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Why Does the Left Hate Israel?
www.chronwatch.com ^ | 2/21/03 | Cinnamon Stillwell

Posted on 02/21/2003 7:15:36 PM PST by SeenTheLight

I’ve asked myself on many occasions: “When there are so many other countries in the world that do injustice both to their own people and to others, why does the Left focus so exclusively on Israel?”

What about China’s occupation of Tibet or Syria’s occupation of Lebanon? What about the repression and tyranny of the Arab nations surrounding democratic Israel, including the Palestinians who, let’s not forget, practice honor killings, lynch “collaborators,” suppress the media, and whose leaders funnel funds meant for the people to terrorists?

The real reason the left hates Israel is two-fold. First of all, they have been hijacked by Palestinian Nationalism and secondly, they don’t like uppity Jews. And to mollify those who will immediately claim that anti-Israel sentiments do not amount to anti-Semitism, let me just say that I don’t buy it.

I’m not sure when Palestinian Nationalism began to seep into the Left’s dogma, but it appears to have been in the last 15 years or so. I first noticed this trend during a protest of the Gulf War, where I saw pro-Palestinian propaganda with a distinctly anti-Semitic edge to it. It was around this time that the term “Zionists” began to be used as a fill-in for all Jews who simply supported the continuing existence of the state of Israel and as such, were deserving of contempt. In short, “Zionist” became the politically correct term for “Hebe.” The years since have only solidified this pattern and these days, the anti-war protesters are more hateful than ever.

I’ve had the unique experience, while taking part recently in counter-protests, of witnessing the wrath of the Palestinian Nationalists up close and personal. The graying hippies wearing Intifada T-shirts and spitting in my face, women in burkas unfurling Palestinian flags in front of my signs, Arab-American teenagers telling me they want to “kill all the Jews,” and being called a “Zionist Pig,” are just a few of the precious moments I’ve taken home from “peace” rallies. This is the ugly side of the anti-war movement, among others, and they don’t want it publicized.

Indeed, the formerly celebrated Jewish liberal Michael Lerner, has recently been excommunicated for daring to criticize A.N.S.W.E.R., the main organizer of the anti-war protests. This is apparently a no-no among a movement that doesn’t tolerate dissent. Lerner also committed the crime of refusing to consign Israel to the dustbin of history. He didn’t go along with the program and for that, he became persona non grata.

The Left only likes Jews as long as they’re victims, passively marching to the Nazi death camps, or in this case, to the Mediterranean Sea. They can deny that they’re anti-Semitic by pointing to their loyal Jewish comrades, who fail to recognize their enemies. These Jews are acceptable because they either want the destruction of Israel too or at the very least, won’t stand in the way. But give a Jew a gun or God forbid, a tank, and suddenly they become the enemy. The Left, it seems, prefers suicidal Jews to tough ones.

The Left demands nothing of the Palestinians and everything of the Israelis. What, besides anti-Semitism, accounts for this double-standard? The anti-war crowd can continue to try and claim the moral high ground when it comes to questions of war and peace, but none of it will ring true, so long as their blatant hatred for Jews festers in the background.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Israel; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: antisemitism; counterprotest; israel; jews; left; palestinians; zionist
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To: SJackson
That's in reference to Pacho Villa I suppose.
81 posted on 02/22/2003 1:57:26 PM PST by dennisw ( http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/weblog.php)
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To: dennisw
Yes, that's what Pershing should have done..

Like Israel today, Pershing was prevented from taking the battle to the enemy. Had to cooperate with the enemy, pc and all, you know.

Who’s that with Pershing, Pancho or Arafat?


82 posted on 02/22/2003 2:02:57 PM PST by SJackson
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To: SJackson
Very nice cartoons.
83 posted on 02/22/2003 2:14:31 PM PST by dennisw ( http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/weblog.php)
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To: dennisw
I will not deny that there may be historical exceptions or that there have been terrorist attacks. Still, there needs to be a common recognition that everyone has basic human rights, and that two wrongs do not make a right. If one is not starting from there, then one arrives at some permutation of the ultimate solution. Some people can't be more equal than others. Honestly, if someone came and bulldozed my home, put me under a curfew, denied me a means to make a living, inflicted collateral damage on my neighors and relatives, etc., etc., I would regard that someone as a mortal enemy.

And you still have not address why the US should enter into entangling alliances with people who do this under the color of law.

84 posted on 02/22/2003 4:31:59 PM PST by SteveH
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To: dennisw
They've been killing Jews...not that you care.

Jews have been killing them. No sale.

Your rights get restricted when you try to murder another ethnic group.

They're not a different ethnic group, they're all the same ethnic group. And not all of them are terrorists. My driving rights don't get restricted when my neighbor gets a DUI. Mass discrimination is not a solution. It only fuels the contention that the government is illegitimate. What about due process of law?

