The Lerner Mountain out of Dunghill

Brad Mayer bradley.mayer at sun.com
Fri Feb 14 12:33:41 PST 2003


I understand the feelings - and the political principle - behind the demand that Lerner repudiate his public charge. I support that demand, and _want to achieve it in practice_. We need to build a mass antiwar movement open to the entire population, that is, not to the ruling class on the pages of the WSJ.

Therefore, as a tactical matter, it would not be wise to make said repudiation _a condition_ for Lerner's speaking. Rather, Lerner - or anyone such as Lerner - should be given all the time within the antiwar venue, on condition that he and others factually JUSTIFY their very serious charge of "antisemitism". It needs to be communicated to Lerner and others that we take such charges VERY seriously, and expect serious proof, otherwise these charges can only be interpreted as baseless slander. BTW, pointing to a photo of a single individual wearing a Star of David with an international "No" symbol across it, is NOT proof - it only suggests possibly that this individual is an antisemite. We need proof that the organizers and/or the movement as a whole is "antisenitic".

Of course no such "proof" will be found, and for this reason Lerner and others like him should be given ample opportunity to skewer themselves _before the antiwar movement_. A positive effect will be to launch a _real_, truly honest, discussion of what is antisemitism today, in the present context, free of the habitual slanders that are designed to obscure and block such a discussion from occurring within the antiwar movement in the first place. It will clarify just what is meant by "anti-Israel", and distinguish from and against this, ANTI-COLONIAL, which, uncoincidentially, is what the Iraq war is all about, because that is what the American-Israeli Likud Axis that I've been hollering about since Sept. 2000 wants in the Middle East - something the Lerner folks are incapable of addressing. That discussion is too important to be left to the likes of Lerner.

-Brad Mayer .
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com>
>> loupaulsen at attbi.com wrote:
>>
> > >What message does that send? Isn't that "letting them win"?
>Anyway, he wants
>> >15.
>>
>> You serious? The pious gasbag wants 5 times as much time as everyone else?
>>
>> Doug
>
>His position is that it is very important to explain the nuances of
>his position, and it takes extra time.
>
>lp

Lerner shouldn't get his _three_ minutes _unless_ he takes back his charge of anti-Semitism _publicly_. - -- Yoshie



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