The Latest from Mondoweiss |  |
- The back-of-the-
envelope history of the Anti-Defamation League - Does Israelo-fascism exist?
- 'And along come the Israelis and knock their house down'
- Foxman plays Holocaust card
- The children whose spirit a siege couldn't break
- I felt alone till I heard about the Jewish boat to Gaza
- Why did a Democratic congressman's aide speak of 'Jewish money'?
| The back-of-the- Posted: 31 Jul 2010 07:48 PM PDT The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was formed by B'nai B'rith in 1913 to be the leading Jewish defense agency in the wake of the conviction of Leo Frank, an officer of the National Pencil Co. of Atlanta,Georgia, By 1937, the Anti-Defamation League had embarked on another occupation, keeping files and spying on what it considered to be communist or pro-communist organizations and individuals. In that year, a 1947 Congressional hearing revealed, it had begun providing information on the recently formed National Lawyers Guild and on individuals applying for government jobs to the original House Committee on Un-American Activities chaired by the notorious racist and anti-semite, Rep. Martin Dies, which came to be referred to simply as the Dies Committee. In the anti-communist witch hunts conducted at the beginning of the Cold War, the ADL assisted and acted as a go-between for both the Congressional committees and members or former members of the CPUSA who chose to inform on their former comrades and friends, including, in at least one instance, family members. While the ADL's public face was that of an organization determined to rid the country of neo-Nazis and skinheads, its raison d'etre in the absence of any serious threats of anti-semitism, was not defense of Jews, per se, but defense of Israel and the intimidation and public humiliation of its critics. While that invariably gained the ADL headlines, what was hidden from the public was of equal importance. The ADL, by the late 1980s had begun one of the largest private spying operations in the United States, a fact that was discovered by the San Francisco police in 1992 when it raided the ADL office after discovering that it had been working with a rogue SF cop, Tom Gerard, who had been providing the organization with personal non-public information about a host of American citizens, but, in particular, those supporting the Palestinian cause and opposing South African apartheid. It turned out that this cop was partnering with a San Francisco weight lifter, Roy Bullock, who had infiltrated the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and a number of other organizations and had in his files the names of over 10,000 individuals and over 600 organizations, most of which were kept in what Bullock labeled as Pinko files. Bullock and Gerard were also being paid by South African intelligence officials to provide them with the same information on anti-apartheid activism that they had been collecting for the ADL. Bullock had been identified as the ADL's "main fact finder" by the late Irwin Suall, who headed the group's intelligence apparatus, but depositions taken at the time revealed there were similar spying operations being conducted by the ADL across the United States. Despite the ADL having promised to cease trying to illegally obtain information on its enemies at the time in exchange for not being prosecuted, there is no evidence that it has. Rather it has strengthened its ties with police across the country through its LEARN program (Law Enforcement Agency Resource Network) in which it trains police in dealing with "extremist groups" and "hate crimes." The ADL has become identified with the antics and pronouncements of its long-time national director, Abe Foxman, who has made a name for himself by taking on anyone he considers guilty of anti-Semitism, which means criticizing Israel or the abuse of Jewish power. In the past this has included Marlon Brando, Mel Gibson, and most recently Oliver Stone. Jews are not immune, as Tony Judt found out in 2006 when Foxman interceded with the Polish Consulate in New York to prevent the British Jewish writer from giving a talk in the building's meeting room on "The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy." Now, Foxman is in the headlines once again, trying to prevent an Islamic center, one that would be open to everyone, from being constructed adjacent to the site of the World Trade Center bombing. This would appear to be a clear violation of the mission statement of the organization, part of which states that its "purpose is to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens." For Foxman, apparently, that mission no longer includes Muslims.    |
| Posted: 31 Jul 2010 12:54 PM PDT Robert O. Paxton, the distinguished emeritus professor at Columbia University, is perhaps the world's leading authority on fascism. His book Vichy France (1972) has become a classic, not least in France itself, for telling truths about the collaborationist regime that the French themselves had been too ashamed and timid to say. More recently, The Anatomy of Fascism (2004) is a masterful survey that looks thoroughly and intelligently at "fascism" instead of just using it as an epithet. Toward the end of the book, Paxton looks at the possibility of fascism in "Other Times, Other Places" outside its peak in Europe between the two World Wars. Among several examples, he says that ". . . one must address the potential – supreme irony – for fascism in Israel."
But, he writes, more recently there is cause for worry.
The Western mainstream devotes a great deal of time and energy to every Islamic extremist statement, and the word "Islamofascism" has even been used by an American president. But their Israeli extremist equivalents, who have only gotten louder and more powerful since Paxton's book appeared, hardly ever appear in U.S. news reports. The unstated assumption is that the "Israelo-fascists" like Avigdor Lieberman are only crazy uncles hidden up in the attic, not worth paying attention to.   |
| 'And along come the Israelis and knock their house down' Posted: 31 Jul 2010 12:42 PM PDT I honestly don't know how you can be a Zionist and see this kind of report without screaming-- from Al Jazeera, about the destruction of 20,000 Palestinian houses in "Occupied East Jerusalem," some of them repeat demolitions of individual families' houses. From reporter Jacky Rowland, with the great Jeff Halper of ICAHD saying the intention is "to drive Palestinians out of the country." When is this stuff going to be on American television? When will American reporters say the words, "Occupied East Jerusalem." When is American Jewish leadership going to come to terms with these horrifying facts on the ground? Thanks to Reem Mokhtar.   |
| Posted: 31 Jul 2010 11:44 AM PDT Joe Klein says Abe Foxman should be fired now, and points to Foxman's long disgraceful record, including calling Klein anti-Semitic for saying that Jewish neocons had pushed the Iraq war (and now Iran war) without disclosing their true concern.