Many young Israelis have been murdered. The Palestinian children suffer for the actions of their psycho parents

Generations of kids grow up maimed and discriminated and their friends killed because SOME of their PARENTS MIGHT have done something wrong. That is just making the situation worse, not better.

The US should not subsidize ongoing discrimination. Let the Israelis pay their own freight for a change. At least until they respect unalienable human rights of ALL people.

85 posted on 02/22/2003 4:44:17 PM PST by SteveH
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To: SteveH
Honestly, if someone came and bulldozed my home, put me under a curfew, denied me a means to make a living, inflicted collateral damage on my neighors and relatives, etc., etc., I would regard that someone as a mortal enemy.

Do you think that the Israelis all woke up one fine morning and said, "we are going to inflict a system of bulldozing, humiliations, lockouts, checkpoints and other inconveniences" on a completely innocent, benign population that only wanted to be left in peace? That all these things you complain about are being done out of sheer racism against inoffensive and harmless creatures who have done no harm to their oppressors? Pull your head out of your rump.

You would be correct if no bus bombings ever took place, if no pizza parlors, cafes, shopping malls and Passover services were ever interrupted by so much as a poverty-stricken Palestinian panhandler meekly approaching with hat in hand, begging "Please, sir, may I have some more?"

You said, "some people can't be more equal than others" but you quite obviously give the Arabs a free pass to murder as many Jews as they like for the noble objective of achieving a COMPLETELY JUDENREIN PALESTINIAN STATE FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA. But you throw a hissy fit over inconveniences of "checkpoints" which inflict "humiliations" as the Israelis attempt to protect themselves by preventing access to genocidal maniacs.

What would you do to protect yourself against genocidal maniacs who have stated that their objective is not to live side-by-side in peace, but to destroy you and yours until no shred is left. Obviously nothing that the Israelis do in self-defense is acceptable to you. The only thing that they can do that would achieve your respect is to march into the sea.

86 posted on 02/22/2003 5:05:39 PM PST by Alouette
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To: Alouette
Obviously there is a history. But if someone is telling me that a group of people, as a group, deserve the denial of human rights, than it is equivalent to me to telling me that the group is less than human, that is, sub-human. Keep in mind that a main excuse for mass exterminations around the world has been that one group or another feels that another group is less than human.

With everyone having a long list of grievances, one has to start somewhere. Let the start be that

All people have certain unalienable rights.

What is so wrong with that statement that it does not apply universally? If we can't agree on that, then the problem has truly migrated to here as well.

If you don't start from that, then I am not sure that I have a right to say to any people whose rights are consistently being denied that they should not take up arms against their oppressors.

Note that my entire response is hitherto devoid of any reference to Jews, Israelis, Arabs, Muslims, Nazis, Palestinians, Polish, Irish, blacks, Orientals, and you-name-its.

I don't want my tax dollars subsidizing any government, and certainly not a government that is not willing to endorse the statement in bold above. I don't care what color or what religion is involved.

What is it about "All people have certain inalienable rights" that you don't understand?

87 posted on 02/22/2003 5:26:34 PM PST by SteveH
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To: SteveH
What is it about "All people have certain inalienable rights" that you don't understand?

The part about Arabs having a certain unalienable right to live in a 100% Jew-free ethnically cleansed Palestine is the part that I don't understand.

88 posted on 02/22/2003 5:41:04 PM PST by Alouette
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To: Alouette
The part about Arabs having a certain unalienable right to live in a 100% Jew-free ethnically cleansed Palestine is the part that I don't understand.

Nor would I. But no responses have contained that statement. So it has no proponents in the discussion.

89 posted on 02/22/2003 5:50:46 PM PST by SteveH
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To: SJackson
So what do we conclude from the cartoon, that Palestinians are not human beings with rights, but snakes who deserve to be stomped? If not that, then what? The point being made is not clear.
90 posted on 02/22/2003 6:06:57 PM PST by SteveH
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To: SteveH
Sure, but not at someone else's expense. One could easily use your argument on behalf of Aryan Germans against European Jews.

Let me know when Israelis start turning Palis into lampshades and bars of soap.

If memory serves me correctly, Muslims aligned themselves with Aryan Germans during WWII to help solve the problem of the Jews.

Funny how little has changed 65 years later....

91 posted on 02/22/2003 6:54:10 PM PST by freebilly (Why do Republicans play hardball like little girls...?)
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To: SteveH
Honestly, if someone came and bulldozed my home, put me under a curfew, denied me a means to make a living, inflicted collateral damage on my neighors and relatives, etc., etc., I would regard that someone as a mortal enemy.

And if I were exploding nail bombs in crowded shopping malls full of innocent women and children I would want useful idiots, like you, to present my case against Zionists to the world....

