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Morsi’s Anti-Semitism

Posted January 16th, 2013 by Lesley Hazleton

I wish I could say that Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s anti-Semitism surprised me half as much as it seemed to surprise The New York Times.  (“Egyptians should nurse our children and grandchildren on hatred” for Jews and Zionists, Morsi declared in a videotaped speech three years ago. “They have been fanning the flames of civil strife wherever they were throughout history. They are hostile by nature.”)

But the rampant use of anti-Semitic imagery in political rhetoric both in Egypt and in other Muslim countries (“apes,” “pigs,” “bloodsuckers,” said Morsi) is hardly news.  It comes right out of the convoluted paranoia of The Protocols of the Elders of the Zion, which far too many Egyptians still take for fact instead of the fictional fake it was long ago proved to be.  What concerns me is how it seeps into even the best-intentioned minds, in far less obvious but nonetheless insidious ways.

Consider, for instance, an exchange like this one, which I seem to have had a number of times over the past several years:

— “What do the Jews think they’re doing in Gaza?”

— “The Jews?  All Jews?  Which Jews?”

— “The Israelis, of course.”

— “Which Israelis?”

— “Well, the Israeli government.”

— “So why do you not say ‘the Israeli government’ instead of ‘the Jews’?”

This is what you might call the low-level shadow of anti-Semitism.  My interlocutors (I love/hate that word) would never dream of using Morsi’s inflammatory language of hatred.  They’re liberal and moderate American Muslims (some are believing mosque-goers, others self-described agnostics or atheists).  And yet even they are not always immune to that conflation of politics and ethnicity, of Israeli policy and Jewishness.

Each time such an exchange occurs, there’s a pause in the conversation — a moment of discomfort as my interlocutor (that word again!) realizes what I’m responding to.  And then comes a nod of acknowledgement, one that takes considerable courage, since none of us appreciate being called to account.  Call it a small moment of sanity.

I recognize this because it’s mirrored in Israel, where talk of “the Arabs” — a generalization as bad as “the Jews” — veers more and more not just into outright racism, but into a kind of gleeful pride in that racism, as shown in David Remnick’s long piece on “Israel’s new religious right” in the current New Yorker.

Israeli politicians have taken to presenting themselves as defenders of “the Jewish people,” regularly using “Jew” as a synonym for “Israeli,” even though — or because — over 20% of Israeli citizens are Muslim or Christian Arabs.  They do this deliberately, of course, just as the Morsi-type anti-Semitic rhetoric is deliberate.  The emotional resonance of “Jew” is deeper and far older than that of “Israeli,” and thus far more useful as a carrier of both covert and overt pride and prejudice.

As a Jew I find this political claim to represent me both insulting and obnoxious.  Like an increasing number of American Jews, I’m appalled by the policies of the Netanyahu government (let alone those of its predecessors), and at the development of what has clearly become an apartheid regime.  I deeply resent being lumped together with the Netanyahus of this world — and I equally deeply resent the attempt by the Netanyahus of this world to lump themselves in with me and define my Jewishness.  How dare they?  And how dare Morsi?

I’d ask “have they no shame?” but the answer is obvious.

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File under: Islam, Judaism, Middle East, sanity, ugliness | Tagged: Tags: anti-Semitism, David Remnick, Egypt, Israel, Morsi, Netanyahu, racism | 9 Comments
  1. Sani says:
    January 16, 2013 at 1:08 pm

    I am surprised that Egyptian President Morsi is described as antisemite. Morsi too is a semite. Anti-semetism according to history tracks originated from the Christians who claimed that the Jews killed Jesus one of their brethen […] Your accusation means that you are acclaiming President Morsi as a non follower of Muhammad Rasulullah […]

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      January 16, 2013 at 3:56 pm

      Antisemitism needs to be called out, not excused. The same, I might remind you, goes for Islamophobia.
      The case for antisemitism as anti-Islamic could indeed be persuasively made, and needs to be made far more, by Muslims. Instead, too many argue precisely the opposite.

