QUOTE An anti-Semite used to be a person who disliked Jews. Now it is a person who Jews dislike UNQUOTE
Those are the words of my dear Jewish friend, Nazi (Auschwitz) holocaust survivor Dr. Hajo Myer. They are taken from page 179 of his magnificent book An Ethical Tradition Betrayed – The End of Judaism (published in 2007).
Hajo was making a point in passing which had been provoked in his mind by an incident that happened in the Netherlands where he lives. Gretta Duisenberg, the wife of the former European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg, hoisted a Palestinian flag at her home as a protest against Israel’s actions in the occupied territories. Her Jewish neighbours saw to it that their accusation that she was anti-Semitic went viral, and a Jewish lawyer not only sought to press a charge against her, he approached the Jewish World Congress in New York with the suggestion that Wim Duisenberg should be declared persona non grata in the United States. That affair, Hajo wrote, “reflects a caustic, contemporary definition of the term anti-Semite.” Then came his own redefinition as quoted above.
In the light of the false charges of anti-Semitism that were levelled against British Liberal Democratic MP David Ward for telling the truth, and then against Gerald Scarfe for his anti-Netanyahu cartoon in the Sunday Times which reflected (yes, in a grotesque way) the truth, I would expand Hajo’s definition as follows. An anti-Semite today is a truth-telling person Jews who support the Zionist state of Israel RIGHT OR WRONG not only dislike but want to silence.
That last statement of mine should not be taken to imply that I am a denier of the existence of anti-Semitism. It is on the rise due mainly to the Zionist (not Jewish) state’s brutal oppression of the Palestinians and on-going colonization of their West Bank land and water in open defiance of, and contempt for, international law and UN Security Council resolutions.
Also true is that a number of web sites which reflect mainly American and European views are alive and crawling with the most vile expressions of anti-Semitism. That said, I think it’s more than possible that some of the anti-Semitic excrement in comments on web sites is the work of Zionist assets for the purpose of discrediting by association those of us who seek to tell the truth. (The web site of Veterans Today is an example of what I mean. It is one of quite a few sites that publish my articles, but many of the comments under them do not engage with what I have written. They spew out hatred of Jews and deny the obscenity of the Nazi holocaust. As I wrote in Volume One of my book Zionism: The Real Enemy of the Jews, I think holocaust denial is as obscene and wicked as the great crime itself).
The main point I want to convey in this article is that it really, really, really is time for peoples of all faiths and none everywhere to understand that it is perfectly possible to be passionately anti-Zionist (anti Zionism’s colonial enterprise), and fiercely condemnatory of the policies of Zionism’s in-Israel leaders, without being in any way, shape or form anti-Semitic. The assertion of those Jews (a minority of the whole?) who support Israel right or wrong that criticism of Israel’s leaders and their policies is a manifestation of hatred for all Jews everywhere is c-r-a-z-y. It can only come from traumatized minds which have been brainwashed by Zionist propaganda.
In my view real understanding requires knowledge of the following.
There are two definitions of anti-Semitism in its Jewish context. One was born in real history and represents a truth. The other is part and parcel of Zionist mythology and was invented for the purpose of blackmailing non-Jewish Europeans and North Americans into refraining from criticising Israel or, to be more precise, staying silent when its leaders demonstrate their absolute contempt for international law and resort to state terrorism.
Anti-Semitism properly and honestly defined in its Jewish context is prejudice against and loathing, even hatred, of Jews, all Jews everywhere, just because they are Jews. (I say “anti-Semitism in its Jewish context” because there is another context. Arabs are also Semitic peoples. A real and true anti-Semite is therefore one who is prejudiced against and lathes, even hates, both Jews and Arabs).
Anti-Semitism as defined by Zionism, the colonial, ethnic cleansing enterprise of some Jews, has come to mean almost all criticism of Israel’s policies and actions. Put another way, anti-Semitism as defined by supporters of Israel right or wrong is anything written or said by anybody who challenges and contradicts Zionism’s version of events. In effect Jewish supporters of Israel right or wrong say, “If you disagree with us, you’re anti-Semitic.”
