# Left wing antisemitism **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 15, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985 "2011-05-15T14:03:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/101 "2011-05-16T02:47:36Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It belonged to Palestinian Arabs. It was stolen by the UN. So why didn’t they have their own country? What about the Jews that lived there? They weren’t allowed? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/102 "2011-05-16T02:56:41Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It belonged to Palestinian Arabs. It was stolen by the UN. Anyone who claims that the land was “stolen by the UN” is either grossly ignorant of the facts or deliberately lying. I get the impression that it’s the former not the latter. You really need to learn about the situation before making such foolish statements. The land was controlled not by “Palestinian Arabs”(who didn’t even think of themselves as such) but by the Ottomans who lost it to the British after WWI. At the time most of the landowners weren’t “Palestinian Arabs” but people who dwelled in Beirut or Damascus and during the time period, massive numbers of Jews, who’d been trickling in during the Ottoman Empire started to flood in due to the Balfour Declaration(which ironically enough was motivated by anti-Semitism not philo-semitism) though the British turned against the idea of the creation of a Jewish state by the early 1920s. Finally, the British turned the area over to the UN who decided to divide it between the Arab and Jewish populations after the Arab political leadership, led by El Hajj Amin Al-Husseini an avowed Nazi, made it clear they saw the Jews as aliens who needed to be slaughtered like cattle. It should be noted that the decision to divide it was made after the unanimous recommendation of a 12 representative committee which had three Muslims and no Jews. The really sad thing about this debacle was had the Palestinian Arab political leadership not decided to go to war and try and exterminate the Palestinian Jews the Palestinians of today would have a much larger state than just the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem would be an international city. Anyway, this is all completely off-topic. We’re discussing anti-Semitism amongst the Left in America and Europe and when vast numbers of people blame Jews for the current economic crisis and believe in the dual loyalty canard it’s clearly not something that should simply be ignored. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/103 "2011-05-16T03:16:54Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > We’re discussing anti-Semitism amongst the Left in America and Europe and when vast numbers of people blame Jews for the current economic crisis and believe in the dual loyalty canard it’s clearly not something that should simply be ignored. IMHO One can not say that the antisemitism is 100% right wing or left wing, I have seen people from the left criticize Israel, but to say that the left does blame Jews for the economic crisis is wrong, it is not one of the main reasons the left would criticize Israel. That economic angle is a staple of many extreme right wing groups. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/104 "2011-05-16T03:23:38Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > I think it was when you referred to “Nothing but their genetic heritage - And a propensity of killing Jews” it does imply a genetic reason for their violence. I actually intended it to be sardonic, but I can see how it could be reinterpreted the way you say. That was certainly not my intent, however. A better way to state it is that Israel has good reason to distrust the Palestinians. It also has good reason to engage with them. That’s hard to do when the people you want to negotiate with won’t even recognize your right to exist. > [@](#): > > On the other hand, I can say that \*\*Diogenes \*\*is saying something ridiculous when he says that “Racism is purely a right wing thing.” I don’t think that can be said with 100% certainty. > > Having said that, I have seen plenty of examples around the world to show that while there are examples of antisemitism from the left, I can see more antisemitism coming from right wing governments. Just check the experiences the Jews had in Argentina during the days of the right wing military dictatorship’s “dirty wars” over there. No, not at all. I was pointing out that the left has historical reasons for disliking the Jews, but I didn’t mean to suggest that the other side had none. There are right-wing antisemites, and plenty of them. However, it is a peculiarity of today’s politics that there really is a large apparent divide between the attitude towards Jewish people today and where you sit on the left-right axis. Maybe that’s just a side-effect of a larger political struggle, and five years from now it will be the right taking an anti-Israel stance. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/105 "2011-05-16T03:32:39Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > IMHO One can not say that the antisemitism is 100% right wing or left wing, I have seen people from the left criticize Israel, but\*\* to say that the left does blame Jews for the economic crisis is wrong, it is not one of the main reasons the left would criticize Israel. That economic angle is a staple of many extreme right wing groups.