A Gentile Looks at Anti-Semitism by Including Indymedia Style 5:09pm Tue Nov 18 '03 STop racism! print article A Gentile's Views on anti-Semitism Posted by jewishindy on Sunday, November 09 @ 13:32:44 EST by John Rudolph November 9, 2003 Being a non-Jew, or Gentile, I have been making some observations lately over the past few months, and have observed something terribly odd. I go into the news groups in yahoo, and all I see are Jews being blamed for nearly everything that is wrong on the planet. Jews are being accused of running the media and telling us only what they want to hear. Jews are being blamed of the situation over in the Middle East, even though Israel takes up only 0.01% of the total land mass of the Middle East. Jews are being blamed for just about everything - and it is getting worse. Charlottesville, Virginia, is the most liberal leftist town in the state. Thanks to the University of Virginia population, with its pious, overbearing professors and staff that feel they are smarter than thou, it's common to see birkenstock wearing, Howard Dean for President bumber-sticker toting, volvo station wagon driving, self-righteous Berkeleyite hippie leftists and their larger-than-normal lesbian population take up the majority of the population of this seedy and extremely snobby liberal town, and moreso it's common to find them shopping in places like Foods of All Nations or Whole Foods, looking for their tofu, strange looking vegetables that I wouldn't even allow my cat to eat, bobbles and bangles, and their precious rice cakes. Welcome to my little part of the world, where nearly all of them are in this form, and nearly all of them have nothing nice to say about Israel or Jews in particular. I come against those who criticize Jewry. Some or them even claim the Holocaust never happened. But let the historical facts speak the truth. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda, is quoted as saying "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it people will eventually come to believe it." This is what is happening, and it's odd to see that the liberal left and America's ignorant are the "sheep" who are falling for this sudden torrent of anti-Semitism that is sweeping the country en masse. Sadly, they in turn become anti-Semitic themselves, because they feel that this is the way to go. Being anti-Semitic is just about as cool as being a lesbian. If we were to take an analytical study of the US population who are falling for the lies about Jews, we'd come to find that most of them are lacking an important part of their education, which is called geography, basic social studies, and the knowledge of countries and what they provide to the world. It's sad to see someone posting something anti-Semitic in the Yahoo news boards when they probably couldn't even find Israel on a world map - even one that is labeled. It's sad to realize that a lot of them are college graduates while the rest of them are sons of redneck farmers who lack the moral fortitude to even know how to construct a basic sentence, or ever been onboard a plane to go somewhere and learn about that place. It's sad to read something written by a certain Stalinist and anti-Semitic Charlotte Kates, the organizer of Rutger University's pro-terrorist Hate Fest -- claiming that Israel is an apartheid state - when she herself has probably never even been to the Middle East to obtain first view of what Israel is really like. It's shameful and disgusting to know that someone of her caliber could ever write something so inciteful against a people who have never done anything wrong or brought any personal harm against her. It's bitterly sad that Charlotte Kates is probably just as ignorant as one of those who most likely couldn't even find Israel on the map. And this is why we have to come together as a nation to begin questioning the authenticity or validity of the education of these anti-Semitic college degree-toting people who make up the college graduates of America. Their hateful comments are irresponsible, balatantly not needed, because thousands of people will read what Charlotte Kates wrote about Israel and might automatically deduct that this is the truth just because it was written by an "educated" pundit. And that brings me to another point. The gullibility factor of the common American is extremely high, and I blame that on a serious lack of education or the will to learn something new. I am an American, and I'll be the first to tell you that nearly all Americans are fat, lazy, and stupid. They are borderline retarded in my views because they don't want to learn about the world that they live in. In conclusion, it's the ignorant and uneducated who are spreading inciteful words about Jews and Israel. It angers me to hear a college graduate come against Jewry, for they know nothing what they are talking about, let alone most likely haven't even been abroad. I therefore question each and every anti-Semitic college graduate in America today - have you even been to Israel to see what it is like? Why comment on something that you know nothing about? If you're not in the know about Jews or Israel - steer clear of making inciteful and hateful comments, for your hateful comments are about as worthless as the college degree that you hang so proudly on your wall. Just the other day, my Jewish friend asked me why is it that people hate Jews so much? For now, all I can say is that it's the majorily ignorant who are doing this. We need to include the self-proclaimed "educated" into this mass of ignorant and uneducated viewers that hate Jews and Israel, for they so badly need to go back to school. This time, they need to stay awake. add your comments Source file

True, but so is this by John Veldhuis 5:49pm Tue Nov 18 '03 print comment Just the other day, my Palestinian friend asked me why is it that Israeli people hate Palestinians so much? For now, all I can say is that it's the majorily ignorant who are doing this. We need to include the self-proclaimed "educated" into this mass of ignorant and uneducated viewers that hate Palestinians and Arabs, for they so badly need to go back to school. This time, they need to stay awake. If only Gaza and Westbank could be covered with camera's. add your comments

