Comments on: My Enemy’s Enemy http://blog.z-word.com/2008/11/my-enemys-enemy/ Commentary about Zionism, anti-Zionism, antisemitism and the conflict in the Middle East Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:37:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5-RC1.1 By: David Lee http://blog.z-word.com/2008/11/my-enemys-enemy/#comment-6498 David Lee Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:41:53 +0000 http://blog.z-word.com/?p=486#comment-6498 Can anyone help me? I am trying to collect all the anti-semitic remarks attributed to the post-war British foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin. Did he really say regarding the thousands of stateless Jews who, in 1945 he was stopping from getting into Palestine, "It's a pity we didn't let Hitler finish the job before we won the war? I need his remarks for a paper I am preparing proving that the British Foreign office was always - and still is - anti-Semitic and anti-Israel. David lee Can anyone help me? I am trying to collect all the anti-semitic remarks attributed to the post-war British foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin. Did he really say regarding the thousands of stateless Jews who, in 1945 he was stopping from getting into Palestine, “It’s a pity we didn’t let Hitler finish the job before we won the war? I need his remarks for a paper I am preparing proving that the British Foreign office was always - and still is - anti-Semitic and anti-Israel.

David lee

]]> By: Petra http://blog.z-word.com/2008/11/my-enemys-enemy/#comment-2015 Petra Sun, 09 Nov 2008 13:19:28 +0000 http://blog.z-word.com/?p=486#comment-2015 Thanks, Eamonn, I missed this interesting letter. Some great posts from shriber and Karl here in response. Thanks, Eamonn, I missed this interesting letter. Some great posts from shriber and Karl here in response.

]]> By: Karl Pfeifer http://blog.z-word.com/2008/11/my-enemys-enemy/#comment-1955 Karl Pfeifer Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:33:07 +0000 http://blog.z-word.com/?p=486#comment-1955 The apology of Arab antisemitism is not surprising. When it is connected to the Holocaust or to “Kristallnacht”, or as we call it here correctly the November pogrom, one should not forget that at the time when Jews in Germany and Austria needed a country to give them asylum most of the countries of the world closed their doors. Especially infamous was the British White Paper published in May 1939 restricting severely the emigration to Palestine. Many Jews lost their life in the Holocaust simply because they were abandoned. And one should also remember the German ship full with Jewish refugees sent back from the USA. Most of those Jews perished in the Holocaust. Especially perverse is the apology of Hadj Amin el Husseini. He did his level best to prevent the emigration of Jewish children to Palestine. He wrote letters to the Hungarian, Romanian and Bulgarian governments and asked them not to allow Jewish children to transit to Palestine. And he influenced his German friends – for instance Heinrich Himmler – to prevent Jewish children’s emigration to Palestine. On July 27, 1944 the Grand Mufti wrote to Himmler to urge him “to do what was necessary to prevent the wandering Jews to Palestine”. He urged the German Foreign Ministry, as well as Adolf Eichmann, not to allow Jews from Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to escape to Pelestine, but to send them instead to Poland. He worked with Himmler to establish an SS division of Muslims from Bosnia, appealed to the Germans to Bomb Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Husseini translated the Nazi propaganda into the idioms of the Arab World. Today the Hamas and HizbAllah use the same line of propaganda. Husseini said in November 1942 in a speech directed to North Africa: “The American intervention in North Africa strengthens the power of the Jews, increases their influence, and doubles their misdeeds, America is the greatest agent of the Jews, and the Jews are the rulers in America.” And he used the same arguments as those heard so frequently today. On November 11 1942 in his speech about Martyrdom he said: “We Arabs should clearly join the Axis powers and their allies in common struggle against the common enemy. Doing so for us means the continuation of the fight we have fought alone for the past twenty years. Today the powerful e n e m i e s o f o u r e n e m i e s stand on our side.” We find the same ideas of a paranoid conspiracy theories in the documents of fundamentalist Islam. And the apologists of Arab antisemitism - some of them Jewish - use the same argument of the powerful e n e m i e s o f o u r e n e m i e s. And justify by this the action of this collaborator of the Nazis. The apology of Arab antisemitism is not surprising. When it is connected to the Holocaust or to “Kristallnacht”, or as we call it here correctly the November pogrom, one should not forget that at the time when Jews in Germany and Austria needed a country to give them asylum most of the countries of the world closed their doors. Especially infamous was the British White Paper published in May 1939 restricting severely the emigration to Palestine. Many Jews lost their life in the Holocaust simply because they were abandoned. And one should also remember the German ship full with Jewish refugees sent back from the USA. Most of those Jews perished in the Holocaust.
Especially perverse is the apology of Hadj Amin el Husseini. He did his level best to prevent the emigration of Jewish children to Palestine. He wrote letters to the Hungarian, Romanian and Bulgarian governments and asked them not to allow Jewish children to transit to Palestine. And he influenced his German friends – for instance Heinrich Himmler – to prevent Jewish children’s emigration to Palestine. On July 27, 1944 the Grand Mufti wrote to Himmler to urge him “to do what was necessary to prevent the wandering Jews to Palestine”. He urged the German Foreign Ministry, as well as Adolf Eichmann, not to allow Jews from Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to escape to Pelestine, but to send them instead to Poland. He worked with Himmler to establish an SS division of Muslims from Bosnia, appealed to the Germans to
Bomb Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Husseini translated the Nazi propaganda into the idioms of the Arab World. Today the Hamas and HizbAllah use the same line of propaganda.
Husseini said in November 1942 in a speech directed to North Africa: “The American intervention in North Africa strengthens the power of the Jews, increases their influence, and doubles their misdeeds, America is the greatest agent of the Jews, and the Jews are the rulers in America.”
And he used the same arguments as those heard so frequently today. On November 11 1942 in his speech about Martyrdom he said: “We Arabs should clearly join the Axis powers and their allies in common struggle against the common enemy. Doing so for us means the continuation of the fight we have fought alone for the past twenty years. Today the powerful e n e m i e s o f o u r e n e m i e s stand on our side.”
We find the same ideas of a paranoid conspiracy theories in the documents of fundamentalist Islam.
And the apologists of Arab antisemitism - some of them Jewish - use the same argument of the powerful e n e m i e s o f o u r e n e m i e s. And justify by this the action of this collaborator of the Nazis.

