Subject:
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Re: Anti-Semitism and Anti-Americanism
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Fri, 26 Oct 2001 11:39:22 GMT
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Viewed:
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195 times
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I'm sure that Wasserstein is aware that some of the "hatred" may well be
entirely rational - does anyone seriously deny that? I know that for some
time (prior to the events of Sept 11) Bush Jr almost appeared to be
nurturing Amera-scepticism overseas. The text would have carried more weight
if he had shown why the "hate" could not be rationalised - rather than
inferring it could.
I am impressed by the way he moved from anti-Semitism to the USA pro-Israeli
lobby without using the "Z" word. As for events in Durban, the USA cast its
own die there, and perhaps that outcome could be "rationalised".
Scott A
In lugnet.off-topic.debate, James Simpson writes:
> I just came across this article, and thought that it would make good debate
> fodder. (It's sure to raise some hackles from some quarters.) It is by Bernard
> Wasserstein, Professor of History at the University of Glasgow, and President of
> the Jewish Historical Society of England. Quoted from the Chronicle of Higher
> Education, 9.28.01:
>
> "A century ago, anti-Semitism was called 'the socialism of fools.' Now
> something similar threatens to become rampant: anti-Americanism.
> Psychologically, it fulfills some of the same functions as anti-Semitism.
> It gives vent to a hatred of the successful, and is fueled by envy and
> frustration. It attributes responsibility for all the ills of the world to one
> primary source. It ascribes to a supposed ruling clique of the despised group
> an ambition to control and exploit humanity. This new conspiracy theory has
> been embraced by large sections of the thinking classes in many countries. Like
> historical anti-Semitism, it transcends ideological boundaries and brings
> together economic, social, religious, and national animosities in a murderous
> brew.
> Americans are advised by many abroad (and by some at home): 'Ask yourselves
> why you are so hated.' It might be worth remembering that similar questions
> were put to Jews in the 1930s. And to recall that, as Victor Klemperer recorded
> in his diaries of the war years in Dresden, some Jews internalized the worldview
> of their enemies and persuaded themselves that such violent hatred must, indeed,
> have had a rational source in their own behavior.
> The parallel between anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism is more than just
> an analogy. The two paranoias are linked, and the nodal point of connection is
> the American-Israeli alliance. To some, the Israeli/Jewish hand is detected
> behind, controlling, the American leviathan. Perry Anderson (a British
> historican teaching at the University of California at Los Angeles), for
> example, writes in the latest New Left Review: "Entrenched in business,
> government and the media, American Zionism has since the sixties acquired a firm
> grip on the levers of public opinion and official policy towards Israel.' The
> recent UN conference in Durban, South Africa, showed the degree to which anti-
> Americanism and anti-Semitism seem to have combined in a symbiotic relationship.
> As an ideology, anti-Semitism dehumanized its object and so helped prepare
> the way for mass murder. So, too, with the new anti-Americanism.
> But the answer to irrationalism is not more unreason. I detect strong
> support here in Europe for firm action--including, if necessary, the use of
> force--to capture those responsible for terrorist acts and to forestall further
> attacks. But the United States must not strike out like a blinded giant. It
> must not sacrifice its own civil liberties. Above all, it must not repeat the
> mistake of internalizing the discourse and values of unreason by ascribing a
> ratonal basis to this new socialism of fools."
>
> Just some grist for the mill.
>
> james
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 | | Anti-Semitism and Anti-Americanism
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| I just came across this article, and thought that it would make good debate fodder. (It's sure to raise some hackles from some quarters.) It is by Bernard Wasserstein, Professor of History at the University of Glasgow, and President of the Jewish (...) (23 years ago, 25-Oct-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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