Not so subtle anti-Semitism

A post on the diary section of the John Edwards blog with the unlikely title defining trait of Middle Eastern Jews and Muslims," caught my eye.

I'm all in favor of free speech and the rise of the citizen journalist, but to see this piece of crap on the Edwards site is what we Jews call a "shanda" (roughly, a shame to the community). So I responded to it, and I'm posting my response here too.

This goes against my general rule, dating from my days as a public relations pro, not to get involved in public pissing contests with idiots, but this kind of malicious anti-Semitism shouldn't go unanswered, and I'm going to make sure that it doesn't. What's more, I might just drive over to the Edwards HQ and see if their Webmaster can remove it.

So here goes:

Not so subtle anti-Semitism

This poster is either seriously confused or an anti-Semite, and probably both.

First, what is this "Middle Eastern Jews" business? There used to be millions of Middle Eastern Jews, but the ones in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Morocco, and the rest of their neighbors fled to Israel, to escape oppression of the most ugly sort. So this writer is presumeably writing about Israelis, but apparently doesn't want to acknowledge that there are such people. It's the "Jews" that he's really attacking in this diatribe.

Even worse is this:

"With conservative ideologys of the Religious Right and most importantly Jewish Americans, neocons willingly sacrificed our nations values, wealth, and youth for their religion and Israel."

Just who is this person talking about (and why doesn't he learn how to form a correct plural?) It is true that there have been several Jews in the ranks of the neocon "brain trust,"but most American Jews don't subscribe to their ideas and are rather embarassed about them. How these few individuals could have sacrificed America's values, youth, and wealth for their religion (presumably Judaism) and for Israel defies belief. But the statement is right in line with classic anti-Semitic rants which ascribe to Jews all sorts of utterly impossible and ridiculous abilities. "Jews control the media." "Jews control the world economy." That sort of crap.

And, besides the writer's very unsubtle hatred of Jews, the whole premise of his post doesn't hold water. Comparing the split in American society to an unending "divisiveness of tribes" between Middle Eastern Jews and Muslims is simply nonsense. Jews have no quarrel with Muslims, although like most Americans, they are troubled that this religious tradition has been highjacked by extremists of the worst sort. Inside Israel, many thousands of Muslims live in peace with their neighbors, have full rights of citizenship, and even sit in the Knesset (the equivalent of our Congress.)

This writer doesn't even appear to understand that the concept of tribalism isn't based on differences in religion, but rather in internal enmities and distrust between believers in the same religion. It is tribalism that is now tearing apart what's left of the society of Iraq, that threatens the stability of Lebanon, and is turning vast stretches of Africa into killing grounds.

It's a pity to see a forum for the free exchange of ideas coopted by someone who is not only prejudiced, but ignorant as well.

by wordlady
on 1/01/2007 at 10:36 EST