Recently on the Israel Shamir readers at yahoogroups.com list, Shamir has said, "We must listen to the voices of such as David Duke." Duke, for those outside the USA, is a prominent neo-Nazi.
The below is from Meredith Tax, who wrote a history of the intersection between the early 20th century feminist and socialist movements, 'The Rising of the Women, " for Monthly Review Press, back in the early 80's.
Michael Hoffman II, also mentioned below, was recently included as a cc recipient on a mailing by John Kaminsky, a 9-11 conspiranoid, along with, Michael Collins Piper of, "The American Free Press, " http://www.americanfreepress.net/ and Michel Chossudovsky, who shows no hesitation in citing the neo-fascist, faux populist Liberty Lobby rag, The American Free Press or the LaRoucheite, Executive Intelligence Review in his "Global Research, " magazine.
http://nigelparry.com/issues/shamir/meredithletter.html E-mail: Israel Shamir and the Russian connection Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2001 12:08 AM Subject: Israel Shamir and the Russian connection
Israel Shamir and the Russian connection I have spent the last week trying to understand the peculiar combination of progressive ideas and anti-Semitic overtones in the columns of Israel Shamir. I believe the key is to be found in the fact that Shamir is addressing two contradictory audiences: 1) Russian nationalist readers of the weekly Zavtra and 2) radical Jewish and Palestianian diaspora readers on the Web.
Full disclosure: I am a writer myself and when I first read Israel Shamir's Rape of Dulcinea, I was blown away because the language was so lively and the criticism of Wiesel so funny. I wrote him and got on his list. I was enthusiastic about some of what he sent but some of his language seemed over the top, even anti-Semitic. Since I wanted to think well of him, I initially put this down to the fact that he was not a native English speaker, thus not sensitive to nuance, and needed an editor. I heard him speak at Columbia, again liked a lot of it but was uncomfortable with the crucifixion analogies and his statement that there was no more anti-semitism in the world. This seemed strange to me, coming from a Russian, since I know how strong anti-Semitism is there. Despite my misgivings, I shook his hand and even gave him one of my books. But I went home and decided to do some research. In the past week, I have received many emails in the Shamir controversy. There are people I respect on both sides. I will therefore present my research without editorial comment, and let them draw their own conclusions.
Bio note appended to Green Lizard by Israel Shamir, sent me on the net, dated February 19, 2001: "Israel Shamir is one of best-known and respected Russian Israeli writers and journalists. He wrote for Haaretz, BBC, Pravda and translated Agnon, Joyce and Homer into Russian. He lives in Tel Aviv and writes a weekly column in the Vesti, the biggest Russian-language paper in Israel. His articles appear on some selected Internet sites. This article was written in course of his visit to Cuba and appeared in Moscow's Zavtra and Israeli weekly RI. He can be reached at shamiri_ at netvision.net.il."
Bio note in http://shamir.mediamonitors.net/background.html ...As the first Palestinian Intifada began, Shamir had left Israel for Russia, where he covered the eventful years 1989-1993. While in Moscow, he reported for Haaretz, but was sacked for publishing an article calling to the return the Palestinian refugees and the rebuilding of their ruined villages. He wrote for various Russian newspapers and magazines, including Pravda and Zavtra weekly. In 1993, he returned to Israel and settled in Jaffa. He wrote for Russian newspapers both in Israel and Russia and contributed to various literary magazines....
What is Zavtra? Reporting on current conditions in Russia to the Congressional Helsinki Committee on Sept 19, 2000, Micah H. Naftalin, National Director of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ) alluded to "the most influential antisemitic publisher in Russia-- Aleksandr Prokhanov, chief editor of the extremist newspaper Zavtra." Prokanov hit the front page of the Moscow Times that month when he met with Putin and also brought David Duke of the KKK to Russia to organize: Prokhanov was one of a select group of newspaper editors invited to talks in the Kremlin last month. He ate Kremlin pastries. He drank Kremlin coffee. He chatted with the president. He felt related, part of the family.
So what kind of goodies does this new familial extension have for Putin? Why, no one other than David Duke, formerly the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, currently the leader of a U.S. group called the National Association for the Advancement of White People and also a member of Prokhanov's family.
