[Imc-uk-features] Anti-Semitism is not the way to support the Palestinians - why Indymedia needs to take a stance

[tony greenstein]

  Ftp says ‘I stand for justice for Palestinians. I stand against bullying.’ 
  No ftp you stand for defending racism. What Mark Elf writes to you is his own concern. At least he does it in his own name. I accept no responsibility for the fact that some people feel angry at your defence of Atzmon. Like the Daily Mail and others of that ilk, who present their racism and attacks on asylum seekers as being a defence of free speech, you portray your defence of Atzmon and now Israel Shamir as one of standing up to bullying, free speech etc. 
   
  Racism, by its very nature, targeting people because of some inborn, genetic quality, is a denial of free speech and ultimately the right to life. But like the Melanie Philips of this world you believe the freedom to be a racist is the most important one and that it would be wrong to prevent Gilad Atzmon targeting Jews who support the Palestinians (because they are his major targets).
   
  Ftp is right though to compare the criticisms of Atzmon with those of his and Atzmon's friend Gilad Atzmon. As Atzmon put it in an e-mail to me, Israel Shamir is ‘a unique and advanced thinker’. Since some people have called for a discussion then maybe one should look at what Shamir actually believes and writes and see if he was indeed, as ftp suggests, another victim of a cruel witch-hunt. 
   
  In an article ‘Who needs Holocaust’, in the days when Atzmon was relatively sane Shamir wrote:
  ‘Gilad reiterated: It was the RAF that repeatedly dismissed the necessity of bombing Auschwitz. 
  Another go of Zionist propaganda. The camp was an internment facility, attended by the Red Cross (as opposed to the US internment centre in Guantanamo). If it were bombed, the internees would die – or as a result of the bombing, or due to starvation for the supplies would not arrive. Indeed, would Gilad advise to bomb Guantanamo? This idea of "bombing Auschwitz" makes sense only if one accepts the vision of "industrial extermination factory", and it was formed only well after the war.’
  http://www.israelshamir.net/English/Who_Needs.htm
  
   
  There is no doubt that Shamir is a holocaust denier. Auschwitz was ‘an internment facility’ not an ‘industrial extermination factory.’ In fact he is far worse than that. One of the key proponents of the academic boycott, Sue Blackwell, criticised Shamir for his racist views. He responded by posting personal details about her to Martin Webster, someone who was one of the key figures in post-war British fascism and a founder of the National Front.
  Israel Shamir, who ftp believes is another victim of the Atzmon style witchhunt, is also explicit in calling for an alliance with the white supremacist right. Ftp is clearly well aware of this. Maybe he defends the following views too?
   
  http://www.israelshamir.net/English/antiSemit.htm
  ‘For as long as Richard Perle sits in the Pentagon, Elie Wiesel brandishes his Nobel Prize, Mort Zuckerman owns the USA Today, Gusinsky bosses over Russian TV, Soros commands multi-billions of funds and Dershowitz teaches at Harvard, we need the voices of Duke, Sobran, Raimondo, Buchanan, Mahler, Griffin and of other anti-bourgeois nationalists. If we accept their exclusion from discourse, Jewish bigotry will be tolerated while anti-Jewish bigotry is removed. Then, the middle ground for Joe Public will be 'a little bit of Jewish bigotry', or 'Zionism lite', in the words of my dear friend Bob Green.’
   
  In other words in order to combat Jewish racists we need anti-Semitic racists such as David Duke, the ex KKK leader and Nick Griffin. Problem is that BNP leader Griffin today says he is anti-Muslim and pro-Zionist! And that is exactly where this nonsense of fighting racism with racism leads. As to freedom of speech, maybe ftp should tell that to the victims of Duke’s comrades.
   
