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Mideast Mirror
October 18, 2004
U.S. Anti-Semitism law
The aim of this law is to exempt the state which presents itself as
the 'Jewish state' from any questioning of the crimes it
commits-Al-Rai
There are U.S. Jews who have been persecuted and boycotted by the
mainstream U.S. media because they criticized Israel-Asharq al-Awsat
Anti-Semitism is a pretext used to blackmail the world's countries
and to extract from them certain political positions-as has been the
case with the alleged holocaust that Israel has been using for
decades to politically and financially blackmail European
countries-al-Rayah
AFP reports that U.S. President George Bush on Saturday signed into
law a bill requiring the State Department to monitor global
anti-Semitism and design strategies to combat it, rating countries
annually on their treatment of Jews. The US State Department had
opposed this new legislation, saying it was unnecessary as the
department already compiles such data in its annual reports on human
rights and religious freedom. Bush signed the Global Anti-Semitism
Review Act of 2004 on a flight to Florida, a key battleground state
in the November 2 presidential elections and one in which the
Republicans hope to make inroads into the traditional Jewish vote for
the Democrats, AFP says. Florida's Jewish population is the third
largest in the world after Israel and New York, according to AFP .
Arab commentators have reacted strongly to Bush's announcement that
he had signed into law new legislation on monitoring anti-Semitism
worldwide. The critics concur that the law's real aim is to prevent
criticism of Israel, in an attempt by the Republicans to curry favour
with traditionally pro-Democratic U.S. Jewish voters, and that it
shows total disregard for Israel's racist policies against the
Palestinians.
ILLOGICAL: "There is nothing new in this law drafted by the U.S.
Congress and signed by President Bush" requiring the State Department
to specifically monitor anti-Semitism in each country, writes Mahmoud
al-Rimawi in Monday's Jordanian daily, al-Rai.
"Its real aim is to promote a sympathetic view of the 'Jewish state'
no matter how this state behaves. The law is not concerned with the
Jews as followers of a religion. These have never had it so good
around the world. If the aim were to protect the followers of a
particular religion, a law would have been adopted banning
discrimination against any religion whatsoever. It is illogical that
there should be positive discrimination in favour of the followers of
one particular religion while excluding others.
The basic aim of this law is therefore to exempt the state which
presents itself as the 'Jewish state' from any of the consequences or
the questioning that follows the crimes it commits. Any who question
its actions will risk being accused of discrimination and
anti-Semitism.
There is nothing new in this law. The Republican administration's
Middle East policy has been based on defending the interests of the
Israeli military and its colonial occupation for four years now. The
new law tries to use religious and ideological ammunition as a cover
for the unholy alliance between this administration and the enemies
of peace who rule in Tel Aviv.
The U.S. election campaign is of course the main reason why this law
has been approved at this particular time. The incumbent president is
trying to win over the votes of U.S. Jews in his battle to remain in
the White House. It is well-known that the majority of U.S. Jews vote
for the Democratic Party because this party has traditionally been
more respectful of minorities and religious and cultural diversity
than have the Republicans. This is why the incumbent president
announced his decision in Florida, with its large 'Jewish weighting'.
It will be easy for this law to be exploited in such a way as to
portray any criticism of Sharon-style policies as a brand of
anti-Semitism, thereby rendering such criticism taboo.
This irrational move, based on a deliberate confusion between
religion and politics, is just one sign of the path chosen by the
current Republican administration. This is a path that has foiled the
language of dialogue, while the Arab world has been turned into a
theatre for two wars waged by the two most conservative and extremist
powers in the world today.
The response to this law should not be limited to showing how
mistaken it is in setting up discrimination between religions. There
should also be continued firm and courageous criticism of 'Sharonism'
as a policy opposed to peace and coexistence and openly hostile to
other nations and peoples. A strict distinction must be made between
the advocates of this policy and the followers of the Jewish
religion.
"After all," concludes al-Rimawi, "Our struggle is with occupation,
expansionism, and racism. It is in no way a struggle against the
followers of any particular religion."
HYPOCRISY: "The anti-Semitism law signed by President Bush is a
paradigm of political opportunism and bare-faced hypocrisy", writes
Ahmad al-Rab'i in Monday's Saudi daily, Asharq al-Awsat. "President
Bush made the announcement that he had signed the law in the city of
Miami, Florida, where a considerable number of Jews live."
The legislation shows a clear disregard for reason and history.
