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)

Tuesday 17 December 2013

Not A Good Look, Betty!

Reader P, who so assiduously follows the Reverend Stephen Sizer on Facebook, and often sends me screenshots of some of that gentleman's more eyebrow-raising comments, tells me that he (reader P) took a good look today at the Facebook wall of one of the vicar's friends there, an American lady who appears to be as committed to the anti-Zionist cause as the vicar himself, writing (below his unexpected rejection of Roger Waters' repellent analogy of Israel with Nazi Germany*) such messages as:


Reader P was curious to ascertain what manner of person could make this ignorant comment, denying that Israel had ever been attacked by Arab armies prior to 1973.


"I was amazed to find a lawyer instead of some airhead," says P.

It's indeed a curious mistake for an educated person to make, but as I observed recently, the assertion is not an uncommon one in Israel-delegitimising circles today.

Reader P was taken aback to see this link, since, as he remarks, the picture lays bare the unabashed antisemitism in certain anti-Zionist hearts.


Yes, definitely not a good look!  (Best take it off, Betty.  Before the Reverend Sizer catches you.)

Meanwhile, to its eternal shame, the rank and file of the American Studies Association has ratified, by a wide margin, its council's vote to boycott Israel (read about it here and here) 

Crows one of the lynchpins behind the ASA's odious initiative, Professor David Lloyd, the boycott

"targets institutions on the basis of what they do not what they are: it does not target them because they are Jewish or Israeli, but because of their complicity in Israel’s systemic and ongoing violations of human rights and international law.  These are practices, and therefore capable of termination or modification.  What would be truly anti-Semitic would be to accept that all Jews are de facto identified with a single state and its policies....
By definition, the study of America includes both the study of its own colonial and imperial past and the study of its international relations.  No state has benefited more in recent decades from US material and political support than Israel and perhaps no people has been more continuously impacted by US global interests than the Palestinians.  The US relation to Israel/Palestine is therefore not only a relevant but a pressing object of analysis for American Studies.  The boycott resolution is in keeping with the Association’s long-standing ethical commitment to translating analysis into morally informed action ....
The ASA’s members have learnt and taught that every substantial advance in real and material freedom for people subject to racism, colonization and discrimination has come through intellectual analysis that finds expression in practice and in the alliance with social movements working for justice.  No more than political freedom is academic freedom the private possession of the privileged.  It has meaning only if it is translated into action and only if we are not afraid to translate our understanding into collective action for justice.  The boycott is in fundamental agreement with these principles and therefore with those that inform the ASA."
But as Jeffrey Goldberg writes:
"Is it a coincidence that these academics are singling out the world’s only Jewish-majority country for boycott? Only to those who know nothing of the history of anti-Semitic scapegoating.... 
The American Studies Association is an unimportant American group; larger academic organizations have come out ... against the idea of academic boycotts. The ASA is also facing an unlikely opponent in its anti-Israel campaign: Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, supports the boycott of settlement-made goods, but he has come out against broad anti-Israel boycotts. The ASA is more Palestinian, in other words, than the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Still, this vote by the ASA marks something of a turning point -- this is the second time this year that a U.S. academic organization has called for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. I assume the ASA won’t be the last group to do so. And I believe that we will one day see groups such as the ASA call for the boycott of American institutions and individuals who support Israel. Such a campaign would represent a logical extension of the boycott ratified this weekend. Yes, a boycott of businesses owned by pro-Israel American Jews would have a special odor about it, but really, doesn’t the ASA boycott have something of the same smell?" [Emphasis added]
 * But why, then, is Sizer posting this (a link to a report on 9 December) on Facebook today, to the appreciation of Betty and other followers? Has he changed his mind? (Thanks, P):



4 comments:

  1. I see some print from my previous blog has come up onscreen. The only remedy tht I know of is to remove the previous blog, but since this one is still readable I'll let both stay.

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  2. Actually, that writing doesn't come from my previous blog. It's mysterious! I find it goes away if I click on the blog a second time. Ah, the weird ways of Blogger!

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  3. Don't tell me Sizer keeps that woman on as a Facebook friend --- Sheesh!

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    Replies
    1. I've no idea, Nathan. If he saw it I would imagine he'd rebuke her for posting an antisemitic thing of that nature.

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