Comments on: On Postcolonial Ideology http://blog.z-word.com/2009/11/on-postcolonial-ideology/ Commentary about Zionism, anti-Zionism, antisemitism and the conflict in the Middle East Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:31:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5-RC1.1 By: Jacob Arnon http://blog.z-word.com/2009/11/on-postcolonial-ideology/#comment-8107 Jacob Arnon Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:51:50 +0000 http://blog.z-word.com/?p=1458#comment-8107 Lbnaz “Sophistry Petrus? The only sophistry in this post and on this comment thread is to be found in your foaming at the mouth propaganda that Israelis have no right to defend themselves and that Israel is further and further away from accepted moral conduct as compared with your so-called family of nations.” Yes, Lbnaz and I have always been amused by the phrase the “family of nations.” Just as Jews were formerly not considered fully human, they were in Max Weber’s apt phrase “a pariah people” (having rejected Christ and Muhammad as well as Marxism and other millennial fantasies), so too now it seen as “pariah State” not worthy to be included among such freedom and peace loving countries like Russia, The Sudan, China, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Iran and many other strict observers of human rights. Lbnaz “Sophistry Petrus? The only sophistry in this post and on this comment thread is to be found in your foaming at the mouth propaganda that Israelis have no right to defend themselves and that Israel is further and further away from accepted moral conduct as compared with your so-called family of nations.”

Yes, Lbnaz and I have always been amused by the phrase the “family of nations.”

Just as Jews were formerly not considered fully human, they were in Max Weber’s apt phrase “a pariah people” (having rejected Christ and Muhammad as well as Marxism and other millennial fantasies), so too now it seen as “pariah State” not worthy to be included among such freedom and peace loving countries like Russia, The Sudan, China, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Iran and many other strict observers of human rights.

]]> By: Jacob Arnon http://blog.z-word.com/2009/11/on-postcolonial-ideology/#comment-8106 Jacob Arnon Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:44:18 +0000 http://blog.z-word.com/?p=1458#comment-8106 petrus “All this quibbling abt whather HRW and AI are following their “mandate” or not is a red herring to lead away from direct confrontation with the Israeli occupation (42 years) that is leading Israel itself further and further away from the family of nations and accepted moral conduct. It’s too bad that an obviously engaged and inelligent blogger like yourself should be forced to so much sophistry in defending the indefensible.” This unfortunately has become the typical response from people who support “human rights” organizations like HRW and AI. You can spot an ideologically driven enterprise when they assume that they are beyond criticism and consider any criticism to be the work of the “devil,” in this case the “Jewish devil.” Specifically, the Israeli occupation isn’t “the problem” it’s one of many problems that have plagued the Arab Israeli conflict. Legitimate human rights organizations don’t take sides in conflicts and they try to suggest solutions. This means looking beyond a certain incident and taking into consideration the history and specific nature of the conflict. This is what HRW, for example, refuses to do. To them Israel is always at fault. Never mind that they offered to negotiate a peaceful solution to the conflict, never mind that they withdrew from one of the territories they occupied since 1967, Gaza. Never mind that the occupation was the result of three Arab countries threatening to annihilate the Jewish State in 67. Never mind that Israel offered to return these territories to Jordan and Egypt right after that war in exchange for a peace treaty. Never mind that Israel has been plagued by terrorist attacks long before they occupied these territories. It would be more honest for a “Petrus” to say that it’s the very existence of Israel that is the problem. That the Jews alone among all the people’s of the world do not deserve their own State were they can live in peace and preserve their language and culture. This is what Petrus’ outburst is all about. Rather than the criticism of HRW being “ a red herring” meant to “to lead away from direct confrontation with the Israeli occupation” the response of HRW and Petrus is meant to deflect discussion from their antisemitic bias against the Jewish State. petrus “All this quibbling abt whather HRW and AI are following their “mandate” or not is a red herring to lead away from direct confrontation with the Israeli occupation (42 years) that is leading Israel itself further and further away from the family of nations and accepted moral conduct. It’s too bad that an obviously engaged and inelligent blogger like yourself should be forced to so much sophistry in defending the indefensible.”