      • Muhammad Siddique says:
        February 14, 2013 at 5:36 am

        Lesley, I quote your words.
        “The case for antisemitism as anti-Islamic could indeed be persuasively made, and needs to be made far more, by Muslims. Instead, too many argue precisely the opposite.”
        I am a Muslim, but I cannot agree more with you on this. Islam does not advocate hatred for Jews as a people. The Prophet’s many interactions with the Jews of Madinah prove the opposite. For Muslims the father of Jews, Israel (Jacob) and their leader Moses are beloved figures. The quarrel that arose between sections of the latter days Jews and Muslims in Madinah is not a racial one, but a political issue. Today, if the democrats and republicans don’t see eye to eye, does it mean there is hatred between them?. Today’s Muslims’ view of Jews has become conditioned by the actions of the State of Israel.

        Muhammad Siddique

  2. Sarah says:
    January 16, 2013 at 3:35 pm

    Lesley, I have been in similar discussions from an early age. I always try to redirect the speaker: “You mean zionist, don’t you?” or, “you mean Israeli, don’t you?” There is no political correctness movement or enlightenment in the Middle East to help people un-learn their bigotry.

    A generation ago, Jews, Muslims and Christian Arabs lived together throughout the middle east. Many went to mixed schools and had friends of other religions. Now, this is restricted, even where the different groups co-exist. It is a tremendous loss. It is so much easier to paint people with a broad brush when you don’t actually know them.

  3. Hakan from Turkey says:
    January 16, 2013 at 7:05 pm

    You ask “which Jews” but I think it is not correct to turn a blind eye on the sentiments of the mainstream citizen of Israel. It is well documented that the Jewish people living in Israel see the Arabs inferior. I also remember reading in the news that the Israeli drafted soldiers (which means regular people, not professional killing machines) wearing t-shirts with visuals that implies they delightfully killed Arabs, or Israeli school children writing massages on bomb shells that they know will explode in a village in Palestine.

    Years of violence poisoned everybody in that unfortunate corner of the middle east. I hope they get back to their senses soon.

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      January 17, 2013 at 11:10 am

      You might want to read my post again and examine your own thinking, Hakan. “The Jewish people living in Israel see the Arabs as inferior,” you say. Really? Not some, not even many, but all of them? Thanks for denying the existence of, among others, Israeli liberal activists and reporters, without whose work we would know little of what’s happening in the West Bank and Gaza. Instead, you repeat apocryphal tales from unsubtantiated sources — basically, urban legends based in prejudice. Years of violence have poisoned many people, true. But not “everybody.”

      • Hakan fron Turkey says:
        January 17, 2013 at 1:29 pm

        Of course no society on earth is monolithic. I actually used the term “mainstream”. I don’t blame all the Israelis. I thought I made that clear enough.

        Let me give you an example to make what I argue easier to understand. Do you think is it logical to claim that only the Nazis are to blame for the shoah? Or the German people, who elected them knowing what Hitler was up to, are also guilty? Of course there were good Germans too, some even committed suicide instead of being a part of that society. But we can absolutely say there was a serious problem with the “majority” of the German society at that time.

        Just like that, are we to blame Sharon, Netenyahu or Liberman alone, or the people who elect them and let them govern Israeli too?

        To repeat, I am not anti- anything and condemn Morsi’s statement.. I just say if people blame the “Israeli people” for what’s going on there, we need to stop and think if there is a truth in that statement, instead of fending them off by saying only the government is to blame.. We need to see the problem to correct it. Of course you know all of these better than me, I just wanted to remind.

        P.S. They are not urban legends, but documented realities:
        http://mondoweiss.net/2009/03/racist-and-sexist-military-shirts-show-the-fruits-of-israeli-militarism.html

        http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-military-condemns-soldiers-shocking-tshirts-1651333.html

        http://wakeupfromyourslumber.blogspot.com/2006/07/israeli-children-sign-their-missiles_18.html

        just a couple links.

        • Lesley Hazleton says:
          January 17, 2013 at 1:53 pm

          I stand (and sit) corrected. Poisonous thinking spreads — and we all need to stand against it, wherever it is. In Israel, in Egypt, in the US, in Turkey, anywhere. Glad you’re on board.