92 posted on 02/22/2003 7:06:51 PM PST by freebilly (Why do Republicans play hardball like little girls...?)
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To: freebilly
useful idiots, like you

I guess the discussion has degenerated into name calling. I was answering the question of why someone might question the Israel government's policies. If you don't like the answer, that's fine. If you choose not to recognize that there can be two sides to a story, fine, if I see you coming I will walk on the other side of the street. Innocents on both sides have been killed. I do not see the answer as being one side oppressing the other and calling it fair or just retribution. Have a nice US-taxpayer-supported war or genocide, because without recognition of common human rights, and treaties signed, the Israeli policies are leading to that. I don't view all Palestinians as sub-human terrorists, as apparently most who responded do. Peaceful Palestinians have nothing to lose by revolting against Israel when people generalize as you do. That is why peace has to begin with recognition of human rights for all people.

93 posted on 02/22/2003 7:28:42 PM PST by SteveH
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To: SeenTheLight
The left hates Israel because they are capitalists, the same reason that they hate the US. They also hate Jews and Christians because they answer to a higher power than the state, a power that allows free choice. The left tolerates Islam because in this case the religion and the state are one.
94 posted on 02/22/2003 7:33:48 PM PST by Eva
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To: SeenTheLight
Why Does the Left Hate Israel?

95 posted on 02/22/2003 7:39:50 PM PST by Consort
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To: freebilly
"Let me know when Israelis start turning Palis into lampshades and bars of soap.

If memory serves me correctly, Muslims aligned themselves with Aryan Germans during WWII to help solve the problem of the Jews."

The Italians and the Japanese were aligned with the Nazis, not Muslims.

Logically, the Nazis (Germans) should have been made to pay for the holocast atrocities, not the Palestinians in the middle-east.

96 posted on 02/22/2003 7:40:38 PM PST by sam
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To: SteveH
I don't view all Palestinians as sub-human terrorists

Maybe you tell us all the secret of how to distinguish between a genocidal terrorist and a "peaceful Palestinian" to keep the bad ones off the bus while allowing the good ones free access.

97 posted on 02/22/2003 7:52:50 PM PST by Alouette
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To: SteveH
That is why peace has to begin with recognition of human rights for all people.

And that is exactly why the Palestinians, and all Arab/Muslim nations will NEVER have peace. Not with the Jews, not with the West, not even amongst themselves. The Muslim nations are the most prejudiced and rights-denying lands of the earth, along with the remaining communist dictatorships. Are you so naive to think it is the Israeli way that forbids peace? If there were no Israel (and with your thinking and Arab mentality, there wouldn't be), the Pallies and the rest of the Islamo-fascist societies would still be repressive and brutal. There's no namby-pamby "two sides" about it, so go ahead and keep wringing your hands, deluding yourself that the wrong is equal on all sides.
98 posted on 02/22/2003 8:02:50 PM PST by over3Owithabrain
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To: sarasmom
This is only part of an answer, but anti-semitism, at least in Europe, stems from a combination of a) fear of the "other" (people who look, sound, act, and in other ways are different than the majority), b) envy of the successful (jealousy of the hard won success that the native intelligence, scholarship, and dogged persistence of the Jewish people), and c) the fact that the tight knit community of the Jews throughout the diaspora tended to keep themselves separate and aloof from the larger non-Jewish peoples among whom they lived.

Of course, the medieval church's prohibition against Christians being money changers, or to charge interest on borrowed money (usury) meant that the Jews performed these needed functions and many became wealthy in the process. Also, their biblically prescribed habits of diet and hygiene tended to keep them alive while others around them were dying from rat bourne plagues. In superstitious times, this made them subject to suspicion of having some sort of diabolical protection.

All told, generation after generation of European Christians were taught to suspect and hate the Jews. The church overtly provided a justification for this for centuries with the epithet that "the Jews killed Christ". I've also found that puzzling since he was actually executed by Romans, in a Roman form of execution, and both he and all of his immediate followers were Jews!

The modern hatred of the Jews among Arabs stems from reasons that are not that much different from the three factors mentioned above. Frankly, as a (in comparison to any Arab country) prosperous, free, democratic, and modern country with all the same or worse problems of climate and resources as the Arabs, Israel is a huge embarrassment to them. The fact that they have handily kicked the a**es of every Arab army that has made the mistake of fighting them also hasn't won them any admirers on the losing side.

Countless books have been written about the roots and history of anti-semitism and I woldn't pretend to be an authority. A related topic that I don't think has been explored as well is the other side of the coin, that is the roots and history of the overwhelming love and support for Israel and the Jewish people among most modern Protestant Evangelicals. I think this mostly unrequited affection mystifies many Jews and makes them uncomfortable, as if they wonder, OK what's the catch? Personally I think exploring the reasons why we, as Americans in a predominantly Protestant Christian culture, so identify with Israel is at least as interesting as why so many others hate them.

99 posted on 02/22/2003 8:06:11 PM PST by katana
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To: SeenTheLight
The real reason the left hates Israel is two-fold. First of all, they have been hijacked by Palestinian Nationalism and secondly, they don’t like uppity Jews.

Thank goodness for uppity Jews

100 posted on 02/22/2003 8:08:14 PM PST by Mr. Mojo
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