Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Friday 7 October 2011

Combating Antisemitism: Time To Take A Leaf Out of Canada's Book

Overt antisemitism in Melbourne
Over on the blogs hosted by the London Jewish Chronicle - which to the dismay and disgust of readers both Jewish and non-Jewish continues to tolerate Israel-demonising posts and posters - that stalwart champion of Israel Jonathan Hoffman draws attention to some seemingly outright antisemitic attitudes lying at the heart of the pro-Palestinian campaign in the UK.


"People are questioning whether we should exist," observed one of the participants, a marketing strategist, at the Herzliya Conference earlier this year. "We're ... becoming the South Africa of the 21st century."

Not too long ago, a Belgian prime minister observed:
"We must be wakeful for a new anti-Semitism, sometimes too easy trivialized. We must be wakeful for a new anti-Zionism that is a hidden anti-Semitism that in reality has not accepted the existence of the state of Israel, even sixty years after its foundation." Hat tip:  http://philosemitism.blogspot.com
This interview with the articulate Bernie M. Farber of the Canadian Jewish Congress is of interest, because the virtual disappearance of the traditional antisemitic far right in Canada to which he alludes, and its replacement by forces on the left hostile to Israel and Zionism, is analogous to the situation in Australia, with the virtual eclipse of the villainous League of Rights, formed in 1946.  Farber makes the clear distinction between criticising aspects of Israeli government policy, which is not antisemitism, and advocating the end of Israel as a Jewish State, which surely is.


These leftist Israel-haters in Melbourne, demonstrating against chocolate shop Max Brenner back in July, show clearly the antisemitism inherent in the BDS Movement, with the Hamas-type cry "From The River To The Sea Palestine Shall Be Free" - in other words, the end of Israel - replicated by their equally squalid and hate-filled counterparts throughout the West (15 minutes of footage here, if you can stomach it):


These articles here and here sum up the situation well.

So three hearty cheers for the government of the stalwartly pro-Israel Stephen Harper, which, alarmed by the increase in judeophobia in Canada, especially on campus - witness the shameful incident at York University in 2009 when Jewish students, chased by a mob, were mercilessly taunted with antisemitic canards -  signed on 20 September the Ottawa Protocol to Combat Anti-Semitism amid a resounding undertaking from Foreign Minister John Baird that Canada will stand not behind but right alongside Israel at the United Nations.

To quote Avi Benlolo, head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Canada, the Canadian government has by signing the Ottawa Protocol
'recognized anti-Semitism as a pernicious evil and a global threat against the Jewish people, the State of Israel and free, democratic countries everywhere....
 The protocol is a declaration that hatred of this nature will not be tolerated in this country. It sets out an action plan for supporting initiatives that combat anti-Semitism and provides a framework for other nations to follow.
In the land of Alfred Dreyfus
It also sets out a vibrant definition of anti-Semitism which, for the first time in history, links anti-Semitism to the denial of the right Jewish people have to their ancestral home land - the State of Israel. This, in fact, is what sets post-World War Two anti-Semitism apart from its historic roots. Today's anti-Semitism is all about denial: denial of the legitimacy of Zionism as a Jewish movement to reclaim the land of Israel; denial of a Jewish history in connection to the holy land and, in particular, the centrality of Jerusalem to the Jewish people; denial of the Holocaust (while at the same time accusing Jews of Nazism); and denial of Jews to live free of anti-Semitism, hate and intolerance....
The Ottawa Protocol to Combat Anti-Semitism is a template for every Canadian to consider. But it is especially a document of significance for universities that have allowed themselves to become vehicles of hatred and complicit in its promotion. As my friend, Professor Irwin Cotler said last night at the Ottawa signing ceremony, anti-Semitism is not only the longest known form of hatred in the history of humanity - it is the only form of hatred that is truly global.'

2 comments:

  1. Israel is not beyond criticism, nor is Zionism for that matter, criticising either Israel or Zionism is not Anti-Semitic per-se but, and it is a big “but”.

    Too often Anti-Semites use “Zionism” as a code word to avoid being labelled “anti-Semites” and stay within the bound of Political Correctness; the test is quite simple, if you can substitute “Zionist” with “Jew” and you get an anti-Semitic statement (rather than a non-sensical sentence) then you know that it is Anti-Semitism masquerading as “Anti-Zionism”.

    Another simple test is to ask any “Anti-Zionist” (if you have the opportunity) to define “Zionism” for you and you would quickly find that 99% of “Anti-Zionists” do not know what Zionism is and confuse Zionism with Judaism.

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