Duke is in Moscow for a month, on Prokhanov's personal invitation. He has come to share his experience in promoting the cause of "white rights," as he described NAAWP's main responsibility last year. Russia apparently needs his experience, too. In an interview with the newspaper Kommersant on the day of his arrival in Moscow, Duke expressed alarm over the increased number of black people, which, he says, has grown noticeably in the capital since his previous visit last year. (http://dev.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2000/09/05/008.html, Family Matters in the Kremlin by Anna Badkhen)
Prokanov's own politics can be observed in this paean to Joseph Stalin. (No, it's not meant as a joke; I found it on a Canadian website which advocates the restoration of communism in Russia.) (http://www.northstarcompass.org/nsc9804/stalapp.html)
What has Shamir published in Zavtra? The website of Michael J. Hoffman (http://www.hoffman-info.com) printed the "The Jews of Russia and Palestine, a Comparison," with the notation, "Excerpted from the Russian newspaper Zavtra, Oct. 31, 2000"
"Green Lizard," on Cuba, appeared in both Granma and Zavtra.
The Zundelsite is a Holocaust denial site edited by Ingrid Rimland, whose mission is "the rehabilitation of the honor and reputation of the German nation and people. Specifically, the Zündelsite challenges the traditional version of the 'Holocaust' - an Allied propaganda tool concocted during World War II - that is not based on historical fact but is a cleverly used ploy to keep the German war time generation and their descendants in perpetual political, emotional, spiritual and financial bondage." Rimmer printed Shamir's "The Lousiness Test," with an attribution to Zavtra, No: 44 (361), Date: 31-10-2000. Rimmer also gave the URL of Zavtra's site: www.zavtra.ru/cgi/veil/data/zavtra/00/361/63.html but note: the site's in Russian. While it is conceivable that most or all of the Shamir essays that have been posted here in English have also been published in Russian in Zavtra, only someone who reads Russian wil be able to check this out.
What's the big deal? If a writer needs money, doesn't he publish with whomever will pay him? To clarify this question, I sent Shamir's bios as above to a Russian friend who has been an active feminist, pro-democracy, and human rights journalist for many years, used to write for Ogonyok and now is a senior writer for Nesavisimaya Gazaeta. I asked her opinion of Zavtra and its predecessor, Dyen, and also if she or any of her journalist friends had met Israel Shamir when he was in Moscow. She responded: Zavrta and Dyen are rather dirty newspapers, stupid, nationalistic and full of lies. No normal person would publish an article in those newspapers ‹ and the quality of writing is bad....I asked colleagues of mine, and nobody remembered his name. So I suspect he is not so important ‹we know the names of the important authors in many newspapers, even the nationalistic ones....I guess he is one of many adventurers who comes to the States seeking money.... While freelance writers do look for opportunities to make money, Zavtra is not an ordinary journalistic outlet. Do normal freelance writers here send their stuff to newspapers associated with the Ku Klux Klan?
Website of Michael A. Hoffman II, "The Campaign for Radical Truth in History," (http://www.hoffman-info.com)
Michael A. Hoffman appears to be one of Shamir's main rightwing supporters in the US. He describes himself as "Author of The Great Holocaust Trial: The Landmark Battle for Freedom of Speech, former director of the Institute for Historical Review; currently editor of Revisionist History newsletter." His website specializes in anti-Semitic (also anti-Zionist, I understand the distinction and he is both) and white supremacist "satire". Check out the essay "America Should Fight Minorities and Aliens the Way Israel Does!" by Rev. Bob Singleton, Pastor and Patriot. Of course Shamir is not responsible for everyone who publishes him on the web.
What conclusions should we draw from this research? My own conclusions about anyone in politics are based not on their intentions but on their effect. We need to build is a broad united movement for peace and justice in Palestine that brings together Palestinians and progressive Jews, along with lots of other people, can reach huge numbers of people who are not yet aware or involved, and can form an effective counterweight to the AIPAC lobby.
Have Shamir's writing and speeches in the US brought us closer to that goal? Have they united us or split us?
Sincerely,
Meredith Tax
Source: The above e-mail was circulated widely on the Internet.
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