Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Look Back in Anger - Gilad Atzmon responds to some claims and notions
(note by Peacepalestine) In a previous article there was a comment left by a member of JPUK. Gilad responded to it in the appropriate comment block, but I feel it is worthy of wider readership, in that it contains many grains of truth and a very important reflection on the instrumental use of issues in campaigning. It is clear that many serious campaigners will not tolerate the labelling and ostracism of sincere persons who may propose ideas for discussion that are complex and at times seem radical, as has been demonstrated by the strong majority of members (95%) who did not accept the logic promoted by persons who wish to influence the direction that activist groups and individual activists take, especially when they are using issues that are emotionally highly charged. If we want to actually render service to the cause of the Palestinian people, frank, open and serious discussion cannot be avoided, and this means that maintaining the focus on issues of anti-Semitism, (real or imagined) is keeping the reality of the situation under cover. I am sure that many of these activists don’t intend upon doing it, that they may not realise that their campaigning has become just that, but keeping the focus on the limits of discussion about Jewishness (which they fail to understand in the terms in which it is presented by those they wish to vilify) determines that this is the core concern. More’s the pity.Deborah Maccoby: (the Palestinian People) are not an instrument to spread holocaust denial and classical European Christian antisemitism - Christ-killers, the Jewish world conspiracy etc.
Gilad Atzmon: Who said they are? It is actually the other way around. The Palestinians are the last victims of Hitler, they are subject to Israeli racist laws, they are starved to death by the Jewish state. They are murdered in broad daylight, Their towns and villages have become concentration camps surrounded by walls and barbed wire. To deny that is to deny the holocaust that is taking place in front of our eyes. To deny that is to deny the meaning of the holocaust that took place 6 decades ago. Consequently, the association with Christ’s suffering is simply inevitable. It is all about the total abuse of the innocent. Nothing to do with Christianity or anti-Semitism. Rather than political instrumentation, it is ethical thinking that plays its role here. The fact that you invest so much effort in dismissing ethical thinking makes you, Maccoby, into an integral part of the Zionist crime. The way forward is actually to admit the wrongdoing and to help the Israelis confront their doomed reality. I may suggest to you, Lady Maccoby, that I start to realise that Zionists are more ethically aware of their sins than you yourself are willing to admit. This is indeed a major concern but it is far from being a secret anymore.
DM: then of course we would be very happy to work with you.
GA: Who is “we” and why do you think that I want to work with you?
DM: My personal opinion is that the two motions were a big strategic mistake, since it gave you and your friends spurious reasons to claim victory (extremely spurious) and also gave a lot of ammunition to Zionists, who will say - indeed are already saying - that it proves PSC are anti-Semitic.
GA: 1. I didn’t read any post by yourself against the motions before the humiliating defeat; please refer me to your published criticism.
2. I do realise that everyone around refers the defeat of the motions to me but I have to admit, that I do not see it as my victory, I’ve very little to do with it. The fact that so many people agree that Greenie and Rance are ideologically and tactically revolting doesn’t necessarily mean that others approve my thoughts.
DM: Nonetheless the amendment strongly condemned antisemitism and PSC made it clear it has no links with DYR.
GA: I am sorry to disappoint you again. I do not have any problem with the amendment and I think that the PSC should stand up against any form of racism including anti-Semitism. Needless to say that DYR are not part of the PSC and this is something you and your friends knew all the way along.
DM: Betty Hunter evidently misunderstood the motions to mean PSC was being accused of antisemitism, which actually wasn't the case at all.
GA: Last time we communicated you decided that Christ was an “ordinary human being” and today you turn Betty Hunter into an Idiot. Just out of interest, is Vanunu still a Christian fundamentalist? Maccoby, may I suggest to you that considering your intellectual limited capacity, your tendency to judge people is rather puzzling.
DM: The point I am making is that the passing of the amendment doesn't vindicate DYR at all, nor any of those, like yourself, who try to distract attention from the Palestinians by irrelevant and provocative accusations against Jews.
GA: Needless to say that I have never accused Jews of anything. I deal with Jewishness and Jewish ideology. However, by the time a single Palestinian will come with such a suggestion I may consider this possibility favourably. For the time being, my materials are published predominantly in Arab and Palestinian media outlets.
Labels: activism, Atzmon, jewish identity politics, Palestine
