Friday, January 23, 2009

Is This Solidarity Too?

Barcelona cancels Holocaust memorial event, claiming that "Marking the Jewish Holocaust while a Palestinian Holocaust is taking place is not right." The linked article cites several other remarks from European officials making similar analogies: a Norwegian diplomat wrote that "the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors are doing the same thing to the Palestinians, as the Nazis did to their grandparents," and the German neo-Nazi party, clearly seeing an opportunity for some historical rehabilitation, is planning a march under the banner of "Stop the Israeli Holocaust in the Gaza Strip."

2 comments:

PG said...

I hope you will write something about how erasure of Jews and their interests from a discussion might also been seen as a form of anti-Semitism, though it differs from the obvious kind that declares Jews' influence to be the *only* reason for otherwise bad policies. I was really shocked by self-described well-educated people, including a PhD student of political theory, expressing surprise (and in some cases outright denial) at the idea that U.S. support for Israel could be motivated by anything except whacked out Christian "dominionists" trying to hasten the end-times. In particular, the demand that Jews ask the U.S. to withdraw its support for Israel as a way to demonstrate Jews' rejection of the "dominionists" bothered me a great deal.

This seems like the mirror opposite to the conventional anti-Semitism, and yet its disappearing of Jews and their interests also seems like a type of anti-Semitism. In this view, the founding of Israel and the reasons for Americans to support it are all tied to an actually relatively small group of Christians. Nothing to do with the Holocaust and centuries of persecution toward Jews, goodness no.

I suppose it's a good way for people who are anti-Israel and anti-Zionism to avoid grappling with anti-Semitism -- "Jews, what Jews? I see only the religious right here!" -- but I'm astounded that purportedly educated people can be that ignorant.

Anonymous said...

Re; the last comment-It's not ignorance it's a matter of the heart. They just don't care.
Holocausts are relative. To some 1000 dead people is a Holocaust-depending of course on who those people are.If 1000 dead people is a Holocaust, what about 100? Or what about one? What is the exact amount of dead people that MATTERS? Well it depends on what and who you CARE about
Jew hatred and the Israel issue is like woman hatred and the abortion isue. To the woman haters one or two dead women is NOTHING because any pro-choice person and certainly any woman who actually has an abortion is a nazi holocauster who deserves to die because triple white male god said so. The woman haters CARE about sperm and eggs more than the oppression of women on this planet.
For Jew haters one or two dead Jews is NOTHING. Any pro-Israel person and certainly a JEw guilty of actually living in Israel, is a nazi holocauster who deserves to die because ... flying spaghetti monster said so.
Some people hate zionzi's others hate feminazis. Flip a coin, different sides same coin.
Haters who pretend-oh no we don't hate women some of the most vocal right wingers are women how could they be women haters? No, we just care about LIFE and if we have to bomb some clinics and ignore nazi sluts who die form abortion oh well. And Jew Haters well how dare you -I am a Jew I can't possibly hate JEws I just ignore seven years of missiles on JEwish towns because I'm for peace. And if some zionazi imperialist oppressors have to die oh well.
TRying to get JEw haters to actually be for peace is as heartbreaking and futile as wishing that woman haters would actually be for life.
They hate you. OR maybe they just don't care because it's like you don't even count as "life" or as an "oppresed people struggling against thousands of years of hatred". IT's like your not even there . THey don't even care enough to actually hate you.

Okay bad day and I have to go.