This unfortunately has become the typical response from people who support “human rights” organizations like HRW and AI. You can spot an ideologically driven enterprise when they assume that they are beyond criticism and consider any criticism to be the work of the “devil,” in this case the “Jewish devil.”

Specifically, the Israeli occupation isn’t “the problem” it’s one of many problems that have plagued the Arab Israeli conflict. Legitimate human rights organizations don’t take sides in conflicts and they try to suggest solutions. This means looking beyond a certain incident and taking into consideration the history and specific nature of the conflict. This is what HRW, for example, refuses to do.

To them Israel is always at fault. Never mind that they offered to negotiate a peaceful solution to the conflict, never mind that they withdrew from one of the territories they occupied since 1967, Gaza. Never mind that the occupation was the result of three Arab countries threatening to annihilate the Jewish State in 67. Never mind that Israel offered to return these territories to Jordan and Egypt right after that war in exchange for a peace treaty. Never mind that Israel has been plagued by terrorist attacks long before they occupied these territories.

It would be more honest for a “Petrus” to say that it’s the very existence of Israel that is the problem. That the Jews alone among all the people’s of the world do not deserve their own State were they can live in peace and preserve their language and culture.

This is what Petrus’ outburst is all about. Rather than the criticism of HRW being “ a red herring” meant to “to lead away from direct confrontation with the Israeli occupation” the response of HRW and Petrus is meant to deflect discussion from their antisemitic bias against the Jewish State.

]]> By: Adam Levick http://blog.z-word.com/2009/11/on-postcolonial-ideology/#comment-8099 Adam Levick Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:48:46 +0000 http://blog.z-word.com/?p=1458#comment-8099 Great post. (By the way, I really miss the long, intellectually satisfying, essays from the other Z Word site.) Great post. (By the way, I really miss the long, intellectually satisfying, essays from the other Z Word site.)

]]> By: Lbnaz http://blog.z-word.com/2009/11/on-postcolonial-ideology/#comment-8084 Lbnaz Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:12:03 +0000 http://blog.z-word.com/?p=1458#comment-8084 Sophistry Petrus? The only sophistry in this post and on this comment thread is to be found in your foaming at the mouth propaganda that Israelis have no right to defend themselves and that Israel is further and further away from accepted moral conduct as compared with your so-called family of nations. Sophistry Petrus? The only sophistry in this post and on this comment thread is to be found in your foaming at the mouth propaganda that Israelis have no right to defend themselves and that Israel is further and further away from accepted moral conduct as compared with your so-called family of nations.

]]> By: petrus http://blog.z-word.com/2009/11/on-postcolonial-ideology/#comment-8076 petrus Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:09:50 +0000 http://blog.z-word.com/?p=1458#comment-8076 All this quibbling abt whather HRW and AI are following their "mandate" or not is a red herring to lead away from direct confrontation with the Israeli occupation (42 years) that is leading Israel itself further and further away from the family of nations and accepted moral conduct. It's too bad that an obviously engaged and inelligent blogger like yourself should be forced to so much sophistry in defending the indefensible. All this quibbling abt whather HRW and AI are following their “mandate” or not is a red herring to lead away from direct confrontation with the Israeli occupation (42 years) that is leading Israel itself further and further away from the family of nations and accepted moral conduct. It’s too bad that an obviously engaged and inelligent blogger like yourself should be forced to so much sophistry in defending the indefensible.

]]> By: Petra http://blog.z-word.com/2009/11/on-postcolonial-ideology/#comment-8062 Petra Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:02:56 +0000 http://blog.z-word.com/?p=1458#comment-8062 Interesting piece and interesting links, thanks! Interesting piece and interesting links, thanks!

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