Klein's memory is a little short. Let's don't forget that the ADL spied on Americans who were critical of Israel more than a decade ago, and sought to blacklist Tony Judt, causing the Polish Consulate to cancel a speech of his about the Israel lobby 4 years back. Now Foxman ups the ante. I can't follow his logic, but I know it aint cricket. From AP:
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| The children whose spirit a siege couldn't break Posted: 31 Jul 2010 09:23 AM PDT Haaretz has the story on the latest record set by the children of Gaza. They've broken their own record from last year's UNRWA Summer Games for the number of kites being flown at one time. The UN website has the video:
When you hear someone defending the siege remind them that they are denying the children in this video's rights to access: clean drinking water, adequate medical care; and until recently crayons and coloring books.   |
| I felt alone till I heard about the Jewish boat to Gaza Posted: 31 Jul 2010 09:21 AM PDT Editor's note: I'm going to be writing a lot about boats these days. Americans are organizing a U.S. boat to Gaza, with a cruise around New York this Thursday to raise money for the effort, and in the meantime a Jewish boat to Gaza will be sailing from Europe. No departure set yet, but it could be in the next couple of weeks. Yesterday I met Lillian Rosengarten, who arrived in this country as an infant refugee from Nazi Germany, and she related her excitement about joining the Jewish boat. She writes: It all began when a friend sent an article on June 17 written by Adam Horowitz entitled, "Due to demand Jewish boat to Gaza is becoming a flotilla." Without a moment's thought, I knew I had to find the organizers and contact them. I felt inexplicably driven to find them. I found Edith Lutz and Kate Leiterer, organizers of "Judische Stimme" or Jewish Voice for a Just Peace located in Germany. In my search, I stumbled across other sites, Jewish ship to Gaza, American Jews For Just Peace and Jewish Voice for Peace in Oakland, Calif. I became aware that day I was not alone, a German Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany who vehemently opposes the Israeli government's use of collective punishment for the purpose of crushing the freedom and spirit of the Palestinians. Here is what I wrote with some additions: "I am a 75 year old refugee from Nazi Germany (Frankfurt) human rights activist, poet, writer and psychoanalyst. I have traveled around the world including Germany and Israel (have relatives there.) Other German Jews mostly elderly relatives as well as American Jews many of whom are progressives in all areas but Israel, are in complete disagreement. As a Jew and particularly as a German Jew, I feel isolated in my commitment to equal human rights for everyone. 'Never Again' has a deep personal significance and requires that I not only speak out but take action against humanitarian injustice and human rights abuses. I am painfully aware of a growing split in Israel between Likud and Labor, a split that divides the country and becomes increasingly violent within the two factions of the Jewish community. My uncle Hans Lebrecht (now over 90) formerly from Ulm, predicted this two decades ago. I have been with him many times in Israel and it was he who first introduced me to Palestinian families, his friends in the Wes t Bank. They were academics at Beir Zeit University as well as journalists. I met families I grew to love in the years we continued our friendship. They are lost to me now and I miss them. Perhaps you know Hans? He is a wonderful man, former journalist, human rights activist who fought against injustice for all of his life, first in Germany and then in Israel where he settled. I would like to join the flotilla in an effort to break the blockade and to end Israel's horrible siege. I speak fluent German although my ability to read is better in English. How can I make this happen? Awaiting your reply, Lillian Rosengarten (formerly Gisela Lebrecht) On June 19, I was invited to join the ship. I feel I have been given a gift. The organizers are in communication with the American and Israeli governments in an attempt to guarantee safe passage for the Jewish boat and to permit entry into Gaza to accomplish it's peaceful and humanitarian efforts.   |
| Why did a Democratic congressman's aide speak of 'Jewish money'? Posted: 31 Jul 2010 09:05 AM PDT This is interesting. Mike McMahon, a first-term Democratic congressman from New York, fired a staffer after she said that McMahon's Republican challenger was getting a lot of out-of-state donors and "Jewish money." NY Observer:
Haaretz details the wrath that came down on Nelson:
But if Jewish money is a stereotype, god knows it's one that many political people employ. It is often noted that more than half of Democratic campaign-giving comes from Jews; and just the other day, Martin Indyk raised the "Jewish factor" in campaign spending with that same Haaretz reporter, to explain Obama's collapse on confronting Israel: "American Jews...provide a good deal of funding for political campaigns. So the Jewish factor is always a critical factor for Democratic candidates. I don't think it's telling any secrets that there are a lot of people who have been upset with President Obama. And I think that the White House came to the understanding that they have a real problem there and they are going out of their way trying to show they are friendly to Israel and committed to peace. Republicans will try to exploit the anger." Exactly: Republicans like Mike Grimm. So I don't think Jennifer Nelson is an anti-semite, a lot of people in American politics think hard about this question. Despite their claims, the NJDC and RJC both count Jews; and they do so because the Jewish community is still monolithic on the Israel question, big Jewish givers tend to be extremely conservative on the question; and these organizations can use the idea of Jewish money just as Indyk does, to try and impose a pro-Israel line on all candidates. It gives me no pleasure to do a post like this. I seek diversity in Jewish life, so that a term like "Jewish money" has no significance. But right now it means something, and something important. Seymour Hersh used the term "Jewish money" a year or so back on Amy Goodman, when explaining the political pressure building for war against Iran. He wasn't using an old anti-Semitic stereotype, he was trying to explain how the policymaking works. I wonder how much of a real factor Jewish money is in the Grimm-McMahon race. I've met Arab-Americans in McMahon's district. They told me he won in 2008 in a traditionally- Why do you think he's making such statements? And do you really think Jennifer Nelson came up with that category of political gifts on her own?  |
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Peace.
Michael Santomauro
Editorial Director
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