- It was no surprise that the United States and Israel
walked out of a United Nations conference on racism as soon as Israel came
in for criticism. It is, however, a disgrace.
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- Israel certainly is a racist state. Its own human-rights
advocates call it that. The claim that Israel doesn't discriminate against
non-Jews is absurd on its face.
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- Suppose, for example, the U.S. Congress passed a law
that said the United States is a Christian, Anglo-Saxon nation and that
any Christian, Anglo-Saxon person anywhere in the world is automatically
eligible to become a citizen. Do you seriously think the Anti-Defamation
League would not have a conniption fit and scream racism? Well, Israel
has such a law for Jews.
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- Thus a Russian Jew, for example, can become a citizen,
but a Palestinian driven out of his own country in 1948 cannot return.
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- Suppose, for another example, a group of wealthy people
established the Christian National Fund. This fund would be used to purchase
property. Once purchased, the property could never be sold to, rented to
or leased to a non-Christian. Would that not be called discrimination?
Well, there is such a fund called the Jewish National Fund, which has all
of those restrictions on the property it owns. It played a great part in
establishing Israel.
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- And, of course, if American officials routinely issued
building permits to Christian Anglo-Saxons while denying them to Jews or
other groups, that would be considered racist. And neighborhoods that denied
non-Christians an opportunity to buy or rent would likewise be considered
racist. All of these forms of discrimination are practiced in Israel against
Palestinians.
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- The language that caused the United States to leave the
conference was in a resolution passed by 3,000 nongovernmental organizations
in 44 regional and interest-based caucuses, according to the Indian Express.
Some American news reports have made it seem like it was an Arab-only move.
I'd say the United States is definitely in a minority, as it usually is
when it defends Israel " not on the basis of facts, but on the basis
of the power of the Zionist lobby in the United States.
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- Fortunately, a growing number of American Jews are beginning
to defy the slanders of the Zionist lobby and speak out against the human-rights
abuses Israel inflicts on the Palestinians.
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- That indeed is the duty of all people of conscience.
Acts that would be unacceptable in the United States cannot be condoned
simply because they are done by Israelis to Palestinians. That in itself
is a racist attitude.
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- In the meantime, much of the American press is allowing
the Israeli government to dictate its language for propaganda purposes.
If the Israelis wish to refer to assassinations as "targeted killing,"
that's their business, but American journalism should call them what they
are " assassinations.
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- Assassination of political opponents, collective punishments
inflicted on innocent people, confiscation of property, restriction of
movements and employing military engines of destruction against an unarmed
population are all considered crimes against humanity. Employing tanks
against unarmed demonstrators in the West Bank and Gaza is no different
than employing tanks against unarmed demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.
You might want to meditate on why the American reaction is different even
though the circumstances are similar.
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- It is also useful to keep George Washington's warning
constantly in mind: "Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence
" I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens " the jealousy
of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience
prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican
government."
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- Zionism is foreign influence.
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- http://reese.king-online.com/Reese_20050202/index.php
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