Seth Freedman is a regular in the role of Acceptable Jew at The Guardian’s CiF website. In this piece he looks at the controversy surrounding the allegations of organ harvesting fom dead Palestinians leveled at the IDF in a Swedish newspaper. He concludes that it’s all Israel’s fault, naturally.
I suppose one should be grateful that he at least recognizes that the allegations are rubbish:
On reading the original story, it is clear that the article’s content is journalism of the worst kind: based on the flimsiest of evidence, making tenuous connections on little more than pure conjecture and relying on dubious testimony in the absence of hard fact and proof.
However, he goes on to say the following:
However, bad journalism does not automatically an antisemite make, especially when the allegations were directed at the Israeli army, rather than at Judaism and its practices. Had the article claimed that Jewish teaching encouraged the killing of gentile children and the use of their blood for ritual purposes - the classic definition of blood libel, and the origin of the phrase - it would be another matter, but in this case the accusations are clearly made against a subsection of Israeli society, not against Israelis per se, let alone the worldwide Jewish community.
So, in Freedman’s view we are faced with an example of bad journalism; a failure to check the facts properly, an over eager joining of the dots and an unjustified jump to conclusions, nothing more. The fact that the story doesn’t echo the classic blood libel in every detail and accuses some Jews of illicit behavior rather than indicting the Jewish religion in its entirety means we may safely dismiss the notion that it might be antisemitic.
To have arrived at this conclusion he must have made a great effort in recent years to avoid reading the papers or looking at TV. Had he taken any notice of the changes that have occurred in attitudes to Jews and Israel he’d have noticed that it’s now considered poor form to cite the classic tropes of antisemitism as they tend to lead to unfortunate comparisons with Nazi ideology. What the new, cool, environmentally responsible antisemite does is first, abjure antisemitism in all its forms and second, proceed to express views that wouldn’t have shamed Alfred Rosemberg, expect with words like Jew and Jewry replaced with references to Zionists and Zionism. If the eco-friendly and 100% recyclable antisemite is him/herself Jewish then so much the better as this copper bottoms them against having their views challenged on their merits; instead of arguing they can just brandish their ethno-religious affiliation.
I shouldn’t have to clarify myself on this point but I will anyway; neither the foregoing nor what follows should be held to mean that there is anything wrong with criticizing the actions of the government of Israel; would that the governments of all nations were subjected to the sort of scrutiny that Israel is routinely is.
Things now get worse.
By setting Israel up as the Jewish state and claiming to be acting in the name of every Jew on earth, it is little wonder that some critics believe the hype and conflate Israeli policy with Jewish mandates and teachings. There is no excuse for antisemitism, but there is likewise no excuse for stifling any criticism of Israel under a suffocating cloak of accusations of Jew-hatred.
While saying that he thinks there’s no excuse for antisemitism he simultaneously offers a rather big one. Because a significant number of Jewish people have chosen to band together and vindicate their rights as a nation this has caused some people to “conflate Israeli policy with Jewish mandates and teachings.” In Freedman’s view, therefore, the cause of at least some part of antisemitism is the behavior of Jews, more specifically, their exercising of national rights and sovereignty.
And note that word “stifling”. Decent fellows like Freedman “speak out”, those who don’t agree with him “stifle”.
Can someone explain a little about Seth Freedman’s background? What makes a guy like this tick? I see he lived/lives in Israel and served in the IDF, yet there he is in CiF producing a stream of the most ugly stuff. By now I should “get” this, but I don’t. I suppose it’s a big world that produces all types, but really, where did this type come from?
Eamonn. It should be pointed to Freedman, that most of the historic manifestations of antisemitism in modern times did not claim either to encompass each and every Jew in its net.
There were the “300″ Jews who ruled the world, according to the Protocols (lifted from a casual remark by Disraeli).
There were the too powerful Jewish bankers (even thick antisemites did not claim that every Jew was a banker).
There were the Jewish “anti-Christian” revolutionaries (and of course, not every Jew was one).
There were the “talmudists-kabbalists” who hated Christians.
Etc.
To be an antisemite doesn’t mean to manifest hatred to every Jew, unless antisemitism is conflated with a specific manifestation of it which was Hitlerian racism.
Freedman is an ignorant of the history of antisemitism.
Wall Streeter, your comment was deleted. This blog will not permit unsubstantiated allegations about any named individual being involved in illegal activities. If you try this again, you will be banned. I trust I have made myself clear.
Solomon
There is a bio of Freedman on our new blog CIF Watch, please check it out
http://cifwatch.com/cif-contributors/seth-freedman/
Canadian novelist and poet Margaret Atwood once told a university English class she was teaching that writers write for a single purpose: to make money.
The intent of the Swedish “journalist” and his newspaper editor in publishing his article may best be judged not only by the content of the story, but in the context of their reportage in general: would either have published a similarly ill-supported set of allegations, had they dealt with say Chinese army involvement in harvesting organs from Uighars killed in recent riots, or whatever? If not,we’re probably looking at an ugly bias.
Solomon: no “getting” types like Freedman without knowing the person closely enough to know what motivates an individual, really. Editors have a tendency of publishing content that provokes reaction and he is happy to comply.
I can’t deny that I think there is a heavy dose of irony when Seth Freedman talks here about “bad journalism”. It reminds me that one of the highlights of his journalistic achievements was a feature interview he graciously granted to Press TV earlier this year – published at the beginning of the festivities for the 30th anniversary of the “Islamic Revolution” – where he contributed his insights into the evils of Israel’s occupation…
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=84069§ionid=3510302
You might note that the first comment has the title: “White Jews Must Die”
Anyway, going back to the topic of “bad journalism” – reading the PressTV report on the Swedish story, one thing is beyond doubt: it warmed the hearts of antisemites everywhere (I just finished wading through some Arab/English sites on the topic…)
“Freelance journalist Donald Bostrom has told Press TV that an international war crimes investigation awaits Israel over its soldiers’ harvesting of organs from dead or dying Palestinians. The organs were sold on to a New York rabbi behind the human organs trafficking operation.”
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=104439§ionid=3510303
Well, but OK, Seth Freedman doesn’t think it’s a blood libel…
Eamon if you look at any of this creature’s articles on CiF you will note an inordinate number of deleted posts. Freedman cannot stand being disagreed with. When he was an “immature” contributor (and I put that in quotes because I do not want in any way to imply that I believe he has grown up any) he used to come onto the threads and be rude and idiotic to anyone who disagreed with him.
Now he just throws a strop until their posts are deleted.
Petra, why should anyone except the racist and anti-Israel CiF care one damn what Freedman “thinks.” He hardly possesses a towering intellect does he? They don’t commission his articles because he’s a thinker - they rely on him to stir the pot.
And as for “bad journalism” it’s classic pot and kettle stuff, and he should know.
Comment is Free? What a joke!