[Peace-discuss] Pathology on peace-discuss

Mon May 5 18:43:15 EDT 2014

In Chomskyan fashion, I believe that what is of moral and political value is to criticize the actions of one's own government (what one is presumably responsible for), in this case our government's policies in support of Israel. That is not "singling out" Israel. Beyond that, we all make choices as to where to focus our time among those issues that we might have some influence over--say Latin American vs. the ME. 

Regarding anti-Semitism, I have avidly opposed a fashion of anti-Semitism that is to be found on Mondoweiss that purports to blame Israel for bad choices in U.S. foreign policy. One can find many comments of mine to that effect, easily searchable. That sort of anti-Semitism is important to oppose, because it undermines the credibility and distorts the tactics of the pro-Palestinian movement, in my view--not because these people are going to participate in pogroms. I would make an analogous point regarding some crude things said about Jews by some fairly well-known blacks (such as Farrakhan) in relation to the credibility of the movement for racial/social justice in this country.

A summary perspective can be found here: http://palestinechronicle.com/old/view_article_details.php?id=15781

The kind of anti-Semitism that allegedly occurred on our campus is not important to oppose, because it's inconsequential. Thus opposing it is of no consequence. If the local antiwar movement were flocking to this event, I would comment. Clearly, it is not. I will much more vehemently point out the hypocrisy of those who exaggerate the dangers of anti-Semitism in our own community while doing nothing to oppose U.S. support of Israel's occupation of Palestine. That is moral grandstanding, and I don't have to say who is the local champion of that approach.

I especially won't dance to the tune of those who, in the larger scheme of things, use anti-anti-Semitism as a cover for their tolerance of and support for gross injustice. That's become a pretty transparent and threadbare tactic, however persistent its practitioners.

DG

On Monday, May 5, 2014 1:07 PM, David Gehrig <david-cu at nukulele.org> wrote:

It's interesting to compare and contrast.
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>When Ya'acov points to Israel being singled out, Green castigates him for hiding behind the entire queue of world problems, as if everything else must be solved first before it becomes possible to criticize Israel. When Green is called on to condemn an actual antisemitic incident right here in CU, he hides behind the entire queue of world problems, as if everything else must be solved first before it becomes possible to condemn an actual antisemitic incident right here in CU. The hypocrisy glows like neon.
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>On May 5, 2014, at 10:33 AM, Karen Aram <karenaram at hotmail.com> wrote:
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>>David Green doesn't spew hatred, what he speaks out against is the policies of apartheid by the government of Israel and the US. If we don't speak out now it will soon be too late.  Maybe if more people had spoken out against the policies of Hitler, during the rise of Nazism, there wouldn't have been a holocaust.  When they began executing those who did speak out, it was too late. EX: Sophie Scholl and compatriots of the White Rose.
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>>From: david-cu at nukulele.org
>>Date: Mon, 5 May 2014 09:37:06 -0400
>>To: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>>Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Pathology on peace-discuss
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>>While I'm thinking about it, I might as well mention that the "mendacious propaganda" Green accuses me of passing came from Mother Jones, that well-known nest of Likudniks. But when your view is Counterpunchian, such distinctions don't matter if they get in the way of your fulminating hatred. 
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>>The Counterpunch crowd is better known for the fixity of their stance than the depth or rationality of it, which is why they had already sailed into obscurity long before Cockburn shuffled off this mortal coil. Their "We can solve the Mideast if only we all hate Israel enough" stance is of a moment, say 2002 or so, and that moment has passed. At this point, they are down to publishing the Holocaust denier Israel Shamir, the Holocaust denier Gilad Atzmon, and -- uh -- David Green, who has no problem with that.
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>>On May 1, 2014, at 9:14 PM, David Gehrig <david-cu at nukulele.org> wrote:
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>>Another victim of Counterpunchery. David Green is a big believer in the whiff test. if someone mentions antisemitism, you should run to the window, fling it open, give a big sniff, and if the very first scent that hits your nostrils is *not* the smell of burning synagogue, then you must shout, NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO TALK ABOUT ANTISEMITISM, as if the community were actually waiting for David Green's permission before being able to do so.
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>>>The time to talk about antisemitism is when there is antisemitism, even if David Green throws another tantrum. The time to talk about antisemitic incidents in CU is when there are antisemitic incidents, even if David Green throws another tantrum. 
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>>>On Apr 30, 2014, at 8:17 PM, David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com> wrote:
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>>>I have always considered the movement against the Holocaust denial movement, such as it is (and it's not much in effectual terms), to be one of displacement, denial, distraction, and diversion from the sins of USFP and its surrogate Israel.
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