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alexist at 01:49am on 05/12/2003
alexist at 01:49am on 05/12/2003I think the JPost only have published excerpts, because this is 99 pages plus 10 pages of notes!
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=119115&contrassID=3&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
(There's a link to the report in .rtf format, plus links to columns about anti-Semitism.)
I'm not entirely sure why this got to me so much. Yes, I'm bothered by anti-Semitism. I think some people in Europe are too dismissive of it, particularly in relation to the Middle East conflict--they're too willing to excuse or explain it, and are very reluctant to acknowledge how much of it has long passed being anti-Israel or even anti-Zionist (using Zionist as it ought to be used, as opposed to the "we really mean 'Jew' but won't say it" codeword) and has gone into classical anti-Semitism. I think there would be a lot less sympathy on the left if it were mosques being burnt because of Islamist terror abroad. But at the same time, I don't agree with the hard-right "all criticism is anti-Semitism" tack. I don't even think a lot of the leftist criticism is intentionally anti-Semitic--if you hooked these people up to lie detectors and asked if they hated Jews, they'd pass. It's simply a failure to see their actions in context. I feel neither the need to support every action taken by the Israeli government in the name of "solidarity" nor the need to proclaim ny opposition to show that "not all Jews support Israel".
But I was bothered by this report being suppressed. "Political correctness" is an easy excuse, so I'm wary--though one of the columns in Ha'aretz wasn't reassuring. Someone at the EUMC thought Durban was a success--come on, extremists hijacked the conference to broadcast anti-Semitic views (no, anti-Israel isn't always anti-Semitic, but this was) and ruined a chance to make real progress on racism. The EUMC had to know, at some level, that Muslims were going to be brought into it--all you have to do is read the news, especially in France. They can't have been that surprised. I can't comment on the methodology of the report, but it doesn't have any glaringly obvious political biases--none of it is fit for a right-wing Jewish soundbite. Most of it is good in terms of distinguishing between Israel/Zionism/Jews and how Jews perceive opposition to them. But regardless of the content of the report, the EUMC should have known that suppression was the worst option of all. Reports like this never stay secret. They get leaked. All this did was feed people's fears that Europe doesn't care about anti-Semitism or the Jews. Flawed or not, they would have been better off releasing it and letting everyone tear it to shreds.
When it comes down to it, I guess, I'm proud to be Jewish. I still get "MOT pride" when someone Jewish achieves something important. I'm proud that Joe Lieberman almost became vice-president, even though I don't agree with all his ideas and even though I cast a protest vote for Ralph Nader. I'm proud of the State of Israel. I don't agree with everything the government does, but that doesn't change how I feel about the country and what it's achieved in so short a time. I can still sing Hatikva and mean it. I don't live in a bubble and I know that Jews aren't perfect, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm proud of who I am, and I'm not going to let anyone else tell me how I should feel about that.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=119115&contrassID=3&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
(There's a link to the report in .rtf format, plus links to columns about anti-Semitism.)
I'm not entirely sure why this got to me so much. Yes, I'm bothered by anti-Semitism. I think some people in Europe are too dismissive of it, particularly in relation to the Middle East conflict--they're too willing to excuse or explain it, and are very reluctant to acknowledge how much of it has long passed being anti-Israel or even anti-Zionist (using Zionist as it ought to be used, as opposed to the "we really mean 'Jew' but won't say it" codeword) and has gone into classical anti-Semitism. I think there would be a lot less sympathy on the left if it were mosques being burnt because of Islamist terror abroad. But at the same time, I don't agree with the hard-right "all criticism is anti-Semitism" tack. I don't even think a lot of the leftist criticism is intentionally anti-Semitic--if you hooked these people up to lie detectors and asked if they hated Jews, they'd pass. It's simply a failure to see their actions in context. I feel neither the need to support every action taken by the Israeli government in the name of "solidarity" nor the need to proclaim ny opposition to show that "not all Jews support Israel".
But I was bothered by this report being suppressed. "Political correctness" is an easy excuse, so I'm wary--though one of the columns in Ha'aretz wasn't reassuring. Someone at the EUMC thought Durban was a success--come on, extremists hijacked the conference to broadcast anti-Semitic views (no, anti-Israel isn't always anti-Semitic, but this was) and ruined a chance to make real progress on racism. The EUMC had to know, at some level, that Muslims were going to be brought into it--all you have to do is read the news, especially in France. They can't have been that surprised. I can't comment on the methodology of the report, but it doesn't have any glaringly obvious political biases--none of it is fit for a right-wing Jewish soundbite. Most of it is good in terms of distinguishing between Israel/Zionism/Jews and how Jews perceive opposition to them. But regardless of the content of the report, the EUMC should have known that suppression was the worst option of all. Reports like this never stay secret. They get leaked. All this did was feed people's fears that Europe doesn't care about anti-Semitism or the Jews. Flawed or not, they would have been better off releasing it and letting everyone tear it to shreds.
When it comes down to it, I guess, I'm proud to be Jewish. I still get "MOT pride" when someone Jewish achieves something important. I'm proud that Joe Lieberman almost became vice-president, even though I don't agree with all his ideas and even though I cast a protest vote for Ralph Nader. I'm proud of the State of Israel. I don't agree with everything the government does, but that doesn't change how I feel about the country and what it's achieved in so short a time. I can still sing Hatikva and mean it. I don't live in a bubble and I know that Jews aren't perfect, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm proud of who I am, and I'm not going to let anyone else tell me how I should feel about that.
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