In other words, racist antisemite fucks exist in all parts of society, regardless of political persuasion. People are shitheads.
But the theses that the Left is more antisemitic than the Right, or that any more than a tiny, if vocal, minority on either side are antisemites, are not borne out in fact.
NB: I am not in any way intending to minimize the role that hatred of Jews plays in society, nor its horrific and pernicious corrosive qualities. I’d have a much larger family were it not for antisemitism.
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I didn’t do any of these things. I think anti-Semitism is very real, incredibly damaging and hateful, and we must be on guard against it.
I also, at the same time, think we can see it where it isn’t. That is true of racism, as well. Distinguishing between hate and honest criticism is enormously important.
Is Professor Jake Lynch an elected left-wing politician? Is he a popular pundit like Jon Stewart (on the left) or Anne Coulter (on the right)? Is he a behind-the-scenes political operative or power broker?
I think anti-Semitism absolutely IS the third reason (not just can be), and that it is largely, but not exclusively, the impetus behind a lot of the previous two arguments.
Absolutely, I did not intend my phrasing to imply otherwise.
Of course, the whole question of this thread is how much “largely” and “a lot of” are.
Edited to add: Actually, the whole question of this thread is: (a) how common pro-Palestinian anti-Israeli sentiment is in the political left (presumably mainly focused on the USA) (and compared to the political right), and (b) how much “largely” and “a lot of” are
But it wasn’t “protests-about-Palestine”. It was mass protests about “Israel is killing civilians and children!!!111!!”. No such mass protests when it’s US/Britain/France killing civilians and children now in Syria/Iraq. Not similar? Arab civilians/children killed in a military operation in one case. Arab civilians/children killed in a military operation in the other. Except in one case it is in self-defense and in the other it isn’t. Guess which one provokes more hatred and vitriol?
I felt, perhaps erroneously given what you’re saying here, that you thought anti-Semitism is not really behind a lot of it, just a little. I’m sorry to have misunderstood.
But agreed, how much is “largely” and “a lot”? I don’t know. I feel like it’s both over- and under-estimated. And as with racism, there are probably people who feel animus who aren’t aware of it.
I get the feeling you are groping your way to a scathing accusation of hypocrisy? Is that it, that’s what you got? Or is protesting against civilian casualties wrong?
I’ve protested against civilian casualties inflicted by my own government, on a number of occasions for too many years. Getting pretty damned sick of it, too. If I looked around, would I have seen you there?
That’s a subject of some debate amongst concerned scholars, but the consensus seems to center around the notion that Jesus was more an itinerant rabbi than intent on founding a separate religion. According to them, Scripture that suggests that Jesus declared himself to be the Messiah is suspect and likely the result of later tampering.
Yes, and I’m with Obama in thinking this bullshit has gone on long enough and it’s high time for both sides to start acting like adults and realize they won’t get everything they want in a compromise.
I have no idea who the fuck he is, and I make an effort to know who anybody of consequence is.
Filled to the brim? As in ALL of the Left? My friend, you really need to get some new friends. People who AREN’T sitting in their basements spewing hate. Meet some nice, normal people. Talk to them; ask them questions. Look for points of agreement and disagreement and work with them NICELY to understand and even adopt your point of view. Facebook and Twitter will take you into a satanic underworld that will feed your paranoia, and it is too easy to get lost down there with all the psychos.
Or this. The echo chambers of the deep innertubes will do your head wrong, Shayna, and sometimes you have to come up for a breath of reality
Considering the fact that you’ve strenuously argued that the Jews have no right to a state of their own while admitting you have no problems with other states being ethnic based states based on blood and soil nationalism, you might want to be a bit careful in making such arguments.
No Shayna is correct and there is no need to be condescending about it. The Left is unjustly hard on the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. Most of the American Right supports them fully for their own reasons but that has little bearing on this discussion.
Jews have been persecuted for thousands of years wherever they went. However, they have contributed a vastly disproportionate amount to almost all endeavors. Ever hear about Albert Einstein? He is one of tens of thousands of distinguished Jews among a people that only have, at most 15 million people worldwide (0.2% of the worldwide population). Those that don’t want to live in Israel have found a safe-haven in the U.S. and we are all much better off for it.
Israel was founded as artificial state in 1948 and it has become the only western style social democracy in the region. I honestly don’t care what the Palestinians think about it today. They have no claim to land that was legitimately organized as a protectorate Jewish state. That ship sailed decades ago. Israel has done quite well while most of the rest of the region is still in a state of constant chaos. I don’t base my political opinions on who appears to have the poorest children. Israel is there to stay and will be quite well protected both among themselves and the U.S. for the foreseeable future. The most pragmatic idea is for the opposition to give up, leave Israel alone and make alternate lifestyle if its existence bothers anyone.
The major problem with the anti-Israel (and anti-Jewish stance) is that the deal to found Israel was struck just after WWII and now people want to change it. That isn’t going to work. Europeans already made a deal to get Jews mostly of Europe and resettle them back to their ancestral home with about equal numbers fleeing to the U.S. That is a long term promise and one that has to be kept. I don’t care if other people in need are knocking at their virtual door. You are looking at people whose recent ancestors were executed en masse and now just want a safe state of their own. I fully support that and not the reactionary stance demonstrated by some of the Left.
It’s also quite hysterical to hear people express extremely strong opinions about Israel and then happily and almost proudly admit they have no idea who Benny Morris is.
It’s a bit like claiming you’re a huge nut for the Civil War and then asking “Who’s James McPherson?”