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Monday, June 7, 2010

[chottala.com] Is Criticizing Israel Anti-Semitic?



I just read Rabbi Shmuley Boteach's piece on Huffington Post about Helen Thomas the Jew Hater, and I felt compelled to write something in response.

Sure, Helen Thomas had to retire from her post at Hearst after saying that the Jews in Israel should go back to the countries where their forebears died in Nazi death camps. It is an unfortunate way for such an august career to end. But this rash of talk about Israel and anti-Semitism on the left begs a question: Is Israel really Jewish?

The quick answer is yes. According to the history books, it is. Helen Thomas definitely failed to eloquently (or humanely) express the frustration many feel toward Israel, Jews and non-Jews alike, for simultaneously being a Jewish state while playing the bully in an ageless story that requires a more spiritual approach.

I used to live up the street from Rabbi Boteach in Oxford, England. I remember helping him with his groceries one day, and standing outside his Crowley Road house talking about what it's like to be a Jew in England. (I am half-Jewish.) It was a great conversation, tinged here and there with the ideology and dogmatism that has always estranged me from organized religion. Regardless, I left feeling like I'd had a spiritual experience.

Years after that encounter, I became interested in and then worked with the American historian and political commentator Walter Laqueur, who initiated me into a deeper understanding of the tensions between the Israeli government and the Palestinians than anything I could have gleaned from daily news coverage. There is no nuance in the current conversation.

Israel is engaged in statecraft, not religion. Unlike the Vatican, it is not trying to create more Jews worldwide. Nothing about the attack on those activists can be supported by the tenets of religion. Israel acts a lot more like a state than a religion. Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic. To frame it in this way, as Rabbi Shmuley and others have done this week, is intellectually disingenuous at best.

I live a few blocks from a large community of Hassidim, and I occasionally get into discussions with the rabbis as they wander north into the hipper climes of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Most Haredim are not Zionists because a strict reading of the midrash opposes it. Israel for them does not equal what they think it means to be a good Jew.

I did not have a spiritual experience when I heard about the death of those activists who were trying to draw attention to the situation in Gaza. I did not have a spiritual experience after reading Rabbi Boteach's screed on Helen Thomas.

Thomas's remarks were sired by lazy, off-camera hyperbole (the video was shot on something small and unprofessional-looking) launched into an ideological battlefield. Controversy allows outrageous things to be said before reason can reign in the dire emotionalism of debate. Take for instance, this gem from Boteach's post:

One can only imagine the uproar against Thomas had she said that all blacks should go home to Africa, or illegal immigrants to Tijuana.

It does not warrant much a response. African Americans were abducted and shipped to the New World. Immigrating Mexicans leave a weak economy to make a living in a stronger one. There is no logic, no connection between the examples cited--besides base emotionalism.

In 1947, with the Holocaust still a bright terror in the collective conscience of the world, the United Nations partitioned Palestine into a so-called Jewish state and an Arab state. The UN was to take care of Jerusalem. Zionist leaders approved it; Arab leaders did not. There was a war. It's still being waged.

An interview with Anthony Julius a while back on WNYC has been on my mind. Julius is the author of the recently published book Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England. In that interview, Julius discussed his belief that the left wing intelligentsia has become increasingly anti-Semitic. He's wrong.

In general, lefties are against unfair land grabs and stuff that resembles colonialism. You will find them critical of the European invasion of the Americas as well.

There has to come a time when the horrors of World War II no longer justify fresh injustices and killing. Nothing is going to change in the Middle East until all parties are willing to play ball. A little religion would be a great thing to inject into the battlefield--real religion based on deep spirituality, not the rhetorical variety featured in the news this week.

 

Follow Beau Friedlander on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BeauFriedlander



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[chottala.com] Helen Thomas: Jews "get the hell out of Palestine" go back to "Germany and America"



 
Helen Thomas: Jews "get the hell out of Palestine" go back to "Germany and America"
 
[White house correspondent Helen Thomas]
 
Watch the YouTube Videos :
(1)
 
Helen Thomas: Jews "get the hell out of Palestine" go back to ...
queue
2 days ago 52,214 views CrashPoliticsNEWS
 
(2)
CNN Newsroom: Ari Fleischer slams Helen Thomas
 
(3)
If ANY Other Nation Had Done This We'd Be Up In Arms! ... 
queue
.com June 01, 2010 C-SPAN ... cspanjunkiedotorg cspanjunkie cspan junkie mox news
donation donations donate Oil israel gaza flotilla turkey helen ...
by MoxNewsDotCom 5 days ago 24,068 views
If ANY Other Nation Had Done This We'd Be Up In Arms! Helen Thomas
 
 

Click image to see slide show of Helen Thomas through the years



Reuters

Muck tracker - Helen Thomas retiring
Muckety - 6 hours ago

By Muckety In the wake of widespread criticism of her comment that Israel should
"get the hell out of Palestine," longtime journalist Helen Thomas announced ...
 
This Helen Thomas Thing Is Tearing Bethesda Apart!
The Awl - Nate Freeman - 2 hours ago
The event to organize a protest has been shut down, but another Facebook group
entitled "Helen Thomas should have been our graduation speaker"—started by ...
Helen Thomas Retires, Students Rally For and Against Her‎ - Babble Magazine (blog)
all 2 news articles »
 

 
 


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FW: [chottala.com] FW: [columbiabasi] Fwd: [cmcnorthamerica] APOLOGY DAY FOR PAKISTAN





Dear chottala readers,

The description which "Hamid Mir  Executive Editor of Geo TV in Islamabad"  being a Pakistani journalist cum Editor placed below in his vivid description is really pathetic and most horrible. Even the Israeli jewish people did not have any history of attacking any Palestinian woman the way our so called Muslims of Pakistan did in the past in our the then East Pakistan. I still wonder how our forefathers used to have a choice of considering  those brute Pakistani people to accept as our Muslim brothers and voted overwhelmingly to make one Pakistan. I still remember in 1947 when I was a 6 years school boy I found how the Muslims used to make a slogan of "Larka lengey Pakistan". This Pakistan our forefathers created at that time? I really feel pity for them how wrong they were.   

