[lbo-talk] Dealing with the 'new anti-semitism'

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Sun Sep 3 07:53:35 PDT 2006


On Sep 3, 2006, at 9:33 AM, Bill Bartlett wrote:


> So, assuming that is what Angel is saying, then what he is also
> saying (in the first para above) is that *any* criticism (no matter
> how mild) of Zionism, must be down to anti-semitism. That assertion
> is childlike in its stupidity. Possibly Angel is quite young,
> probably as thick as two short planks. maybe he even suffers from
> some form of mental retardation. (How bad is the pollution in
> Germany? Heavy metal poisoning would solve the puzzle?)

Put a cork in the insults.

Look, while I can't follow Angelus into his stateless place of pure communism, he does have a point about nationalism. In fact, Israeli policy really crystallizes in pure form a lot of the trouble with that doctrine (and it's no accident, is it, that Zionism arose along with a lot of other reactionary nationalisms in the 19th century?): the denial of divisions within the national body, and the creation of external enemies against which the nation is defined. While Israel may be an extreme case, there are plenty of other instances. I remember from my visit to Australia in 2001 the paranoia about Asians overrunning the old white country (even Greeks are racialized as dusky, no?) - even an anxiety about foreign invaders overwhelming native marine life documented on a sign at the Hobart waterfront. And the USA, too - we're full of anxieties about external threats, and proclaiming the rightness of the Good American. I can't think of a practical way to get beyond the nation-state, but it is pleasing to dream about it.

Doug



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