To disavow or debate Abunimah

By Israel Shamir

 

 

To disavow or debate Abunimah – this is the question. Indeed, an American citizen, born in Jordan, who never tread on the land of Palestine, decided to ostracize Gilad Atzmon, a native Palestinian, born and bred on its soil  – a silly idea! Next step, he will forbid earthquakes and hurricanes to occur.

For me, there is a terrible sense of deja-vu. Some ten years ago, the same Abunimah and his obese Lebanese partner successfully hunted me out of the pro-Palestinian movement, saying that without Shamir, they will win sooner. Ten years passed, and the movement did not get to the mark it was then.

 

This repeat proves that Abunimah is nothing but a gatekeeper on the payroll of his Jewish Zionist friends. They pay him with the currency he appreciates: publicity and access to the Jewish-owned media. Totally unheard of previously, his articles began to be published in the important American papers. Some friendly Jews set him up with his Electronic Intifada. They keep the discourse within its permitted limits.

 

This is expected: the Palestinian discourse is heavily policed one; the Jews can’t allow it to run free so they would not get unexpected results. They deform it by using their anti-zionist agents like despicable Roland Rance and feeble Tony Greenstein, and their Palestinian stooges like Abunimah. You can easily understand who is doing their work: they are allowed to appear in the mainstream media on regular basis, so they have to be enemies.

 

And despite revulsion I feel every time his name is mentioned, I’d say: something good may come even of an Abunimah. Remember Gollum who helped to destroy the Ring: even he was useful, in the last run. So one does not have to ostracise him; let us tolerate him until his own brothers will deal with this treacherous beast as he deserves.

 

As for Gilad Atzmon, his recent writing disappointed me, for he went heavily into navel-glazing of Jewish identity search. In my view, this is a dead-end; but a writer and a thinker should be allowed to explore dead-ends. And anyway, nobody forces us to read all these endless soul-search reports. Still, he wrote many wonderful pieces and will write many more, after he will exhaust his soul-searching.

 

However, as I wrote previously, his writing is fully within the framework of Jewish thought, partly in the tradition of Weininger and early Zionists, partly in the latest post-Zionist Israeli line. Our Arab brothers, perhaps, are not sufficiently aware of that; their interference is utterly out-of-place in this inter-Jewish polemics. The most important signee against Gilad, the heir to Edward Said’s cathedra in the Columbia U, Joseph Massad, whom I do respect for his brave struggle against the Gay International, failed to understand it again: years ago, he proclaimed Israel Shahak, another inter-Jewish heretic, “an anti-Semite”. Our Arab brothers will do well if they will stand out of this debate: let the Jews fight out the battle for their identity. As it happens, Gilad is their strongest champion on the Jewish side, they should cheer, not discourage him.

 

Israel Shamir

 

Listen to Israel Shamir’s talk with Kevin Barrett: http://truthjihadradio.blogspot.com/2012/03/live-from-moscow-anti-zionist-writer.html

 

From John Wheat Gibson

 

For years, now, I have thought Abunimah was a Mossad mole, or at best not very bright.  Plainly Atzmon’s critique is based exactly on the Zionists’ definition of Jewishness.  If by adoption of the Zionists’ definition of Judaism he repeats “anti-Semitic,” assumptions, it is only because Zionism, itself, is a form of anti-Semitism.  Which, also, has been apparent for many years.

 

From Aiman

 

Israel Shamir takes the high ground with a most moral and rational argument.  I notice also that most of the signatories on the anti-Atzmon condemnation paper are located in foreign (non Palestine) nations where they probably feel fat and secure in their high and lofty offices, pulpits and lectures.

Atzmon may be a loud mouthed and rabid anti-Zionist, probably an "anti-Semite" or "self-hating Jew" in the sense that Zionists and their lackeys misuse those terms, but he is an active and effective anti-Zionist of the first order, regardless of whether he bathes regularly, chews with his mouth open, uses the wrong fork, and noisily passes gas at the table.

No, I would probably not want him to marry my daughter, but If I were taking a ship into combat, I would appreciate having him in my wardroom, and under my command.

Note:  In the Naval Service in which I served, one of the highest accolades a senior can write on a Junior Officers Fitness Report was whether he would "prefer" or "not prefer" to have that officer under his command and on his bridge if he were to take a naval vessel into combat.

Aiman

 

From Elizabeth Allen:

 

I have some real concerns about Ali.... how in the hell can a one state solution be good for Palestinians? Israel is an apartheid state....we need all people to have freedom to write their thoughts and ideas, I despise zionism, and the KKK, but I am not opposed to their right to freedom of speech...vile as I personally believe it is.

 

From Ian Buckley:

 

Gilad says openly what many are reluctant even to think. Hence the consternation of Ali & Co. Possibly some mass murdering ex-PM would be more welcome to them.

 

Anyway, undoubted genius Stanley Kubrick was (allegedly) an even more extreme ‘self hater’, if you utilise their method of taking a statement out of context.

 

From Frank Scott:

the attitudes of these palestinians is disgusting and an example of the worst of what we need to rid humanity of:

 

capitalism , its mental spawn and this kind of double standard , oppressive, repressive thinking which prolongs capitalism's domination of the planet and further endangers humanity...

 

but of course they should always be free to speak their narrow, bigotry inspired, chosen people-master race invective disguised as liberal free thinking...

 

fs

 

From Ali Baghdadi

 

Palestinian "academics / activists" stand on the side of Israel and AIPAC. Willingly or unwillingly, they distort Gilad Atzmon work and thought. They don't seem to have ever listened to his lectures or read his book, "The Wandering Who?" Their vicious attack will not silence or convince this wonderful man to abandon his staunch and effective support of the Palestinian cause. The great musician, a former Israeli Jew, is a humanist and a Palestinian at heart. I am ashamed as a Palestinian. I am greatly honored to have him as a friend.

 

Ali Baghdadi

(Arab Journal, Chicago)

 

From Gabi Weber, Freiburg

 

"What these folks should be doing is reading Atzmon’s work carefully and holistically, and then, if they find that Atzmon is mistaken in his analysis of the way Jewish identity politics is a factor in Zionism, they should correct him." (Kevin Barrett)

I am asking myself how many of the signers of "Anti-Atzmon-petitions" (http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-Abunimah/palestinian-writers-activists-disavow-racism-anti-semitism-gilad-atzmon) did what Kevin Barrett suggests?
I am afraid that witch-hunt arrived in the so-called "solidarity movement".