Many self-proclaimed "progressives" who claim to support the downtrodden actually support genocide against the Jewish people. That is a bold statement, but it is true, and it is most unfortunate that many Western media outlets and academics glorify anti-Jewish violence while ignoring the true history of the Jewish people, including the heroic legacy of the Jewish Brigade.
In Hijackers, Bombers, and Masterminds: Meet The West’s 5 Favorite Palestinian Terrorists, Chaim Lax declares:
One of the defining characteristics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been the use of terrorism by Palestinian organizations and individuals in order to harm Israeli civilians and to further their political goals through violent means.
These terrorist attacks have taken the lives of thousands of Israelis, and have left countless others wounded and traumatized.
Despite their role in inflicting violence on innocent civilians, a number of Palestinian terrorists have developed an international following, with activists, artists, and academics glorifying their actions and ideas.
The five Arab terrorists he highlights are Leila Khaled, Rasmea Odeh, Marwhan Barghouti, Ghassan Kanafani, and Ahmad Sa'adat. Lax details the terrorism resumes of each person, and he also describes the many ways that Western media outlets and/or academics promote the actions and beliefs of these terrorists instead of condemning anti-Jewish violence. He concludes, "For peace to come between Israel and the Palestinians, the voices of Leila Khaled, Rasmea Odeh, and Marwan Barghouti need to be replaced with the voices of Palestinians who advocate for peace and cooperation. And by finally calling out the dastardly deeds of these enemies of peace, the media can help turn back the process of normalization that has been taking place with regard to people and groups who are motivated solely by the desire to destroy."
It is also worth noting that Congresswoman Cori Bush, who marches in lockstep with self-proclaimed "Squad" members Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ilhan Omar, works with a fundraiser who proudly calls for burning alive every Israeli. Bush's ties to Neveen Ayesh, who is the Government Relations Coordinator for the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) chapter in St. Louis, Missouri, are not the focus of media condemnation, nor does the Democratic Party feel it necessary to clarify that it does not support burning Israelis alive and does not want fundraising support from those who support burning Israelis alive. If you don't understand why this is problematic, then just imagine that Cori Bush were a Republican receiving fundraising support from the Ku Klux Klan. Do you think that media members might say something about that, and do you think that there would be widespread condemnation of the Republican Party unless/until the Republican Party disassociated itself from that member of Congress?
I am not impressed by, and refuse to listen to, those who are only interested in hate speech emanating from one corner of the room, because such people are self-serving hypocrites. I condemn hatred from both sides of the aisle, and I only respect those who do likewise.
It is not new for progressives to have an attitude toward the Jewish people ranging from indifference to active hostility. In The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust 1941–1945, David Wyman noted that President Franklin Roosevelt--the darling of progressives past and present--could have done much more to save Jews during the Holocaust. It is well-documented that the New York Times reported about the Holocaust while also deemphasizing its importance, which mirrors the distorted way that the self-proclaimed "newspaper of record" covers Israel today.
It is incumbent on progressives who do not support anti-Jewish violence to repudiate not only anti-Jewish violence but also anti-Jewish rhetoric. People on the Left are very vocal about how much words matter when words are uttered by certain individuals from the Right, but such condemnations are hollow and hypocritical if they are not directed in equal measure toward individuals and organizations on the Left who traffic in hate speech. It is not enough for the Left to selectively condemn the Right, or for the Right to selectively condemn the Left; hate speech is hate speech no matter who says it, and no matter the other policy positions of the person uttering the hate speech.
No comments:
Post a Comment