Writing in the Jerusalem Post, Michelle Malka Grossman tells us:A billboard in Detroit that reads "America First Not Israel" is causing controversy and some are accusing its message of being anti-Semitic.This is one of the manners within which full-grown anti-Jewish Arabs, if not anti-Jewish racists, in general, throw stones at Jews.
The large sign, placed on 8 Mile Road in Detroit, says that it was "Paid for by Deir Yassin Remembered," a New-York-based organization that has been posting similar signs throughout the country. Although the metro-Detroit area has one of the largest Arab populations outside the Middle East, as well as a sizable Jewish community, the sign was placed in a part of the city that is neither predominantly Jewish nor Muslim.
In an interview with Detroit's WXYZ Fox News affiliate, the Anti-Defamation League's Heidi Budaj said that the ad and its choice of location is trying to "drive a wedge between the American people and the state of Israel."
Their nephews in Israel use actual stones against Jewish children or families in automobiles. In Europe they tend to be a tad more discreet. Instead of actually stoning Jews in public, which is a thousands-year-old Arab tradition in the Middle East, they simply employ regular street violence and the occasional murder or the popular torture-murder combo.
In the United States, the international Arab-Muslim political movement against the Jewish people is only now beginning to gain some traction and form some definable shape.
Most native-born American Muslims are not as keen on Jew-Hatred as their counterparts in Europe or the Middle East, simply due to the fact that the US is among the least racist countries on the planet. However, as the percentage of Middle Eastern-born American Muslims increases, whatever amicability there may be between American Muslims and American Jews will deteriorate.
I am not generally a huge fan of predicting the future, but if the past is any indication - and I believe that it is - then as Arab-Muslim population levels grow in both Europe and the United States we will see increasing violence and increasing rhetoric of hatred toward the Jewish people, as well as the slow, long deterioration of both the rights of women and Gay people.
Jewish history tells us that the kind of thing that we are now seeing out of Detroit will soften up the people for the prospect of future violence. Whatever its intention, that is its effect. It serves the same function as did the old blood-libel within Medieval Europe. First they convince one another how rotten the "other" is and once people are properly convinced of this, then they are free to commit violence.
The billboard in Detroit was put neither in a neighborhood with a significant Jewish population, nor within a Muslim neighborhood. They specifically chose a white neighborhood because that is their target audience.
They are endeavoring to create hatred toward Jews in the United States as part of an ongoing Arab-Muslim international campaign of defamation toward the Jewish people as part of the larger, ongoing operation against Jewish autonomy and self-defense in Israel.
What is that billboard intended to accomplish other than to encourage hatred toward the Jewish people? What is that billboard intended to accomplish other than to encourage the notion that American Jews - just like German Jews in the 1930s - are a disloyal bunch who will stab you in the back the very first opportunity that we get?
This is how adults throw stones at Jews.
And Jerusalem would be recognized as the capital of Israel.
ReplyDeleteThe people who paid for it should be targeted in every way possible. The only thing Nazis understand is Nazi methods.
ReplyDeleteI read their blog. It's interesting. Awful, but interesting. I won't post the link, but it's easy to find.
ReplyDeleteOf course there will be increased anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rhetoric, but the point of it is less to cause violence and more to change US policy. It's the politics that really matter. As they do to the progressive left and the intelligentsia.
The "fundamental transformation" of America means separating America from Israel. And to do that you have to work on the last significant group in the world who still support Israel: The American people. The normal, regular people - not the ones who necessarily read the NYT or attend American universities. It's a multi-pronged attack. The schools, academy, and media have been working on this for a long time.
Changing demographics are bringing another dimension. And, in truth, there's nothing to do to stop it. Any of it.
That will be their- the left's - great triumph when it is achieved. America becomes like Europe.
"The "Israel-firster" slur was not used in "mainstream" discourse until the last few years.
ReplyDeleteBefore that, you can find it occasionally in the early 1980s and 1990s in sources such as Wilmot Robertson's anti-Semitic Instauration journal, a 1988 anti-Semitic book called "The F.O.J. [Fear of Jews] Syndrome, and a 1998 anti-Semitic book "Rise of AntiChrist." I also found a couple of references to "Israel-firsters" in the extremist anti-Israel publication, The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, and from writers associated with this journal.
By the early 2000s, one can find "Israel-firster" being used by a variety of anti-Semitic "right-wing" sources like DavidDuke.com and the Vanguard News Network. As the decade wore on, the phrase occasionally pops up in far left anti-Israel sites that have ties to the anti-Semitic far-right or are known for playing footsie with anti-Semitism, like Antiwar.com, Norman Finkelstein's website, and Indymedia."
http://volokh.com/2012/01/13/israel-firster/
Funny how there is a natural progression from far right Nazi usage to Progressive usage of terms aimed at demonizing Jews, then Israel. Happens all the time.
That because "far right" in "far right Nazi" is just a "bad thing" hieroglyph.
DeleteNazis are the ideological twins of today's progressives.
Not fazed much by this. They are free to believe what they want, and to buy ad space, too. It will convince few and turn off many. Most Americans know the message is not true, that Israel is good for America, and that those who reject Israel this way do not care much about America either. This reinforces that perception and support for Israel grows among the general populace.