'Semitic' is an expression applying to many nations. The Jews are
Semitic, but so are their Palestinian victims. If there is to be an
anti-Semitic law, then the first to be prosecuted under it should be
Ariel Sharon, who commits crimes against the Semitic Palestinians,
wallows in their killing, and imposes collective punishment on them.
Nor does the law aim at defending the Jews. There are many Jews, both
inside and outside Israel, who oppose the Israeli government's
policy. And there are U.S. Jews who have been persecuted and
boycotted by the mainstream U.S. media because they criticized
Israel.
The law really aims at protecting Israel, though it has been passed
under the name of combating anti-Semitism. Therefore, we, like many
other political writers and analysts, would be honored to join the
U.S. State Department's list of 'anti-Semites', if 'Semite' in
President Bush's dictionary means 'Israeli'.
How can a particular state or group be chosen, have conferences
devoted to it, and have the president of the world's leading country
issue a special law that prevents its criticism? The effect of this
law is to make the Israelis God's bewildered people, and the rest of
the world's nations, colors, and races God's chosen peoples as
persecuted peoples . Israel is the only state in the world that
engages in colonialism, refuses to implement the resolutions that
represent international legitimacy, builds a racist Separation Wall,
carries out collective punishment, and is creative in emulating the
Nazi state that committed so many crimes against the Jews, only for
Israel to play the same role against the Palestinians.
"No sympathy has been expressed in the U.S. legislation for the Arabs
and the Africans. No mention was made of the crimes committed against
the Armenians and the Kurds. All you have to do is wait for the State
Department's annual report to find out for sure that no one is to
dare criticize Israel," concludes al-Rab'i.
ELECTORAL RACE: "At a time when the Palestinians have started to
inspect the effects of the terrible destruction, count their victims,
and assess their enormous losses resulting from the Israeli
aggression on the Northern Gaza Strip amidst international silence
and unlimited U.S. support, Israel-and behind it the world's
Jews-have obtained a new and unprecedented privilege, offered to them
by U.S. President George Bush in the context of his race with this
Democratic rival John Kerry to win the approval of U.S. Jews", writes
the Qatari daily, al-Rayah. "This is a race whose results will
inevitably be at the expense of the Palestinians and the Arabs".
With great pride, President Bush announced before an electoral rally
in Florida that he has promulgated a new law to protect the Jews in
all countries of the world. It requires State Department to gather
statistics regarding anti-Semitic acts around the world and to assess
the positions of various states on this issue. It also requires the
establishment of a special bureau within the State Department whose
job it would be to prepare an annual report and to lay down
strategies for fighting anti-Semitic acts around the world. It is
evident that this racist law has been ratified as a result of clear
Jewish pressures. Congress approved it a few days ago on the
suggestion of Democratic Representative Tom Lantos, the congressman
who has been most enthusiastic in supporting Israeli policies.
Moreover, President Bush chose the state of Florida to sign this bill
into law because it contains the third largest Jewish community in
the world after Israel and the New York area.
This law constitutes a dangerous precedent, to be added to the U.S.
foreign policy that has adopted an extremist path in imposing U.S.
will on the world during President Bush's term in office. Israel
seems to be the only state in the world to be benefiting from this
policy. The new law allows Washington to interfere in the domestic
affairs of countries around the world and to impose its supervision,
demanding they answer its questions concerning the way the Jewish
communities in these countries are treated. As a result, this law
encourages Israel to intervene in the domestic affairs of countries
around the world.
We believe that this law's targets are primarily the Arab and Islamic
countries that include Jews among their people, or those states whose
policies are disapproved of by Washington and Tel Aviv. Anti-Semitism
is a pretext used by Israel, with U.S. support, to pressure and
blackmail the world's countries in order to extract from them certain
political positions-as has been the case with the alleged holocaust
that Israel has been using for decades to politically and financially
blackmail European countries.
Discriminating between people on the basis of their colour, religion,
or race is unacceptable. It contradicts the UN's Convention on Human
Rights. However, it is unfortunate that the U.S. adopts double
standards in this regard. It provides special attention to ensure
safety for Israel and the Jews, based on illusions, while it pays no
attention to the massacres that Israel is committing against the
Palestinians.
"In fact, it provides military, political, and economic support for
these massacres and adds to this by accusing the Palestinians of
terrorism. And herein lies one of the weakest points in U.S. policy,
a weakness that is costing it the world's trust," concludes the paper.
