|
I am willing to bet gentle reader that you are not aware of the existence of a U.S. Ambassador for Monitoring and Combatting Anti-Semitism. Yes, there is one, Deborah Lipstadt, who spoke this afternoon (January 24, 2024) to the Council on Foreign Relations.
In her remarks, she discussed the increase in anti-Semitic incidents and rhetoric since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, contemporary sources of anti-Semitism, and the U.S. government’s response to rising anti-Semitism.
Given that three fourths of the Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations are American Jewish Semites, it wasn’t entirely clear whether she was the Ambassador of the Council or of the United States. Technically, she is an Ambassador of the United States, but given the power of the Council, it may well be that her position was originally created at its behest. In any case, she had a very friendly audience.
However, her presentation demonstrated either gross ignorance, or contempt for her audience, or both. To begin, she spoke of rising anti-Semitism in terms of criticism of Israel or of U.S. support for Israel or of comments and actions in America that were supportive of the Palestinians and/or critical of Israel. Judging by her comments she seems to define anti-Semitism as essentially anti-Jewishness. In other words, she seems to assume that only Jews are Semites and that anti-Semitism is something only applicable to Jewish people, organizations, and countries.
As I explained in an earlier post, Jews are not the only Semites. Arabs are also Semites as are Phoenicians and Akkadians. They are all descended from Noah’s (of Biblical Ark fame) son Sem or Shem and hence the tag “Semites. They were all early inhabitants of the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. They are, so to speak, brothers and sisters.
When Ambassador Lipstadt criticizes Palestinians or the views and actions of other Arab countries and leaders, she is speaking anti-Semitically. The Israeli bombing of Gaza is by definition anti-Semitic. Indeed, the initial creation of Israel and the driving out of many (700,000) of its Arab Palestinian residents in 1948 was hugely anti-Semitic. The attack by most of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives on Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (of Arab/Palestinian descent) for her remarks calling for equity for the Palestinians was anti-Semitic. Indeed, all the commentaries by the Congress and the press that are critical of the Palestinians and the Arab countries are by definition anti-Semitic.
That the Council on Foreign Relations seems not to know this is truly disturbing. Of course, worse would be if it did know but made no corrective statements. That the United States has an Ambassador for Monitoring and Combating anti-Semitism is self-contradictory in view of the fact that the battle is one amongst Semites as the current conflict between Israel and the Arab Palestinians who live within its borders or just outside of them definitely is.
If the object is mainly to protect and defend Israel no matter what, then the Council and the Ambassador and other supporters of Israel should say so and stop pretending to be rooting out some deeply ingrained racial/religious prejudice against Semites that mostly doesn’t exist.
In addition, it might be wise for the Council on Foreign Relations which prides itself on being the country’s leading foreign policy think tank to add a few more non-Semites or perhaps Arab Semites to its board in order to maintain credibility and impartiality regarding any issues particularly involving Semites of any kind.