New Trends In Arabic Anti-Semitism
Showing posts with label Current Issues: Anti-Semitism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Current Issues: Anti-Semitism. Show all posts
Metro says nevermind to 'Israeli war crimes' ads
Metro will not allow bus ads alleging "Israeli war crimes" after all. Nor will it allow ads countering that ad.
In a reversal of an earlier decision, Metro Transit said Thursday it would not allow a bus ad alleging "Israeli war crimes," saying a flood of comments has convinced officials that service could be disrupted.
The ad, purchased by the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, ties alleged Israeli war crimes to U.S. military aid. The ad had been set to run for a month on the sides of 12 buses starting next week.
Metro also rejected proposals for two counter ads.
"The escalation of this issue from one of 12 local bus placards to a widespread and often vitriolic international debate introduces new and significant security concerns that compel reassessment," said King County Executive Dow Constantine.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013753552_busads24m.html
Seattle Times staff reporter
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This ad from the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign were scheduled to appear on the sides of 12 Metro buses on Seattle routes. Metro officials rejected the proposed ad Thursday.
The ad, purchased by the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, ties alleged Israeli war crimes to U.S. military aid. The ad had been set to run for a month on the sides of 12 buses starting next week.
Metro also rejected proposals for two counter ads.
"The escalation of this issue from one of 12 local bus placards to a widespread and often vitriolic international debate introduces new and significant security concerns that compel reassessment," said King County Executive Dow Constantine.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013753552_busads24m.html
Read about Ed Mast - Hamas sympathizer
Read about Ed Mast, Hamas sympathizer, who has initiated the bus ads in Seattle titled, "Israeli War Crimes":
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/
Letter to Seattle Metro re: "War Crimes" ads
Reply by Alan J. Nathanson
Comments sent directly to the Seattle Transit Authority are as follows :
Dear Ms. Thielke :
The decision of the Seattle, Washington transit authorities to accept viciously anti-Israeli Arab propaganda on your bus system is truly an outrage of staggering immorality. I am sure you will hear much concerning this ill-considered decision, both on the telephone and by e-mail, so I will not recite chapter and verse to you on the details of this atrocity your city is committing. Suffice it to say, whether you agree or not, Israel is a tiny democratic country fighting desperately for existence in an especially vicious part of the world.
To characterize that nation's defensive measures against almost daily bombardments and other provocations as "war crimes" reminds me of George Orwell's novel 1984 in which all true statements are turned on their heads to mean the precise opposite, i.e. "slavery is freedom", "war is peace", etc. I am certain you are an educated woman and clearly understand how George Orwell predicted how truths would be perverted into bald-faced lies in his fictional dystopia of the future. Well it certainly appears that Seattle has made a major step to advance this nightmarish prediction ! This immoral action on your city's part makes me ashamed to be required to admit that Seattle is part of the same country I hold dear.
The utter hypocrisy of accepting advertisements such as the ones that you plan for the Seattle bus system clearly proves to many Americans that the persons or organizations who are paying you the blood money for the ads, are a greater threat of violence should you not accept their ads than we Americans, both Christian, secular or Jewish, and other people of good-will who are deeply offended and insulted by the political pornography you propose to display so boldly. What an utter perversion of the concept of freedom of speech, you commit for a few dollars in revenue. To even consider the display of such inflammatory political lies is an unconscionable act of either your fear of the sponsors, or bias against those who are opposed to it.
Should Seattle see fit to proceed with this disgusting decision, I will gladly join and support any organization that will bring pressure on your city, either before or after the fact, by whatever means
necessary to bring the city back to the real world, perhaps through tourist boycotts or other peaceful actions.
It is with a deep sense of disgust that I am compelled to address you in this manner, but your Seattle civic authorities need a wake-up call to political reality ! Indeed, madam, what are you folks drinking
in your water out there!
Comments sent directly to the Seattle Transit Authority are as follows :
Dear Ms. Thielke :
The decision of the Seattle, Washington transit authorities to accept viciously anti-Israeli Arab propaganda on your bus system is truly an outrage of staggering immorality. I am sure you will hear much concerning this ill-considered decision, both on the telephone and by e-mail, so I will not recite chapter and verse to you on the details of this atrocity your city is committing. Suffice it to say, whether you agree or not, Israel is a tiny democratic country fighting desperately for existence in an especially vicious part of the world.
