Swift-Boat Vets of American Jewry Lob Fake Anti-Semitism Charge at Occupy Wall Street

Looks like an Anti-Semitic 99 percenter

Headline made you click! This is why war-, gossip-, and hate-mongers love words like “antisemitism” and “racism”: because they allege something so horrible that, like a traffic accident or Qaddafi video, you just have to look. No one is surprised; certainly not Paul Krugman: Accused, for Real, of Consorting with Nazis—Occupy Wall Street.

By Jay Michaelson

No surprise, then, that a Jewish far-right organization named “Emergency Committee for Israel” [EIC] has produced a cheap YouTube video showing a couple of crazy people at Occupy Wall Street shouting antisemitic slogans. For good measure, they’ve thrown in Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Eliot Spitzerendorsing the sentiments behind the Occupy movement; ergo, the three of them must hate the Jews too.

[For those into logic among us: EIC engages both false premises and the fallacy of the undistributed middle.]

No surprise, then, that a Jewish far-right organization named “Emergency Committee for Israel” has produced a cheap YouTube video showing a couple of crazy people at Occupy Wall Street shouting antisemitic slogans.

For good measure, they’ve thrown in Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Eliot Spitzer endorsing the sentiments behind the Occupy movement; ergo, the three of them must hate the Jews too.

[Emergency Committee for Israel's video link, if you are curious.]

This, of course, is ridiculous. As everybody should know by now, Occupy is a leaderless, open-source movement. That means, unfortunately, that the nuts have free rein. When I last visited Occupy Wall Street, there was indeed a concatenation of weirdos, from Old Left grandmas to anarcho-syndicalist dudes, and, yes, one particular antisemitic loon who’s been showing up at protests in the New York area for years now. None of them had the ‘human mic.’ None of them were in any kind of non-leadership leadership position. Surely, anyone who knows anything about the protests – which includes ECI’s leadership – knows this to be the case.

Which makes ECI’s video a cheap lie -- yet another in a long litany of desperate efforts by the far right to convert the largely liberal American Jewish community to neo-conservatism, hawkish policies on Israel, and the belief that “Barack Hussein Obama” is a Muslim.

That said, there actually are two interesting forms of antisemitism going on here.

First is the antisemitism of ECI itself. To tug at the kishke-strings of American Jews in the way that ECI has is not only to demean and dehumanize us, but also to do violence to the memory of victims of actual antisemitism. More than anything else, I’m insulted by the ad, and offended that this organization is lying to me, my mother, and my relatives for their own political reasons—namely, defeating Barack Obama. Antisemitism is a serious, real thing. When it is used as a cheap shot—as when pro-Palestinian advocates throw around terms like “Nazi” and “concentration camp”—it is an offense against all those who were murdered over the centuries. Diluting the meaning of the term ‘antisemitism’ is, itself, antisemitic.

Second, as I described in a recent post, there is indeed a structural similarity between some of the Occupy movement’s concerns and historical antisemitism. Occupy is, indeed, protesting against the malefactors of great wealth and their international cabals of political-financial interest. Add the word “Jewish” in there, and you’ve got world-zionist-conspiracy antisemitism, circa 1880-1945. So in a way, the couple of bigots at Zuccotti Park are just connecting the dots between Occupy’s agenda and their own.

The main difference, of course, is that Occupy’s target is real, whereas the antisemite’s is a fantasy. Which is a pretty big difference.

All this would be insignificant were it not for the significant financial backing of ECI, and its association with respectable conservatives like Fox News commentator William Kristol. It’s possible that cracks may be appearing in the edifice. Recently, it’s come to light that one of ECI’s board members, Rachel Abrams posted inflammatory, borderline-insane rants about Palestinians being “devil spawn” on her blog. Unsurprisingly, the center-left Jewish organization J Street has called on the saner folk at ECI to cut dies, disavow, etc, and if they don’t, for other Jewish organizations like AIPAC and the ADL to distance themselves from ECI.

This last step should have been taken long ago. ECI, as critics point out, is no more a friend of Israel than it is a foe of Occupy Wall Street. Rather, it uses Israel (and now Occupy) as a pawn to score electoral points for Republicans. The whole organization is a ruse. It’s the Swift-Boat Veterans of American Jewry.

(Oh, and incidentally: Eliot Spitzer?! Surely he was included in the ECI video not because of his non-existent leadership position, but because, like Bill Clinton, he makes some people feel that Democrats are sleazy. This confirms that the real point of the video is not to bash Occupy but to attack Obama, Pelosi, and the Democrats.)

Personally, I find it nauseating that millions of dollars are being spent to exploit antisemitism and American Jews’ love of Israel in such a crude and crass way. I guess it’s not the first time that politican spinsters have pandered to the baser instincts of religious communities. Usually, though, Jews are the scapegoats of hate, not the perpetrators of it.