  But if ftp is consistent then the Moderators of Indymedia should also invite Israel Shamir to contribute a guest article, and while they are at it, perhaps Mahler of the German NPD and David Duke, to say nothing of Nick Griffin and Pat Buchanan (Nixon’s old chief of staff).
  Mind, Shamir is also on record as defending Avigdor Liebermann, Israel’s deputy Prime Minister, leader of the openly transfer party, Yisrael Beitenu because he is a Russian! Maybe ftp would like to invite Liebermann to also contribute an opinion piece to Indymedia (which normally excludes opinion pieces but since it has opened its pages to Atzmon why not other racists too?).
   
  Shamir writes:  ‘Even less substantiated is Makdisi’s weird claim that YB is a "racist party" and for them, "non-Jews are not welcome". As a matter of fact, the YB is the least Jewish nationalist party in the Knesset outside the Arab block, as it is the party of the Russian, heavily non-Jewish community in Israel. ‘
  http://www.israelshamir.net/English/Oops.htm
   
  Clearly ftp is well aware of the background to Atzmon and his politics. He has also clearly read his articles which, for some strange reason, target Jewish anti-Zionists and cite Zionists like Ber Borochov to justify his views of Jews who don’t live in Israel. To be blunt he is not only anti-Semitic but a Zionist too.
   
  But ftp says ‘It worries the shit out of me that Indymedia might just give them their first taste of blood in this new kill.’ as if Atzmon is a fox being run to ground. Racists are in the habit of presenting themselves as the victims. The right-wing press does that all the time and that is what ftp is doing on Indymedia and it would appear that his fellow moderators are happy to go along with this. The question I would ask is why not scrap the guidelines re discrimination? They are clearly observed now in the breach and one person, who has formed links with racists, is prepared to use a ‘block’ to keep it that way. Ftp has got into bed with racists and the question is whether his fellow moderators are happy to allow Indymedia to be run by someone with sympathies if not worse with racists? There was a time when those with radical inclinations fought racism, not worried about if racists were excluded. It’s not as if they don’t have enough media outlets in the world.
  In defence of the accusation that Atzmon is more concerned with his own ego than the Palestinians, ftp says of me that:
   
  ‘He castigates Atzmon for not backing the boycott. And it wasn't long ago that we had Indymedia's resident zionist, gehrig calling us anti-semitic because we carried articles supporting the boycott. The boycott according to gehrig is anti-semitic because it affects Jews disproportionally. Not Israelis mind, Jews.’
   
  Precisely.  It is true that Zionists accuse supporters of the Boycott of Israel of being anti-Semitic. What more idiotic way can there be of meeting this accusation than to adopt genuinely anti-Semitic beliefs as one’s own? Of course Zionists label supporters of the Palestinians as anti-Semitic. It is an accusation that has little credence today, certainly in my own trade union UNISON, which at its last conference supported the boycott. But Atzmon is determined to prove Zionists like gehrig right by demonstrating that being a supporter of the Palestinians means being anti-Semitic. And then Atzmon ‘proves’ he’s not an anti-Semite by opposing the boycott!! Well that is where anti-Semitism leads. To support for Zionism.
   
  I shall repeat my proposal again. If Atzmon, contrary to the usual norms, is allowed to post an opinion piece on Indymedia, why have I been refused the same rights? Or is it the position that the rights of racists are superior to those of anti-racists?
   
