Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Bizzaro Land

Well here's a dynamic you don't get every day: Left-wing pro-Israel organization praises Arab writer for calling out a Jewish writer for anti-Semitic "hate speech" published in an Arab newspaper.

The dovish Israel Policy Forum praises a letter to the editor written by Hussein Ibish, 
Senior Fellow, 
American Task Force 
on Palestine. The letter was written in response to an editorial by one Karin Friedemann, which talked about a "corrupt network" of Jewish activists which was conspiring to destroy the world economy for their own personal gain. Friedemann went so far as to say that Larry Summers (apparently part of the network) "dumped his Christian wife" and replaced her with a Jewish professor of Holocaust Literature in order to "improve his Jewish credentials." The entire article is one massive anti-Semitic conspiracy binge -- one of the worst I've ever seen in fact.

Friedemann is "ethnically Jewish", which I know because she links to the "The very sweet Professor Kevin MacDonald" saying so. Prof. MacDonald, for those who you who don't know, is one of the foremost academic proponents of anti-Semitic eugenicist theories, specifically arguing that Judaism is genetically ethnocentrist. The particular piece Friedemann links to opens by arguing that:
American Jews are actually being trained since childhood to interact with non-Jews in a deceitful and arrogant manner, in coordination with each other, to emotionally destroy Gentiles and Israel critics in addition to wrecking their careers and interfering with their social relationships.

There is simply no question that Friedemann is actively promoting anti-Semitism, and she doesn't get a pass on it because she's "ethnically Jewish". If there ever was a justifiable usage of "self-hating Jew" (and a brief search of my blog archives indicates that I've never used the phrase), this would be it.

But let's not focus on the negative. There is equally no question that Mr. Ibish is worthy of praise for countering Ms. Friedemann's hateful words. His efforts at trying to break the hold of racism and anti-Semitism on the global sphere is welcome and appreciated, and I thank him for his contribution to my safety and security.

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