By their own mouths do they most damn themselves. As Petra Marquardt Bigman notes, “What is sure is that when it comes to antisemitism, White thinks that ‘reason’ number one is, unsurprisingly, ‘the state of Israel, its ideology of racial supremacy and its subsequent crimes committed against the Palestinians. It is because Zionists have always sought to equate their colonial project with Judaism that some misguidedly respond to what they see on their televisions with attacks on Jews or Jewish property.’”
Was Israel’s “ideology of racial supremacy” the reason for the horrific kidnapping, torture and murder of the young French Jew Ilan Halimi? Was it the reason for the 1994 bombing of AMIA in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 and wounded hundreds more? Only those possessed of a supreme moral idiocy - whether a well-known film director like Ken Loach or a minor hack like Ben White - would say yes. It’s a type of mindset which by rights should have gone the same way as the Soviet Union, but remains all too visible today.
Additionally, I have a small guest post up at Engage which brings together many of the links, defenses and critiques of White’s sourcing and methodology.
http://engageonline.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/ben-whites-questionable-book/
I think Petra’s post is excellent.
May I suggest that now, belatedly, you (openly) lift the ban on Ben White?
Zkharya, you can suggest whatever you like. When Ben White expresses remorse for the ban on Jonathan Hoffman, he can comment here again - and I really am getting rather tired of repeating that point, so I’d be grateful if you and the others who apparently think that White’s access to Z Word is the most burning issue we face would kindly absorb it.
White is not short of outlets for his work, from his Facebook group:
“Book Reading of Ben White’s Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide
“Meet the author, discuss his new book and more!”
Host: Middleeastbooks.com (AET Bookclub)
Type: Music/arts - Preview
Network: Global
Date: Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Time: 19:00 - 22:00
Location: American Educational Trust Bookstore
Street: 1902 18th St. NW
Town/City: Washington, DC
Host: Quail Ridge Books & Music
Type: Education - Lecture
Network:Global
Date: Monday, 27 July 2009
Time: 19:30 - 21:00
Location: Quail Ridge Books & Music
Street: 3522 Wade Ave
Town/City: Raleigh, NC”
“Was Israel’s “ideology of racial supremacy” the reason for the horrific kidnapping, torture and murder of the young French Jew Ilan Halimi?”
It’s worse than that. Was it Israel’s “ideology of racial supremacy” (what is the proof that there is such a thing?) that led the late Mufti of Jerusalem to make common cause with the Nazis and work towards rthe extremination of the Jews in Mandate Palestine?
Ben White has lost the argument and is now just throwing mud all over the place hoping some of it will stick on Israelis.
It’s an old tactic.
The Israeli declaration of independence disproves the idea that Israel is “racialized” country.
In Friday’s Jewish Chronicle it is reported that Amb Ronald Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress, has written to the UK Charity Commission about their sponsorship of White’s book.
http://www.thejc.com/articles/charity-pushes-global-israel-boycott
Jonathan, the article as written gives more space to the “charity’s” effort to boycott Israel than to Israel’s point of view.
It explains in detail why the Charity Commission wishes to boycott Israel and not enought space for a rebuttal off their tendentious and false argument.
This needs to be pointed out since you can’t counter anti Israel actions by merely repeating their arguments.
Jacob:
I trust you mean War on Want is promoting the boycott, not the Charities Commission, which is empowered to review the activities of organizations that can issue tax receipts to donors.
Yes, Lynne, I meant “war on want.”
There’s also some theological idiocy at work:
http://tiny.cc/CAGTe
Jacob
Many people have complained to the Charity Commission about War On Want
I was on the road and didn’t have a chance to log on; so somewhat belatedly: I think the question of sponsorship for White’s drivel about “Israeli apartheid” is indeed a very important one; particularly given the fact that he is an ardent proponent of the so-called 1state solution and that he has often expressed his disdain about peace negotiations on a 2state solution. For White, Zionism=apartheid/racism irrespective of specific Israeli policies, about which he mainly writes to fill enough pages for a book and to bolster his claim that he is “only criticizing” Israeli policies… He makes it very clear in the first few sentences of his book that for him, Zionism was “apartheid”/racism from the very start, no Israeli policies needed.