Re: Dealing with the ‘new anti-semitism’
On Sep 3, 2006, at 9:33 AM, Bill Bartlett wrote:
So, assuming that is what Angel is saying, then what he is also
saying (in the first para above) is that any criticism (no matter
how mild) of Zionism, must be down to anti-semitism. That assertion
is childlike in its stupidity. Possibly Angel is quite young,
probably as thick as two short planks. maybe he even suffers from
some form of mental retardation. (How bad is the pollution in
Germany? Heavy metal poisoning would solve the puzzle?)
Put a cork in the insults.
Look, while I can’t follow Angelus into his stateless place of pure
communism, he does have a point about nationalism. In fact, Israeli
policy really crystallizes in pure form a lot of the trouble with
that doctrine (and it’s no accident, is it, that Zionism arose along
with a lot of other reactionary nationalisms in the 19th century?):
the denial of divisions within the national body, and the creation of
external enemies against which the nation is defined. While Israel
may be an extreme case, there are plenty of other instances. I
remember from my visit to Australia in 2001 the paranoia about Asians
overrunning the old white country (even Greeks are racialized as
dusky, no?) - even an anxiety about foreign invaders overwhelming
native marine life documented on a sign at the Hobart waterfront. And
the USA, too - we’re full of anxieties about external threats, and
proclaiming the rightness of the Good American. I can’t think of a
practical way to get beyond the nation-state, but it is pleasing to
dream about it.
Doug