- Jay Michaelson, a Religion Dispatches associate editor and founder of Nehirim, writes regularly for the Forward and Tikkun. He is completing his Ph.D. in Jewish Thought at Hebrew University. His most recent book is God vs. Gay?: The Religious Case for Equality

Clemons: 'Did I Read This Right? Brookings Scholar References Israel Attack on USS Liberty?'

Chomsky, Finkelstein, Ellsberg, Greenwald, Sullivan, [me too], Levy, Cook, Danger, Duff, Cockburn, Whitney, on and on, the list is growing of accredited anti-Semites demonstrated per force by their objection to Israeli militarism and human rights violations.

Now, Steve Clemons appears poised to join the gang. And he seems like such an intelligent, genuinely nice guy. [Ingenious cover by Clemons often employed by those who secretly hate all Jews (except for the self-hating Jews—they're okay)].

By Steve Clemons

A friend of mine wrote to me about the piece below, released yesterday by Brookings, wondering when Brookings Energy Security Initiative Director Charles Ebinger will be spending time with Helen Thomas.

We hope Ebinger stays gainfully busy at Brookings -- but wow.

This came from Brookings!? Very interesting, and an important sign of the times.

It's a powerful, blunt piece that reaches back to Israel's attack on the USS Liberty, as he writes "the only maritime incident in U.S. history where our military forces were killed that was never investigated by Congress."

Here is the Brookings piece, "The Attack on the USS Liberty: Lessons for U.S. National Security":

The Attack on the USS Liberty: Lessons for U.S. National SecurityCharles K. Ebinger, Director, Energy Security Initiative

The Brookings Institution -- June 08, 2010

It is ironic that the Israeli Defense forces attacked a flotilla of relief ships bound from Europe to Gaza in international waters in a manner all too similar to its assault against the USS Liberty also in international waters on June 8 forty-three years ago. It is even more tragic and a national disgrace that in the immediate aftermath of Memorial Day there is scant remembrance of the 34 crew members comprising naval officers, seamen, two marines and a civilian who were killed in the attack along with the 171 crew members who were wounded. While the official inquiries by both nations found the attack to be a case of mistaken identity of the Liberty, to this day there is a long record of distinguished officers and journalists who take strong exception to this view believing that the attack was deliberate. Indeed the attack on the Liberty is the only maritime incident in U.S. history where our military forces were killed that was never investigated by the Congress.

While few would dispute that the United States and Israel share vital strategic interests, all too often it has been Israeli intransigent policies rather than U.S. interests which have dominated our bilateral relationships. As a global superpower, the U.S. has strategic interests in the Middle East that go far beyond our bilateral relations with Israel--regional political stability, access to oil, control of sea lanes, etc. However so lopsided have our bilateral relations become that even after scandals such as the Pollard spying case in the 1980s came to light, high level officials and lobbyists in both Washington and Israel went out of their way to downplay the significance of the information Pollard passed to both Israeli and Russian intelligence (in order to keep Jewish immigration to Israel alive), despite testimony by four retired admirals who had served as Directors of National Intelligence that Pollard's revelations had been devastating to U.S. national security and that any premature release would be "irresponsible."

Again in 1973, it was the decision by the United States to resupply Israel's military following the outbreak of war that led to the OAPEC oil embargo transforming the Geopolitics of Oil as the world's economy was sent reeling owing to the spike in the price of oil. The 1973-1974 war by changing the geographical contours of the Middle East set the stage for the growing radicalization of the Middle East as increasingly young men and women grew resentful of their leaders' inability to change the political and social status quo both in their own countries and in their nations' relations with Israel. The second oil shock in 1979 and 1980, following the overthrow of the Shah and the coming to power of Ayatollah Khomeini, led to a further radicalization of the region which further inflamed relations among Iran/Iraq, Shites/Sunnis, Christains/Druze/Palestinians in Lebanon and Iran and Iraq in their bilateral relations with various governments throughout the region. At the same time, accelerated settlements by Jewish immigrants in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem created a growing crescendo of radicalism. Then in 1982 the ill-conceived invasion of Lebanon in response to provocations by Palestinians and other radical forces led to the massacres of Palestinian and allied groups men, women and children at Sabra and Shatila by the Christian Phalanges while the IDF stood on the sidelines losing all pretense of a higher moral ground.

Since that time there have been provocations by both the Israelis and the Palestinians and their affiliated allies throughout the Middle East. There have been lost diplomatic opportunities, ill tempered rhetoric by leaders on both sides and a tragic loss of life. Indeed there is plenty of blame to go around on both sides and reasons for each side to be wary of any overture by the other. However, what has been lost during these decades throughout the Islamic world is the view of the man and woman on the street and children in the madrasahs that United States is an honest broker for peace. Having worked throughout the Islamic world for over 35 years, it is a tragedy that this has occurred, but when successive Presidents and other high ranking officials ask Israel not to expand settlements yet hardly voice a "public squeak" of opprobrium let alone some real expression of disapproval (such as a curtailment of military assistance, rescinding favorable trade provisions, etc.) when Israel continues to do so, what is the Islamic World to think about the even handedness of U.S. policy?

