(((Yair Rosenberg))) Retweeted Haaretz.com
I appreciate how Haaretz has stopped bothering to censor Gideon Levy's craziest material so that he can just discredit himself

but your post said it best.

Isn't it even remotely possible that there would be a tangible increase in support for Israel among the international community if the settlements and the occupation were removed?

Is Levy really insane in arguing that Israel's international status is connected to the treatment of the Palestinians?

This is insane.

A headline and article suggesting that Israel's standing internationally would improve if the occupation ended would be a non-insane assertion that could be discussed by reasonable people.

Claiming that "anti-semitism is dead" is not.

It's a common misperception among some Zionists that the whole world is against the Jews, and that Israel stands alone. This is of course complete BS, which is illustrated by the amount of support shown for Israel at Peres's funeral.

Or do you agree that such a statement is ridiculous?

The statement about the world being against Jews is not total BS. Some right-wingers in Israel do play up the extent of such anti-semitism for their own political benefit. However, it is pretty much an indisputable fact that anti-semitism around the world is a very real problem.

Here is a quote from one the leaders of Hamas in Gaza with respect to Abbas attending the Peres funeral:

Levy must be insane.

The OP doesn't claim that anti-Semitism is actually dead, it's rather the idea that the world is against the Jews and Israel that is dead or at least refuted.

He just likes to push buttons by saying crazy things.

In the past, Ha'aretz had tried to tamp down some of the crazier ones, but now they seem more comfortable publishing them - and providing crazy headlines to go with them.

Please note, that the headline specifically does say that anti-semitism is dead and that the funeral of Shimon Peres proves it.

It could not make that statement any more clearly and directly than it does.

You agree that such a headline is insane, do you not?

And it negatively impacts the credibility of Gideon Levy, as the tweet I posted points out.

The headline you propose is also false (though less insane).

There is no "Zionist lie" being refuted by world leaders.

World leaders attending a funeral do not reflect in any way on whether or not the people those world leaders represent harbor anti-semitic views.

The grotesque and antisemitic comments of Mahmoud al-Zahar (the co-founder of Hamas and Foreign Minister under Haniyeh) that I posted upthread are at least equally representative of the views of the Palestinian people than anything Abbas may have said.

I get that some people like to promote the lie that anti-semitism isn't a world-wide problem (and a particularly acute problem in the Middle East), but one would think that intelligent people would be able to quickly see that for what it is.

Claims that Jews exaggerate the extent to which antisemitism exists internationally is part of the problem.

I personally think that if there was a just solution to the I/P conflict, it would be a crippling blow to anti-Semitism worldwide. Imagine - no justified reason to criticize Israel, and no way to camouflage hostility towards Jews. The anti-Semites would have to crawl back under their rocks to hide.

Levy is right - Israel is a pariah state because of the Palestinians and nothing else.

"push the Jews into the sea."

So I can't really say antisemitism is dead. And if I can't, from my perch halfway round the world, I imagine I'm not alone in this view.

That said, I'd love to see an accord with Palestine.

I believe that some of Israel's unpopularity in the world can be explained by its treatment of Palestinians. Then there's this idea among some that "the Jews" are somehow responsible for what Israel does, which I think is just another form of anti-Semitism.

But the issue is really complex, and there's no "standard" anti-Semite. Some anti-Semites use Israel as an excuse to hate Jews, some anti-Semites don't really care about Israel, and then there are even some anti-Semites who support Israel.

Either way, I think that the Israeli right-wing is actively cultivating the idea that the world is against Israel and the Jews, which is of course a lie - if sane people were in charge of Israel, there would be fewer insane policies to criticize.

And anti-Russianism will finally be dead when Russia has devolved complete independence to all non-Russian ethnicities and the territories they traditionally held--this includes the Crimea, Russophone parts of Belous', and everything from the Urals east.

And pays reparations for that and for what it did to Poland, the Baltics, Ukraine, and Central Asia. And the Jews.

And fixes the Aral Sea.

And let's not forget it needs to dispose of the Bolshevik nationalists Limonov and his ilk have formed (sort of like a hybrid vampire x werewolve) and dump the atavistic quasi-fascist thinking that produced the Great Putin who sits on the 7 hills, to produce a fairly free and non-oppressive press and society.

As soon as they do that, I know we'll all be happy to welcome Russia into the fold of civilized nations and it can take the position that it's economy, military, and resources make it worthy to hold.

Of course, at that point it'll be just another largish European country, dependent on others for energy and resources and racked by the economic devastation that decoupling itself from the rather large remains of the tsarist empire would inevitably produce, but it'll still have nuclear weapons. (One must remember that Russia really is mostly empire, one in which paranoia and forced assimilation is on-going.)

Same sort of conditions for Israel: Do something that will render you weak and possibly all dead, and, sure, we'll think of you as okay. Gotta remember who the best nation is and be subordinate to them ...

If Israel only had leaders who weren't borderline fascists and Arab hating racists, there would probably be less criticism of Israel's policies. I don't think that institutionalized racism and oppression of Palestinians in the occupied territories are necessary for any reason - not even security.

I think that the fact that so many world leaders are ready to drop everything just to go to an old man's funeral, shows that there's support for the kind of Israel he stood for. I can also imagine that every single one of them also tried to tell Netanyahu that he was on the wrong path, and that he should stop treating the Palestinians like shit. All they want is a sign, anything that indicates that Netanyahu and the rest of Israel's leadership have changed for the better. They're all waiting in vain of course.

When it comes to Russia, the solution is simple - just give back Crimea, and stop acting like the evil empire it once was, and all will be forgotten. This sad mishap in Ukraine can still be turned around.

Is the most ridiculous thing I've read this week...and that's with Donald trump melting down all week. Levy is an imbecile.

Last edited Sun Oct 2, 2016, 11:40 AM - Edit history (1)

We can easily.accept the warrant that going to Peres' funeral is not an anti-Semitic thing to do. So, then some people going to the funeral did something that wasn't antisemitic.

This DOES disprove by counterexample the hypothesis that all people are always antisemitic. It DOES NOT prove that no one is ever antisemitic.

Levy's faulty logic circuits might explain how he comes to the illogical views and conclusions he does about all sorts of things.

The deniers just seem to want to give them a chance to succeed.

Racist:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1134132251#post22

Justifies Terror:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1134&pid=131390