\*\* Sorry, but you’re demonstrably wrong. As I posted earlier. > [@](#): > > To give just one obvious example, a recent poll found that 32% of self-identified Democrats vs. just 18% of self-identified Republicans believe that “the Jews” deserve at least “a moderate amount” or “a great deal” of blame for the current economic crisis. > > [http://bostonreview.net/BR34.3/malhotra\_margalit.php](http://bostonreview.net/BR34.3/malhotra_margalit.php) When self-identified Democrats are nearly twice as likely as self-identified Republicans to blame Jews for the current economic crisis it’s absurd to claim it’s merely a “right-wing phenomenon”. Nor, should it be surprising to anyone familiar with the history of anti-Semitism. There’s a reason it was once referred to as “the socialism of fools.” Hostility towards those viewed as “middlemen minorities” whether they be Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, the Ethnic Chinese in South East Asia, “Asians” in Africa, Korean-Americans in American ghettos, and of course the Jews in Europe amongst people who would be natural constituencies of the left have always been and always will be quite common. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/106 "2011-05-16T03:34:23Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Anyone who claims that the land was “stolen by the UN” is either grossly ignorant of the facts or deliberately lying. I get the impression that it’s the former not the latter. Even with these caveats, don’t suggest other posters are lying. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/107 "2011-05-16T03:35:58Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Having said that, I have seen plenty of examples around the world to show that while there are examples of antisemitism from the left, I can see more antisemitism coming from right wing governments. Just check the experiences the Jews had in Argentina during the days of the right wing military dictatorship’s “dirty wars” over there. Except you’re ignoring the far worse anti-Semitism originating from left-wing governments in both the Middle East as well as the Soviet Union which was extremely anti-Semitic. Left-wingers have been very capable of bigotry as the Kurds in Iraq and the ethnic Chinese of Vietnam can testify to. Why assume that the Jews will somehow get treated differently? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/108 "2011-05-16T03:43:31Z")
Could not even the National Socialists be argued to be leftists considering they called themselves socialist? Even on the Political Compass Hitler is on the border between the blue and red fields while at the top on the authoritarian scale. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/109 "2011-05-16T03:47:44Z")
And another useless thread… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/110 "2011-05-16T03:51:57Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Could not even the National Socialists be argued to be leftists considering they called themselves socialist? If Al Qaeda called themselves “The Cleaners,” would you say their views represented the opinions of janitors? Anyway this argument has been made in the past, and even if you felt you could make it successfully, it doesn’t have much to do with anything being seen in the current political world. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/111 "2011-05-16T03:56:53Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Except you’re ignoring the far worse anti-Semitism originating from left-wing governments in both the Middle East as well as the Soviet Union which was extremely anti-Semitic. Not ignoring that, I was referring to recent times and I do not think many left wingers would consider those “left-wing” middle east governments to be representative of liberal ideologies. (Soviet Russia would not be considered liberal) > [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Left-wingers have been very capable of bigotry as the Kurds in Iraq and the ethnic Chinese of Vietnam can testify to. Sorry but many liberals are against communists if you have not noticed yet. > [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Why assume that the Jews will somehow get treated differently? Because I have seen that examples in South America fail the attempt at pigeonholing you are attempting here, Just recently a Jew in Venezuela, even with all the problems, was in a better situation than a Jew in Colombia. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/112 "2011-05-16T03:58:41Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Sorry, but you’re demonstrably wrong. > > As I posted earlier. > > When self-identified Democrats are nearly twice as likely as self-identified Republicans to blame Jews for the current economic crisis it’s absurd to claim it’s merely a “right-wing phenomenon”. :rolleyes: Besides being a minority of democrats, you are ignoring that not all democrats are liberals. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/113 "2011-05-16T04:11:51Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Really? How? Do you dispute that Palestinians have used the bombing and murdering of Israelis as a regular tactic? You said that Palestinians have a genetic “propensity for killling Jews.” That’s racist. pure and simple. