Joseph Gutnick

Ayoon wa Azan (New Definition Of Anti-Semitism)
Jihad Al Khazen     Al-Hayat     2003/10/6
Over the past few weeks, I noticed that an increasing number of Jewish
Likudniks around the world have been reading the Arab press, especially the
press that is translated to English and published on the Internet. They
either make comments or respond, and most of the time they accuse the
reporter of this broad accusation of "anti-Semitism."

In the past, anti-Semitism used to mean a person who hates Jews. Today, in
the era of Sharon's Likudnik immorality, it means any person hated by the
Jews. I used to object to letters I received complaining about what I said
about the Israeli government and its practices. The people sending me the
letters considered what I said as being against the Jews in general,
although I am always cautious and rarely attack Israel without mentioning
that the majority of Jews in Israel still wish for a peaceful solution and
that the majority of Jews in the world are moderate liberals with whom it is
easy to make peace.

This was and still is my opinion, and I have always objected to my articles
being read in a selective manner; nevertheless, I found some consolation
when Edgard Bronfman, a committed Zionist presiding the World Jewish Forum,
was victim of a defamation campaign, waged by radicals who have blood on
their hands, such as Ariel Sharon. He had dared send President Bush a letter
objecting to Israel's construction of the security wall on Palestinian
territory.

The security wall means that it is impossible to reach a peaceful agreement,
because if it is completed the way Sharon and the war criminals around him
want it, it could take up 40% of the West Bank territories. Once, Mahmoud
Abbas told me that if the Israelis want to build such wall for security as
they claim, nothing prevented them from building it on their own land. Abbas
insisted that it would be impossible to reach an agreement if the wall was
completed according to Sharon's official plans.which would mean that the
wall's construction comes against the Israeli people's desire for peace,
which is vindicated in the opinion polls.

What matters is that Bronfman (along with Lawrence Eagleburger, the former
U.S. Secretary of State) dared express the desire of the majority of Jews
with regards to the wall, and the result was that one of Sharon's supporters
attacked him and accused him of being disloyal.

I read that Bronfman's letter reached Izy Leibler, the deputy president of
the World Jewish Forum, so he launched a campaign on the president and asked
him to withdraw his letter and apologize because his duty is to promote the
Israeli government.

Bronfman is a billionaire who presides SEGHAM. He constitutes along with his
family one of the pillars of the world Jewish support to Israel. The reason
why he is treated so disrespectfully is because he expressed the stance of
the majority of Jews; so the reader can only imagine how an Arab writer or
any commentator is treated if he dare criticize Israel.

Trying to control the media and silencing the opposition to Israel goes
along with the process of killing Palestinians and destroying peace. Before
Bronfman, George Bush was subject to a harsh campaign that reflected the
endless impudence of Israel and its supporters.

This was in the beginning of the summer, when a truce between the
Palestinian factions and Israel was worked out so Abbas' government would be
able to implement the Roadmap; but Israel tried to kill Dr. Abdulaziz
Rantissi, who escaped, but killed a woman and a three-year-old child, also
injuring 27 people. President Bush's comment on that was that he was
concerned about the attacks of the Israeli helicopters and that he was sorry
for the loss of lives, adding, he did not believe the attacks helped
Israel's security.

Israel and its supporters in Congress replied to these simple words by
objecting and denouncing. Tom DeLay, the leader of the Republican majority
in Congress, threatened President Bush that Congress would issue a
resolution supporting the Israeli attacks if the President did not declare
his unconditioned support for Israel.

I would add here that Hamas retaliated the next day of the murder attempt
through a suicide attack in Jerusalem, where 16 people were killed. I insist
that it was the war criminal Sharon who killed them and not Hamas, because
he knew his crime would be punished. He probably even welcomed the
retaliation in order to justify his next crime.

With the mounting Israeli crimes, there is a wide campaign to ban any
criticism of Israel. One of the official members of the Jewish lobby AIPAC
wrote in the Denver Post that the unacceptable side of anti-Semitism today
is to criticize Israel, which, he added, is the only state in the world
controlled by Jews (he forgot to mention the U.S.) then he complained about
focusing on Israel and neglecting the violation of human rights in other
countries.

What I understood is that human rights violations in other countries justify
their violation in Israel. Most important is silencing the media, in the
lobby's member sayings, an attempt we followed in Europe as well, for in a
conference about anti-Semitism the representative of French Jews called for
banning Al-Jazeera, claiming that it provoked anti-Israeli feelings. Some
people in the conference called for controlling the Internet and finding
ways to ban any criticism of Israel under the excuse of fighting
anti-Semitism.

As I write, I have before me a paper clip about Israel and its supporters'
attempt to ban a novel called A Little Piece of Ground written by
award-winner novelist from New Zealand, Elizabeth Laird, in which she tells
the story of Karim, a Palestinian boy living under the occupation who sees
his father threatened and humiliated and the family's land stolen by the
settlers. The result was that Jewish groups threatened the publisher
McMillan and called for destroying all copies of the book.

George Orwell talked about Big Brother, who controls the minds and decides
on behalf of the people, but he had expected the Big Brother would come from
some great country and not from the criminal state of Israel, protected by
the U.S., which gives it free reign to control and subdue us all.