Wednesday, January 7, 2009

I know I'm right on this one, but nobody seems to care

How is it, that every time I mention that anti-Jewish sentiment around the world is on the rise and reaching dangerous levels, I'm told that I'm an alarmist and that we'd never let what the Nazis did happen again. Oh really? The fact that we allow what the Nazis did to happen all around the world, especially in Africa, without ever lifting a finger should be a clue that it could happen again. When people do admit that anti-semitism seems to be on the rise, they blame who? Israel. So, it is the fault of the Jewish people and the Jewish state that more and more people around the world hate Jews? I highly doubt this assertion. While I suspect that Israel has made a lot of people angry, I'd submit that they didn't create Jewish hatred. Rather, their actions have made hating Jews fashionable again. What am I saying? I thought it was clear, but just in case it wasn't, I'm saying that hatred of Jews never really went away. It simply hid itself away after World War II because of some sense of collective guilt, especially on the part of Europeans. However, I've recently seen time and time again how it is clearly raising it's ugly head again, especially in Europe. The United States is not immune however. This FoxNews article discusses what happened at a protest rally in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The protester who shouted at the pro-Israeli protesters that they need to "return to the ovens" is a lot more than insensitive. In fact, that speech is not protected speech according to the Supreme Court, because they have ruled that if speech could logically lead to incite to riot, then it is irresponsible and perhaps criminal and therefore isn't protected speech. Whether you agree with the Supreme Court or not isn't relevant here. Judge for yourself whether you find the speech appropriate, offensive, whatever. Here's the video of it on YouTube. So, still think anti-semitism isn't on the rise, even here in America? Well, I think it is and I refuse to turn a blind eye to it while our government, our media, our celebrities, and virtually everyone around me chooses to do exactly that. In fact, the article talks about an organization supposedly dedicated to ending racism. It is called the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) coalition. Ironically, when asked about this protesters comments, they simply said they were insensitive comments. Okay, I'm a huge free speech person, but even I think this one crossed the line of insensitive. Nonetheless, even more ironically, one of this organization's state coordinator, Emmanuel Lopez, went on to say in an interview following the event that: "there is a problem with anti-Semitism within his organization's ranks". Really? Ya think? He then went on to show his own anti-semitism by calling the pro-Israel counter protesters "barbaric, racist" Zionist terrorists, specifically he said: "Zionism in general is a barbaric, racist movement that really is the cause of the situation in the entire Middle East,". I'm wondering who is more racist here. The woman caught up in the heat of the moment, the (anti-racist) organization clearly making anti-semitic remarks or the rest of us, for ignoring reality. Maybe someone will give me an answer to this, but that would require paying attention.

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