Re: Naomi Klein on Anti-Semitism, Globalization

What a load of bourgeois crap!!! Funny how all this 'don't blame us, 
we have nothing to do with Israel' stuff comes out AFTER the crime 
has been committed. Who drafted this? Sharon's press office? 




--- In marxist@xxxx, "Jonathan Michael Feldman" 
<JonathanMFeldman@xxxx> wrote:
> Well don't say you didn't hear it here first...
> 
> Published on Wednesday, April 24, 2002 in the Toronto Globe & Mail
> Old Hates Fueled By Fear
> by Naomi Klein
> 
> I knew from e-mail reports that something new was going on in 
Washington 
> last weekend. A demonstration against the World Bank and 
International 
> Monetary Fund was joined by an antiwar march, as well as a 
demonstration 
> against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.
> 
> In the end, all the marches joined together in what organizers 
described as 
> the largest Palestinian solidarity demonstration in U.S. history, 
75,000 
> people by police estimates.
> 
> On Sunday night, I turned on my television in the hope of catching 
a glimpse 
> of this historic protest. I saw something else, instead: triumphant 
> Jean-Marie Le Pen celebrating his newfound status as the second-
most popular 
> political leader in France. Ever since, I've been wondering whether 
the new 
> alliance displayed on the streets can also deal with this latest 
threat.
> 
> As a critic both of the Israeli occupation and of corporate-
dictated 
> globalization, it seems to me that the convergence that took place 
in 
> Washington last weekend was long overdue. Despite easy labels like 
> "antiglobalization," the trade-related protests of the past three 
years have 
> all been about self-determination: the right of people everywhere 
to decide 
> how best to organize their societies and economies, whether that 
means 
> introducing land reform in Brazil, or producing generic AIDS drugs 
in India, 
> or, indeed, resisting an occupying force in Palestine.
> 
> When hundreds of globalization activists began flocking to Ramallah 
to act 
> as "human shields" between Israeli tanks and Palestinians, the 
theory that 
> has been developing outside trade summits was put into concrete 
action. 
> Bringing that courageous spirit back to Washington, where so much 
Middle 
> Eastern policy is made, was the next logical step.
> 
> But when I saw Mr. Le Pen beaming on TV, arms raised in triumph, 
some of my 
> enthusiasm drained away. There is no connection whatsoever between 
French 
> fascism and the "free Palestine" marchers in Washington (indeed, 
the only 
> people Mr. Le Pen's supporters seem to dislike more than Jews are 
Arabs). 
> And yet, I couldn't help thinking about all the recent events I've 
been to 
> where anti-Muslim violence was rightly condemned, Ariel Sharon 
deservedly 
> blasted, but no mention was made of attacks on Jewish synagogues, 
cemeteries 
> and community centers. Or about the fact that every time I log onto 
activist 
> news sites such as Indymedia.org, which practice"open publishing," 
I'm 
> confronted with a string of Jewish conspiracy theories about 9-11 
and 
> excerpts from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
> 
> The globalization movement isn't anti-Semitic, it just hasn't fully 
> confronted the implications of diving into the Middle East 
conflict. Most 
> people on the left are simply choosing sides and in the Middle 
East, where 
> one side is under occupation and the other has the U.S. military 
behind it, 
> the choice seems clear. But it is possible to criticize Israel 
while 
> forcefully condemning the rise of anti-Semitism.
> 
> And it is equally possible to be pro-Palestinian independence 
without 
> adopting a simplistic "pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel" dichotomy, a 
mirror 
> image of the good-versus-evil equations so beloved by President 
George W. 
> Bush.
> 
> Why bother with such subtleties while bodies are still being pulled 
out of 
> the rubble in Jenin? Because anyone interested in fighting Le Pen-
style 
> fascism or Sharon-style brutality has to deal with the reality of 
> anti-Semitism head-on.
> 
> The hatred of Jews is a potent political tool in the hands of the 
right in 
> Europe and in Israel. For Mr. Le Pen, anti-Semitism is a windfall, 
helping 
> spike his support from 10 per cent to 17 per cent in a week.
> 
> For Ariel Sharon, it is the fear of anti-Semitism, both real and 
imagined, 
> that is the weapon. Mr. Sharon likes to say that he stands up to 
terrorists 
> to show he is not afraid. In fact, his policies are driven by fear. 
His 
> great talent is that he fully understands the depths of Jewish fear 
of 