ReplyDeleteIt is rather heavy-handed, I don't believe the average American cares. To most it probably just looks like what it is.
DeleteSchool and Jeff,
DeleteI actually tend to agree with you both.
In the US the Jewish people are safe, certainly for the moment.
But this kind of implication is how the poison begins to spread throughout any community.
Mike,
DeleteYes, of course you are right that this is the way it begins. But not every instance or manifestation merits a frontal assault. That way one can miss the forest for the trees. We must learn to think long-term strategic.
I am glad, however, that you took the time to inform us of that scuzzy billboard.
We must learn from our enemies, and then use it to our advantage.
BTW, Elder provided a link to Netanyahu's speech to the 37th Zionist Congress. Have you read it yet? I'd like your thoughts.
Don't think this is how it spreads. Eurabia is how it spreads. In places where Jew hatred is not an alien norm. Neither is the case here. Most Americans will not condone the intolerance from Jew haters posing as humanitarians, and know that Israel will stand with America when the Jew haters won't.
DeleteNo. It spreads by what you teach young people. In schools and universities. In the media. And, online. And by the words and actions of politicians they trust.
DeleteYou change the next generations.
.
And, btw, on the blog about this group and their aims, the person who wrote it had what seemed to be a Jewish name.
You should look at the polling.
DeleteWhen asked, a majority of Americans said they did not want to see any US intervention in the present troubles in I/P.
When asked whether Israel is seen as a "reliable ally" of the United States, the numbers agreeing with that have declined significantly in the last years. And amongst Democrats, more see Mexico as a reliable ally than Israel.
Mexico is an ally of the US? Be cautious with polls and their interpretation. I don't see non-intervention in the so-called I/P conflict as necessarily a bad thing. Of course, Israel haters want heavy-handed intervention.
DeleteJeff.
Delete"Mexico is an ally of the US?"
I know, it's barmy. But it's interesting that people are saying that. One presumes that is a product of identity politics rather than a rational geopolitical response to the world.
It's important to note that that is stronger with Democratic voters.
I know polling is not necessarily relevant but the overall trends are .
The overall trends are showing a decline in support for Israel. Some of that is hostility and some of that is indifference. That hasn't happened by accident. And the pressures that cause that decline in support are likely to increase rather than decrease.
Political parties do look at trends. I imagine that the Democratic Party, which seems to be shifting further to the left, will find it more and more difficult to offer genuine support for Israel. Demographic changes in America will also make that likely. As in Europe. Considering how much unpleasant stuff is said about American politics and Jewish "influence" it would seem that the Democratic Party is fairly sure that they will continue to receive support - and donations - from American Jews regardless of what policies they actually pursue. Looking at the people lining up to support Hillary Clinton, one would have to say that the Obama's administration's treatment of Israel has not mattered to Jewish liberal voters.
It is, of course, different with more conservative-leaning supporters of Israel.
Unfortunately, there is quite some time left with Obama in office. I think a lot more damage will be done.
Actually, the Eurabia effect encompasses the means by which anti-Israelism begin to spread in Western communities because it creates the large numbers of people needed.
DeleteAnd Americans continue to see Israel favorably and know that pro-Israel is pro-American.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/181652/seven-americans-continue-view-israel-favorably.aspx
school,
Deletethank you for the link. :)
That's good to know!
Long may it continue.
Sorry if I seem overly pessimistic but an awful lot of what one reads - perhaps particularly in the UK at the moment - is so staggeringly depressing re Israel. And Jews, generally.
I spend quite a lot of time reading the horror stories from the US universities and much of your media. I think it is sometimes difficult to remember that people in the US tend to have a different perspective than the majority of Europeans. Added to that, the only voices quoted over here from America on the subject of Israel are those who our media and intelligentsia approve of.
It's now impossible to find any major media outlet that isn't hideously biased and mendacious. Also, we are fed a nonstop diet of anti-Americanism by our media. Particularly the BBC and Channel 4. It is extremely hard to take. And reflects the obsessions of our commentariat.
I read a lot of American journalism to help give a broader spectrum of opinion.
It's much needed!
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DeleteNo need to apologize for pessimism. There is reason for it. There's too much white noise. The situation is well known. Words, tweets, etc. offer little new, just more of the same, and likely make things worse. But we are bombarded each day with more stuff to reinforce perceptions that are already well-formed.
DeleteIf you want a different approach that should appeal to the progressive mentality, try this:
http://shaelsiegel.blogspot.com/2009/02/jews-endangered-species-by-tamar-siegel.html
This approach will not succeed, however, because for many, it's not about Israel, but getting to an selfish ideal of utopia in a manner that creates a human hell on earth.
Who woulda thunk it?
ReplyDelete"We now learn that, according to the Besa Center, 90% of the recent attackers live in East Jerusalem. This means they are either Israeli citizens or eligible for Israeli citizenship if they choose to obtain it. These individuals have equal rights under Israeli law, including the right to vote and to be represented in the Knesset. Unless you are one of the irrational racists who believe that Israel’s very existence constitutes “occupation,” it is simply illogical to assert that they are motivated to what amounts to a new form of suicide attack by Israel’s so-called occupation."
http://www.israellycool.com/2015/10/27/abbas-reveals-motive-behind-his-incitement/
Throw the bums out!