Just for the record, Ken Livingstone is right. Anyone who actually bothers to check the facts of the Haavara Agreement will discover this, but not those who use the knee-jerk reaction of calling everyone and anyone racist at the drop of a hat. Having worked for an Israeli company and having numerous Israeli friends, I am fully aware that there's almost what amounts to an industry in Israel that works toward the end of blackening the name of anyone who criticises Israel in any way,shape or form.
I was made aware of the EUMC working definition of antisemitism yesterday - was never even aware of it before. If you read it carefully, there are a couple of items that should give cause for concern. The ones I'm dubious about are:
On the second bullet - what if someone actually is more loyal to Israel than their country of citizenship? Weren't the Cambridge spy ring guilty of allegiance to a country other than their country of citizenship and accused of being traitors because of that?
When all's said and done, you don't have to be Jewish to support Zionism, and some Jews are anti-Zionist. Being anti-Zionist is not being antisemitic. Antisemitism is also a word I have problems with anyway - just try looking up a definition of Semitic. Arabs are Semites.
Definitions can be such tricky things - one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter...
By the time this post is published I'll be in Wrexham viewing a nice 1993/4 Mercedes 500SL. Spotted it on eBay last weekend and thought to upgrade my 300SL after being given a ride in one about a month ago by the bloke I bought my SL300 from. The difference is phenomenal. The only problem is that the 500SL never came in red. The saving grace of this one is that the interior is beige, which is infinitely better than the usual black.
I was made aware of the EUMC working definition of antisemitism yesterday - was never even aware of it before. If you read it carefully, there are a couple of items that should give cause for concern. The ones I'm dubious about are:
- Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.
- Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel, or to the alleged priorities of Jews worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.
On the second bullet - what if someone actually is more loyal to Israel than their country of citizenship? Weren't the Cambridge spy ring guilty of allegiance to a country other than their country of citizenship and accused of being traitors because of that?
When all's said and done, you don't have to be Jewish to support Zionism, and some Jews are anti-Zionist. Being anti-Zionist is not being antisemitic. Antisemitism is also a word I have problems with anyway - just try looking up a definition of Semitic. Arabs are Semites.
Definitions can be such tricky things - one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter...
By the time this post is published I'll be in Wrexham viewing a nice 1993/4 Mercedes 500SL. Spotted it on eBay last weekend and thought to upgrade my 300SL after being given a ride in one about a month ago by the bloke I bought my SL300 from. The difference is phenomenal. The only problem is that the 500SL never came in red. The saving grace of this one is that the interior is beige, which is infinitely better than the usual black.
I chose today as it's likely to be the least busy day for traffic during the Bank Holiday. Famous last words.
Watch this space.
2 comments:
I agree, Israel is not the sole owner of the word antisemitic.
This knee jerking really annoys me. Antisemitism is hideous, but I do wish people (and the press especially) would do some investigation before automatically calling anyone antisemitic at the drop of a hat. It's reminiscent of the boy who cried wolf.
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