Following from yesterday’s drive by character assassination of the BDSM’s darling, Ali Abumination, MJ came under a wither twitter barrage from Ali and his Electronic Intifada electron throwers. MJ Rosenberg hit back with this:
Ali Abunimah & Anti-Semitism
Let me explain why I consider Ali Abunimah to be anti-Semitic.
His language.
Ali Abunimah refers to Israelis as Zionists, which is fair. After all, if one lives in Israel, one is, in theory at least, a Zionist.
But then he makes clear, over and over again, that Zionists are all bad people. Just go to his twitter feed and read the labels he uses for Zionists, like “invaders.”
So, by simple deduction, Abunimah hates all 6 or 7 million Jews of Israel, about half the Jews on the planet.
Additionally, Abunimah hates everyone, Israeli or not, who is either a self-professed Zionist or a supporter of Israel.
But no he does not use the word Jew. Nor do people who scream about Obama’s birth certificate or affirmative action babies use the word “black.” Is Daniel Pipes a Muslim hater? Absolutely. But he swears he is talking about Islamists not Muslims in general. Yeah, right.
I don’t care that Abunimah is anti-Zionist. Why wouldn’t he be?
I do object to the fact that he clearly hates all Israelis, except a few “anti-Zionists.”
Ethnic smears are sickening, no matter who they come from. Hating Zionists (when all Israelis and most non-Israeli Jews) can be characterized is such is sickening.
Who am I to judge? Just me. I know anti-Semitism when I see it just like I know it’s Isalomohatred when the phrase “Sharia law” trips out of some righwinger’s mouth.
It’s all the same. Racism.
Does my calling out Abunimah make me a Zionist? No. I’m a Zionist because I support the existence of a secure State of Israel within the ’67 lines alongside a secure State of Palestine.
So, Ali, if you don’t want to be called an anti-Semite, stop with the ethnic smears. It’s not hard. Most of us would never dream of using them because we don’t think that way.
I take issue with his categorisation of Daniel Pipes as hating all Muslims. Daniel Pipes doesn’t, he doesn’t like the underlying sentiments of the bits of Islam that drive people to extreme violence in pursuit of the goal of conquering the world for Allah (which they proudly profess to want to do).
The only people who believe Zionists want to conquer the whole world and impose some kind of Jewish New World Order are those who believe The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. And we know what kind of people believe that don’t we.
MJ has one more thing to add (in another post):
Last Comment (For Now) On Ali Abunimah
I see that my criticism of Ali Abunimah as an anti-Semite has caused a kerfluffle on the internets.
I’ll live with it.
Obviously Ali will because he says that criticism just rolls off his back.
I’m glad. But if it starts bothering him, he can stop writing about Israelis and “Zionists” as if they are dirt. Then I’ll reconsider.
But not til then.
PS. Who cares what I say anyway? I’m just a powerless blogger, working at home, just me and my computer.
Nonetheless, I stand by my charge. I hate all forms of racism even the kind that is directed against people like me and my family.
