Like other antisemites -- ooops: Israel-critics -- Norm Finkelstein and Ted "those Palestinians who have resorted to necessary killing have been right to try to free their people" Honderich come to mind -- Mearsheimer and Walt had no problem finding a respected major publisher, not some pokey leftist hole-in-the-wall rat shop, in Germany. That is because stuff like that sells like hot cakes here.
The publisher Campus tell us in their blurb how it is:
Since it came into existence, Israel is supported politically and economically by the USA and -- for understandable reasons -- by Germany. But unlimited solidarity is dwindling. Now two experts are breaking a taboo by well-founded criticism and are kicking off a long-overdue debate.As Liza puts it:
Wow! Five lies in just two sentences: There never has been an "unlimited solidarity" with Israel, the "two experts" are in spite of their academic positions nothing but demagogues, the "well-founded criticism is a de-facto new edition of the "Protocols", the alleged "taboo" is non-existent and always was and the "long-overdue debate" don't need to be kicked off becuse it'a alive and thriving for decades now. But because the credo of those who "criticise" Israel is mainstream-compliant in spite of, respectivevely because their followers consider themselves a oppressed minority, truth can take a break without any harm done to the reputation of a academic publisher.I specifically like the cute-ism "understandable reasons" in the Campus blurb. It's really fun to see what wrenching Germans are able to muster just to NOT having to say "murder of the Jews". And of course, had that "blooper of Germany history" not happened, we could now all uninhibitedly kick up our antisemitic heels. How very irritating!
But Liza comes up with an even jucier little morsel:... the theme [to exchange the stars in the Stars and Stripes by Stars of David] is very popular among the antisemites, pardon me: anti-Zionists of all colours and can boast an ubiquitous presence at rally banners or in magazines and newspapers. And it is old, even older than the State of Israel: 1942 already, a book appeared, the cover of which showed a US-flag adorned with the Jewish symbol. Its title: Powers behind Roosevelt (Kräfte hinter Roosevelt). Its author: Johann von Leers, one of the most radical and important national-socialist ideologues.Who said that Germans are no traditionalists anymore? Or, to paraphrase Liza: At least an antisemitic book like that is easily identifiable.
1 comment:
On Walt and Mearsheimer and their "Let's make friends with the Islamofascists by screwing Jews" appeasement book:
I don't think these professors are actually anti-Semitic. However, what they are is worse than run-of-the-mill anti-Semitism because it affects us all.
Allow me to explain.
It is true that Walt and Mearsheimer are utilizing the same anti-Semitic tactics as despots who wish to distract from the malignant social ills that despots foster. Unlike despots who fabricate Jewish conspiracy theories out of a combination of opportunism and actual hate, however, these professors have written their essay and book based on the former motivation alone, opportunism.
Their motivation for this outrage is primarily because “the Jews are there”, are the target du jour of the Islamofascists (for now!), and have proven useful as punching bags to countless others in history.
The professors’ writings show no respect for the Jewish people and for their past persecutions, but the professors are not anti-Semitic, just amoral and opportunistic. Accusations of anti-Semitism are a distraction from the real issues.
Walt and Mearscheimer know full well there is no super-powerful "Jewish Lobby”, that the pro-Israel lobbyists have competing counterparts representing many other causes and countries, and that the pro-Israel lobby is not particularly remarkable in this environment. They know full well that the misrepresentations of fact, omissions, things taken out of context, logical errors, etc. in their prior paper and this book are indeed risible, the trash produced by dilettantes, not by serious researchers.
But they don't care.
What would make them produce such garbage?
Fear of Islamofascism, and the standards of (mis)conduct that come right from the halls of academia with which they've lived their lives, notably amorality and betrayal of friends when some self-interest is served. (For professors, it's usually money and status.) They are clearly enthralled with university culture and attempting to export that pathologic "culture" to the rest of the world.
What is the "gain" here? In the main, I do think the reason d'atre of their book is one of appeasement and surrender to Islamofascism.
