With his googly eyes, resemblance to a woman (perhaps Beau Arthur), constant falling for spoofs and fake news, laughable insults, and inability to even pronounce the name of his own blog, it is easy to dismiss anti-Israel DouchebloggerTM Richard Silverstein as a mere buffoon.
But we mustn’t forget he is an antisemite who is on record defending terrorists and even shilling for them, while condoning the murder of Israelis.
In a recent blog post, Silverstein has made it very clear where he stands on the murder of Israeli Jews.
For a start, he states that soldiers are legitimate targets, but adopts a wide definition of “soldier” to basically include anyone in the reserves and not on active duty.
In terms of “legitimate targets,” how do we define who is a “soldier” in the Israeli context? In most western societies, we can fairly easily distinguish between civilian and military-law enforcement. But this is much more complicated in Israel. It’s easy enough to say that the 170,000 Israeli soldiers, 7,000 Border Police and 35,000 national police play key military and law-enforcement roles in maintaining Israel’s occupation. But you can’t stop there. Most of those who served in the IDF remain in the military reserves. They train every year and may be called for active duty in the event of war or other national emergency. Many, if not most such reservists have served during wars in Gaza, Lebanon, etc. They too are instruments of, and enforcers of occupation.
This means according to Silverstein, anyone above 18 who has served and is in the reserves or is currently serving is a legitimate target. They can be murdered, whether in their home, a café or driving their car. This would include my 20-year-old daughter.
But he doesn’t stop there. Anyone living in Judea and Samaria is a legitimate target.
Nor can we stop there. Israel not only violates international law via its occupation of Palestine, it has transferred hundreds of thousands of its citizens into this occupied territory. These colonists were forcibly imposed on an occupied people. They have no legitimate status under international law. They too are occupiers and hence legitimate targets of resistance to occupation. Not to mention that Israeli settlements themselves are armed bastions which not only protect the inhabitants, but engage in systematic acts of terrorism against neighboring Palestinians.
This means Silverstein sees the murder of 10-month-old Israeli infant Shalhevet Pass and the Dee mother and two daughters as fine and dandy.
Silverstein goes on to state who he thinks is not a legitimate target:
There are Israelis who truly are civilians and must not be the target of any such attacks: the elderly, children, Israeli Palestinians, and those ultra-Orthodox Jews who are anti-Zionist. They oppose the Israeli state and thus are not responsible for its crimes.
Besides reinforcing that anyone not in these categories is a legitimate target for murder, he is showing his antisemitism by excluding “Israeli Palestinians” aka Israeli Arabs. Not only that, but it is blatantly false to say they all oppose the Israeli state. In fact, the majority do not and benefit greatly from living here.
Beyond all of this, Silverstein further disgraces himself by making it clear he will not denounce palestinian Arabs who murder what he calls civilians (including children and the elderly):
In the meantime, what are Palestinians to do? Wait for the Court to finally place Israeli generals and political leaders in the dock in the Hague? Are they to remain defenseless waiting for justice? Aside from the ICC, there is no international body willing to hold Israel to account. Neither the US, European Union nor United Nations have the political will to act. They routinely either support Israeli occupation or remain silent in the face of its crimes. This too heightens the level of despair among Palestinians and motivates them to engage in acts of violent resistance. In the face of decades of such indifference, it is unfair to criticize Palestinian armed militancy.
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Would I want Palestinians to target only police or soldiers? Of course. Would I want Israel to target only Palestinian militants engaged in armed conflict? Again, yes. Will I denounce or condemn Palestinians for avenging Israeli war crimes against their communities and families? Even against Israeli civilians? As long as Israel commits such crimes against the Palestinian people, I cannot.
Make no mistake about it. Richard Silverstein is a buffoon, but he is also an evil, antisemitic supporter of murder. And while he is an insignificant person and a failure at life, I publish these posts so he will always be remembered as such.