To characterize that nation's defensive measures against almost daily bombardments and other provocations as "war crimes" reminds me of George Orwell's novel 1984 in which all true statements are turned on their heads to mean the precise opposite, i.e. "slavery is freedom", "war is peace", etc. I am certain you are an educated woman and clearly understand how George Orwell predicted how truths would be perverted into bald-faced lies in his fictional dystopia of the future. Well it certainly appears that Seattle has made a major step to advance this nightmarish prediction ! This immoral action on your city's part makes me ashamed to be required to admit that Seattle is part of the same country I hold dear.
The utter hypocrisy of accepting advertisements such as the ones that you plan for the Seattle bus system clearly proves to many Americans that the persons or organizations who are paying you the blood money for the ads, are a greater threat of violence should you not accept their ads than we Americans, both Christian, secular or Jewish, and other people of good-will who are deeply offended and insulted by the political pornography you propose to display so boldly. What an utter perversion of the concept of freedom of speech, you commit for a few dollars in revenue. To even consider the display of such inflammatory political lies is an unconscionable act of either your fear of the sponsors, or bias against those who are opposed to it.
Should Seattle see fit to proceed with this disgusting decision, I will gladly join and support any organization that will bring pressure on your city, either before or after the fact, by whatever means
necessary to bring the city back to the real world, perhaps through tourist boycotts or other peaceful actions.
It is with a deep sense of disgust that I am compelled to address you in this manner, but your Seattle civic authorities need a wake-up call to political reality ! Indeed, madam, what are you folks drinking
in your water out there!
There is HOPE! - with King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn!
I just received this email from King County Councilmember, Reagan Dunn, which is a letter he has now sent to Executive Constantine of King County.
Reagan Dunn
King County Councilmember
Executive Constantine,
I have had a chance to review the anti-Israel ad that will run on King County buses starting on December 27th. Personally, I find this ad to be disgusting and hateful. However, the question before us is whether the sponsoring group has a right to run the ads under our advertising policy. I have reviewed our policy and believe that we have grounds to pull the ad immediately.
As a former federal prosecutor, I prosecuted narco-terrorism cases with connections to Hezbollah and Hamas. I have also traveled extensively in Israel and have seen firsthand the dangers that Israel faces. This dangerous and misleading rhetoric is designed to incite hate and potentially violence. We have seen the tensions between Jews and Muslims erupt into violence right here in our own community. It was only four years ago that a man walked into the Seattle Jewish Federation building and shot six women.
Metro's advertising policy states that we can reject ads that incite a "breach of public safety, peace and order." It is my view that this ad is indeed designed to incite such a breach. As such, the ad should be pulled immediately and in the future such ads should be rejected out of hand.
Thank you for reviewing King County's policies on bus advertising. I trust that you will make the proper decision.
Reagan Dunn
King County Councilmember
Hate Ad Against Israel Violates Metro Rules on Advertising
Dear King County and Seattle Elected Officials,
About the "Israeli War Crimes" bus propaganda, we read in the Seattle Times today that, "Metro spokeswoman Linda Thielke, asked if the ad violates county standards, replied, "That's not my decision, but at this point it does meet our current standards."
Have the staff at Metro, who capriciously decided to run these hate ads on King County buses, even read their own policies? This ad is a complete violation of the Metro Agency rules on Restrictions on Advertising; section 6.4 D & E) which states:
6.4 The Consultant shall not place in or on a transit vehicle any advertising that contains or involves the following:
WHAT STANDARDS? WHAT STANDARDS? The ones that say it's ok to bash Jews in Seattle? Those standards? The ones that say it's ok to brainwash Seattle children against Jews and connect them as perpetrators (not victims) to the term "War Crimes" (remember the Holocaust?) in a twisted propaganda effort to delegitimize Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East? Those standards? The ones that say it's ok to murder Jewish women in Seattle because Jews commit "War Crimes." Those standards? By running these ads you are giving a green light to the anti-Semitic bigots in our city by providing governmental sanction to this propaganda. This will undoubtedly lead to attacks against Jews, their cultural and religious centers and even their schools. Have Jews not suffered enough?
