Imagine the outrage if the New York Times published an op-ed article that would contain the following paragraph:

Yes, the race relations in the United States are still tense, but very few African-Americans have been lynched here in four years. That's my idea of racial harmony. There is no total victory to be had by the American Blacks over racism in the United States, without total eradication of the KKK. There is, though, the possibility of long periods without cross burnings and lynchings, with the African American community holding the moral and strategic high ground, so it can lead its life.

I didn't write the paragraph above. Thomas L. Friedman did. I only replaced a few nouns in what he wrote in his column in the New York Times on Sunday, June 13, 2004. Here it is, the way it was printed:

Yes, the Israel-Lebanon border is still tense, but very few Israelis have been killed there in four years. That's my idea of peace. There is no total victory to be had by Israel over Hezbollah or the Palestinians, without total genocide. There is, though, the possibility of long cease-fires, with Israel holding the moral and strategic high ground, so it can lead its life.

It's not difficult to figure out why the New York Times decided to hire a Jew to promote its consistently anti-Semitic views. It's hard to imagine though how Mr. Friedman manages to look at his reflection in the mirror without vomiting. Lots of practice, I guess.

1. The Cold-War origins of contemporary anti-Semitic terminology
by Joel S. Fishman

Fishman explains that the present surge in anti-Semitism comes from the other end of the political spectrum. Its contemporary manifestations are rooted in the ideology and political culture of the former Soviet Union, whose legacy has survived its demise. A special type of political language, which it devised, has served as the bridge which links the earlier Soviet-styled anti-Semitism to that of the present. By defining the terminology of political discourse about Israel and the Jewish people in general, the Soviets set in place the cultural foundations for a new type of political anti-Semitism that has penetrated mainstream culture, particularly in Europe, and impaired the function of international institutions such as the United Nations.

2. Language as a Tool against Jews and Israel, An Interview with Georges-Elia Sarfati

Sarfati explains how the anti-Zionist ideology has developed into a series of recognizable expressions, for example; occupied territories," "the settlements," "Jewish settlers," "Israel's intransigence," "Israel, theocratic and militarist state," "Solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people," "The massacres of Sabra and Shatila." Many of these appear in the Western media and often go unchallenged, and we Jews, me included, have often used these expressions ourselves.

Both essays are published by the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, whose mission is to educate, inform and provide insights for the Jewish world of every problem and potential threat to Diaspora Jewry and Israel.
 

 
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http://www.israelunitycoalition.org/home/  Jun 15, 2004

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