Geoffff
HATERS SMASHED
This short address by Ben Shapiro at UCLA was a while back I think but has just been published on Tim Blair's blog at the Daily Telegraph and is the best denunciation of BDS I have heard.
The Day of the Dhimmi is Done - Michael Lumish, PhD, proprietor. (mike.lumish@gmail.com)
From early 2014. BDS has not fared as well since then, except among a certain element that seems to looking for ways to create conflict.
ReplyDeleteIt's too bad Shapiro must be unnecessarily combative toward others. He hurt himself with his unhinged and mean denunciations of Trump, especially with regard to the Michelle Fields incident, where he was left with egg on his face. He sounded like Rosie O'Donnell.
If you think that BDS is not still a grave problem in the world then I think the problem might be actually worse than I
Deletethought.
This is like saying the KKK has not marched in Main Street for a while therefore there is nothing to worry about.
Those other matters I have no knowledge about at all and no interest as they are clearly irrelevant.
You have taken my remarks out of context. Two year old videos are cool, but things have changed since then.
DeleteI did not intimate that BDS was not a problem, but the opposite, and it has increasingly been confronted as an illegal enterprise based on discrimination.
More and more jurisdictions are declaring that BDS is illegal, in the USA and elsewhere. Organizations and associations are increasingly rejecting BDS resolutions. That is the trend.
For example:
21 state legislatures have taken up bills concerning BDS. Proponents say the trend will intensify this year, as activists move to consolidate their gains by pushing laws in states that have already passed nonbinding resolutions condemning BDS.
“Those states see what they’re doing now as a follow-up, as a successor,” said Eugene Kontorovich, a law professor at Northwestern University who has consulted with groups advancing anti-BDS legislation. “They’re implementing laws that use state contracting power to fight back against racism.”
http://www.timesofisrael.com/as-anti-bds-laws-gain-momentum-across-us-some-say-they-go-too-far/
See also:
http://spme.org/boycotts-divestments-sanctions-bds/anti-israel-boycotts-legal-doesnt-look-like/22872/
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/bdsstates.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2016/02/25/obama-signs-israel-anti-boycott-provisions-into-law-settlements-and-all/
It is not limited to the USA either:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/208189
http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/323207/france-court-upholds-bds-is-discrimination-ruling/
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Freedom-of-Speech-Canada-Condemns-BDS-Movement-Against-Israel-20160222-0039.html
BDS used to be unfettered, but no longer so, and the change in momentum occurred around when Shapiro talked at UCLA.
Lack of knowledge or interest does not, by definition, make something “clearly irrelevant.” One should possess knowledge and interest to determine relevance in the first instance.
That said, Shapiro hurt his standing by the way he acted, such as calling Trump a "flaming heap of human garbage" on national TV. All in support of a hoax perpetrated by one of his friends. People will be less inclined to hear what Shapiro says as a result. THAT was the relevance.
Sure was a while back. It was before bBen Shapiro became 'famous'
ReplyDeleteShapiro is an exceedingly intense and intelligent guy.
ReplyDeleteHe's almost scary.
I can't imagine what he is going to be like once he gets old and cranky!
I read his book on the cultural history of television which was actually pretty damn good.
His idea, and it is hardly original, is that television manipulates people for political reasons, but he describes how this is so from a politically conservative perspective.
I have to say, I am finding hard-line right-wingers to be refreshing ... and he very definitely qualifies.
It is not that I necessarily agree with them on many issues, but left-wing political correctness has become strangulatory.
I will never forget posting a video on dkos of some imam in the Middle East screeching for genocide and being told that I am a racist.
I couldn't believe it.
So, if I note that this guy is screaming for the blood of the Jews it makes ME the racist?
It would be something akin to being charged with racism for calling out Hitler in the 1930s.
The stupidity is profound.
Mike,
DeleteI agree with you about Ben Shapiro. He is a quite brilliant, and committed, ideological conservative who likes to argue facts while recognizing the immense role that image and emotion play in politics.