  4. ThinkWorth says:
    January 17, 2013 at 10:08 pm

    Only an agnostic can be even-handed. I do appreciate your piece. I watched your recent video defending Prophet Mohamed before large audience under the title Muhammad, you and me. Keep up your good work. But surely, I am no agnostic.

Romney’s White Christmas

Posted October 20th, 2012 by Lesley Hazleton

In case you can’t quite understand how on earth this presidential race could be so close — how any self-respecting woman could vote Romney/Ryan, or anyone over 65, or anyone earning less than a quarter million a year (not to mention anyone with a mind and a conscience) — Randy Newman has a gentle hint:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/cvLeQbwuKys]

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File under: US politics | Tagged: Tags: election, Obama, racism, Randy Newman, Romney, Ryan, white Christmas, white president | Be the First to leave a comment

Sleaze

Posted May 27th, 2011 by Lesley Hazleton

File this under Annals of Ugliness.  And have paper towels handy to wipe off the sleaze if you watch it.

It’s Dutch über-racist Geert Wilders at a ‘Christian’ megachurch in Nashville, TN, getting standing O’s for tripe like “Muhammad was a terrorist worse than Bin Laden ever was” and “If Jerusalem falls, Nashville falls.”  Which makes me think that if this is Nashville, its fall might be a thing much to be desired.  And that with friends like this, Israel needs no enemies.

Transcript follows, courtesy of Loonwatch:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/ToIBXT9U_Yo]

Geert Wilders: “Its Islam Stupid (raucous applause). We must stop the Islamization of our countries, more Islam means less freedom”…”And now, now Europe is looking slowly but gradually like Arabia”…”It was the land of our fathers, it is our land now, it is our values, our values are based on Christianity, Judaism and Humanism and not Islam, it is that simple (applause)”…”and I have a message for all those people who want to rob us from our freedoms, and my message is stay in your own country (loud applause)”…”we are not going to allow Islam to steal our country from us (applause)”…”if Jerusalem falls, Athens, Rome, Amsterdam and Nashville will fall therefore my point is we all are Israel (applause)”…”the only place where Christians are safe in the Middle East is that beautiful country called Israel (loud applause)”…”Make no mistake, please make no mistake, Islam is also coming to America, in fact Islam already is in America. America is facing a stealth jihad, the Islamic attempt to introduce Sharia’ law bit by bit”…”what we need my friends, what we need to turn the tide is a spirit of resistance, what we need I repeat it again is a spirit of resistance”…”we must repeat it over and over again, especially to our children, our Western values and culture based on Christianity and Judaism is better and superior to the Islamic culture (applause), and leaders who talk about immigration without mentioning Islam are blind (applause)”…”we must stop the immigration from non-Western countries and we must forbid the construction of new hate palaces called mosques (applause)”…”the press calls it an Arab spring, I call it unfortunately an Arab winter (applause), Islam and freedom, Islam and democracy are incompatible (applause)”…”the so called Prophet Muhammad was a terrorist worse than Bin Laden ever was (applause)”…”neutrality my friends, neutrality in the face of evil is evil itself (applause).”

I’d say that Wilders should stay in his own country, but that’s not fair to the Dutch.  So Harold Camping, where are you now that we need you?  Could you please arrange for this scumbag to be Raptured?

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File under: Christianity, Islam, ugliness | Tagged: Tags: Bin Laden, Cornerstone Church, Geert Wilders, Harold Camping, Islamophobia, Israel, Jerusalem, Muhammad, Nashville, racism | 3 Comments
  1. Rabeeh Zakaria says:
    May 27, 2011 at 1:23 pm

    A quick recipe for success:

    If you are a woman, having a Middle Eastern origin, then just write a fictitious book about the “crazy” muslim traditions and how suppressed you were.

    If you are a westerner then become a preacher: Twist reality and attach terrorism with Islam and attack a full nation… It’s also easy

    We Muslims are unfortunately the guilty ones. We have a very few “International” Muslim raw models (Hamza Yusuf is one).