As a blackmail card to silence criticism of Israel and prevent informed and honest debate about who must do what and why for justice and peace in the Middle East, Zionism’s false charge of anti-Semitism has worked wonderfully well to date. Why? In the long (and still present) shadow of the obscenity of the Nazi holocaust, a European crime for which, effectively, the Arabs were punished, there are few things Westerners in public life, politicians and media people especially, fear more than being accused of anti-Semitism. The charge – even when false as it most often is – can destroy careers.
Unable to refute the substance of documented and objective messages of challenge and criticism, Zionism’s policy always was, and is, to shoot the messengers, usually with smears for bullets.
For complete understanding of what anti-Semitism is and is not, it’s necessary to know what Zionism is and is not.
Zionism claims to be the nationalist movement of “the Jews”, all Jews everywhere. But this claim, like almost all of its claims, does not bear examination.
As I document in detail in my book, the truth is that from Zionism’s foundation and first dishonest mission statement in 1897 until the Nazi holocaust, its colonial enterprise was endorsed and supported by only a tiny minority of the world’s Jews and was opposed by many eminent Jewish leaders.
Also true is that from Israel’s unilateral declaration of independence in 1948 until the countdown to the 1967 war, many Jews of the world had no great affinity with Israel. They were in their chosen places as integrated citizens of many nations and Israeli Jews were in their chosen place, gained, mainly, by Zionist terrorism and ethnic cleansing. (During his time as prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s founding father, expressed dismay that not enough European and North American Jews wanted to move to Israel and become citizens of it).
For very many Jews of the world the 1967 war was a dramatic turning point in their relationship with Israel because they believed – were conditioned by Zionism and the mainstream Western media to believe – that poor little Israel was in danger of annihilation. Thus Israel’s survival (not to mention its conquest of more Arab land) against impossible odds was a source of great pride for most Jews of the world.
Though most Jews didn’t and still don’t want to know it, the truth was different. The Arabs did not attack first and were not intending to attack. The 1967 war was one of Israeli aggression. For Israel’s military and political hawks the grabbing of the West Bank including Arab East Jerusalem was the unfinished business of 1948. Taking the Syrian Golan Heights was a bonus.
Today much (meaning not quite all) of what supporters of Israel right or wrong claim to be anti-Semitism is actually anti-Israelism, which in my view is best described as anti-Zionism. And contrary to the assertions of Zionism’s spin doctors, anti-Zionism is not by definition anti-Semitism.
Short or long, any discussion of anti-Semitism should include the fact that Zionism needs it. The first to acknowledge this was none other than Theodore Herzl, Zionism’s founding father. In one of his diaries, not published until 1962, Herzl wrote (and probably said to some of his close associates) the following:
“Anti-Semitism is a propelling force which, like the wave of the future, will bring Jews into the promised land. Anti-Semitism has grown and continues to grow – and so do I.”
He was right. Without the anti-Semitism unleashed by Adolf Hitler, Zionism’s colonial enterprise would almost certainly have been doomed to failure for lack of enough Jewish support.
Today Zionism needs anti-Semitism, or what it can present as anti-Semitism, to go on justifying its policies and actions.
Any discussion of anti-Semitism should also take note of the words of Yehoshafat Harkabi, Israel’s longest serving Director of Military Intelligence. In his book Israel’s Fateful Hour, he wrote:
“I believe it was a damaging error on Menachem Begin’s part to insinuate that criticism of Israel is a manifestation of anti-Semitism. There is a recklessness in the grandiose assertion that ‘the whole world is against us.’ If indeed the whole world is against Israel, its future is very bleak. Only those intoxicated with their own greatness can believe that they can succeed in overcoming the entire world.”
In the same book Harkabi gave this warning:
“Israel is the criterion according to which all Jews will tend to be judged. Israel as a Jewish state is an example of the Jewish character, which finds free and concentrated expression within it. Anti-Semitism has deep and historical roots. Nevertheless, any flaw in Israeli conduct, which initially is cited as anti-Israelism, is likely to be transformed into empirical proof of the validity of anti-Semitism. It would be a tragic irony if the Jewish state, which was intended to solve the problem of anti-Semitism, was to become a factor in the rise of anti-Semitism. Israelis must be aware that the price of their misconduct is paid not only by them but also Jews throughout the world.”
From the mid 1980′s when those words were written, Israel’s “misconduct” has been the prime cause in the rise of what Zionism presents as anti-Semitism but which is actually anti-Israelism/anti Zionism.