  Tony Greenstein
   
   
  >>A few years ago, Gilad Atzmon wrote an article about the demonisation of Israel Shamir (1). I met Shamir in a village outside Nablus, when he came to interview a family whose house was under threat of demolition, because their son, who by all accounts had a learning disability, had attempted a suicide bomb. He got to his target, because he was employed in building the settler road that passed the back of the house. I had quite a long chat with Israel, and I was impressed by his passion for justice. This was before his banishment from the Palestinian solidarity movement by a group whose behaviour Atzmon claimed amounted to "modern Jewish secular intolerance." He described the process:
  "The liberal Zionist cell, as we are going to read, cannot really take it. They demand the cleansing of Shamir. They insist upon ruining his intellectual career or at the very least, his reputation. They would use any possible manipulative strategy to have him thrown out of DYR, which is the first step towards sending him beyond the pale."
  He asserted that his readers that the episode was "a glimpse into the abusive, assertive and violent world of Zionist lobbying."
  I received a private email today. This is the text:
  "As a hitherto supporter of Indymedia I am writing in total support of Tony Greenstein's attribution of anti-Semitism Some political positions are so clear that they require no reflection to asceratain their meaning. Nazism is one such position. What you have published is another. To talk of "Judaic world view" (ie attributing to all Jews the same view - the conspiracy theory) and refering to the "unpopularity" of Jews in Nazified Europe (a form of holocaust minimisation which virtually coincides with denial) as well as "their holocaust"( the holocaust was perpetrated ON Jews - and others. The perpetrators were the Nazis)...all this is clear,unarguable anti-Semitism. Just as "kill the Yids" is clear,unarguable,anti-Semitism. But yet you claim a) it is open to interpretation b) even if it were anti-Semitic you need a "consensus" as to what to do if anything - a somewhat unique position on fighting racism c) in the meantime you feel quite prepared to print this junk (which
 incidenetally in identifying anti-Semitism with Palestinian liberation puts you in antagonism to all progressive Palestinian thought). Of course you can continue to use your energy going down this obnoxious path. Or else you can print an apology. steve cohen"
  It was the first email to arrive after Tony Greenstein's call to several email lists to write to us.
  The last time that happened to me was when I was on a list for 'alternative Christmas Carols', when a group of us sang carols with words updated to reflect the current situation in Palestine. Someone got hold of the list and sent it to a Hasbabrah warrior in the States. She put a call out for people to write to us, and within a short space of time my inbox was deluged with some of the most rancid and racist struff I have seen.
  The tactics feel exactly the same. The fact that I've only had one so far may suggest that Greenstein et al have a lot less support than their zionist counterparts.
  And now the same group that went for Shamir are gunning for Atzmon. They are demanding that we kick him out. We're a minor site(for them), so we've had to wait our turn. They've held a picket outside Bookmarks to protest against Gilad (where apparently he came out and played a socialist anthem on the sax), lobbied to have him barred from Scottish PSC and the SWP. Attacks and counter attacks have ranged across the net, taking in the Guardian, Counterpunch and AMIN along the way. To date they have been unsuccesful. It worries the shit out of me that Indymedia might just give them their first taste of blood in this new kill. 
  AMIN by the way is the Arabic Media Internet Network, and one of the group, Deborah Maccoby wrote(2) there in January, 2007 that:
  "No doubt Atzmon will present this article as yet another vicious "defamation" of him by a "Jewish Gatekeeper". He will claim I and other practitioners of "Jewish Power" - ie the Jewish world conspiracy – are trying to silence him and his allies. But we're not trying to silence them; we simply want to reply to their attacks and defend ourselves. Our very efforts to defend ourselves become, in their twisted and deluded thinking, proof of our sinister "Jewish Power". I will end by asking readers of both articles to decide who is doing the defaming, and I appeal to Palestinians and their supporters to resist this attempt to divide and undermine the Palestinian solidarity movement from within."
  Well, now a choice is being demanded of us. Now there is no pretension of debate and self-defence, and according to Steve Cohen's email, Atmon's writings " require no reflection to asceratain their meaning." Greenstein is right.
  Greenstein is clear however, that if the claim is ever levelled against him, we should "reflect to ascertain the meaning", because the anti-semitism term is often abused in order to defame opponents.
  He castigates Atzmon for not backing the boycott. And it wasn't long ago that we had Indymedia's resident zionist, gehrig calling us anti-semitic because we carried articles supporting the boycott. The boycott according to gehrig is anti-semitic because it affects Jews disproportionally. Not Israelis mind, Jews.