    We need to show the world more how good Islamic teachings are and how lovely Islam is.

  2. AJ says:
    May 29, 2011 at 10:08 am

    This sickness and perversion may become mainstream….The fear is viable.

  3. Philip says:
    June 5, 2011 at 9:09 am

    It is past time that the United States passed laws against hate speech, Virtually all other western democracies have such laws. Free speech has limits even in American (Try calling for the assassination of the President and see who comes calling and who will stand up and defend your free speech). In Canada, it was felt necessary to warn Ann Coulter, when she came to Canada and spread her nutty ideas, that we have laws against hate speech, She of course, was outraged that we did not have “free speech” in Canada. I am glad we do not. Hate speech is just a form of libel against a group or an individual . I believe the United states has libel laws. Laws against hate speech would help to lower the tone of political and social discourse.

    It is a testament to the Dutch patience that they tolerate Wilders. Of course, he is being halled into court even in the Netherlands. He is dangerous. Germany learned its lesson. It has very strong laws against neo-Nazi hate speech,

We Shall Overcome

Posted March 4th, 2011 by Lesley Hazleton

The connection between 1957 and 2011:  Beautiful young women walk through hate-spewing crowds in fear, but with heads held high.

Here’s Little Rock Central High School on  September 25, 1957:

And here’s the Yorba Linda Community Center, CA, on February 13, 2011:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NutFkykjmbM]

Clearly, it’s  time to bring back the anthem of the civil rights movement:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkNsEH1GD7Q]


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File under: ugliness, US politics | Tagged: Tags: civil rights, hate, Islamophobia, Little Rock, racism | 7 Comments
  1. Mary Sherhart says:
    March 4, 2011 at 11:30 am

    So ugly

  2. Sunny says:
    March 4, 2011 at 5:53 pm

    Wov,

    So, you have become a spokesperson for the hate-mongering CAIR? You can see Hatred from only one group, but not others? If Tea-partiers are hate-mongers, what about CAIR?

    No opinions on the two American soldiers killed by an Islamist in Germany; No opinions on the Minority minister killed by Islamists in Pakistan? The answer would be a no – because, if you did that, you wouldn’t get speaking opportunities in Mosques and the Kuran. And yet, you call yourself a liberal?

    (My definition of Islamist: One who cannot see the difference between Islamic God and Political Islam).

    Because every “Politically Islamic State” is an apartheid state, every Islamist is a racist and one of the reasons for this racism is inherent (nonislam)ophobia.

    Seriously, which title suits your blog more: “The Accidental Theologist” or “The Accidental Islamist”

    • Lesley Hazleton says:
      March 4, 2011 at 10:18 pm

      Zowie! Clear enough where this is coming from. Try using your real name next time. And stop hijacking other people’s email addresses.

      • Sunny says:
        March 5, 2011 at 6:44 am

        Whats there in a name or email address? Is this really important? Letz focus on ideas rather than on names and email addresses.

        • Lesley Hazleton says:
          March 5, 2011 at 8:38 am

          Since you clearly have hijacked someone else’ s email address, all further comments from you will be denied as spam.

    • Hala says:
      March 4, 2011 at 11:43 pm

      I don’t suppose you kept count of the number of black Americans killed during the shameful American era of discrimination, as I’m sure you didn’t keep count of the number of innocent Christians and Muslims, YES Christians who were killed by American soldiers in their infamous excuse of fighting terrorism. Probably you don’t have an idea of the number of American soldiers killed of whom are Muslims.

      I don’t even suppose you understood the message behind Lesley’s post… Sad…

  3. Matevz says:
    March 4, 2011 at 11:54 pm

    I tried understanding radicalism or hate politics rationally, by contributing it to uneducated or miseducated, but by today’s practical definition of education (and media, of course), there’s no wonder why radicalism or hate politics are both so popular. I’d say especially in the U.S., but it’s far from excluded from Europe for example.
    And that’s what scares me, unable to talk to what is now the majority of people, about pending problems. Real problems, not what Brittney wore here and there.

    Why don’t you attack on a more fundamental level?
    http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html

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