And so the logic goes:
In days of old they used to say that Jews killed non-Jewish babies and drank their blood - now they say that Jews commit "War Crimes." If Jews are guilty of "War Crimes" then why shouldn't we kill them, stop them, destroy them as they are evil and need to be eradicated! That is the climate that this ad supports. Our public bus system has become a vehicle for vilifying Jews!
Let's get clear on something this time around - we in the Jewish community are not going to sit down and take this crap anymore. If you want to see how tough Jews can be, then go ahead and run those despicable ads and we'll see who has the last word on this. If you run these ads, we will work together with our Jewish friends and others to shut Metro down.
About the "Israeli War Crimes" bus propaganda, we read in the Seattle Times today that, "Metro spokeswoman Linda Thielke, asked if the ad violates county standards, replied, "That's not my decision, but at this point it does meet our current standards."
Have the staff at Metro, who capriciously decided to run these hate ads on King County buses, even read their own policies? This ad is a complete violation of the Metro Agency rules on Restrictions on Advertising; section 6.4 D & E) which states:
6.4 The Consultant shall not place in or on a transit vehicle any advertising that contains or involves the following:
- D. Any material that is so objectionable under contemporary community standards as to be reasonably foreseeable that it will result in harm to, disruption of, or interference with the transportation system.
- E. Any material directed at a person or group that is so insulting, degrading or offensive as to be reasonably foreseeable that it will incite or produce imminent lawless action in the form of retaliation, vandalism or other breach of public safety, peace and order.
WHAT STANDARDS? WHAT STANDARDS? The ones that say it's ok to bash Jews in Seattle? Those standards? The ones that say it's ok to brainwash Seattle children against Jews and connect them as perpetrators (not victims) to the term "War Crimes" (remember the Holocaust?) in a twisted propaganda effort to delegitimize Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East? Those standards? The ones that say it's ok to murder Jewish women in Seattle because Jews commit "War Crimes." Those standards? By running these ads you are giving a green light to the anti-Semitic bigots in our city by providing governmental sanction to this propaganda. This will undoubtedly lead to attacks against Jews, their cultural and religious centers and even their schools. Have Jews not suffered enough?
And so the logic goes:
In days of old they used to say that Jews killed non-Jewish babies and drank their blood - now they say that Jews commit "War Crimes." If Jews are guilty of "War Crimes" then why shouldn't we kill them, stop them, destroy them as they are evil and need to be eradicated! That is the climate that this ad supports. Our public bus system has become a vehicle for vilifying Jews!
Let's get clear on something this time around - we in the Jewish community are not going to sit down and take this crap anymore. If you want to see how tough Jews can be, then go ahead and run those despicable ads and we'll see who has the last word on this. If you run these ads, we will work together with our Jewish friends and others to shut Metro down.
Jew-Hatred Bus Ads Allowed in Seattle!
To My Dear Elected Officials in King County and Seattle:
Throughout the years we have gotten to know some of you personally - in fact, some of us have marched together in rallies during tough times in our city - especially when we were residents and activists in the Central District of Seattle. We appreciate and value each of your abilities to take a stand for what is right for our city and for our country - and not stay silent for something that is just expedient.
We have been fighting most of our lives for the rights of underrepresented and under-supported people in our society. It's not always a pleasant role to play and we do get tired at times, but in the end the satisfaction of seeing right done is always worth the battle.
And so we write to express ourselves to you about the intense feelings of outrage we have about King County granting permission for signs to be posted on buses in Seattle titled, "Israeli War Crimes." We recoil at the twisted nature of this phrase - especially when directed at the Jewish people and Israeli citizens, many of whom are survivors of the Holocaust. To accuse Israel of "war crimes" when the country has been under direct attack for its entire existence, is a complete and utter distortion.
Israel is fighting for its life and has been attacked militarily from all sides by the Arab world continually since its creation. As a tiny democracy on a sliver of land, Israel lives in a dangerous neighborhood. The surrounding Arab dictatorships are determined to de-legitimize Israel and ultimately destroy it, and as they say, "drive it into the sea." They have tried to do this repeatedly through military action and have failed. Since these attacks, the Israelis have been subjected to suicide bombers, rocket attacks, and other terrorism. Now the terrorist organizations of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood are organizing a world-wide anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish propaganda campaign. Their ultimate goal is to weaken and then destroy Israel by convincing the United States to stop providing foreign aid to support Israel's security. They have to lie and brainwash the American people with propaganda to get to that goal.