> another Holocaust. He knows how to draw parallels between Jewish 
anxieties 
> about anti-Semitism and American fears of terrorism.
> 
> And he is an expert at harnessing all of it for his political ends. 
The 
> primary, and familiar, fear that Mr. Sharon draws on, the one that 
allows 
> him to claim all aggressive actions as defensive ones, is the fear 
that 
> Israel's neighbors want to drive the Jews into the sea. The 
secondary fear 
> Mr. Sharon manipulates is the fear among Jews in the Diaspora that 
they will 
> eventually be driven to seek safe haven in Israel. This fear leads 
millions 
> of Jews around the world, many of them sickened by Israeli 
aggression, to 
> shut up and send their checks, a down payment on future sanctuary.
> 
> The equation is simple: The more fearful Jews are, the more 
powerful Mr. 
> Sharon is. Elected on a platform of "peace through security," his 
> administration could barely hide its delight at Mr. Le Pen's 
ascendancy, 
> immediately calling on French Jews to pack their bags and come to 
the 
> promised land.
> 
> For Mr. Sharon, Jewish fear is a guarantee that his power will go 
unchecked, 
> granting him the impunity needed to do the unthinkable: send troops 
into the 
> Palestinian Authority's education ministry to steal and destroy 
records; 
> bury children alive in their homes; block ambulances from getting 
to the 
> dying.
> 
> Jews outside Israel now find themselves in a tightening vise: The 
actions of 
> the country that was supposed to ensure their future safety are 
making them 
> less safe right now. Mr. Sharon is deliberately erasing 
distinctions between 
> the terms "Jew" and "Israeli," claiming he is fighting not for 
Israeli 
> territory but for the survival of the Jewish people. And when anti-
Semitism 
> rises at least partly as a result of his actions, it is Mr. Sharon 
who is 
> positioned once again to collect the political dividends.
> 
> And it works. Most Jews are so frightened that they are now willing 
to do 
> anything to defend Israeli policies. So at my neighborhood 
synagogue, where 
> the humble façade was just badly scarred by a suspicious fire,
the 
sign on 
> the door doesn't say, "Thanks for nothing, Sharon." It 
says, "Support Israel 
> . . . Now more than ever."
> 
> There is a way out. Nothing is going to erase anti-Semitism, but 
Jews 
> outside and inside Israel might be a little safer if there was a 
campaign to 
> distinguish between diverse Jewish positions and the actions of the 
Israeli 
> state. This is where an international movement can play a crucial 
role. 
> Already, alliances are being made between globalization activists 
and 
> Israeli "refuseniks," soldiers who refuse to serve their mandatory 
duty in 
> the occupied territories. And the most powerful images from 
Saturday's 
> protests were rabbis walking alongside Palestinians.
> 
> But more needs to be done. It's easy for social-justice activists 
to tell 
> themselves that since Jews already have such powerful defenders in 
> Washington and Jerusalem, anti-Semitism is one battle they don't 
need to 
> fight.
> 
> This is a deadly error.
> 
> It is precisely because anti-Semitism is used by the likes of Mr. 
Sharon 
> that the fight against it must be reclaimed.
> 
> When anti-Semitism is no longer treated as Jewish business, to be 
taken care 
> of by Israel and the Zionist lobby, Mr. Sharon is robbed of his 
most 
> effective weapon in the indefensible and increasingly brutal 
occupation. And 
> as a bonus, whenever hatred of Jews diminishes, the likes of Jean-
Marie Le 
> Pen shrink right down with it.
> 
> 
> 
> _________________________________________________________________
> MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: 
> http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx


------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Stock for $4
and no minimums.
FREE Money 2002.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/orkH0C/n97DAA/ySSFAA/B140lB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

"[C]apital comes dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and 
dirt."
--Marx, Capital, Vol. 1, Chapter 31

Community email addresses:
  Post message: marxist@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Subscribe:    marxist-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  Unsubscribe:  marxist-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  List owner:   jplst15+@xxxxxxxx

Shortcut URL to this page:
  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marxist

Also take our one-question survey at
  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marxist/polls 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/