Here we go again - more blatant anti-Semitism on the left that you do not want to hear about and pretend does not exist

This time at Tufts

"Alternate Guide To Campus Life

(JTA) — Tufts University’s Hillel is described as “an organization that supports a white supremacist state” in a student-written guide to activist life at the university.

The Tufts University Disorientation Guide offers information on social, spiritual, health and academic resources at the Boston-area university, but singles out Hillel for opprobrium, calling it a “Zionist space” and accusing it of “exploit(ing) black voices for their own pro-Israel agenda.” The guide has been widely read and shared on social media.

Tufts Hillel’s executive director, Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, objected to its one-sided portrayal of Hillel and Jewish campus life at the private university.

“We have been working so hard to create a positive atmosphere on campus, and we have such a positive Israel presence,” Summit said, adding that over 100 Tufts students visit Israel each year.

The accusation that Tufts Hillel exploits “black voices” stems from three years ago when Hillel brought to campus the parents of Trayvon Martin, the black teenager who was shot in 2012 by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida, to speak about gun violence.

According to the guide, “Students were outraged that Hillel, an organization that promotes a white supremacist state, were bringing Trayvon’s parents to exploit black voices for their own pro-Israel agenda.”

Like other campus Hillels, the Tufts center offers a range of social, cultural, educational and religious events in addition and often unrelated to pro-Israel activity.

The disorientation guide was created by and for leftist student groups on campus, and suggests resources for students of color, low-income students, the LGBT community and women."

Read more: http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/382204/tufts-activists-call-israel-white-supremacist-in-alternate-guide-to-campus/



Don't feed the troll.

Let it sink.


See you prove my point. You try to pretend that it odes not exist and to ignore all the evidence of it.


The Forward is also reporting on this use of anti-Semitic "memes".  If Burner is going to generalize about "the left" based on the news report about Tufts, I wonder what generalization is appropriate for this.

Yair Netanyahu, son of Israel’s prime minister, removed an anti-Semitic meme he posted on his Facebook page in response to criticism of his parents.

He removed the post without any public comment or apology. Other posts in response to the meme remain on his Facebook page, including at least one that retains part of the image.

The image, which in the post Netanyahu called the “food chain,” showed a photo of billionaire Jewish philanthropist George Soros holding the world on a fishing line in front of a lizard, which hangs the alchemy symbol in front of a Shylock-type image, who then holds a U.S. dollar in front of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, followed by photos of Israeli critics of his parents.

http://forward.com/fast-forward/382295/netanyahus-son-pulls-anti-semitic-facebook-post-about-george-soros/


Netanyahu was years ago a great finance minister who was as instrumental in the transformation of Israel's economy as Thatcher was in Britain and Reagan was in the U.S. but he has degenerated into a pompous ahole who is just interested in his own survival. And his son is a total twit. 

But none of that is relevant to what is happening at Tufts and is just one more attempt at diversion.


Isn't Bibi in jail yet? His wife?


You characterize the Reaganite/Thatcherite economic transformations as good things.

Therefore, you're clearly an idiot, as they were disastrous. By about every measure you'd like to apply to the lower 90% or so. Take your pick.

Or maybe you're exceedingly rich. Except I know you're not, so it's got to be the first one.

Anyway, you must realize that finding these tortured examples of fringy anti-semitism (the Tufts University Disorientation Guide? are you effing kidding us? ) just makes you seem all the more of a silly pup. Right?

meh, probably not. You think you're offering us great undiscovered truths.



Burner said:

Netanyahu was years ago a great finance minister who was as instrumental in the transformation of Israel's economy as Thatcher was in Britain and Reagan was in the U.S. but he has degenerated into a pompous ahole who is just interested in his own survival. And his son is a total twit. 

But none of that is relevant to what is happening at Tufts and is just one more attempt at diversion.




drummerboy said:

Anyway, you must realize that finding these tortured examples of fringy anti-semitism (the Tufts University Disorientation Guide? are you effing kidding us? ) just makes you seem all the more of a silly pup. Right?


I would say they are equally along the fringy scale as those guys who run around in silly pointed white hats. That is the point I am mostly trying to make.


You may call it anti-semitism from the left. I just call it anti-semitism. To call it "from the left" is to imply that leftists are particularly prone to it, which I don't find. Everyone has an equal opportunity to be a jerk.


bad analogy. there's a big difference between a group that chooses to march on a town (and otherwise make themselves known)  and a student guidebook from an elite and largely useless private university.


Burner said:



drummerboy said:

Anyway, you must realize that finding these tortured examples of fringy anti-semitism (the Tufts University Disorientation Guide? are you effing kidding us? ) just makes you seem all the more of a silly pup. Right?



I would say they are equally along the fringy scale as those guys who run around in silly pointed white hats. That is the point I am mostly trying to make.