If you run these anti-Semitic ads on the buses in Seattle, you are providing direct support to this terrorism. We have already seen the fruits of anti-Semitic thinking in Seattle with terrorist attacks on Jewish cultural and religious centers, murders of Jewish female social workers and threats as well as vandalism of Jewish schools as far away from the city center as Mercer Island. These inflammatory bus ads are going to feed an already dangerous climate in Seattle that will lead to further attacks against Jews.
The Jewish community will be forced to act against this situation, which could lead to a dangerous confrontation that should be avoided. And so I ask you to pull these ads from consideration and any other ads that seek to de-legitimize Israel or Jews in any way. This propaganda campaign against Israel and against the Jewish people must be stopped and it will take all of us - not just Jews alone - to dampen this movement that has billions of Muslims behind it.
Throughout the years we have gotten to know some of you personally - in fact, some of us have marched together in rallies during tough times in our city - especially when we were residents and activists in the Central District of Seattle. We appreciate and value each of your abilities to take a stand for what is right for our city and for our country - and not stay silent for something that is just expedient.
We have been fighting most of our lives for the rights of underrepresented and under-supported people in our society. It's not always a pleasant role to play and we do get tired at times, but in the end the satisfaction of seeing right done is always worth the battle.
And so we write to express ourselves to you about the intense feelings of outrage we have about King County granting permission for signs to be posted on buses in Seattle titled, "Israeli War Crimes." We recoil at the twisted nature of this phrase - especially when directed at the Jewish people and Israeli citizens, many of whom are survivors of the Holocaust. To accuse Israel of "war crimes" when the country has been under direct attack for its entire existence, is a complete and utter distortion.
Israel is fighting for its life and has been attacked militarily from all sides by the Arab world continually since its creation. As a tiny democracy on a sliver of land, Israel lives in a dangerous neighborhood. The surrounding Arab dictatorships are determined to de-legitimize Israel and ultimately destroy it, and as they say, "drive it into the sea." They have tried to do this repeatedly through military action and have failed. Since these attacks, the Israelis have been subjected to suicide bombers, rocket attacks, and other terrorism. Now the terrorist organizations of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood are organizing a world-wide anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish propaganda campaign. Their ultimate goal is to weaken and then destroy Israel by convincing the United States to stop providing foreign aid to support Israel's security. They have to lie and brainwash the American people with propaganda to get to that goal.
If you run these anti-Semitic ads on the buses in Seattle, you are providing direct support to this terrorism. We have already seen the fruits of anti-Semitic thinking in Seattle with terrorist attacks on Jewish cultural and religious centers, murders of Jewish female social workers and threats as well as vandalism of Jewish schools as far away from the city center as Mercer Island. These inflammatory bus ads are going to feed an already dangerous climate in Seattle that will lead to further attacks against Jews.
Make no mistake about it, the Arab leaders of this propaganda campaign
want to make life a living hell wherever Jews live, including Seattle.
want to make life a living hell wherever Jews live, including Seattle.
The Jewish community will be forced to act against this situation, which could lead to a dangerous confrontation that should be avoided. And so I ask you to pull these ads from consideration and any other ads that seek to de-legitimize Israel or Jews in any way. This propaganda campaign against Israel and against the Jewish people must be stopped and it will take all of us - not just Jews alone - to dampen this movement that has billions of Muslims behind it.
Wistrich: Anti-Semitism Still Exists
by Elad Benari & Yoni Kempinski
According to Professor Robert S. Wistrich, Neuberger chair for Modern European History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, anti-Semitism still exists today.
In an interview to Israel National News TV, the Director of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism (SICSA), who has also authored “A Lethal Obsession: Antisemitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad” (named ‘Best Book of 2010’ by The Journal for the Study of Antisemitism), said that he believes that “anti-Semitism has reached a level that we have not seen since World War II,” and added that this is “the most dangerous period for Jews in terms of the way they are perceived by others. We’ve reached a more dangerous period than at any time since the end of World War II and the establishment of Israel.”
Wistrich explained that anti-Semitism today is directed not just towards Israel but towards Jews around the world. According to him, most people identify anti-Semitism with very obvious symbols and images, such as Nazis, fascist demonstrations, or calls to throw the Jews out of a particular country. However, as he explained, these images are much less visible today, and anti-Semitism in 2010 has changed its form. “In the last 40 years, the most dynamic form of anti-Semitism is the one that is transmitted through anti-Zionism and hatred of Israel,” explained Wistrich.