  If we boycott Zimbabwe, is it discriminatory because it disproportionally affects the largest ethnic group? Once again Israel is Jewish when it wants to be, and not when it doesn't feel like it. Now they are actually debating only giving citizenship to Jews who support the state. But hey I've seen several activists who happen to be Jewish deported from Israel and barred from returning, so I'm not that surprised really.Those who oppose the state are not "proper Jews". Thats what a group of Betar activists told a pro-Palestinian activist of Jewish origin outside Marks and Spencer in Manchester a few years ago. They jumped up and down in a huddle chanting it at him. When the cops got closer the chant changed to "We want peace!". 
  Whilst Greenstein has certainly pulled out all the stops in his last email, I don't think that his argument in support of his viewpoint is any more persuasive than the arguments that gehrig puts up. That gehrig would in fact put up against Greenstein for supporting a boycott that disproportionally affects Jews. All of them appear to be highly honed in proving that every point of view that they do not agree with is racist against them.
  Its no wonder that its so difficult to sort it out. When it involves Palestine, this is what you know to expect. Its impossible to meet all their demands, they're contradictory and each protagonist is 100% certain that their way is the only way. Debate is impossible in such rigidly controlled and threatening circumstances.
  Atzmons reaction to it all appears to rail against it - to fight against the restrictions, to push the boundaries, to stick his tongue out and go BLAHBLAHBLAH at the censors, at those who push us into pens and control every aspect of our deep concern for the nightmarish situation in which the Palestinains live and die every day. To paraphrase a recent comment on a Fitwatch demo noted: "The woman in black was gagging to be arrested. Theres always one at every demo." And if you watch the video, theres no doubt that the more the cops tried to control her, the more she rails, challenges and gives it back. Needless to say the end result was predictable, the controllers won. She was arrested and dragged off, with the cops getting their little pokes in when she was forced into the van.
  She'll be back, and so will Gilad. Because they are brimming with anger at the injustice that so many people live every single day. They care passionately about justice. They believe it has to stop.
  I have sleepless nights over all of this, all the time it gets worse and worse. Whatever we've been doing up until now to support the Palestinians, hasn't worked. And theres no way to discuss it, or change strategy, because the halls are monitored, the guards are on the perimeter all the time, and their guns are cocked.
  If they do to Gilad the exact opposite of what they told the readers of AMIN they intended to do, who will be next? Who is going to read the texts and listen to the arguments, and read the articles and check it all out? How much time is it going to take? How much pain is it going to cause?
  The easy way is to do what we're told without question - to click the button they demand , to delete the person they want deleted now. Gilad it seems made a self fulfilling prophecy when he warned how they treated those who had lost their approval.
  I've been reading their stuff endlessly for the last few days. Theres mountains of the stuff to get through. Greenstein's stuff is turgid and unreadable. Most of the rest of their stuff is fixated with the issue of anti-semitism. The stuff that stimulates and makes me think that there are ways out of the rut, tends to be Gilads stuff, even though it takes constant rereadings to get to what he trying to say, and the stuff on Mary Rizzo's blog. 
  They've demanded I make a choice, and I have.
  This debate is being monitored on Peace Palestine (3), which Greenstein describes as Rizzos "anti-semitic list".
  There she says:
  "This is why it becomes of vital importance for activists first of all to ask themselves two things: At whose service are we? How effective are we? If we are turning the light on about the atrocities of Zionism, Colonialism and Imperialism, we are of service to those who are VICTIMS of these criminal philosophies and the actions that derive from them. In order to turn on the light, we have to be able to communicate, to be allowed the liberty to declare that there is a mindset, a worldview and an ideological position behind all of these things. This is the analytical element of activism. Things aren't born from a vacuum, they have a history, they have some kind of meaning. We have to be willing to reject the "news" that is often filtered through to us, and we have to appeal to the Humanist part of our commitment, and this means a certain kind of approach. If our primary interest (as activists for justice and peace in Palestine) is anything but justice for the victims of
 Zionism, we are not of service to Palestinians. It couldn't be put any simpler."
  Indymedia has a choice to make.
  Put up or shut up.
  Sadly, I think I know which way its going to go. Its been that kind of year.
  I stand aside from the choice. The collective needs to sort it out. I stand for justice for Palestinians. I stand against bullying.
  ftp

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