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8 tweets,
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1/
Thread.
Allow me to think aloud about the troubling discourse on the relationship between anti-semitism and criticism of Israel. This is no "sermon on the mount" but part of a discussion, including one I am having with myself. Bear with me.
Thread.
Allow me to think aloud about the troubling discourse on the relationship between anti-semitism and criticism of Israel. This is no "sermon on the mount" but part of a discussion, including one I am having with myself. Bear with me.
2/
A while back, I heard the following from a senior member of the UK Cabinet (yes, a Conservative, but I have also heard similar from the left):
"There will never be Israel-Palestine peace because the Israel lobby controls the press and has bought the Congress".
A while back, I heard the following from a senior member of the UK Cabinet (yes, a Conservative, but I have also heard similar from the left):
"There will never be Israel-Palestine peace because the Israel lobby controls the press and has bought the Congress".
3/
I had and have no doubt: this is clinical anti-Semitism.
Had the minister said: one of the obstacles to a permanent status agreement is the disproportionate impact that the Israel lobby has on the press, and on the political discourse, I would not be able to fault him.
I had and have no doubt: this is clinical anti-Semitism.
Had the minister said: one of the obstacles to a permanent status agreement is the disproportionate impact that the Israel lobby has on the press, and on the political discourse, I would not be able to fault him.
4/
I have been unsparing in my blistering criticism of AIPAC and its shilling for the purveyors of Israeli occupation.
But there is a world of difference between that and invoking century-old imagery of Jews using their money and magical influence to control the world.
I have been unsparing in my blistering criticism of AIPAC and its shilling for the purveyors of Israeli occupation.
But there is a world of difference between that and invoking century-old imagery of Jews using their money and magical influence to control the world.
5/
I welcome the changing discourse on Israel Palestine in the Democratic party, including the changes generated by the new generation of Congresswoman and Congressmen - even when I find some of its elements to be disturbing. Israel desperately needs to be critically engaged.
I welcome the changing discourse on Israel Palestine in the Democratic party, including the changes generated by the new generation of Congresswoman and Congressmen - even when I find some of its elements to be disturbing. Israel desperately needs to be critically engaged.
6/
But this is a fucking minefield. It IS possible to unsparingly criticize Israel w/o anti-Semitic tropes. Its unforgivable to turn a blind eye to anti-Semitic imagery, (from left or right). It is equally unforgivable to attribute anti-Semitism to legitimate criticism of Israel
But this is a fucking minefield. It IS possible to unsparingly criticize Israel w/o anti-Semitic tropes. Its unforgivable to turn a blind eye to anti-Semitic imagery, (from left or right). It is equally unforgivable to attribute anti-Semitism to legitimate criticism of Israel
7/
The mantras of axiomatic support for the increasingly unjustifiable policies of an occupation-perpetuating Israel have all but collapsed. That is good, and healthy - for Israel too.
The alternative should be a sober, incisive critical engagement of Israel (and others)
The mantras of axiomatic support for the increasingly unjustifiable policies of an occupation-perpetuating Israel have all but collapsed. That is good, and healthy - for Israel too.
The alternative should be a sober, incisive critical engagement of Israel (and others)
8/
These are matters that need be discussed with brutal honesty, but also with intellectual honesty and and civility.
It won't always be fun, but it's absolutely essential if we want to avoid a descent into polemical point-scoring drenched in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
These are matters that need be discussed with brutal honesty, but also with intellectual honesty and and civility.
It won't always be fun, but it's absolutely essential if we want to avoid a descent into polemical point-scoring drenched in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