A few hundred million insane bloodthirsty Arabs and other followers of the death cult of Islam calling for Death to Israel and Death to America: what better way to appease them than writing a book that the authors hope will cause the U.S. to hang Israel out to dry in the face of genocidal maniacs, groups and countries like Hezbollah, Hamas, Ahmadinejad, Syria and Iran?
In fact, they are not anti-Semites. Rather, they are equal opportunity amoralists. If the Islamofascists were chanting “Death to Mexico! Death to America!”, Walt and Mearsheimer would undoubtedly craft conspiracy theories that might justify allowing Osama and his minions to relocate from Waziristan to Acapulco.
University professors are renowned for turning on their friends, students and colleagues at the drop of a hat, if they see a personal gain in doing so. They could care less about ruining careers and lives. See for example, “Academic Tyranny: The Tale and the Lessons”, Robert Weissberg, Review of Policy Research, Vol. 15 no. 4 P. 99-110, Dec. 1998, and especially "Authorship: The Coin of the Realm, The Source of Complaints" by Wilcox, Journal of the AMA, Vol. 280 No. 3, July 15, 1998 that describes how stealing of others’ work and career-ending professorial retaliation against those who complain is common at Walt's university, Harvard. Of course see www.thefire.org as well.
So, Walt and Mearsheimer wrote this book in all its faux-academic glory in the cowardly and academic-culture-inspired hope of spearheading a U.S. betrayal of its friend, Israel, in their hope that this will satiate the Islamofascists' appetite for blood and "honor."
They are incredibly reckless in this regard. Their book is quite socially irresponsible (not a new thing for academia). Their whole theme, abandonment of friends for supposed secondary gain, i.e., the appeasement of a brutal terrorist killer culture, is explicitly amoral (and likely immoral as well for those of us not prone to moral relativism) as well as anti-American.
They are using this book and likely their educational pulpits with students as a weapon, with the desired collateral damage of weakening the U.S. (Does anyone even need to ask anymore why Ivy professors might be against a strong United States?)
Walt and Mearsheimer, through their arrogance, stupidity, and exportation of academia’s amoral tyranny, are tacitly working for our enemies.
These professors are out of control, like a runaway locomotive, thanks to the cheerful support of opportunistic anti-Semites and the MSM (I’m not sure those two are entirely separable). They need to be stopped – however, accusations of anti-Semitism are a distraction and they know it.
Walt and Mearsheimer have more in common with Arthur Neville Chamberlain than David Ernest Duke or Alfred Charles Sharpton.
That said, as Abraham Foxman, Alan Dershowitz, and many others as well have observed (documented at the CAMERA - Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America story “Updated Roundup of Coverage of the Walt/Mearsheimer Israel Lobby Controversy” at http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=8&x_nameinnews=189&x_article=1105), Walt & Mearsheimer's faux-scholarship is "riddled with errors" that tend to slant it "in the exact same direction, thus we are dealing not with a little unfortunate carelessness but with a culpable degree of bias."
I submit again that their "carelessness and bias" is most likely knowing and deliberate, but not due to anti-Semitism. Its purpose is promoting appeasement and the weakening of America, at a cost to Israelis and Jews the professors are indifferent to and simply don't care about, typical of Ivy professors who want their way, period.
There is a term for deliberate and knowing falsification in academia for any secondary purpose:
Academic Fraud.
Walt and Mearshiemer have placed themselves in the same league as Finkelstein, Chomsky, and other academic fabricators.
Charges of anti-Semitism are a distraction from their motivations. Charges of academic incompetence are not highly credible considering the experience, resources and positions of these professors.
Charges of deliberate academic fraud are, I believe, closer to reality, and perhaps hold the key to successful challenging of this dangerous charade.
In summary, Walt and Mearsheimer’s distortions are knowing and deliberate, in the interest of appeasement of Islamofascism and the weakening of the “imperialist AmeriKKKa.” The Israelis and Jews make good cannon fodder because “they’re there” and have a historical track record of serving this purpose for despots. W&M malign the Jews not out of anti-Semitism but out of amoral academic convenience.
This is worse than run-of-the-mill professorial anti-Semitism due to its generalized, nihilistic stupidity.
My only hope is that these professors are doing this of their own volition, and that there are no “handlers” involved.
- ERIS
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