Solve et Coagula
Member
"It is not anti-Semitic to criticize the policies of the state of Israel."
Colin Powell
Colin Powell
-
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"It is not anti-Semitic to criticize the policies of the state of Israel."
- Thread starter Solve et Coagula
- Start date
I totally agree with that though. It wouldn't exactly be fair if you did deem somebody anti-semitic for criticising government policy of a nation. The fact that they're Jewish is completely irrelevant, they could be Muslim, Hindu or Christian and if they were doing the same things then the criticisms would be called for and valid.
If you criticise the Israeli Government, and in my opinion you should, and then are called an anti-semite, then it just means someone is using anti-semitism as a cloak. Powell is right about it, religion and religious discrimination doesn't even come into it, it's about government.
If you criticise the Israeli Government, and in my opinion you should, and then are called an anti-semite, then it just means someone is using anti-semitism as a cloak. Powell is right about it, religion and religious discrimination doesn't even come into it, it's about government.
Joe bag of doughnuts
Member
Powell is right on this one. I wonder who said it was?Solve et Coagula said:
Popeyesays
Well-Known Member
You can usually see that line clearly when the individual says: "Its not anti-semitic to criticize Israel" and then preface all his criticism with the words "The Jews", or "Those Jews". I can't tell you how often I have seen that line crossed really hard moderating lists that discuss and criticize the holocaust denial zealots.jewscout said:
Regards,
Scott
jewscout
Religious Zionist
yes but you also get those who use the terms, zionist and jew interchangeably...Popeyesays said:
i have also seen many anti-zionists who begin w/ criticizing Israel and zionism and then slowly you see them come to a "revelation" that the root of all this is really Judaism.
by then they've gathered a following of idiots who make that "revelation" w/ them...
But it may be antisemitic to quote things out of context. It is, at the very least pathetically deceitful ...Solve et Coagula said:
"Anti-Semitism Shall Have No Place Among Us," Powell Says
Remarks April 28 at OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism in Berlin
Secretary of State Colin Powell called on participants at a conference in Berlin April 28 to take action against "the new fires of anti-Semitism within our societies."
The conference, organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), follows the first OSCE-sponsored conference held last June in Vienna.
"Today, we confront the ugly reality that anti-Semitism is not just a fact of history, but a current event," Powell said.
"We are appalled that in recent years the incidence of anti-Semitic hate crimes has been on the increase within our community of democratic nations," he said. "All of us recognize that we must take decisive measures to reverse this disturbing trend."
Powell called on the conferees from the 55 participating OSCE states "to work in close partnership to create a culture of social tolerance and civic courage, in which anti-Semitism and other forms of racial and religious hatred are met with the active resistance of our citizens, authorities and political leaders."
He said the message must be sent "far and wide that anti-Semitism is always wrong and it is always dangerous."
The secretary of state also slammed anti-Semitism masquerading as criticism of Israel.
"It is not anti-Semitic to criticize the policies of the state of Israel," he said. "But the line is crossed when Israel or its leaders are demonized or vilified, for example by the use of Nazi symbols and racist caricatures."
Acknowledging that the United States has "its share of anti-Semites and skinheads and other assorted racists, bigots and extremists" Powell stressed that the "overwhelming majority of Americans are repelled by these hate-mongers and reject their vicious ways, their vicious views, their vicious attitudes. Overwhelmingly the American people embrace diversity as a national asset and tolerance is embraced as a civic virtue."
Such tolerance, "like hatred, is a learned behavior passed from one generation to the next unless the new generation is educated differently," he said. Hence the importance of learning and sharing "best practices against anti-Semitism."
The OSCE states have come together and "will declare with one voice: Anti-Semitism shall have no place among us. Hate shall find no home within a Europe whole, free and at peace.'"
- see USINFO.STATE.GOV
Do you have a relevant question of me?nutshell said:
Feathers in Hair
World's Tallest Hobbit
Thank you for posting the full article, Jay.
