Michael
You’re goddamn right, I call them Nazis.
What is a “Nazi,” anyways? On the one hand, of course, a “Nazi” is someone who belonged to the National Socialist German Workers' Party during the early-middle twentieth century. Were I writing a formal piece of history, I would not use that word to refer to anyone else other than a member of that particular club. But this is not academic work.
These are musings. This is thinking aloud.
And the truth, of course, is that for a Jewish person a “Nazi” is someone who fulfills the same historical role that the German Nazis did. That is, a “Nazi” is someone who repeats the kind of anti-Semitic themes (or memes, as we like to say these days) that traditionally lead to anti-Jewish violence or anti-Jewish pogroms or anti-Jewish boycotts or outright genocide against the Jewish people. This what a “Nazi” really is and the progressive movement… the allegedly “anti-racist” political movement in the west which is, in fact, the foremost racist political movement in the west… is absolutely chock-a-bloc full of Nazis.
Those of us who are paying attention see the contemporary iteration of Nazi ideology throughout the universities, on the progressive-left political blogs and the progressive-left political journals, roaming the halls of the United Nations, and through the various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that tend to specialize in spreading hatred toward the Jewish people via spreading hatred toward the Jewish state.
So, yes, they are Nazis.
I don't like it any better than you do.
I try to stay clear of using this label, or all labels for that matter, because it takes the discourse to a level where too many tune out.
ReplyDeleteBetter to show how the conduct is antisemitic, authoritarian, prejudiced, intolerant, hateful, or shows hypocrisy.
It's also fair to show when some call for genocide.
I think this is a more effective way to expose the actors when it comes to persuading the open-minded.
Intellectually I agree with you but would suggest that the truly open minded will likely come to the proper conclusions based on their open mindedness; a rational critical thought process.
DeleteSo, when talking to the closed minded, a jolting label may be the only satisfaction one will get. It probably won't get one anywhere BUT at least there can be little doubt about how serious one takes their accusation of say, Nazi like behaviour.
I think, School,
Deletethat on a tactical level I agree with you, but I am not a real tactical kind of guy.
All I know is that the sort of genocidal anti-Semitism championed by the Nazis is still out there and, in the west, is mainly coming from the left... a political movement that sometimes associates itself with the radical Jihad.
The hard right has its skinheads and neo-nazis, but they are the fringe of the fringe.
On the left they are called anti-Zionists, even sometimes "peace activists," and they fulfill the same role as the Nazis did prior to the slaughter.
Of course, my issue with the left, in general, is not that they are anti-Semitic, but that they turn a blind eye to the Nazis among them.
I do not know that my terminology is false.
Tactics are what matters in this limited realm in which we deal.
DeletePropagandists worry about tactics, School.
DeleteI am not one and you are definitely not one either.
I am much more interested in the degree to which my claims reflect the truth.
Hold on a sec.
ReplyDelete"that the sort of genocidal anti-Semitism championed by the Nazis is still out there and, in the west, is mainly coming from the left"
that's a whole lot different than
"Of course, my issue with the left, in general, is not that they are anti-Semitic, but that they turn a blind eye to the Nazis among them"
Unless I'm missing something, those two are incongruous. Unless you really think there is a significant element of genocidal anti-semitism within the american left.
It's not incongruous, Stu.
DeleteThere are two propositions.
The first is that:
the sort of genocidal anti-Semitism championed by the Nazis is still out there and, in the west, is mainly coming from the left
Quite right.
Just as the German National Socialists thought that Jewish people delivered a "stab in the back" to the German nation during World War I and that Jews were behind the scenes, pulling the strings, to the detriment of the German people during Weimar, so many on the progressive-left, following Walt & Meirsheimer, believe that Jews or Zionists or AIPAC are today doing something similar in (or to) the United States.
This is a fact, is it not? There is a certain percentage of the progressive-left that continually makes such noises and they do so in the pages of prominent journals and the halls of prominent academic institutions, not just the dkos backwater.
My second proposition is:
my issue with the left, in general, is not that they are anti-Semitic, but that they turn a blind eye to the Nazis among them
Indeed.
As I have permanently scratched into the walls of the right side of this blog:
"It is not that most progressives are anti-Semitic. They aren't. It's that they don't get it, they don't care, and they very much want you to shut the fuck up." - Michael Lumish
That is true, as well.
Most progressives are not anti-Semitic, they just are more than happy to turn a blind eye to the anti-Semitism within their movement.
That has always been my issue for as long as I have been discussing this kind of thing.
btw, shortly after I left MLW I noticed that Phil had posted some comment about anti-Semitism in the OWS thing.
DeleteHe pointed to one of the videos that circulated then showing distinct Jew hatred.
And I saw where Kathleen said something like, "Oh, he's just posting that for Karma."
It definitely raised an eyebrow for me and kinda represents my argument in a nutshell.
It's not that progressives are, as a group anti-Semitic... they're actually far more racist towards Arabs and Muslims, but it's the soft "humanitarian" racism of believing that some people should not be expected to live up to any standard of human decency.
The problem with the progressive-left... present company accepted... is that it absolutely refuses to face up to the organized anti-Semitic elements within their own movement.
I always think back to the Mavi Marmara. There were Jihadis in those boats... genocidal Muslim Jew Haters... and there were western "peace activists" in those boats, as well.
That's a fact.
Anyone who thinks the left is the major offender, and that we can downplay right-wing antisemitismn, should stroll over to the Zero Hedge finance site. Any such illusion will be rudely dispelled.
ReplyDeleteRandall,
Deletethis is an important question.
My understanding is that contemporary western genocidal anti-Semitism is coming mainly from the left via BDS and friends.
It is through that movement that it is institutionalized and mainstreamed on the left.
Is there an equivalent on the right?
That is, have major Republican blogs and journals accepted anti-Zionism as legitimate discourse?