UPDATE: Here, via David Hirsh at Engage, is a song by the rather wonderful Lily Allen which could become the anthem of all of us with Durban doubts.
The BBC says that one of the reasons the US is likely to stay away from the Durban review conference is because the draft of its final document “criticizes Israel.”
A number of active and retired politicians who style themselves as “former peace negotiators” have signed a letter to The Times calling for negotiations with Hamas.
Continue reading ‘Negotiating With Hamas and Other Illusions’
Assailants threw an explosive at a Jewish community center on Thursday, but nobody was hurt in the blast. The attack comes less than a month after the desecration of the Tifereth Israel synagogue in Caracas (see picture) - widely suspected to be the work of government agents. “It seems there are people in the country dedicated to sowing terrorism,” said Abraham Garzon, president of the Jewish Community Center in Caracas.
Indeed.
Unless radical changes are made, the US won’t be attending the Durban Review Conference in April. Who’ll be next to pull out?
Yet more evidence of the overlap, when it comes to Israel, between the unreconstructed left and America-first realists comes in the shape of this piece by Robert Dreyfuss in The Nation.
Continue reading ‘Chas Freeman: The New Hero of the Resistance’
This article by AJC’s Doug Lieb appears in the latest issue of Tikkun, as does the article by Jerome Slater which he refers to.
The title of Jerome Slater’s “A Perfect Moral Catastrophe” pretty well sums up this comprehensive brief against Israel.
“Once the central argument of anti-Israel campaigning in this country is that Israel is Nazi Germany, then this is no longer an anti-Zionist movement: it is an antisemitic one, with an antisemitic politics as its driving force.” Read Dave Rich on Harry’s Place.
For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been a silent party to one of the most disturbing email exchanges I’ve ever encountered.
On the main Z Word site this month, something very special: an interview with Paul Berman by Michelle Sieff. In a wide-ranging conversation, Berman talks about the recent conflict between Hamas and Gaza, western perceptions of Hamas, the outlook for Middle East policy under the Obama Administration and the persistence of antisemitism in our own time.
Continue reading ‘New on Z Word: An Interview With Paul Berman’
This is a guest post by Karl Pfeifer, a veteran anti-fascist and journalist based in Vienna.
Tachles was one of the keywords of the London Conference on Antisemitism. Used by Jewish and non-Jewish experts and delegates alike, the word is an exhortation to get down to brass tacks.
Andy Ram, the Israeli tennis star, will participate in the Barclays Dubai tennis championship next week, after the United Arab Emirates relented on its earlier decision not to grant him an entry visa.
Following is the declaration of the London Conference on Antisemitism, which took place earlier this week.
Preamble
We, Representatives of our respective Parliaments from across the world, convening in London for the founding Conference and Summit of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism, draw the democratic world’s attention to the resurgence of antisemitism as a potent force in politics, international affairs and society.
Continue reading ‘The London Declaration on Combating Antisemitism’
The government of Argentina has decided to expel Richard Williamson, the Holocaust-denying Catholic bishop, from the country. According to Horacio Verbitsky, a veteran journalist with close ties to the present administration, the decision was taken not only because the British cleric had obtained his visa - and subsequently his status as a permanent resident - on the basis of lies about the real nature of his activities here, but also because of his “despicable antisemitic declarations” which have “attacked the deepest feelings of both the Jewish community and society as a whole.”
Continue reading ‘Holocaust Denier Bishop Expelled From Argentina’
The President of Hampshire College and the Chair of its Board of Trustees have responded to Alan Dershowitz’s claim that the college divested from equities in companies trading with Israel.
Writing in response to my translation of part of a column by Jordi Soler, David Schraub says,
… of late I’ve observed that folks who are trying to argue that certain criticisms of Israel are anti-Semitic always preface with “of course, one can criticize Israel without it being anti-Semitic. But….” This affirmation hasn’t had much of an impact on people who believe that one can’t engage in such criticism without being tarred with the brush; I assume it’s because they think that the caveat is completely theoretical and that no critique (at least, that isn’t completely mealy-mouthed) will ever pass muster. The fact that Z-Word went beyond theoretical affirmation and was willing to say this article, though we might disagree with it, is a harsh criticism of Israel that is nonetheless not anti-Semitic hopefully will help dissipate some of that mistrust.
Continue reading ‘Soler Redux: Criticizing Israel and Antisemitism’
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