He believes that anti-Semitism based on hatred of Israel is easier to carry out since it is legal in most countries to say anything one wants against Israel and not be prosecuted by the law.
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Follow Israel news on 
and 
.
and . In an interview to Israel National News TV, the Director of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism (SICSA), who has also authored “A Lethal Obsession: Antisemitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad” (named ‘Best Book of 2010’ by The Journal for the Study of Antisemitism), said that he believes that “anti-Semitism has reached a level that we have not seen since World War II,” and added that this is “the most dangerous period for Jews in terms of the way they are perceived by others. We’ve reached a more dangerous period than at any time since the end of World War II and the establishment of Israel.”
Wistrich explained that anti-Semitism today is directed not just towards Israel but towards Jews around the world. According to him, most people identify anti-Semitism with very obvious symbols and images, such as Nazis, fascist demonstrations, or calls to throw the Jews out of a particular country. However, as he explained, these images are much less visible today, and anti-Semitism in 2010 has changed its form. “In the last 40 years, the most dynamic form of anti-Semitism is the one that is transmitted through anti-Zionism and hatred of Israel,” explained Wistrich.
He believes that anti-Semitism based on hatred of Israel is easier to carry out since it is legal in most countries to say anything one wants against Israel and not be prosecuted by the law.
Read More
Is all criticism of Israel antisemitic?
From http://stopbdsolympia.org:
Is all criticism of Israel antisemitic?
It is important to recognize that Israel, as a democracy, is receptive to fair and legitimate criticism. A valid, yet negative, analysis of Israeli policies should not be considered antisemitic, any more than criticism of another country should be considered racist.
However, all too often condemnations of Israel cross the border from valid criticism into regions of denigration that can be considered antisemitic. The generally accepted term for this type of disparagement is "the new antisemitism." Just as in the past Jews were made into the scapegoats for many problems, today there are attempts to turn Israel into an international pariah.
The line between legitimate criticism and the new antisemitism type of criticism is often difficult for some to judge. Former minister Natan Sharansky, laid out the criteria for defining the boundary line in his seminal 2004 article "Anti-Semitism in 3-D." The 3-Ds of the new antisemitism are: demonization, double standards and delegitimization.
Demonization: Just as the Jews were demonized for centuries as the embodiment of evil, so too Israel has been called an evil entity. Much of the criticism in this category consists of comparing Israelis to the Nazis and Palestinians to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Holocaust inversion is not only prevalent in the Arab world, it is gaining ground in the West as well. This propaganda technique is particularly heinous as it not only fraudulently depicts Israel's struggle to defend itself, it also diminishes the extraordinary suffering of Holocaust victims, in itself a form of Holocaust denial.
Double Standards: The test for judging a double standard is to check whether Israel is being judged by different criteria than other states under similar circumstances. Double standards are often found in international forums, in which Israel is unfairly singled out for criticism and held up to standards not applied to any other state. At the same time, the behavior of other nations in a comparable, or even worse, situation is ignored. The application of double standards can often be recognized by the unreasonable quantity, as well as the quality, of the criticism.
A significant example of double standards can be found in the calls for boycotts of Israel. If such calls were part of a larger campaign against the many regimes that grossly violate human rights around the world, Israel would argue that its inclusion in such a list is not legitimate. However, when Israel alone is singled out for a boycott, this is a clear demonstration of antisemitic activity.
Delegitimization: The new antisemites are attempting to delegitimize the very existence of the Jewish state. They do this either by undermining its right to have been established in the first place or by attempting to turn present-day Israel into a pariah state, for example by using loaded terms such as apartheid or human rights violator. As Natan Sharansky wrote: "While criticism of an Israeli policy may not be anti-Semitic, the denial of Israel's right to exist is always anti-Semitic. If other peoples have a right to live securely in their homelands, then the Jewish people have a right to live securely in their homeland."
A secondary, yet critical test to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate criticism is the examination of the intent of the commentator. Legitimate critics accept the right of Israel to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish people while antisemites do not.