October 18, 2004
U.S. Anti-Semitism law
The aim of this law is to exempt the state which presents itself as
the 'Jewish state' from any questioning of the crimes it
commits-Al-Rai
There are U.S. Jews who have been persecuted and boycotted by the
mainstream U.S. media because they criticized Israel-Asharq al-Awsat
Anti-Semitism is a pretext used to blackmail the world's countries
and to extract from them certain political positions-as has been the
case with the alleged holocaust that Israel has been using for
decades to politically and financially blackmail European
countries-al-Rayah
AFP reports that U.S. President George Bush on Saturday signed into
law a bill requiring the State Department to monitor global
anti-Semitism and design strategies to combat it, rating countries
annually on their treatment of Jews. The US State Department had
opposed this new legislation, saying it was unnecessary as the
department already compiles such data in its annual reports on human
rights and religious freedom. Bush signed the Global Anti-Semitism
Review Act of 2004 on a flight to Florida, a key battleground state
in the November 2 presidential elections and one in which the
Republicans hope to make inroads into the traditional Jewish vote for
the Democrats, AFP says. Florida's Jewish population is the third
largest in the world after Israel and New York, according to AFP .
Arab commentators have reacted strongly to Bush's announcement that
he had signed into law new legislation on monitoring anti-Semitism
worldwide. The critics concur that the law's real aim is to prevent
criticism of Israel, in an attempt by the Republicans to curry favour
with traditionally pro-Democratic U.S. Jewish voters, and that it
shows total disregard for Israel's racist policies against the
Palestinians.
ILLOGICAL: "There is nothing new in this law drafted by the U.S.
Congress and signed by President Bush" requiring the State Department
to specifically monitor anti-Semitism in each country, writes Mahmoud
al-Rimawi in Monday's Jordanian daily, al-Rai.
"Its real aim is to promote a sympathetic view of the 'Jewish state'
no matter how this state behaves. The law is not concerned with the
Jews as followers of a religion. These have never had it so good
around the world. If the aim were to protect the followers of a
particular religion, a law would have been adopted banning
discrimination against any religion whatsoever. It is illogical that
there should be positive discrimination in favour of the followers of
one particular religion while excluding others.
The basic aim of this law is therefore to exempt the state which
presents itself as the 'Jewish state' from any of the consequences or
the questioning that follows the crimes it commits. Any who question
its actions will risk being accused of discrimination and
anti-Semitism.
There is nothing new in this law. The Republican administration's
Middle East policy has been based on defending the interests of the
Israeli military and its colonial occupation for four years now. The
new law tries to use religious and ideological ammunition as a cover
for the unholy alliance between this administration and the enemies
of peace who rule in Tel Aviv.
The U.S. election campaign is of course the main reason why this law
has been approved at this particular time. The incumbent president is
trying to win over the votes of U.S. Jews in his battle to remain in
the White House. It is well-known that the majority of U.S. Jews vote
for the Democratic Party because this party has traditionally been
more respectful of minorities and religious and cultural diversity
than have the Republicans. This is why the incumbent president
announced his decision in Florida, with its large 'Jewish weighting'.
It will be easy for this law to be exploited in such a way as to
portray any criticism of Sharon-style policies as a brand of
anti-Semitism, thereby rendering such criticism taboo.
This irrational move, based on a deliberate confusion between
religion and politics, is just one sign of the path chosen by the
current Republican administration. This is a path that has foiled the
language of dialogue, while the Arab world has been turned into a
theatre for two wars waged by the two most conservative and extremist
powers in the world today.
The response to this law should not be limited to showing how
mistaken it is in setting up discrimination between religions. There
should also be continued firm and courageous criticism of 'Sharonism'
as a policy opposed to peace and coexistence and openly hostile to
other nations and peoples. A strict distinction must be made between
the advocates of this policy and the followers of the Jewish
religion.
"After all," concludes al-Rimawi, "Our struggle is with occupation,
expansionism, and racism. It is in no way a struggle against the
followers of any particular religion."
HYPOCRISY: "The anti-Semitism law signed by President Bush is a
paradigm of political opportunism and bare-faced hypocrisy", writes
Ahmad al-Rab'i in Monday's Saudi daily, Asharq al-Awsat. "President
Bush made the announcement that he had signed the law in the city of
Miami, Florida, where a considerable number of Jews live."
The legislation shows a clear disregard for reason and history.