Dowllah. 

  
 
 
 
                                   APOLOGY DAY FOR PAKISTAN


I am forwarding this article. Truth will triumph over false. You can fool some people for some time but not all the people for all the time. It's an well written article by a rational Pakistani journalist. Also find the link below for information on the journalist.
 
                                  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamid_Mir


Apology Day for Pakistanis

Hamid Mir

SOME people hate me a lot in Pakistan . They hate me because I said sorry to Bengalis two years ago in Islamabad Press Club for the atrocities committed by Pakistan Army in 1971.They hate me because I also demanded an official apology from the government of Pakistan to the people of Bangladesh for the genocide of March 1971.They say I don't know anything. They say I am not a good Pakistani.

They say I was very young in 1971 and I am not aware about the truth. When I say yes I was only a young school going boy in 1971 but I heard and read a lot about the genocide. How can I deny my late father, Professor Waris Mir, who visited Dhaka in October 1971 with a delegation of Punjab University students? My father was a teacher of journalism in Punjab University , Lahore . He was asked by the University administration to organize a visit of the student's union office bearers to Turkey , but he took the boys to Dhaka with their consent. They wanted to know what was actually going on in Dhaka .

I still remember that when my father came back from Dhaka he wept for many days. He told us stories of bloodshed. These stories were similar to the story of my mother. My mother lost her whole family during migration from Jammu to Pakistan in 1947.Her brothers were killed by the Hindus and Sikhs in front of her eyes. Her mother was kidnapped. She saved her life by hiding under the dead bodies of her own relatives. I remember that my mother cried a lot when my father told her that Pakistan army officers raped many Bengali women. My mother said: "We made sacrifices for the safety of our honour but why we are dishonouring each other today?"

My father always said that Bengalis made Pakistan and we Punjabis broke Pakistan . Once he said that March 23rd was Pakistan Day, March 26th should be the apology day and December 16th should be the accountability day. I started understanding the thoughts of my late father when I became a journalist in 1987.

When I first read the Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report I felt ashamed. This report of a Pakistani commission admitted murder and rape but, despite this documentary evidence, many people still live in a state of denial. They say Sheikh Mujib was a traitor who created Mukti Bahini with the help of India and killed many innocent Punjabis and Beharis. I say that Sheikh Mujib was a worker of the Pakistan movement, he was a supporter of Fatima Jinnah (sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah) till 1966.He only demanded provincial autonomy but military rulers declared him a traitor. In fact, these military rulers were traitors because their troops raped their own mothers and sisters. They say I am a liar and an enemy of Pakistan . How could I be an enemy of Pakistan ? My mother sacrificed her whole family for Pakistan . My problem is that I cannot deny truth.

A senior colleague of mine, Afzal Khan, is still alive. He is 73 years old. He worked with Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), and was secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) from 1980 to 1985. He was sent to Dhaka on March 28, 1971 for the coverage of the army operation. He told me many times that yes Mukti Bahini killed a lot of innocent people but what the Pakistan army did was not the job of a national army. Once he was staying in Ispahani House in Khulna . An army major once offered him a girl to spend a night with. When Afzal Khan asked who the girl was, the major said that she was the daughter of a local police officer and she could come to Ispahani House at gun-point. After this incident Afzal Khan came back to Lahore in May 1971. He says that all those who were responsible for the rape and genocide of Bengalis never enjoyed any respect in Pakistan .

The name of General Yahya Khan is still like an abuse in Pakistan . His son Ali Yahya always tries to hide from people. General Tikka Khan is still remembered as the "butcher of Bengal ." General A.A.K. Niazi wanted to become "tiger of Bengal" but is remembered as "jackal of Bengal ." The majority of Pakistanis hate all those who were responsible for the genocide of their Bengali brothers. That is the reason the family members of these army officers don't even mention publicly that who their fathers were.

But still there are some people who are not ready to admit their blunders. These people are a minority but they are powerful. I consider them enemies of the Pakistan for which my mother sacrificed her family. Why should we defend these enemies? Why doesn't our democratic government officially apologise to Bengalis? This apology will not weaken Pakistan . It will strengthen Pakistan .

I am sure that Pakistan is changing fast. A day will come very soon when the government of Pakistan will officially say sorry to Bengalis and March 26th will become an apology day for patriotic Pakistanis. I want this apology because Bengalis created Pakistan . I want this apology because Bengalis supported the sister of Jinnah against General Ayub Khan. I wants this apology because I want to make a new relationship with the people of Bangladesh . I don't want to live with my dirty past. I want to live in a neat and clean future. I want a bright future not only for Pakistan but also for Bangladesh . I want this apology because I love Pakistan and I love Bangladesh . Happy Independence Day to my Bangladeshi brothers and sisters.
*Hamid Mir is Executive Editor of Geo TV in Islamabad

  

 
 
 
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[* Moderator's Note - CHOTTALA is a non-profit, non-religious, non-political and non-discriminatory organization.

* Disclaimer: Any posting to the CHOTTALA are the opinion of the author. Authors of the messages to the CHOTTALA are responsible for the accuracy of their information and the conformance of their material with applicable copyright and other laws. Many people will read your post, and it will be archived for a very long time. The act of posting to the CHOTTALA indicates the subscriber's agreement to accept the adjudications of the moderator]




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