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/114 "2011-05-16T04:15:44Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Not ignoring that, I was referring to recent times and I do not think many left wingers would consider those “left-wing” middle east governments to be representative of liberal ideologies. (Soviet Russia would not be considered liberal) > Sorry but many liberals are against communists if you have not noticed yet. Dude, we’re talking about “anti-Semitism on the left” not "anti-Semitism amongst liberals. Also, it’s absurd to simply discount how violently anti-Semitic many Middle Eastern governments were and still are by saying “that’s not representative of liberal ideologies.” Right-wingers could play the same game by saying “well the Latin American governments you’re referring to are not representative of the views of most right-wingers.” > [@](#): > > Because I have seen that examples in South America fail the attempt at pigeonholing you are attempting here, Just recently a Jew in Venezuela, even with all the problems, was in a better situation than a Jew in Colombia. Ok, please compare being a Jew in Colombia to a being a Jew in the Soviet Union, a Jew in Syria, a Jew in Nasser’s Egypt, and a Jew in Saddam’s Iraq. > [@](#): > > Besides being a minority of democrats, you are ignoring that not all democrats are liberals. Again, we’re talking about left-wingers not “liberals”. Second, I notice how you decided to completely ignore the fact that a third of all self-identified democrats identified themselves as anti-Semites and how the poll revealed that self-identified democrats were far more likely to hold such anti-Semitic views than self-identified Republicans. You seem to be deliberately ignoring facts that threaten your world view. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/115 "2011-05-16T04:27:52Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Dude, we’re talking about “anti-Semitism on the left” not "anti-Semitism amongst liberals. And therefore you acknowledge that bringing a poll that asked Democrats and Republicans is not really relevant? Ok. 😛 > [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Also, it’s absurd to simply discount how violently anti-Semitic many Middle Eastern governments were and still are by saying “that’s not representative of liberal ideologies.” Nope, it is absurd to assume self described middle eastern governments are what they claim to be. As many noticed already, even in the past just because they choose a label it does not follow that they are liberal or leftist in the way Americans define the terms. > [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Right-wingers could play the same game by saying “well the Latin American governments you’re referring to are not representative of the views of most right-wingers.” I don’t think Jacobo Timerman from Argentina would agree with you. > **[Jacobo Timerman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobo_Timerman)** > > Jacobo Timerman (6 January 1923 – 11 November 1999) was a Soviet-born Argentine publisher, journalist, and author, who is most noted for his confronting and reporting the atrocities of the Argentine military regime's Dirty War during a period of widespread repression in which an estimated 30,000 political prisoners were disappeared. He was persecuted, tortured and imprisoned by the Argentine junta in the late 1970s and was exiled in 1979 with his wife to Israel. He was widely honored for his w > [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Ok, please compare being a Jew in Colombia to a being a Jew in the Soviet Union, a Jew in Syria, a Jew in Nasser’s Egypt, and a Jew in Saddam’s Iraq. Not playing your pigeon hole game as I already mentioned. > [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Again, we’re talking about left-wingers not “liberals”. Second, I notice how you decided to completely ignore the fact that a third of all self-identified democrats identified themselves as anti-Semites and how the poll revealed that self-identified democrats were far more likely to hold such anti-Semitic views than self-identified Republicans. And as usual you ignore something important, not all democrats are left wingers. > [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > You seem to be deliberately ignoring facts that threaten your world view. Nope, the reality is that I have stopped counting the many times some right wingers try to claim things like the National Socialists were left wingers just because they had “Socialists” in their name. History does not say that. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/116 "2011-05-16T04:52:38Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Nope, it is absurd to assume self described middle eastern governments are what they claim to be. As many noticed already, even in the past just because they choose a label it does not follow that they are liberal or leftist in the way Americans define the terms. So then you’re saying that you don’t think Ba’athists were left-wingers? Please explain why it’s inappropriate to label Assad, Nasser, Saddam Hussein and George Habash as left-wingers? I assume you’re quite knowledgeable about all of them or wouldn’t have made such a statement about the Middle East. > [@](#): > > I don’t think Jacobo Timerman from Argentina would agree with you. > > [Jacobo Timerman - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobo_Timerman) If you wish to be taken seriously don’t link to wikipedia. It makes you look intellectually lazy. Anyway your link does nothing to show why Latin American “right-wing” regimes are more legitimately “right-wing” than Middle Eastern “left-wing” organizations are “left-wing”. > [@](#): > > Not playing your pigeon hole game as I already mentioned. Translation: You just destroyed my argument so I’m going to run away rather than answer your argument. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/117 "2011-05-16T04:54:39Z")
