One of the things that I find sad about the progressive-left of today is how racist it has become. The Left loves to scream bloody murder that their opponents on the Right, particularly these Tea Bag people, are thuggish, knuckle-dragging racists, but the fact of the matter is that the Left has emerged as the more racist of the two factions.
Progressive-left racism would be easier to stomach if they didn't perpetually claim that theirs is the politics of anti-racism. I find it galling, to be perfectly honest. The progressive-left is absolutely crawling with racists and yet they claim to be anti-racist. What an insidious lie.
And while it is certainly true that anti-Zionism is a form of racism, because it would deny to Jews what it generally accepts for everyone else, i.e., self-determination and self-defense, where the left is truly racist is when it comes to the Arabs and Islam. It is usually supposed that the Right-Wing is racist for vocally opposing Radical Islam, but this supposition is itself an example of progressive-left racism because it conflates Islamism with Islam and radical Jihadis with regular Muslims.
It is not the Right that is racist in this formulation, but the Left. A classic example of this anti-Muslim bias from the Left is in the ridiculous notion that somehow Ariel Sharon kicked off the second intifada when he visited the Temple Mount on September 28, 2000. The usual claim is that Sharon instigated the Arabs into a confrontation with the Jews by daring to tour Judaism's holiest site.
Now, let us chew on this idea for a moment.
When people say that Sharon is responsible for the second intifada because of his visit to the Temple Mount, what they are suggesting is that Arabs are uncontrollable animals who will resort to violence at the slightest provocation. Now that is racist, for sure. To blame Arab violence on a Jew for merely visiting a site holy to Jews is even more racist against Arabs than it is toward us. The obvious implication is that Arabs are subhuman beasts who must be placated lest they lose control of themselves.
I've always been amazed that allegedly pro-Palestinian activists are so quick to engage in such anti-Muslim nonsense. The second intifada did not erupt because Ariel Sharon angered vicious and crazy Arabs by visiting the Temple Mount. That is, the second intifada did not erupt because Arabs are unthinking animals, but because Yassir Arafat rationally concluded that a second intifada was what his movement needed after he killed the Oslo accords.
The second intifada was the result of a rational, if wholly wrong, decision on the part of Palestinian leadership. To suggest that somehow Arabs are just violent beasts who simply cannot help themselves is obviously racist and it is precisely the racism that the progressive-left indulges in when they treat Arabs and / or Muslims as irrational actors in history who merely react to western, white behavior.
It is the progressive-left who indulges in such racism, even as they self-righteously claim to represent anti-racism. What nonsense.
The Left is hopelessly racist even as they accuse the Right of racism.
I find it utterly revolting... appalling, even.
The Day of the Dhimmi is Done - Michael Lumish, PhD, proprietor. (mike.lumish@gmail.com)
And the left goes, "Duh, what?" Because they don't get it. They don't know they are doing that.They will accuse you of being right wing for saying it cause as soon as they hear the word "racism," their brains think, "RIGHT WING!!!!!!." It's positively Pavlovian.
ReplyDeleteYup. They'll accuse me of being Right-Wing despite the fact that I favor Gay rights and a woman's right to choose an abortion, opposed and marched against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, favor the regulation of polluting industries and a tax code more favorable to the poor and the middle class.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, I have never voted for a Republican in my life.
That may, however, change going forward.
Cheers!
Ultimately it all goes back to the Noble Savage concept. It's a modified form of the Christian doctrine of original sin (itself a term actually literally used in the context of Israel's birth), where the usual suspects can do no right, and the others can do no wrong. To even try to suggest people of the other group are capable of having unjust, greedy designs of an imperialistic nature is shouted down as "racism."
ReplyDeleteIronically, pointing out the Noble Savage belief to its believers will always, always be met with vehement denial on their part. Often with an indignant cry of, "How dare you call them savages, you racist!" thrown in for good measure (missing the whole point and making you the offensive one at the same time).
I respect the Jewish State's enemies. I respect them as human beings with the fullness of human free will, which includes the free will to harbor unjust and greedy desires and commit evil in order to fulfill those desires.
"Laurie and I are visiting Israel for the first time at the end of December, after Christmas, for almost two weeks."
ReplyDeleteIt so happens Hanukkah falls this year on the first few days after Christmas, so you might be able to find something special.
Just walking through the Old City of Jerusalem is awesome in itself, because of the ancient decor preserved in the stonework—like time travel, if you manage to filter out some modern giveaways.
You probably don't have the time, but if I were in Israel as a tourist I'd make sure to visit the Roman-time forts in the Negev Desert. Among them, Metsad Zohar looks so time-forgotten that you almost expect to see Roman legionaries on the horizon. Further north, the archeological site of Beit Guvrin (called Eleutheropolis by the Greeks) is another such sight.
My apologies if "valleys that time forgot" and other archeological aspects don't attract you as much as they do me. One of the breathtaking aspects of reading the Talmud, for me, is to find out descriptions of Greek and Roman history as recorded in real time—we as a people were already old when those cultures were young.
Heya Mister,
ReplyDeletethanks for the tips.
I'm pretty sure that Laurie and I intend to see lots of ruins... lots and lots of ruins.
That and I want to see if Israeli falafel really is superior to San Francisco falafel!
;O)