Burner's comment goes way beyond a "poor analogy". Comparing the KKK to a student-run university paper is just stupid and irresponsible. Those guys in "silly white hats" terrorized and killed people of color - including Jews. 

drummerboy said:

bad analogy. there's a big difference between a group that chooses to march on a town (and otherwise make themselves known)  and a student guidebook from an elite and largely useless private university.



Burner said:



drummerboy said:

Anyway, you must realize that finding these tortured examples of fringy anti-semitism (the Tufts University Disorientation Guide? are you effing kidding us? ) just makes you seem all the more of a silly pup. Right?



I would say they are equally along the fringy scale as those guys who run around in silly pointed white hats. That is the point I am mostly trying to make.




Tom_Reingold said:

You may call it anti-semitism from the left. I just call it anti-semitism. To call it "from the left" is to imply that leftists are particularly prone to it, which I don't find. Everyone has an equal opportunity to be a jerk.

it's this.  I think anyone would stipulate to the fact that there are liberals who are anti-semitic.  Maybe even entire liberal activist groups.  But that's different from a movement like the alt-right, whose principles are organized specifically around anti-semitism and other forms of bigotry.

and it bears repeating again, but it's been pointed out that being against the policies of Israel isn't in and of itself anti-semitism.  People like the author of the article always say that being against the policies of Israel can be a "cover" for anti-semitism.  But that doesn't mean that is IS de facto anti-semitism.  There's also a lot of anti-semitism among people who are avidly pro-Israel, particularly the fundamentalists who believe end times will begin with conflict in the Middle East.  So logically, it doesn't follow that being either pro or anti-Israel is necessarily correlated with anti-semitism.


ml1 said:

and it bears repeating again, but it's been pointed out that being against the policies of Israel isn't in and of itself anti-semitism.  People like the author of the article always say that being against the policies of Israel can be a "cover" for anti-semitism.  But that doesn't mean that is IS de facto anti-semitism.  There's also a lot of anti-semitism among people who are avidly pro-Israel, particularly the fundamentalists who believe end times will begin with conflict in the Middle East.  So logically, it doesn't follow that being either pro or anti-Israel is necessarily correlated with anti-semitism.

Another group against the policies of the Israeli government, and the State of Israel, which you can't label "Anti-Semitic":

Far from homogeneous, the Haredi world is made up of different rabbinical courts, and a small but growing number of strictly religious Jews have already been opting for military service or civilian national service as a way of acquiring skills and a path out of poverty and toward integration into the work force. The army has tried to accommodate Haredi recruits. It has even established ultra-Orthodox battalions, allowing those soldiers to combine military service with religious life.
But the more hard-core rabbis, who refuse to recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state before the arrival of the Messiah, have resisted change. Ultra-Orthodox soldiers have been harassed and abused in their neighborhoods and stormy street protests have erupted in cases where members of the community who did not qualify for an army exemption, perhaps because they were found to be not properly engaged in yeshiva study, have been detained for draft dodging.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/world/middleeast/israel-ultra-orthodox-military.html?emc=eta1


Burner said:

drummerboy said:

Anyway, you must realize that finding these tortured examples of fringy anti-semitism (the Tufts University Disorientation Guide? are you effing kidding us? ) just makes you seem all the more of a silly pup. Right?



I would say they are equally along the fringy scale as those guys who run around in silly pointed white hats. That is the point I am mostly trying to make.

Of course the authors of the "Disorientation Guide" are "fringier".  It's clueless to claim otherwise.


So tell us, @Burner, do you think you're clever by saying anti-semitism can sometimes come from the left?


The remarks by ml1 and South_Mountaineer on the distinction between anti-Israel and anti-Semitic are well-taken. The term "anti-Israel" is usually a demagogic epithet used to distort criticism of Israeli policy, especially its occupation of the West Bank.


Paul - Do you think that Jewish Voice for Peace, which supports BDS and is anti-Zionist, is anti-semitic?  


I am not Paul, but no, I do not think that Jewish Voice for Peace is anti-semitic. Do you think so cramer?



wedjet said:

I am not Paul, but no, I do not think that Jewish Voice for Peace is anti-semitic. Do you think so cramer?

Yes. In their "Deadly Exchange" campaign, they blame Israel and US Jews for police violence against minorities.