As for the OP, I do remember commenting this on a previous discussion on the treatment of Jews in Latin America, and I think the same applies for Spain. It is more likely that it is the preponderance of Catholicism in the regions the reason why there is a good number of people with antisemitic ideas. (That poll still does not say that even that minority of Democrats and Republicans would resort to underhanded ways to deal with the issue). A Catholic can be a right winger or a left winger, I pointed out that when unrest comes antisemitic ideas come up to the forefront, and it does not matter much if you are a right winger or a left winger, in Colombia both sides did have it for the Jews, and many did flee the country when the drug war combined with the civil war. The biggest common denominator with a history of antisemitism was their Catholicism. Ed. - Lapsed Catholic for a reason… ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/118 "2011-05-16T05:01:28Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > So then you’re saying that you don’t think Ba’athists were left-wingers? > > Please explain why it’s inappropriate to label Assad, Nasser, Saddam Hussein and George Habash as left-wingers? > > I assume you’re quite knowledgeable about all of them or wouldn’t have made such a statement about the Middle East. Saddam had the Republican Guard, therefore they were right wingers… yes, your point is that ridiculous. > [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > If you wish to be taken seriously don’t link to wikipedia. It makes you look intellectually lazy. So then it follows that if there are other sources that report the same that then you were the lazy one by assuming wikipedia was the end of it all? [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,950572,00.html](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,950572,00.html) > [@](#): > > Among Timerman’s most eloquent supporters is Argentine Human Rights Leader Emilio Mignone. On a visit to New York City last week, he insisted that “Timerman has told the total truth.” Said Mignone: “All political prisoners or dissidents have a hard time of it when they are arrested, but the Jews suffer more than the others. They get the worst beatings, the crudest torture, the vilest insults. The important thing about Timerman is that he spoke up; that is the best policy in facing a repressive regime.” > > In an interview with TIME’S Victor Perry in Tel Aviv last week, Timerman accused Buckley of “lying” about him in his column. Timerman derided Kristol’s claim that he was arrested because his business partner was a crook, pointing out that the Argentine government had never accused him of conspiring with Graiver. > > Contrary to the optimistic reports made by some Jewish leaders, Timerman insists that the position of Argentine Jewry has deteriorated. He says: “Anti-Semitism in Argentina is official, promoted, sponsored and organized by the regime.” U.S. efforts to present Argentina as a useful anti-Communist authoritarian power continue to anger him. “The people are friendly,” he says, “but not the military dictatorship there.” Other witnesses dispute Timerman’s impassioned judgment about that military dictatorship. > > They do not question that he speaks with authority about the depravity of his captors, or about the anguish he so heroically endured. —By Patricia Blake. Reported by Dean Brelis/New York > [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Translation: You just destroyed my argument so I’m going to run away rather than answer your argument. Meh, he don’t know me very well, do he folks? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/119 "2011-05-16T05:04:56Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > As for the OP, I do remember commenting this on a previous discussion on the treatment of Jews in Latin America, and I think the same applies for Spain. > > It is more likely that it is the preponderance of Catholicism in the regions the reason why there is a good number of people with antisemitic ideas. (That poll still does not say that even that minority of Democrats and Republicans would resort to underhanded ways to deal with the issue). A Catholic can be a right winger or a left winger, I pointed out that when unrest comes antisemitic ideas come up to the forefront, and it does not matter much if you are a right winger or a left winger, in Colombia both sides did have it for the Jews, and many did flee the country when the drug war combined with the civil war. > > The biggest common denominator with a history of antisemitism was their Catholicism. > Ed. - Lapsed Catholic for a reason.. Which is why of course anti-Semitism is so much stronger among the overwhelmingly Catholic Italian Americans than it is amongst the overwhelming Protestant African-Americans and why anti-Semitism is vastly greater in Catholic France than predominantly Protestant Germany. Similarly, it’s why Iranian Muslims are far less hostile to Jews than Catholic Armenians. Since you haven’t presented any evidence that the third of all Democrats who blame Jews for the current economic crisis are disproportionately likely to be Catholic I don’t get your point. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985/120 "2011-05-16T05:10:15Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Saddam had the Republican Guard, therefore they were right wingers… yes, your point is that ridiculous. Translation: I made myself look like a fool when I said it’s ridiculous to claim that the Ba’athists weren’t left-wingers so I’m going to try and cover my tracks by making flippant comments since I now realize that I know nothing of the governments or the political ideologies guiding that region. Dude, in all seriousness please stop making stupid statements about the Middle East. You obviously know little about the region, which in and of itself is hardly a crime since there are plenty of regions of the world I know nothing about. However, when you make sweeping pronouncements about such regions that you clearly know nothing about you insult those of us who are from there and there are few things in the world that piss us off then when westerners make ignorant statements about our part of the world. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-antisemitism/581985.md?page=7)