Tuesday, February 18, 2020

A Note on the Algemeiner and Usage of "West Bank"

Michael Lumish

It is important to note that the usage of "West Bank" to refer to the traditional Jewish homeland of Yehuda and Shomron (or Judea and Samaria in the Latinate) is a way of robbing the Jewish people of our connection to the land of our ancestry.

When pro-Israel / pro-Jewish publications such as the Algemeiner or the Times of Israel or the Jerusalem Post use that designation they are undermining Jewish claims to Jewish land.

I have focused on the Algemeiner because I have fifteen articles published in that venue and because I am pissed-off at them. I have, therefore, decided to keep an eye on their usage of that term in their headlines. From what I can tell Dovid Efune and his staff are using that anti-Zionist phraseology less than they used to.

Today, February 18, 2020, they did not use it at all in the headlines and that's a good thing. We need to discourage the usage of "West Bank" and we need to call into account any of the Jewish press that continues to use anti-Jewish / anti-Israel terminology in their front page.

14 comments:

  1. Ditto "East Jerusalem." There is only Jerusalem.

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    1. Al Quds is quite indigenous, is a shortened version of Bayt al Muqaddas, a literal calque of Bayt haMikdash.

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    2. If you think of it as indigenous, why don't you use it?

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    3. I don't believe highly educated Progressives are knowlegeable enough to make the connection. Basic geography and history are not required for a "studies" PhD.

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  2. LOL Bernie was planning to attend AIPAC but NOW that he he is the Dem frontrunner he has decided to skip it AND has berated those who use it as a platform to "express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights." Oh , those poor Palestinians. They only got to fire 30 rockets into Israel this weekend so far. Oh those delighted Progressives. This stuff writes itself.

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    1. Bernie is an asshole. There, I said it. He is ill-informed about so many things. And he surrounds himself with antisemites. Is he oblivious to this?
      More worrying is that roughly 45% of Dem caucus goers in Nevada find this presence of antisemites in the Democratic Party perfectly acceptable. Imagine if Bernie were surrounded by anti-black racists.
      What does he mean "express bigotry and oppose basic Palestinian rights"? It's complete nonsense talk. And it is antisemitic, if one thinks about it for a second. We don't know exactly what those "basic rights" are that he's referring to (and he would need to ask a Chomskyite to find out), but he's certainly blaming Israel and its supporters it would seem exclusively for the lack of those rights. That's a lie, and it's bigotry pure and simple. He is a bigot trying to sound enlightened, and it looks like he's getting away with it for now. He's dangerous.

      If I were at a town hall with Bernie Sanders I would destroy him for the bullshit he utters. He's a disgusting, ignorant old S.O.B. as far as I'm concerned. And when I hear him speak, it's like something I heard as a college freshman. I can't believe adults fall for it.

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    2. Bernie is ashamed that America and the Capitalist West has the kind of affluence that let's consumers choose from "23 different brands of deodorant." Why can't we have just 1 - for the "people?" Just imagine how many starving children we could feed! (Forget about the children of all those involved in producing and marketing 23 brands of deodorant.) Where did Bernie learn economics. Any guess? :0)
      Bernie wants to get back all of "your money" from all the evil billionaires and give it back to you. OK. well, not to YOU, but he'll take it and use it only for things he's sure you would approve of, instead of the "fat cat billionaires" and the "racists" like Netanyahu.
      What a guy!

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  3. Are the Americans serious about putting this antisemitic creep up as a candidate for President?

    I guess anybody has a right to lose to Trump but this is a horror movie too late in the night

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    1. re: your first query
      They want to make sure they have someone who's free from any kind of Russian influence! And Bernie is their man. His first executive order upon taking office will be to replace the National Anthem with this ditty.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNb54rwDQJM

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  4. It's up to 40 rockets now and Bibi is promising harsh action. Try to make it harsher than the last million times Bibi; your harsh just ain't working.

    Then again, maybe the rockets are just Hamas' way of celebrating Bernie's Nevada win.

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  5. And AOC proves once again that she literally doesn't know the meaning of the word "literally." I would be embarrassed to sound like her, and yet she goes on and millions think she knows what she's talking about. And these LIV's fervently believe they are part of the cutting edge of advanced thought, and like to tell you how they "believe" in science. Believe in science! ROFLMAO

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  6. Mike,
    I just want to tell you that I think you've really hit something with this Judah & Shomron vs. "West Bank" in this quite ingenious and revealing distinction which really does go to the heart of the matter.
    Arabs can never be indigenous to Judea. Their propaganda falls apart.

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    1. And as I read various articles over at EOZ, UKMediaWatch, other pro-Israel sites, and mainstream media with my eye on this, it becomes rather striking.
      I keep saying that language is key.

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