Unite....against the Right by Hermes 6:24pm Tue Nov 18 '03 print comment I have already commented on this at length in the discussion on Tikkums anti-semitism article. But I have to say, criticism of Israel is not anti-semitic. It is an attempt to save the soul of a people who are oppressing another people, stealing their land and creating a system of apartheid. I have been there, and seen for myself the wall around Qalqilia. It has truly become a prison for thousands of people. I have stayed in Tulkarem, waking up one day to the fact that a child has been shot by the Israeli army while walking back home from school. I have witnessed the army beating up people at checkpoints, or in their farmlands, and even kicking a fellow peace activist in the ribs. The army have shot at me while I tried to deliver medical aid to a family in occupied Nablus. The state of Israel is different to the Jewish people. I am ashamed of the role my country, Britain, has played in building empires, inventing the concentration camp, dividing and ruling the third world. But I do not hate British people. I just want the country we live in to stop supporting violent policies abroad. And the same with Israel. It is not a hatred towards Jews that attracts criticism of Israel. It is a concern for the welfare of the Palestinians, and for the welfare of the Jews, that draws this criticism. Who is a greater friend? One who sits back and lets his brother commit murder, or one who intervenes and tries to stop him from commiting a deed that will eventually lead to mutual destruction. If you look closely, you will find that those who support the rights of Palestinians are those who support human rights the world over, and who stand against the forces of racism. I wish you would see that. Anti-semitism exists, for sure, but when you equate it with criticism of Israel, you make a grave mistake. Because you then provide cover for the REAL anti-semites. If we are anti-semitic, what do you call the neo-nazis in Germany? If we are anti-semitic, what do you call the Klu Klux Klan? I fight against the BNP ( a far-right party ) here in England. All of us, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, and all others. We are at least united on this issue; the far-right must not be allowed a place in politics ever again. When we're not arguing over the issue of Israel/Palestine, we're fighting the BNP together. Its nice, and it goes to show....there IS a difference, and we all know it, to the extent that when this sort of aryan racism raises its ugly head, we put aside our differences for the day and unite against it. Anyway, gotta go add your comments

This made me sad... by RC 6:51pm Tue Nov 18 '03 print comment Cause it is obviously not written by an american 'gentile', but by a desperate and angry and sad Israeli..I can tell from the writing itself and, of course, certain stereotypes about the place itself, which are not actualities. Anyway, many things here point to a poorly written ruse. But that doesn't even matter..(although why this person is so angry at health food, i can't understand).. What does matter is that it shows such an 'us' against them mentality, (which by the way, also gives this writer away, sadly enough)...I wish that the israeli people (some of them), could get out of that myopia and realize that maybe other people are right..If i would go out and rob a bank, i would go to jail..I could say that the judge or the jury was antisemitic; or that i was framed, because the cops are antisemitic, and maybe they were..But that doesn't mean i didn't do it..uh oh, i think i am talking about the O.J. trial... add your comments

Just the other day my Dutch friends asked me by Netherlander Jew 6:51pm Tue Nov 18 '03 print comment why it is that John Veldhuis is such a moronic anti-Semite and a Dutch fascist. I did not have a good answer. add your comments

Guess why there is no good answer by John Veldhuis 6:57pm Tue Nov 18 '03 print comment Because I am neither. Only true thing is that I am Dutch. I am not anti-semitic. That would be too zionist-friendly. I am not a nazi. That would put me in the same camp as zionist extremists, like those Saroef boy scouts. add your comments

Now is clearer who is Anti-Semite by AMR 9:01pm Tue Nov 18 '03 print comment RC you have missed the point of yours own example… If I am as a Jew is robbing a bank and brought to trial because of that it is definitely unrelated to me being a Jew, it all has to do with me being a thief. BUT if the entire crowd in the courtroom will shout…”All Jews are thieves” then that is an act of anti-Semitism (or if you wish a racism). Or to the larger example…. If Jews in France are having their synagogue burnet due to Israel’s hatred by Islamic French or by French born people IT IS Anti-Semitism. The bombing of Istanbul’s synagogues just recently is an act of Anti-Semitism from the same reason. What makes it obviously Anti-Semitism is the tendency for Generalization. Conveying an opinion that is related to a few and projecting it on the whole public from the same ethnic, sexual or religious group. It like saying that if O.J. Simpsom was a murderer (not everybody is sure yet, but lets assume so) then all blacks are murderers. I am glad that the example you brought forward helped me in explaining the term Anti-Semitism in a very simple and straight forward terms. add your comments