]]> By: shriber http://blog.z-word.com/2008/11/my-enemys-enemy/#comment-1952 shriber Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:55:34 +0000 http://blog.z-word.com/?p=486#comment-1952 It also seems to me that the letters published in the Guardian are not an adequate refutation of the article on Kristallnacht by Paul Oestreicher. What the Guardian needs to do is to publish the rebuttal in the form of an article. Letters don’t carry the weight articles do. It also seems to me that the letters published in the Guardian are not an adequate refutation of the article on Kristallnacht by Paul Oestreicher.

What the Guardian needs to do is to publish the rebuttal in the form of an article.

Letters don’t carry the weight articles do.

]]> By: shriber http://blog.z-word.com/2008/11/my-enemys-enemy/#comment-1951 shriber Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:52:01 +0000 http://blog.z-word.com/?p=486#comment-1951 Sorry, Bevin was Foreign Secretary. His views on British Mandate policy are clear, though. "Bevin failed to secure British objectives in the British Mandated Territory of Palestine. Personally, Bevin was opposed to the plans of the Zionist movement to create a Jewish state, and supported the creation of a unitary and exclusively Arab-ruled state in western Palestine." This is from the wikipedia article. In any case, Professor Colin Shindler is wrong to write that "There was also little sympathy for the cause of the Palestinian Arabs within the British left at that time, with Aneurin Bevan and Tony Benn both embracing Zionism." Ernest Bevin was a Labor Foreign Secretary and his views were not at all sympathetic to the Zionist cause. Sorry, Bevin was Foreign Secretary.

His views on British Mandate policy are clear, though.

“Bevin failed to secure British objectives in the British Mandated Territory of Palestine. Personally, Bevin was opposed to the plans of the Zionist movement to create a Jewish state, and supported the creation of a unitary and exclusively Arab-ruled state in western Palestine.”

This is from the wikipedia article.

In any case, Professor Colin Shindler
is wrong to write that “There was also little sympathy for the cause of the Palestinian Arabs within the British left at that time, with Aneurin Bevan and Tony Benn both embracing Zionism.”