Today the biggest danger to the Jews of the world is, as Harkabi warned, that anti-Israelism/anti-Zionism will be transformed into anti-Semitism, with the consequence at some point of another great turning against Jews.
My own view is that such a catastrophe will most likely happen unless the citizens of the mainly Gentile Western world among whom most Jews live are assisted to understand why it is perfectly possible to be passionately anti-Zionist (opposed to Zionism’s still on-going colonial enterprise) without being in any way, shape or form anti-Semitic.
If the day of understanding comes, it will mark the beginning of the end of Zionism’s freedom and ability to impose its will on the governments of the world that matter most (as well as on the Palestinians) and to remain above and beyond international law.
Footnote
A few of those who put comments under my articles on various web sites, most notably that of Veterans Today, assert that I am an apologist for Zionism. If they really believe that, they are certifiably m-a-d. But perhaps there is another explanation. Perhaps they are acting for Zionism and it’s their way of seeking to destroy my credibility with those who know that I truly believe Zionism is the cancer at the heart of international affairs…?
Footnote 2
I received the following message from “Ron Law” at “[email protected]”:
“Your writings are boringly predictable. Assuming you live in the US (I don’t, why assume that?) note that this place is going to hell in a handbasket, the Muslims are killing each other, and will continue to do so, and Israel will win its wars and thrive. Drop dead, painfully. Ron”
Sorry, Ron. Not yet ready to do that.
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Another excellent article, Mr. Hart, and I hope it makes it to many more than a handful of sites.
Not in an amusing way, but what gets me is when - as last resource, those disagreeing with Zionists' politics (me included)are accused of being 'self-hating Jews'. To which I counter...'yeah, and those who opposed Hitler were self-hating Germans'. Logic evaporates for lack of argument.
Great article, Alan, as always.
Just a brief remark on your very good point that 'Anti-Semite' should include Arabs as well.
The fact is that Jews in Western coountries -- and most notably here in the US -- have long ceased to be a Semitic race (thence their generalized dislike for, or even scorn of, Arab-Jews, like Yemenites, Egyptians, Iraqis etc.)
I take a certain pride in describing myself as a "self-hating Jew." Zionism turned me from pride to despair for Jewishness and Judaism itself. Zionism is the death rattle of Judaism. Rather than be associated in any way with Zionism and Israel, I put away my Jewish paraphernalia, the Menorah, Tankh, Seder dishes etc.
During the last assault on Gaza, supporters of Israel rallied in a park here and one guy stood proudly at the periphery of the rally with the Zionist flag, hand on hip, looking belligerent, daring anyone to confront him. This is the bully of Zionism, the Jewish thug, the mobsters of Judaism. It was all I could do to not confront him.
The next rally, I will go around taking pics of each individual. That'll freak them out, I think.
Yes, the political cartoon was not anti-Semitic at all yet it was called a "blood libel." It can only be "libel" if it is untrue and it is not untrue. Besides -- I don't know of any mythology about Jews building walls with the bodies of their enemies. Did I miss this one? Are the Zionists at work inventing more drivel? I do like the identification of an "anti-Semite" as anyone the Jews dislike.
@ontogram. You are falling into the trap that Alan warns about. Do not conflate Zionism with Judaism. If you feel the need to give up Judaism because of Zionism, your adherence to Judaism is not very strong in the first place. No need to hate yourself just because the Zionists do.
Recommended reading: Shlomo Sand's new book, "The Invention of the Land of Israel."
Gene -- thanks for your comments. I feel like we are so powerless to stop this stupidity. In any event, I am not religious and, besides, I can dust off the Menorah if I want. But, being a "self-hating Jew" is a badge of pride for me. I can't sit still for the BS of Zionism. Alan Hart's books had a lot to do with my development in this regard.
Unfortunately, I have trouble getting a Jewish date because so many are brainwashed on Zionism, an utterly false narrative. Actually, I have trouble getting a date whether Jew or Gentile because of my anti-Zionism and activism.
