Western media frightened of the “F” word in its Israeli context
He pointed out that over the years leftist demonstrators had chanted |”Fascism won’t pass!” but the Left, he added, “keeps on declining, while fascism is increasingly gaining a foothold here. Significant parts of the Jewish public endorse blatant nationalistic and fascist principles, as shown by the Yedioth Ahronoth and Dr. Mina Tzemach poll published last week, including limited freedom of expression and association as well as limiting voting rights to Jews only.”
As Misgav noted, there are scholars who are warning against using the term “fascism” too lightly and cheapening it. Tel Aviv University Professor Yossi Shain was quoted as saying, “The question is whether a threat to democracy exists.”
Among those who think there is such a threat were several hundred youth group members who held rallies across Israel to condemn the government’s loyalty oath decision as racist and anti-democratic. This was after actors and authors had protested in Tel Aviv, read out the Declaration of Independence and published a new document entitled “Declaration of Independence from Fascism.” One of that protest’s initiators, author and journalist Sefi Rachlevsky, said: “This successful and miserable people, which experienced persecution and a holocaust, deserves independence, democracy and a life free of fascism. The real struggle today is not between leftists and rightists, but rather, between democrats and fascists.”
Misgav also noted that some religious figures are losing sleep over the latest trends. He quoted Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman as saying:
“We saw the emergence of a new Jew in Israel; this does not include Lieberman alone, but rather, anyone who voted for the loyalty oath law, including religious parties. This Jew is no longer interested in religion or in Jewish values, but rather, uses his Jewishness to produce hatred and nationalism. The discourse around the loyalty oath gives rise to a corrupt situation: Instead of Judaism being used to criticize nationalism… it turns into a means that leads to fascism.”
As Einstein observed all those years ago, the American public “must” be informed about what is really happening in Israel. But there’s no chance that it will be as long as the mainstream media is unwilling to give voice to those Israeli Jews who can see fascism coming.
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ANU News.net Western Media Afraid to Notice Israeli Fascism:
November 11th, 2010 at 8:18 pm
[...] There is a debate in Israel about whether the Zionist state is on the slippery slope to fascism or is already fascist. As far as I am aware the mainstream Western media has not drawn any attention to this. It was Albert Einstein, the father of modern physics, who, along with 27 other most influential Jews, first warned of the danger of the rise of fascism in Israel. In a letter to the Editor of The New York Times published on 4 December 1948, when Menachem Begin was soliciting support in America, they said the following. http://www.alanhart.net/western-media-frightened-of-the-f-word-in-its-israeli-context/ [...]
Laurent:
November 12th, 2010 at 4:07 am
Is fascism the new norm all over or almost?
I will argue that fascism/nazism rules over the whole world or almost and certainly over the so-called western free, democratic blah blah blah world.
When money buys elections, when fear is a tool to win elections when hatred is used to win elections etc can we call that free, democratic, surely not.
This is why I say that Hitler Mussolini and the likes won WW2, not the so-called “free world” and certainly not the people of the world.
In the same way as we do not hear read the word fascism nazism in the MSM we do not hear read the word enslavement, serfdom in the MSM but this is also what’s happening right now…working more to earn less, working for free, with military like police forces to silence us to repress us I call this fascism nazism in other word serfdom. Serfdom is just an aspect of fascism nazism.
sam:
November 12th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Senor Hart,
This is what we’ve had in the USA for sometime.All those ‘Fascism’
indicaters are right here now. But then again, one should know who controls our government (all branches) and particular our broken “TREASURY” which has been hijacked by our so-called allies (israel)for at least 60 years. Note how much money is given to israel yearly (billion/s?) without any accountability or even a debate. And all they do is terroize the Palestinians daily with impunity. We have admitted ‘war criminals’ running loose and who do you think protects them? Our own, Homeland Security Police, of course.
Vera Gottlieb:
November 12th, 2010 at 9:33 am
Ever since the very first Intifada, the repressive methods used by Israel’s right wing governments have carried the strong whiff of Nazi-ism – the only thing missing being the gas chambers. Hard to believe that a people, who so suffered under the Nazis, are now treating Palestinians the same way. Of course, most of those who lived through the Holocaust are no longer around and, obviously and sadly, did not enlighten the younger generations what racial/religious hatred, prosecutions and death were all about. What have Palestinians done to deserve this? It wasn’t they who murdered 6 million Jews. Israel has only itself to blame for the rising anti-Semitism around the world. I am not anti-Jewish, but certainly anti-Israel – a distinction that needs to be made.
Kate:
November 12th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Mark Braverman’s book “Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews and the Search for Peace in the Middle East” sheds a lot of light on this issue.
Brad Brzezinski:
November 12th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
Vera Gottlieb: You say Israel is to blame for rising antisemitism around the world.
Antisemitism was however existent for a very long time – nearly 2,000 years – when there was no Israel. What do you think, was the cause of it in that period?
Dr Fakhri Azzam:
November 13th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Dear Alan,
One of your good pieces.Sam and Vera have also added excellent
points.Einstein was a real genius:he saw clearly through fifty years
of the future trend of rightist politicians in Israel.In fact it is
hard to miss the fascist trend of the state of Israel, right from its
time of inception:the practice of the Irgun Zvai Leumi and LHI during
the period 1945-48;the systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestinian
villages by the Hagana/Palmah and Irgun during the same period;the
sacrilege of places of worship as the occupation was proceeding;the
subjugation of Palestinians in all of hitorical Palestine; the illegal
occupation and confiscation of the land in contravention of international
laws and defiance of the security council resolutions;the annexation
of Jerusalem. Add to that the massacres propagated against defenceless
Palestinian civilians in 1947&48,and later in the fifties, recently
in Jenin and Gaza in 2002,and most recently in Gaza in 2008/09.Add to
that the wilful killings of Egyptian POWS in the 1967 war, and the
massacres committed against Lebanese civilians in Qana in 1996 and in
several villages-including the same Qana- in the 2006 war against
Lebanon.Add to that the cutting of olive trees of Palestinian farmers,
encircling of villages by the Barrier wall and cutting them off from
their farms and fields; the colonies-only roads;stealing all the water
from the water-aquifers in the West Bank; the 26 pumping stations
surrounding Gaza stealing the already sparse water-wells of water-
deprived Gaza;and last,but not least,burying depleted fuel from the
Dimona nuclear plant in the desert areas of East and South Gaza.
The cancellation of the commemoration of 15 May by the Palestinians
as the Nakba, and the imposition of the oath of allegiance for
Palestinians applying for statehood in Israel is a mockery of so-called
Israeli democracy.Every single item in this list smacks of Fascism.
Hardly needs the discussion.
Incidentally, Alan,I would like to access prof.Ilan Pape’s and prof.
Slomo Sand’s e- mails if you happen to know them, please. Thanks.