Ernest Bevin was a Labor Foreign Secretary and his views were not at all sympathetic to the Zionist cause.

]]> By: Eamonn McDonagh http://blog.z-word.com/2008/11/my-enemys-enemy/#comment-1949 Eamonn McDonagh Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:14:49 +0000 http://blog.z-word.com/?p=486#comment-1949 "the British Prime Minister at the time Ernest Bevin " ???!!!!??? “the British Prime Minister at the time Ernest Bevin ” ???!!!!???

]]> By: shriber http://blog.z-word.com/2008/11/my-enemys-enemy/#comment-1948 shriber Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:09:53 +0000 http://blog.z-word.com/?p=486#comment-1948 From the Guardian letter: “The fear of annihilation was undoubtedly a factor in the mindset of many Israelis during the war of 1948. There was also little sympathy for the cause of the Palestinian Arabs within the British left at that time, with Aneurin Bevan and Tony Benn both embracing Zionism. Arafat's Fatah therefore always distanced itself from the Mufti and made a distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. This is not the case with the Islamists of Hamas and Hizbullah, whose disdain for Jews extends beyond the borders of Israel-Palestine.” Professor Colin Shindler I don’t know about the views of Bevan and Benn but the views of the British Prime Minister at the time Ernest Bevin were decidedly pro Arab anti-Jewish. I am also not sure about Arafat’s distancing himself from antisemitism since he tended to deny the historical presence of Jews in ancient Israel. Then there is this story from the International Herald tribune: “Outrage Over Arafat's Taped Insults” By Barry James THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1992 “PARIS: French and Israeli politicians reacted with repugnance Wednesday to anti-Semitic remarks and insults to France attributed to Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Mr. Arafat reportedly insulted the Jews in foul language and became furious over France's handling of the affair of Georges Habash, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who went to Paris for emergency medical treatment last month. CNN said the remarks were made in a tapped telephone call between Mr. Arafat and the PLO representative in Paris, Ibrahim Souss. CNN said it got a recording of the conversation from an unnamed Western law enforcement agency. Mr. Arafat allegedly called Jewish people "dogs" and "dirt," and accused the French of having an "arrogant" and "dirty" civilization….” http://www.iht.com/articles/1992/02/13/haba_2.php The idea that Arafat was not an antisemite is a bit rich. He was politically astute and tended not to make open antisemitic comments in public as he routinely did in private and in Arabic. From the Guardian letter:

“The fear of annihilation was undoubtedly a factor in the mindset of many Israelis during the war of 1948. There was also little sympathy for the cause of the Palestinian Arabs within the British left at that time, with Aneurin Bevan and Tony Benn both embracing Zionism. Arafat’s Fatah therefore always distanced itself from the Mufti and made a distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. This is not the case with the Islamists of Hamas and Hizbullah, whose disdain for Jews extends beyond the borders of Israel-Palestine.” Professor Colin Shindler

I don’t know about the views of Bevan and Benn but the views of the British Prime Minister at the time Ernest Bevin were decidedly pro Arab anti-Jewish.

I am also not sure about Arafat’s distancing himself from antisemitism since he tended to deny the historical presence of Jews in ancient Israel.

Then there is this story from the International Herald tribune:

“Outrage Over Arafat’s Taped Insults”
By Barry James

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1992

“PARIS: French and Israeli politicians reacted with repugnance Wednesday to anti-Semitic remarks and insults to France attributed to Yasser Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Mr. Arafat reportedly insulted the Jews in foul language and became furious over France’s handling of the affair of Georges Habash, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who went to Paris for emergency medical treatment last month.

CNN said the remarks were made in a tapped telephone call between Mr. Arafat and the PLO representative in Paris, Ibrahim Souss.

CNN said it got a recording of the conversation from an unnamed Western law enforcement agency.

Mr. Arafat allegedly called Jewish people “dogs” and “dirt,” and accused the French of having an “arrogant” and “dirty” civilization….”

http://www.iht.com/articles/1992/02/13/haba_2.php

The idea that Arafat was not an antisemite is a bit rich.

He was politically astute and tended not to make open antisemitic comments in public as he routinely did in private and in Arabic.

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