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/1/29/the_gatekeepers_in_new_film_ex
The maker of this documentary (nominated for an Oscar)is being interviewed by Democracy Now!. Some of his comments rather stunning. He is an israeli.
anti-GENTILISM is the cause of so-called antisemitism. Non-Jews did not sit around campfires and just decide to hate Jews for no reason, and then wait thousands of years for a Jew to come along just so they could pick on him. Jews codified anti-GENTILISM into their Zenophobic Tribalism, and have been creating enemies by their rabid hatred of all "GOYIM"(NON-Jews) ever since.
I am sorry you got that despicable message from Ron Law.
I say: Bravo Mr. Hart! Your fight is the fight for human dignity.
Only indirectly related to this post, but related just the same:
http://www.nytexaminer.com/2013/01/amos-oz-vs-shlomo-sand-on-the-soul-of-israel/
Alan keep up the enlightening work. Imagine I'm an anti zioinist not an anti semite for criticising the greedy land grabin jews in
Israel. I'm embrassed for our country that it doesn't see what you
have mentioned & let Israel off the hook sooo many times.
Every Good Wish
George Rudman
May I make the following comment. Britain had honoured the Balfour declaration ever since it was issued. It opened the door to Jewish immigration to Palestine long before Hitler came to power and introduced measures in Palestine to ensure that the Zionist project is realised. For example, it had not only appointed a Zionist high commissioner, but also enacted laws that allowed the Zionists to have armed militias whilst making the possession of even a small handgun by Arabs punishable by hanging. The Zionist calculated that they also needed to gain world sympathy for their project and what better narrative to garner this than the holocaust? Granted that the Nazis imposed collective punishment on the Jews and subjected them to most brutal and inhuman abuse, yet there is sufficient evidence not to agree with everything they said, particularly about the holocaust which according to Douglas Reed in his invaluable book The Controversy of Zion, has been exaggerated.
The thing I cannot stomach is US President Barak Obama's unflinching support of Zionism. The man is both a racist and a two-faced hypocrite. Let me put it this way. If a building contractor in the USA were to build a group of dwellings and advertise them for sale with a notice saying: "Whites only. Blacks need not apply", can we imagine what Obama's reaction would be? A rhetorical question, of course. But this same Barak Obama turns a blind eye when Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu does the same thing. In order to punish the Palestinians for having the audacity to seek recognition by the United Nations, he orders the building of more housing settlements, homes for whites only, blacks need not apply. Or, if you like, for Jews only, Palestinians need not apply. It is the same thing. It is EXACTLY the same thing, and if Obama says otherwise he is trying to tell us that the Palestinian people have the wrong skin colour to qualify as victims of racism. A two-faced hypocrite, in other words. Zionism is racism, and it has Obama's unflinching support.
What’s the difference between ‘Antisemitism’ and ‘Anti-Semitism’? The Berlin-born Jewish professor Shmuel Almog (Hebrew University, Jerusalem), has claimed that the term with hyphen and without it has different meanings. The term ‘Antisemitism’ was coined by Wilhelm Marr in the 1870s. It was applied to European Christians who hated Jews. However, when it’s written with hyphen ‘Anti-Semitism’ – it means hatred toward Semite people who are found in far greater numbers among Arab Muslims and Christians than the entire world Jewry.
Incidently, professor Rabbi Dan Cohn-Sherbok (University of Wales) who has authored three books on Jew-hatred (The Crucified Jew: Twenty Centuries of Christian Antisemitism and Antisemitism: A History and The Paradox of Antisemitism) has always the term without hyphen.
The ‘Zionism On The Web’ site says: “Anti-Semitism or Antisemitism. It’s all hatred of Jews, Jews hate, the oldest hate in the world“. Then it explains that dislike of Judaism, or denial of the Zionist narrative of Jewish holocaust, or criticism of the state of Israel, or even pointing out a criminal being Jewish – is an old-fashioned Jews hate.
http://rehmat1.com/2012/11/27/antisemitism-vs-anti-semitism/
Let's not split hairs about hyphenated anti-Semitism and non-hyphenated antisemitsm. Anti-Semitism is anti-Semitism no matter how you spell it. We all know what it means, and I think we are now also beginning to know who is propagating it. As Alan so correctly describes it above.
Vera: thanks for the link! Shin-Bet, yet... Who'll be next?
Alan: thanks for the article. As always.
a good piece, Mr. Hart
one small criticism I might make.......you should not need to re-emphasise your horror of genocides/holocausts in order, in some way, to demonstrate your integrity when it comes to your lack of anti-semitic thoughts....it is a given!
