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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J_F_Shepard who wrote (561541)	4/7/2004 9:35:52 PM
From: Emile Vidrine	Respond to of 769670

Standing up to Zionism, standing up to Ariel Sharon. The "new anti-Semitism" in Europe, possibly in Canada, is in reality anti-Zionism, By Ted Schmidt, editor of the Catholic New Times, Straight Goods, April 2, 2004 "It is our view that the "new anti-Semitism" in Europe is in reality anti-Zionism, a reaction against the expansionist policies of the Sharon government. A prescient comment by Israeli journalist Akiva Eldar fits here: "It is much easier to claim the entire world is against us than to admit the State of Israel, which rose as a refuge and a source of pride for Jews ... has become a genuine source of danger and a source of embarrassment to those who choose to live outside its borders." Many diaspora Jews simply can not bring themselves to lovingly criticize the abominable, short-sighted policies of the Sharon government. "Standing up" for Israel, as Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb says (p.14), means observing the 11th commandment: "Thou shalt not criticize Israel in public." As the brave rabbi Gottlieb says, "The demand for silent loyalty would have perplexed and outraged the prophets and rabbis that shaped Jewish sensitivities in the classic period." Writer John Dirlik (below) catalogues the unremitting misery of the Palestinian people, a shame and a scandal which cries out for justice. The noted Philadelphia rabbi Arthur Waskow eloquently speaks to this moment in Jewish history. Writing in the wake of the extrajudicial murder of Sheik Yassin, Waskow cautions Jews "to think more deeply and feel more fully" about supposed Jewish powerlessness, the typical fear tactic used by a generation of Likud leaders is to stoke unquestioning diaspora support. Waskow maintains there are anti-Semites around, but the danger is far less than it used to be because Jews in America and Israel have real power (such as the fourth largest army in the world, backed by the US). His warning: "Nothing is more dangerous that a community which thinks of itself as a victim when it is actually powerful. Dangerous to others and itself." Waskow believes that such a powerful state should not be engaged in murder (over 325 extrajudicial executions). "Killing people without a trial ... smells too much like lynching." Finally, Waskow says Jews must understand that the repulsive suicide bombings are a terrible response to the occupation, itself a gigantic act of violence. It has killed and maimed many more Palestinians than the terrorists have killed Israelis. This is a Jewish voice we long to hear within Canada."