I know the answer already... by AMR 9:30pm Tue Nov 18 '03 print comment To Hermes… I appreciate your sincerity and it seems to me you do care about matters around you. Having said that, I will raise a few questions in the following paragraphs and leave it to you answering them…. 1. Why 350 UN resolutions out of total 700 since its creation where related to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and obviously against Israel? 2. Where were you and your friends been when 1.000.000 Tutsi butchered in Ruanda? 3. Where were you and your friend been when tens of thousands of Curds gassed. 4. Where were you and your friend been when hundreds of thousands of Iraqis murdered by Sadam. 5. Where were you and your friend been when hundreds of thousands of Kuwaitis murdered by Sadam. 6. Where were you and your friend been when 6.000.000 of Jews gassed and murdered by The Nazis.. 7. Where were you and your friend been when about 25.000.000 Russians murdered by Stalin. 8. Where were you and your friend been when 1.800.000 Armenians murdered by the Turks. 9. Where were you and your friend been when 600.000 of Gypsies gassed and murdered by the Nazis. Well I think you have got the idea by now… Ask yourself what makes the Palestinian’s blood (3.000 killed) redder then the tens of millions of others, Israeli Jews included. When you will be able to answer that for yourself, deeply and sincerely (do not bother answering me, I know the answer already) then yours view of the world as you know it will come upside-down, take my word for it, I guarantee that…. add your comments

Response to AMR by Hermes 1:50am Wed Nov 19 '03 print comment Because you and me are related, and we have a shared history, and a relationship that does not exist between us and the Tutsis, us and the Iraqis, us and the Tibetans. Even if that relationship is a tragic one. Your background is as much European as it is Jewish, or at least if not in your case, because I don't know you personally, this is the case for a great many Israeli Jews. I relate to you in a way I find difficult to relate to an Indonesian. I know you on a deeper level than I know the African Huttu. As my mind expands, and I confront these issues of human suffering, I see more and more the universality of persecution and conflict, in regions all over the world, at scales even greater than Israel and Palestine. But Palestine is my first point of contact. Because I see people who think like me, wear clothes like me, have fun in the way I like to have fun, watch the same movies as me, live in a society similar to my own, treating another people with such racism and injustice. It is the same as South Africa, in that respect. There were worse things than South Africa. Many of them happened in other African countries. But the persecutors were white, like us, and rich, like us, and shared our culture and values. Israel is not the biggest villain on the face of the Earth. But certainly, the issue is a very dangerous one, and the consequences that spring from what happens in that region are having ripples that can be felt when terrorists fly planes into the World Trade Centre, starting off a chain of events that leads our countries into the disastrous occupation of Iraq. What is happening with Israel and Palestine is having a direct affect on what my country is doing, now, in the middle-east. It is not just 'You and Them', because we've all been dragged into it now. And so, we all have to confront the problems together, and on our 'side', as citizens of 'Western Civilisation', we have to confront the fact that, perhaps we are racist. We still have a colonial mentality. We believe we are better than everybody else. And we are far more willing to build walls of hate and checkpoints of humiliation, than we are to approach another people with open arms, respect and honesty of being. We are part of the same system, and it is something slightly different to the system in Africa, the rest of the Middle East, or in East Asia. Maybe here is an emotional complication, which I would like to understand. How does the Israeli Jew relate to their European heritage? Are they happy with it, or do they resent it, and feel angry at it, because of the horrors of the holocaust? And again, how does it feel, to be treated in such a humiliating way in Europe, packed off to another country with our blessings, and then told by us that what you are doing is wrong? It is shit, and it is a complicated issue, but it is one we need to work through together. I can only say, that I, had I been alive at that time, would have stood up for the rights of the persecuted Jew, and risked my life in the same way I have risked my life for the persecuted Palestinian. I did not have to go to Nablus and get shot at by the IDF. But I believe in higher principles than just survival, and maybe thats a luxury born out of a life of safety. Many people stood up for the Jews, and were murdered alongside them. And they did it, not because they chose a side, 'Germans or Jews'. They did it for human decency. A belief and a respect that all life is sacred, and the blood of one race is no more precious than the blood of another. Can you not see, so many of us are telling you to stop, not because we hate you, not because we are anti-semitic, but because we do not want to see you become as cruel and stupid as us. We cannot bear to see the Jew we persecuted becoming the persecutor of another people. Our history together is long, and filled with pain. And understandably, you would leave that history behind, and Exodus to the promised land. But there is no escape now, our world has become so much smaller in 3000 years, and we have to learn to live with each other. You cannot fight the Arabs forever. They only have to win once, and its all over for you. If you choose to fight, you have to win every battle if you are to survive. But if you choose a different path, and engage with them, as brothers, you will find your security. In blood, they are more your brothers than we are. Aren't the arabs also a semitic people? So you have two brothers. The Arab shares your blood, the European shares your culture... Anyway, thanks, lets keep up the debate add your comments

Hermes, you are once again transcendent... by RC 5:28am Wed Nov 19 '03 print comment I take my proverbial hat off to you...and you will hear from me very soon..rita add your comments

For AMR by RC 5:35am Wed Nov 19 '03 print comment I agree with what you are saying..Actually, what i meant to say was that just because many black men were wrongly accused in the past, it didn't mean, that because o.j. was black, then he was innocent...Which is how it really did play out here in the trial..But, the way you stated it, i agree..Except that i also think that when those synagogues were burned, etc, it is about anger at israeli policies, more than individual jews..Because, to many people, they are the same thing..But i appreciate your response, AMR. as always... add your comments