My own feeling is that, if people wish to term the search for justice "anti-semitic" then such individuals are clearly not "for" justice. When someone says that your criticism is "anti-semitic" the response should be about justice not a demonstration of your non-racist bona fides.
The result of a new genetic study published in the British journal Genome Biology and Evolution claims that European Jews (Ashkenazi) don’t belong to the 12 (Semite) tribes of Israel. They’re a mix of genetic ancestries, far more of which than previously thought originating in tribes from the Caucasus – a region that sits between Eastern Europe and Asia Minor. Ashkenazi ancestry comes from Slav, Bulgar, Iranian and Turkic tribes which established the Khazar empire in that region – which at its peak stretched from Kiev in the West to the Aral Sea in the Southeast.
The study, titled ‘The Missing Link of Jewish European Ancestry: Contrasting the Rhineland and the Khazarian Hypotheses’, was conducted by Dr. Eran Elhaik, a geneticist at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. Elhaik compared the genomes of 1,287 unrelated individuals who hail from eight Jewish and 74 non-Jewish populations.
Among the European Jews, Elhaik found ancestral signatures that pointed clearly to the Caucasus and also, but to a smaller degree, the Middle East, where the Israelite (Hebrew tribes) had originated. More than 90% of 12.7 million world Jewish population is Ashkenazi.
The so-called “Rhineland hypothesis” is based on Zionists’ lie that Jews migrated to Europe when Arab Muslims captured the city of Jerusalem in 638 CE. This lie has been debunked by British academic, Dr. Karen Armstrong, former Catholic Nun, author, historian and a religious authority on Judeo-Christianity, in an article published by the Jewish-owned Time Magazine (April 16, 2001).
http://rehmat1.com/2013/01/18/study-european-jews-are-not-semite/
[...] Go to Original – alanhart.net [...]
Me anti-Semite?....I don't dislike Arabs, yes I said ARABS...besides the Semites Jews of the Bible 30% of all Arabs are semites as are five more nationalities.....being a semite is to be from a certain region of the Middle East and has nothing to do about nothing else.
V
No. anti-semiticism ISN"T on the rise.
It's just that you, Hart, in spite of your denial, really want to interpret it the jew way, i.e. that any criticism of Israel, is against the jews.
You haven't taken into account, that
1- The jew-controlled governments of Europe. ALL of them, are bringing in islamics- ENEMIES of jews. And these islamics are the ones committing the crimes against the jews in Europe, NOT the White Europeans.
2- An ex-gov. official of Israel admitted that the label of 'anti-semiticism is a trick, that Israel used, whenever Israel doesn't get its way:
See Youtube:
3- Very Important: Everytime there's been an incident of "anti-semiticism" perpetrated, like a swastika painted somewhere or anti-jew words, or a toppling of gravestones in a jew cemetery, or an "attack" of a jew, the cops/CIA/FBI is called in, the mass media makes a big deal of it, so that everybody gets to hear about, and is scandalized, all non-jews.
And at the end of the investigation, it turns out that a jew did it to her/himself.
And then, the truth is relegated to the backpage of a news daily and/or a small paragraph, so that hardly anyone see it.
The result is the impression left that "OOOHH, THERERE'S A HUGE AMOUNT OF ANTI-JEW CRIME!"- headslap, "what we gonna do! What we gonna do?!"
The result being, that there is NO increase of anti-semiticism, when one investigates it. Because in truth, non-jews, worldwide, are decent, fair-minded, law-abiding, forbearing, compassionate Human Beings.
Hello Mr Hart,
I am 76 years old, and as I have grown older I have come to be wary of Jews. I have personally seen much deliberately anti-gentile arrogance, greed and dishonesty from Jews recently.
Jewish power is flaunted, with Jews controlling the government, the media, the companies and the money. It is not a Jewish conspiracy, it is blatantly out in the open
In addition we have the problems of Israel's conquest and subjugation of the Palestinians, and wars instigated by dual American-Israeli citizens in government.
I have had some great Jewish friends and colleagues, and when I was young my best teacher was a wonderful Jewish lady, so what happened? I'm not sure, but it took a long time to happen, mainly over the past 15 years,
Best Regards, John Kirby