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 February 2014

"The Core Agenda of the BDS Movement is anti-Semitic": Aussie Jewish Leftist Philip Mendes nails it

Australian academic Philip Mendes, an associate professor at Monash University in Melbourne,  is decidedly not a man of the Right.  But he does not share the often treacherous attitude of some Jewish Leftists towards Israel.  He is, indeed, an expert on the Jewish Left in Australia, having published widely on that topic. Sometimes he has to suffer the slings and arrows of critics on both the Left and the Right of the Jewish community.  Nevertheless, he will not be intimidated and is always true to himself.

And now, on the website of the ABC (Australia's equivalent of the BBC, and just as left-liberal in its inclinations) Philip Mendes delivers a nicely argued attack on the BDS Movement and its advocates, chiefly its Aussie mainstays.

He writes:
"The international BDS movement has always targeted, not just the Jewish population of the state of Israel, but also Jews worldwide who support the continued existence of Israel (whatever their political views on conflict resolution) as the political enemy. And yet the movement is highly sensitive to charges of anti-Semitism...."
Then, having itemised a number of dodgy statements from leading BDSers that smack of antisemitism, he concludes:
"These examples of overt bigotry are bad enough. But even if most BDS advocates identify as opponents of racism, the fact remains that the core agenda of the BDS movement is anti-Semitic. The movement does not seek Israeli/Palestinian peace and reconciliation and/or the enhancement of Palestinian national and human rights by means of a two-state solution. Rather, it seeks to eliminate the existing Jewish State of Israel, and replace it with a new national state dominated by an Arab majority which I have called elsewhere a "Greater Palestine."
This means that the approximately 6.066 million Jews living in Israel, who currently constitute 75.1% of that country, would be completely disenfranchised as a national collective. That is, a country created as a refuge for European Jews who fled or survived Nazi genocide and Middle Eastern Jews who were ethnically cleansed en masse from the Arab world would suddenly cease to exist. At best, many Israeli Jews might become refugees joining the long queue to seek asylum all over the globe. At worst, they could suffer mass violence and genocide. But, according to the BDS movement, these outcomes would advance human rights rather than anti-Jewish racism.'  [Emphasis added]
Read the entire article here

5 comments:

  1. Great article. Wish we'd see many more like it, especially from my fellow liberals.

    "[I]t is generally victims of racism who are given the right to define the meaning and content of racism, not those who may be aiding and abetting such ethnocentric prejudices."

    This should be common sense. Unfortunately, it's far from it in certain cases.

    Like for example, back a few years ago when I was still a welcome, long-term member at a certain large American leftist blog with an orange color scheme, I used to make this point all the time.

    Nobody there would ever dare question the right of any given ethnic group to define what constitutes bigotry against them. Except, of course, for Jews.

    Our pesky insistence in pointing out that antisemitism is indeed antisemitism, no matter how much it would desperately like to cloak itself as 'anti-Zionism,' did bother those types a lot. Little wonder why.

    BDS is a violent, antisemitic hate movement which should be shunned by anybody with a conscience and any sense of human decency. It's also not very original, either, as bigoted Jew-boycotts are not exactly an historical anomaly, unfortunately. They follow in some very disgusting footsteps.

    ReplyDelete
  2. OT
    The shamelessly bigoted John Lyons and the ABC have teamed up for a hatchet job on Israel
    Israel in U-turn on child justice
    http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/israel-in-uturn-on-child-justice/story-e6frg6so-1226821020927#
    Plenty of ridiculous claims via Breaking the Silence plus the "keeping prisoners in cages" lie

    Stone Cold Justice - John Lyons, Janine Cohen and Sylvie Le Clezio
    http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Replies
    1. Thanks as always, Ian.
      Such sweltering weather - can barely summon the strength to blog!

      Delete
  4. I quote you on my next post, mrzee.

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.