To Geoff,
Ben Shapiro began as a political writer, when he was 16 or 17 years of age. He started by writing columns and has written several books.
Famous?
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of the guy until I say again his video was published yesterday in Australia's most widely distributed newspaper.
"A flaming heap of human garbage "
Not a bad line if you ask me.
"Unnecessarily combative "
Absurd.
The guy is obviously what is known in my country as a "shock jock".
Public figures, usually radio personalities, who build a following by being provocative. Not nice necessarily but do you have a problem with free speech and the private enterprise system?
Your comments about BDS are so strange as to being depressing. Please try to understand this. There is a whole world out there outside of the USA.
A two year old video?
For Christ's sake it was published on the blog of one of Australia's most popular journalists yesterday! That is the nature of the Internet.
I say again I have no idea of what this shock jock 's reputation is in your little part of the world and I don't really give a damn.
It was an extraordinarily effective denunciation of a virulent and rampant antisemitic campaign and that you can be so complacent about it because you think it is on the back foot in your little neck of the woods is the most troubling thing I've heard in a long time.
Maybe you need to spend a little time in a part of the world where there aren't so many Jews and vicious antisemitism is right in your face. France perhaps or Germany. Anywhere really except apparently where your head is at.
In the meantime I agree with Trudy. Keep your passport current and pack a toothbrush.
You never heard of him yet do not hesitate to discount and misrepresent what others, who actually do know of him, say.
DeleteHis recent antics are detrimental to his cause(s) because he not only disparaged Trump, as mentioned, but assisted in the perpetuation of a hoax.
Quit making assumptions, especially when it's obvious you speak from ignorance, as you admit. And playing the you know more and care more card only makes you look small.
I showed exactly what I was talking about, with numerous links. It was not meant to be "complacent" or anything similar to your characterizations, but a positive statement that anti-bds is not lying down, and actually getting stronger, backed by law. It is not limited to the USA, but is being raised in the UK, Canada, France, and elsewhere. Conversely, you provided invective which hindered your ability to see that good things are happening, even in a bad climate.
Indeed, next Tuesday Israel will lead an international anti-BDS conference at the UN, expected to host over 1,500 attendees including representatives from dozens of organizations.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4808731,00.html
Perhaps you should chill out, rather than being overly dramatic, insulting and judgmental to people you don't know.
You seem to not understand even the basics of this. Let me try to explain one last time.
DeleteBDS has nothing to do with "Palestine " at all and almost nothing to do with Israel.
Unless you grasp that truth then there really is not much to contribute to the issue.
Shapiro clearly understands this. It is a major problem that so many American Jews apparently do not.
I find your explanation "one last time" nonsensical.
DeleteI don't believe I said boo about Palestine or Israel.
What I did say was the anti-BDS movement is growing, here and elsewhere, and provided evidence to that effect. I also said that Shapiro has hurt himself because of his antics. An opinion.
I did not realize you had the monopoly on truth, however, or that you decide what may "contribute to the issue." You sound like an authoritarian progressive to me.
This is why most often I forego even commenting anymore. So some schmo can act superior and lecture to me.
Got news for you. Contrary to your presumptions, I have as much knowledge on these subjects as you, likely more, including "even the basics of this," but don't need to act that way to make my points.
I am not an authoritarian progressive.
ReplyDeleteI am an authoritarian conservative.
Considering the conversation that evolved after my commen, it was interesting to see this post today:
ReplyDeleteBDS FLOUNDERS AMID STRING OF HUMILIATING DEFEATS
It’s been a really bad month for the anti-Semitic BDS movement, a strange alliance of radical leftists and Islamists who advocate the destruction of Israel through economic and cultural boycotts. The hate group suffered a number of major setbacks in recent weeks. Some of these reversals represent mere moral victories but others have far reaching consequences that may well spell doom for BDS’s future operations and ability to function.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/263024/bds-flounders-amid-string-humiliating-defeats-ari-lieberman