Jon Stewart of the Daily Show comments on this week’s Israel election. The takeaway? If being critical of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is “anti-Semitic,” then half of Israel turns out to be anti-Semitic. Netanyahu’s Likud/ Yisrael Beitenu party combo did very poorly.
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I would hardly consider all of 50% that were not Likud bloc allies to be Palestinian-fiendly in orientation.
Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz publicly called for the killing of Hamas secretary-general Khaled Meshaal during his recent visit to Gaza. He served as Ariel Sharon’s defense minister during the extrajudicial killings by the Israel Defense Forces of Hamas leaders Sheikh Yassin and Dr. Rantissi.
I think the piece is more about the ways Israel is used in American politics.
Yes.. The Americans. So big! So predictable! So divided! Any stupid statement gets a 50% response and 3 days of air time. And the Iraq article was great. Thanks!
Thanks for the Jon Stewart post, Juan. As always, he’s great. @Mark Koroi, thanks for your reply in the earlier post regarding Begin, but your post remains inaccurate. While Begin was in overall charge of Irgun, he was not physically on the ground at the time of the attack. That was Benzion Cohen, who was the commander on the ground. It may be a nuanced distinction but it’s an important one.
To the extent he comes to Washington at all, Netanyahu presumably will be exhibiting a bit more humility and less open contempt for our President.
Philip Roth has a great takedown of the xenophobic settler mentality in his “The Counterlife” from 1987. This must have earned him accusations of anti-Semitism at the time.
:>) I love Jon Stewart. But is it a bad sign when the best mainstream political analysis comes from the comedians?
It’s so easy to be accused of anti-Semitism. You’d think it would have lost some of its bite by now. But it hasn’t, the slur can still ruin careers and reputations.
“It’s like all things having to do with Israel and the United States. If you want to get ahead, you don’t talk about it; you don’t criticize Israel, you protect Israel. You don’t talk about illegal settlements on the West Bank even though everyone knows they are there.”
link to articles.washingtonpost.com
this is a recent article by the ombudsman of the Washington Post, refreshingly frank
And say nothing about the Israeli nuclear arsenal.