'Semitic' is an expression applying to many nations. The Jews are
Semitic, but so are their Palestinian victims. If there is to be an
anti-Semitic law, then the first to be prosecuted under it should be
Ariel Sharon, who commits crimes against the Semitic Palestinians,
wallows in their killing, and imposes collective punishment on them.
Nor does the law aim at defending the Jews. There are many Jews, both
inside and outside Israel, who oppose the Israeli government's
policy. And there are U.S. Jews who have been persecuted and
boycotted by the mainstream U.S. media because they criticized
Israel.
The law really aims at protecting Israel, though it has been passed
under the name of combating anti-Semitism. Therefore, we, like many
other political writers and analysts, would be honored to join the
U.S. State Department's list of 'anti-Semites', if 'Semite' in
President Bush's dictionary means 'Israeli'.
How can a particular state or group be chosen, have conferences
devoted to it, and have the president of the world's leading country
issue a special law that prevents its criticism? The effect of this
law is to make the Israelis God's bewildered people, and the rest of
the world's nations, colors, and races God's chosen peoples as
persecuted peoples . Israel is the only state in the world that
engages in colonialism, refuses to implement the resolutions that
represent international legitimacy, builds a racist Separation Wall,
carries out collective punishment, and is creative in emulating the
Nazi state that committed so many crimes against the Jews, only for
Israel to play the same role against the Palestinians.
"No sympathy has been expressed in the U.S. legislation for the Arabs
and the Africans. No mention was made of the crimes committed against
the Armenians and the Kurds. All you have to do is wait for the State
Department's annual report to find out for sure that no one is to
dare criticize Israel," concludes al-Rab'i.
ELECTORAL RACE: "At a time when the Palestinians have started to
inspect the effects of the terrible destruction, count their victims,
and assess their enormous losses resulting from the Israeli
aggression on the Northern Gaza Strip amidst international silence
and unlimited U.S. support, Israel-and behind it the world's
Jews-have obtained a new and unprecedented privilege, offered to them
by U.S. President George Bush in the context of his race with this
Democratic rival John Kerry to win the approval of U.S. Jews", writes
the Qatari daily, al-Rayah. "This is a race whose results will
inevitably be at the expense of the Palestinians and the Arabs".
With great pride, President Bush announced before an electoral rally
in Florida that he has promulgated a new law to protect the Jews in
all countries of the world. It requires State Department to gather
statistics regarding anti-Semitic acts around the world and to assess
the positions of various states on this issue. It also requires the
establishment of a special bureau within the State Department whose
job it would be to prepare an annual report and to lay down
strategies for fighting anti-Semitic acts around the world. It is
evident that this racist law has been ratified as a result of clear
Jewish pressures. Congress approved it a few days ago on the
suggestion of Democratic Representative Tom Lantos, the congressman
who has been most enthusiastic in supporting Israeli policies.
Moreover, President Bush chose the state of Florida to sign this bill
into law because it contains the third largest Jewish community in
the world after Israel and the New York area.
This law constitutes a dangerous precedent, to be added to the U.S.
foreign policy that has adopted an extremist path in imposing U.S.
will on the world during President Bush's term in office. Israel
seems to be the only state in the world to be benefiting from this
policy. The new law allows Washington to interfere in the domestic
affairs of countries around the world and to impose its supervision,
demanding they answer its questions concerning the way the Jewish
communities in these countries are treated. As a result, this law
encourages Israel to intervene in the domestic affairs of countries
around the world.
We believe that this law's targets are primarily the Arab and Islamic
countries that include Jews among their people, or those states whose
policies are disapproved of by Washington and Tel Aviv. Anti-Semitism
is a pretext used by Israel, with U.S. support, to pressure and
blackmail the world's countries in order to extract from them certain
political positions-as has been the case with the alleged holocaust
that Israel has been using for decades to politically and financially
blackmail European countries.
Discriminating between people on the basis of their colour, religion,
or race is unacceptable. It contradicts the UN's Convention on Human
Rights. However, it is unfortunate that the U.S. adopts double
standards in this regard. It provides special attention to ensure
safety for Israel and the Jews, based on illusions, while it pays no
attention to the massacres that Israel is committing against the
Palestinians.
"In fact, it provides military, political, and economic support for
these massacres and adds to this by accusing the Palestinians of
terrorism. And herein lies one of the weakest points in U.S. policy,
a weakness that is costing it the world's trust," concludes the paper.