, either do not exist as a people 
deserving the same rights as other peoples, or are an evil and debased 
people who must be slaughtered, expelled, and/or perpetually subjugated 
in order to prevent them from committing further debased evils.
 
UNDER SUCH circumstances, it is clear that: The existence, rights and 
dignity of Israel and the Jews are considered to be intertwined to the 
point that no differentiation between them is possible.
 
The existence, rights and dignity of Israel and the Jews are considered 
uniquely contingent upon their conduct and whether or not that conduct 
meets with the approval of the non-Jewish world.
 
Because of the beliefs outlined in the previous section, Israeli and 
Jewish conduct will never meet with the aforementioned approval.
 
As a result, Israel and the Jews are, in essence, held indistinguishable 
by a court whose proceedings are perpetual and whose verdict is known 
beforehand. Under such circumstances, there is no criticism, no evidence 
for the prosecution, which does not aid in the process of an unjust 
trial before a monstrous court. Which is not, put simply, anti-Semitic.
 
It is either subjectively anti-Semitic, in that it consciously and 
intentionally aids in this injustice; or it is objectively anti-Semitic, 
in that it unconsciously and unintentionally does the same thing. The 
distinction – if there ever was one – between the two is now 
meaningless. Either way, the result is the same.
 
It may be, of course, that some criticism of Israel will be deemed 
necessary in spite of the consequences, and the need for a public 
hearing will overwhelm the need to prevent a victory of sorts for 
anti-Semitism. If so, however, those doing the criticizing ought to be 
honest enough to acknowledge the objective consequences of doing so, 
whatever is said or left unsaid along the way.
 
So, it must be said again: Yes, all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic. 
Yes, it is so because of specific historical circumstances. Yes, it is 
inescapable. Yes, it holds true however well-intentioned such criticism 
may be. Yes, it holds as true for Jewish as for non-Jewish critics of 
Israel.
 
The Middle East conflict, David Ben-Gurion said a long time ago – and he 
was right – is not about the Jews and the Arabs, it is about the Jews 
and the world, a world that is overwhelmingly not Jewish, and thus bears 
certain responsibilities toward its Jewish minority. If and when the 
world finally accepts these responsibilities, criticism of Israel that 
is not anti-Semitic will become possible.
 
Until then, however, there is at least a possible solution to the 
problem, should critics of Israel be willing to entertain it. It is a 
modest imperative: Work toward less anti-Semitism. This imperative does 
not demand silence, but it does require a measure of self-reflection 
that is (and I in no way exempt myself) a task of the most supreme 
difficulty for us all.
 
The writer is an author and editor living in Tel Aviv.
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?ID=270755&R=R1
 
 
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 difficulty for us all.
 
vasto programma, impossibile per un pirla.