Obviously not all criticism is antisemitic. Israeli society, with its robust support of democracy, is itself stridently self-critical. Antisemites, however, do not share Israelis' interest in improving the society; their goal is to delegitimize the state in the short-run, and destroy it in the long-run. There is nothing Israel could do to satisfy these critics.
Although valid criticism of Israel has absolutely no connection to antisemitism, some of the unreasonable condemnation has its roots in antisemitic attitudes, often disguised as "anti-Zionism." As a nation dedicated to the principles of democracy, Israel believes that criticism, whether by other nations or our own people, is a powerful force for positive change. However, there is a clear distinction between legitimate calls for improvement and the attempt to delegitimize Israel through the use of far-fetched analogies, demonization techniques, singling out or holding it up to standards not applied to other states. These types of criticism ignore the context in which Israel must strive to survive in the face of violent attacks against its citizens and, all too often, against its very existence.
Is all criticism of Israel antisemitic?
It is important to recognize that Israel, as a democracy, is receptive to fair and legitimate criticism. A valid, yet negative, analysis of Israeli policies should not be considered antisemitic, any more than criticism of another country should be considered racist.
However, all too often condemnations of Israel cross the border from valid criticism into regions of denigration that can be considered antisemitic. The generally accepted term for this type of disparagement is "the new antisemitism." Just as in the past Jews were made into the scapegoats for many problems, today there are attempts to turn Israel into an international pariah.
The line between legitimate criticism and the new antisemitism type of criticism is often difficult for some to judge. Former minister Natan Sharansky, laid out the criteria for defining the boundary line in his seminal 2004 article "Anti-Semitism in 3-D." The 3-Ds of the new antisemitism are: demonization, double standards and delegitimization.
Demonization: Just as the Jews were demonized for centuries as the embodiment of evil, so too Israel has been called an evil entity. Much of the criticism in this category consists of comparing Israelis to the Nazis and Palestinians to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Holocaust inversion is not only prevalent in the Arab world, it is gaining ground in the West as well. This propaganda technique is particularly heinous as it not only fraudulently depicts Israel's struggle to defend itself, it also diminishes the extraordinary suffering of Holocaust victims, in itself a form of Holocaust denial.
Double Standards: The test for judging a double standard is to check whether Israel is being judged by different criteria than other states under similar circumstances. Double standards are often found in international forums, in which Israel is unfairly singled out for criticism and held up to standards not applied to any other state. At the same time, the behavior of other nations in a comparable, or even worse, situation is ignored. The application of double standards can often be recognized by the unreasonable quantity, as well as the quality, of the criticism.
A significant example of double standards can be found in the calls for boycotts of Israel. If such calls were part of a larger campaign against the many regimes that grossly violate human rights around the world, Israel would argue that its inclusion in such a list is not legitimate. However, when Israel alone is singled out for a boycott, this is a clear demonstration of antisemitic activity.
Delegitimization: The new antisemites are attempting to delegitimize the very existence of the Jewish state. They do this either by undermining its right to have been established in the first place or by attempting to turn present-day Israel into a pariah state, for example by using loaded terms such as apartheid or human rights violator. As Natan Sharansky wrote: "While criticism of an Israeli policy may not be anti-Semitic, the denial of Israel's right to exist is always anti-Semitic. If other peoples have a right to live securely in their homelands, then the Jewish people have a right to live securely in their homeland."
A secondary, yet critical test to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate criticism is the examination of the intent of the commentator. Legitimate critics accept the right of Israel to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish people while antisemites do not.
Obviously not all criticism is antisemitic. Israeli society, with its robust support of democracy, is itself stridently self-critical. Antisemites, however, do not share Israelis' interest in improving the society; their goal is to delegitimize the state in the short-run, and destroy it in the long-run. There is nothing Israel could do to satisfy these critics.
Although valid criticism of Israel has absolutely no connection to antisemitism, some of the unreasonable condemnation has its roots in antisemitic attitudes, often disguised as "anti-Zionism." As a nation dedicated to the principles of democracy, Israel believes that criticism, whether by other nations or our own people, is a powerful force for positive change. However, there is a clear distinction between legitimate calls for improvement and the attempt to delegitimize Israel through the use of far-fetched analogies, demonization techniques, singling out or holding it up to standards not applied to other states. These types of criticism ignore the context in which Israel must strive to survive in the face of violent attacks against its citizens and, all too often, against its very existence.
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