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    http://www.counterpunch.org/finkelstein09122006.html

    Counterpunch September 12, 2006

    The Dream Philosophy of Paranoids

    Kill Arabs, Cry Anti-Semitism

    By NORMAN FINKELSTEIN

    A central thesis of my book Beyond Chutzpah is that whenever Israel
    faces a public relations debacle, its apologists sound the alarm that a
    "new anti-Semitism" is upon us. So, predictably, just after Israel faced
    another image problem due to its murderous destruction of Lebanon, a
    British all-party parliamentary group led by notorious Israel-firster
    Denis MacShane MP (Labor) released yet another report alleging a
    resurgence of anti-Semitism (Report of the All-Party Parliamentary
    Inquiry Into Antisemitism, September 2006). To judge by the witnesses
    (David Cesarani, Lord Janner, Oona King, Emanuele Ottolenghi, Melanie
    Phillips) and sources (MEMRI, Holocaust Education Trust) cited in the
    body of the report, much time and money could have been saved had it
    just been contracted out to the Israel Foreign Ministry. (The report's
    statement that "we received no evidence of the accusation of
    anti-Semitism being misused by mainstream British Jewish community
    organizations and leaders" perhaps speaks more to the selection of the
    witnesses than the reality.)

    The single novelty of the report, which mostly rehashes fatuous
    allegations already disposed of in Beyond Chutzpah, is the new
    thresholds in idiocy it breaks. Consider the methodology deployed for
    demonstrating a new anti-Semitism. The report defines an anti-Semitic
    incident as any occasion "perceived" to be anti-Semitic by the "Jewish
    community." This is the school of thought according to which it's
    raining even in the absence of any precipitation because I feel it's
    raining. It is the dream philosophy of paranoids, especially rational
    paranoids, for whom alleged victimhood is politically serviceable. The
    report includes under the rubric of anti-Semitic incidents not just
    violent acts and incendiary speech but "conversations, discussions, or
    pronouncements made in public or private, which cross the line of
    acceptability, " as well as "the mood and tone when Jews are discussed."
    The wonder is that it didn't also tabulate repressed anti-Semitic
    libidinal fantasies. In the category of inherently anti-Semitic
    pronouncements the report includes "drawing comparisons of contemporary
    Israeli policy to that of the Nazis" (only comparisons of contemporary
    Arab policy to that of the Nazis are permissible) and "theories about
    Jewish or Zionist influence on American foreign policy" (even if Jewish
    and Zionist organizations boast about this influence).

    Much of the evidence of pervasive British anti-Semitism requires real
    strains in credulity. * The lone item listed under the ominous
    subheading "The Blood Libel" is a Syrian television series "that would
    be possible for viewers in the UK to seeif they had suitable satellite
    receiving equipment." It also notes the unreferenced "case of a Jewish
    university lecturer who was subjected to an anti-Semitic tirade from a
    student in the middle of a lecture and subsequently asked to explain to
    the university authorities why he ha upset the student." Is it
    anti-Semitic to wonder whether this is a crock? And then the report
    cites the warning of the London Assembly Conservative Group that "there
    is a risk that in some political quarters' views on international events
    can, almost subconsciously, lead to subtly different attitudes to, and
    levels of engagement with, different minority groups.'" The new
    anti-Semitism business must be going seriously awry when British
    conservatives start sounding like Lacan. Finally, it is anti-Semitic for
    student unions to advocate a boycott of Israeli goods because this
    "would restrict the availability of kosher food on campus." Maybe Israel
    can organize a " Berlin airlift" of gefilte fish.

    Although claiming that, in the struggle against anti-Semitism, "none of
    those who gave evidence wished to see the right free speech eroded," and
    "only in extreme circumstances would we advocate legal intervention, "
    the report recommends that university authorities "take an active
    interest in combating acts, speeches, literature and events that cause
    anxiety or alarm among their Jewish students," and it registers disquiet
    that "classic and modern anti-Semitic works are freely available for
    ordering on the Amazon.com website," and that "the United States in
    particular has been slow to take action" in closing down "anti-Semitic
    internet sites." It is at moments like this that even the least
    patriotic of souls can take pride in being an American.

    * The police data on an increase in anti-Semitic incidents in itself
    proves little because, as the report concedes, the spike might be due to
    more incidents being reported and a coarsening of British life
    generally, as well as the "spillover" from the Israel-Palestine
    conflict. In addition, there is little evidence of "organized,"
    "politically motivated" anti-Semitic attacks; there is no evidence that
    perpetrators of anti-Semitic attacks were disproportionately Muslim; and
    most of the suspects in the incidents were adolescents. For 2005 the
    report cites a couple incidents that were "potentially"
    life-threatening. It cites no comparative data for other minorities in
    Britain , although tacitly acknowledging that "the level of prejudice
    and discrimination by Jews in Britain remains lower," a considerable
    understatement . On a related note, it deplores that "less than one in
    ten [anti-Semitic] incidents reported to the police resulted in a
    suspect becoming an accused" , but cites no comparative data indicating
    whether this ratio is aberrant.

    Norman Finkelstein' s most recent book is Beyond Chutzpah: On the misuse
    of anti-Semitism and the abuse of history ( University of California
    Press ). His web site is www.NormanFinkelstein.com.