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To: Neocon who wrote (12338)	5/7/2002 3:44:44 PM
From: Lane3	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 21057

Criticism of Israel, and of Sharon, which seem to me to equate military incursions to uproot terrorist cells with the original outrages of sending Arab children into Israel as human bombs, or seem to ignore generally the immediate provocations of the Palestinians after Arafat rejected a deal that would have given him control over about 97% of the West Bank and Gaza, with further negotiations possible, are at least suspect. Thanks for your comments. The media have been all abuzz with this and I find it interesting as part of my general interest in bias in the press and in life. My impression is that the charge of anti-Semitism has been made too easily. While it seems clear that there is a rise of anti-Semitism in Europe given the recent site desecrations and violence. I'm not sure, though, how much anti-Semitism there is in some of the ideas and expressions to which that label has been applied. I think it's a mistake to overuse labels like that. The thread was recently looking a definitions of homophobia. One point of view was that those who didn't favor marriage between gays were homophobes. IMO, that's just plain silly. I've also seen discussions of reparations where it was suggested that those who opposed reparations were racist. That's silly, as well. Advocates for gays and blacks do themselves a disservice by using such strong words so liberally. Likewise, I don't think that opposition to Sharon policies necessarily means anti-Semitism. I think it might even be possible to be tepid on Zionism without being anti-Semitic. I understand the all-or-nothing attitude that causes that reaction to differences of opinion, but I don't think it's smart--much like "crying wolf" isn't smart. You can have legitimate differences of opinion about policies without being a bigot. OTOH, I can also understand why some are distressed at a lack of solidarity because that strengthens the enemy. I'd just rather see those folks labeled naive or stupid or accommodators or anti-Israel rather than anti-Semites. It bothers me how easily the term is used, which is why I brought the subject up. Those labels should sting. If they're used promiscuously, they lose their sting. BTW, I saw Tom Friedman on Lehrer yesterday. He's just back from another trip around the ME and some Muslim countries. In the course of his comments, he mentioned a survey in Israel where a significant majority, I don't recall the exact percentage, of Israelis would opt for the Saudi proposal. Actually, he said, about two thirds of Israelis would opt for any proposal. His take on that is that they're just tired of the violence.

To: Neocon who wrote (12338)	5/8/2002 5:29:56 AM
From: thames_sider	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 21057

Neo, you're just plain wrong. WRONG. There is minimal anti-semitism in Europe - what there is is at the extremist idiot level, and as dangerous as its counterparts in the US (i.e., it might vandalise the occasional synagogue: it is minimal threat to a ready policeman, still less the Israeli state...). What there IS is anti-Zionism, revulsion at Sharon and similar disciples of extermination and expulsion. Sharon's tactics are those of Milosevic, no more. We've seen through him. It ain't anti-Semitism. Tha's simply an attempt by the Zionist factions to smear their opponents in the hope that they'll be left alone to murder every last 'enemy', the solution which Sharon and his circle have declared before to be the only one which will work... Anti-Zionism <> anti-Semitism. Loathing for Sharon and his assassins <> antisemitism. It's the same way one can loathe Hitler without hating all Germans, if you follow? If you choose to believe blatant propaganda such as that you parrot, fine. But expect to be called on it.