"This video is a smear, designed to paint Jews with blood and hold Jews responsible for state violence. There is an almost total absence of substance. In place of evidence are bare-faced insinuations, misrepresentations, and alleged causation that is so attenuated as to be laughable. The world is facing serious problems of racism and significant incidents of the abuse of state power. Jewish Voice for Peace’s answer is to blame the Jews. This Deadly Exchange campaign is a bridge too far. The group is no longer struggling with an untenable position or merely covering for the antisemitism of others. It is now openly producing antisemitic propaganda. It is time for everyone opposed to antisemitism to unambiguously declare Jewish Voice for Peace to be nothing other than an antisemitic organization."
https://medium.com/@acandidworld/the-antisemitism-of-the-so-called-jewish-voice-for-peace-12e42f595cbf


wedjet said:

I am not Paul, but no, I do not think that Jewish Voice for Peace is anti-semitic. Do you think so cramer?

I "liked" wedjet's post. The attached image from the JVP website speaks to the nature of the organization, which seeks peace between Palestinians and Jews.  Full-disclosure, I prefer to politics of J Street and Americans for Peace Now, but calling JVP anti-Semitic does violence to the term and seeks to intimidate those who denounce the occupation.


Paul - What's your opinion about the "Deadly Exchange" campaign?  It uses the historical anti-semitic canard that Jewish money is responsible for all of the ills of the world - in this case, police violence against minorities. I'm not sure how one can come to any other conclusion.

btw - I know someone who used to be on the national board of JVP. That's probably why I follow it so closely. 



cramer said:

Paul - What's your opinion about the "Deadly Exchange" campaign?  I think that it uses the historical anti-semitic canard that Jewish money is responsible for all of the ills of the world - in this case, police violence against minorities. I'm not sure how one can come to any other conclusion.

btw - I know someone who used to be on the national board of JVP. That's probably why I follow it so closely. 

This is what I found on the JVP website:

This is why we have set out to challenge the complicity of some Jewish institutions in facilitating the exchange of violent and discriminatory policing practices in both the U.S. and Israel through law enforcement exchange programs.
Not "Jews" or "the Jews" but "some Jewish institutions." That's a big difference. JVP is speaking as one Jewish institution challenging "some" other Jewish institutions. That's what I take from it. On the other hand, I'd like to see the names of the institutions they are challenging.  Do you know have a list?

This is a well-balanced commentary on the Tufts "Disorientation Guide" by the editor of the Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA) who was previously editor of the Jewish News of New Jersey:

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-left-has-an-israel-problem-does-that-mean-colleges-have-an-anti-semitism-problem/


"Anti-Zionists, selective in their nationalisms, have found an easy and fashionable metaphor into which to plug their anger at Israel and solidarity with the Palestinians. As a former colleague put it on Facebook: “They’re not really interested in doing good; they’re interested in feeling good. And forcing complicated realities into simplistic moral frameworks helps them feel good about themselves and their ‘activism.’”

What’s more, by hating Israel more than they have to, they have managed to discredit the left in ways that are spreading into the center, and handing a huge victory to a pro-Israel right that is only too happy to paint its adversaries as unserious, uninformed and anti-Semitic."  

Bingo.





cramer said:

"Anti-Zionists, selective in their nationalisms, have found an easy and fashionable metaphor into which to plug their anger at Israel and solidarity with the Palestinians. As a former colleague put it on Facebook: “They’re not really interested in doing good; they’re interested in feeling good. And forcing complicated realities into simplistic moral frameworks helps them feel good about themselves and their ‘activism.’”

What’s more, by hating Israel more than they have to, they have managed to discredit the left in ways that are spreading into the center, and handing a huge victory to a pro-Israel right that is only too happy to paint its adversaries as unserious, uninformed and anti-Semitic."  

Bingo.

To continue that thought: Getting 'Left' leaning movements to hate Israel more than they have to (and more simplistically than they should be) is a perfect Bannon-istic strategy. It could surgically cut the Jews out of many 'Left' leaning movements.  As many Jews were part of the civil rights movement, to cut them out of the current 'Left' would make for a weakening, splintering, and greater infighting of the many 'Left' groups.

I don't know who started this 'fashionable Anti-Israel' plug-in to other groups' agendas, but it's brilliantly nefarious. If it ever actually ever does get as 'mainstream' as Burner/ska is afraid it already is, it is possible it could shatter the 'Left'.


(Response to the now invisible post): For example: Getting this to be something for LGBTQ groups to fracture and infight about is nefariously brilliant. It is as unlikely to resolve as the historically complex goal of 'peace in the middle east' (as that it what the fracture is: trying to make groups take sides on this complex issue - which tends to be far less productive than a therapeutic 'how can we make this relationship better' approach). 

Bringing that perpetual fight/taking sides into the 'Left' makes for a near-permanent distraction. So the work that needs to be done at home for the LGBTQ in the USA is weakened. 

And Bannon wins.


I can't even believe that people are complaining about anti-Israel sentiment in the U.S. There is no subject on the planet for which our government and media are co completely cow-towed as "support for Israel".

We hear hardly any substantive criticism of Israel here, and even less do we hear about the Palestinian side of the issue.

jeebus, what more do you want?



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