Nowhere was the failure of the U.S. to take strong action more visibly demonstrated than during Vice President's Biden's visit to Israel when Israel gave the green light for 1,600 new homes for Jewish settlers in annexed East Jerusalem in flagrant violation of international law. In response, both the Vice President and Secretary of State Clinton labeled the action "insulting" to the United States and destructive to the peace process while at the same time doing nothing visible to make Israel pay a price for such actions against the second highest official of our nation.

America, it is time to wake up and listen to the very few of our leaders such as General Petraeus, who even before the Vice President's visit warned that the stalled Middle East peace process is a direct threat to U.S. interests and prestige in the region and that the lack of progress in Palestine foments anti-Americanism, undermines Arab regimes, limits the strength and depth of U.S. partnerships, increases the influence of Iran, projects an image of U.S. weakness and serves as a potent recruiting tool for Al Qaeda. General Petraeus and his briefing team went on to say that the ongoing Israeli/Palestinian peace stalemate undermines the prospects for success in Afghanistan.

As we approach the anniversary of the attack on the Liberty, let us take a few minutes to reflect soberly on whether the time has not come to once again be a honest broker, to call our Israeli friends to account when necessary with sanctions that hurt and to make clear to one and all that acts such as the attack on the flotilla of humanitarian ships bound to alleviate the suffering of the men, women and children of Gaza will not occur with impunity.

I'm in agreement with Ebinger that the failure to move forward on Israel-Palestine peace is undermining American national security interests in a way far more consequential than whatever actually transpires between Palestinians and Israelis. It is becoming an increasingly tense fault line in geostrategic affairs.

I myself would not go back to the USS Liberty as a driver in this debate, but I understand that Ebinger is trying to illustrate that there are fundamental differences in strategy and objectives between Israel and the US that can't be papered over by speeches and rhetoric that "there is no daylight" between the countries. Of course, there is daylight between them -- and has been always.

Good luck to Ebinger in holding back the storm that no doubt will hit him inside Brookings and out.

Jewish Voice for Peace Hits Anti-Semite Slurs

Suppose you are called an anti-Semite at Daily Kos or some such place in the blogosphere for opposing U.S.-Israeli militarism. Happened to me twice, and recently in a Wisconsin blog.

But I'm in good company that includes Jewish Voice for Peace, the American Friends Service Committee, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Noam Chomsky among many other human rights activists.

Jewish Voice for Peace is fighting back.

Sydney Levy, of Jewish Voice for Peace, asks, "Do you know what it's like to be called a 'virulent anti-Semite' simply for defending the rights of Palestinians? Chances are that you do."

Writes Levy:

We know what it's like too.

Upset about the inclusion of a film about Rachel Corrie at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, Koret--one of California's largest Jewish foundations--issued a statement calling movie sponsors Jewish Voice for Peace and the American Friends Service Committee (yes, pacifist Quakers) 'virulently anti-Israel, anti-Semitic groups.'

We need your support to counteract these lies.

Jewish Voice for Peace is an organization that includes Israelis, Jewish educators, rabbis, Holocaust survivors and their children and grandchildren. We've written extensively about the issue of anti-Semitism, and our members are an essential part of a burgeoning Jewish cultural and spiritual renaissance.

For years, we have defended principled critics of illegal and immoral Israeli actions. We are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with so many who have braved false, and terribly painful charges of anti-Semitism, in order to speak to a higher moral truth. Heroes like President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Professor Rashid Khalidi, and so many others.

Like our Israeli counterparts, we're used to being viciously attacked for our work. But for years, we've co sponsored films at the Jewish Film festival, and there was nary a peep. What changed? Why now?And how is the backlash here linked to the backlash against pro-democracy activists in Israel?

We think it's because now, the world's attention is on settlements, and for the first time in recent memory, a US administration is creating pressure on Israel. That means that this is a historic opportunity and that we need your financial support to take full advantage of this moment.

With JVP-organized Congressional visits happening in key districts at this very moment, we are the United States' largest Jewish group calling on Congress to stop US military aid to Israel until Israel investigates war crimes committed in Gaza, and until Israel agrees to abide by U.S. and international law including withdrawing settlements.

From Ezra Nawi in the south of Hebron, to New Profile, to the Shministim and more, we are the largest American group providing ongoing support to Israel's nonviolent resistance.

We've challenged AIPAC at their annual meeting, and we continue to monitor the right-wing Israel Lobby's unethical tactics in silencing voices of dissent.

But we must do more. And all of our work takes money. If you haven't already, please make a donation today. We need to raise $100,000 in the next two months to maintain and expand our campaigns. Your gift of $60, $100, $250 or whatever you can give will help us reach our goal.