I came across an unusual blog post in the Times of Israel. It is unusual for a couple of reasons. Firstly because it did what it said on the tin, which is to debunk 25 of the most ubiquitous - what shall we call them? I suggest ‘smears’. Yes, they are genuine smears, against Israel. if I have to spell it out, I’m using the term in its strictest sense, (damage the reputation of (someone) by false accusations; slander) and not as a trumped-up smokescreen, as in the tactic infamously used by the antisemites in the Labour Party to mask the truth.
The second reason the blog post is unusual is that it was written by someone of “Arab origin”. in other words, it was written As-an-Arab.
If the exact same piece had been penned by a Jew, it might well have been passed off with a Mandy Rice-Davies (they would, wouldn’t they) type of shrug, rather than a Jeremy Corbyn (don’t know/don’t care) type of shrug.
You’ll be familiar with Richard Ingrams's infamous boast, which is that he looks first at the author of any letter concerning Israel - and if the name looks “Jewish’ he bins it; by a parallel token, if a supporter or defender of Israel happens to be NotaJew, like, say, John Mann MP, Denis MacEoin, Douglas Murray or Rod Liddle, the words carry extra weight and are more likely to be taken seriously. One might also speculate that the antisemites find them the most infuriating.
Here is what Mr. Maroun says about the “AsaJew” party members that the Labour party flaunts to disguise its antisemitism. (Extracted from myth number 16.)
“Some naïve Jews feel guilty over accusations that Zionism is a modern form of Nazism but the number of Jews who buy the dishonest anti-Zionist rhetoric is very small and very marginal. They are a convenient tool in the hands of Israel’s enemies, so they are quoted often and their importance is magnified well beyond their numbers.”
Did you realise that it is illegal in Lebanon to communicate “in any fashion” with an Israeli?
If Fred Maroun only represents a tiny fraction of the world’s Arabs and Leftists, he still earns his brownie points by dint of his non-Jewish identity.
I would very much like to reproduce the piece in full, as I think it’s an invaluable resource for anyone who suddenly needs to refute any of those widely believed myths neatly and succinctly. However, I don’t want to abuse bloggers’ etiquette and steal the entire content without asking permission. So I’ll compromise, and list the 25 headings here, and post an edited and abridged (by me) version over the fold. I think it has relevance for the BBC, as many of these myths crop up (in fact or innuendo) within much of the BBC's reporting of matters concerning Israel.
The original provides links, and not only to pro-Israel sources. Do go to the article itself to get the full picture, because I can’t guarantee that my editing has done justice to the original.
1. “Israel can end the conflict by withdrawing from the “West Bank””
2. “Israel keeps stealing Palestinian land”
3. “Gaza is an open-air prison / under siege”
4. “Israel is an apartheid/racist state”
5. “The “West Bank” is an even worse apartheid”
6. “Jewish settlements in the “West Bank” are illegal”
7. “It is the Israel-Palestinian conflict”
8. “Trump caused Arabs to riot in Jerusalem”
9. “Israel threatens Lebanon”
10. “Israel is run by a right-wing government that is no better than Hamas
11. “Israel commits genocide against Palestinians”
12. “If some Palestinians behave badly, it is out of desperation”
13. “Israel created the Palestinian refugee crisis”
14. “The conflict is a dispute over land”
15. “Zionists are the new Nazis”
16. “Even Jews think that Israel is a terrorist state”
17. “Israel targets civilians and children”
18. “Israel is an imperialist project”
19. “Israeli Jews are European”
20. “Jews have no right to have their own state”
21. “Europe supported Zionism because of guilt over the Holocaust”
22. “Israel’s support for LGBT rights is a cover for its crimes”
23. “The BDS movement is a reasonable response to Israel”
24. “Hatred of Israel is okay because anti-Zionism is not antisemitism”
25. “Israel is the cause of conflicts in the Middle East”
