Thanks for that. As I said, I’d never heard of the guy, but didn’t see what he said in an isolated speech as especially inflammatory. Now I know.
On Fri, Nov 30, 2018 at 8:59 AM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > So, here is what I think you are missing: > 1. While saying he advocates and promotes non-violence, he rejected a > definition of this that excluded Palestinians using violence to resist > Israeli state violence. If all he meant by this was that when the Israeli > military sends soldiers or bombs to the West Bank or the Gaza Strip the > Palestinians should be allowed to fight back, it would be relatively > uncontroversial. But he clearly meant something different - that in his > view there were times when it was morally acceptable, perhaps imperative, > for the Palestinians to blow up city buses as a means of resisting Israeli > state violence. If you do not understand what is controversial about this > position, simply imagine that instead he was saying that there were times > when Palestinians would be justified in hijcking commercial airliners and > flying them into crowded US landmarks. The reaction in Israel is even > stronger, since they have been dealing with this longer and more frequently. > > 2. He used the phrase “from the river to the sea” - when he called for a > “free Palestine from the river to the sea.” This phrase is a term of art in > the Middle East, and a dog whistle that has a very specific meaning (I > guess it is not really a dog whistle, since in the context of the Middle > East everyone would know what it means, not just dogs. But in the US its > meaning is less clear). The River is the Jordan, and the Sea is the > Mediterranean. Right now the land between those two is mostly called the > state of Israel. WHen people call for a free Palestine to exist between the > River and the Sea, they are actually saying that the State of Israel has no > right to exist, and that it should be replaced by the State of Palestine. > Moreover, this phrase is associated with groups like Hamas, which not only > refuse to recognize the right of Israel to exist, but are actively devoted > to using violence to eliminate it. Many, including the US, the EU and > Israel, regard Hamas as a terrorist organization. In using this phrase, > Hill is not campaigning for a Palestinian State, he is campaigning against > the existence of the State of Israel. These are two very different things. > > 3. Hill has been photographed socializing with Minister Louis Farrakhan, > and when criticized for it has pushed back hard, saying he will not allow > the media to dictate who he gets photographed with or socializes with. > Farrakhan, by any measure, is an anti-Semite and a racist. Hill’s > association with Farrakhan does not by itself justify banning him from CNN > of course, and there is a long list of Democratic figures (including anyone > who was at Aretha Franklin’s funeral) who are included among the many who > have been photographed with him. But Hill’s attitude about this provide > some of the context for making sense of his recent comments. > > In all of this Hill is like nothing so much as Donald Trump and his > enablers, who from one side of their mouth weakly endorse vague cliches > about not being racist, while from the bigger side of their mouth they > exuse, endorse and subtly repeat racist leaders, organizations and dog > whistles. If a Fox News Commentator said he was opposed to racist violence, > but then said he wa not going to be bullied into condemning people like > Dylann Roof for shooting all those people at Emanuel AFrican Methodist > Episcopal Church, because America is a white Christian nation that needs to > be defended, and then repeared racist code phraes and defended himself for > hanging out with David Duke, saying that while he disagreed with lynching, > he agreed with Duke about lots of other things, I think you would find lots > of reasonable Americans calling on Fox News to fire that Commentator > (though of course I know I am probably describing an actual Commentator at > FN who has not been fired). > > I agree that it is possible to harshly and criticize Israel and its > immoral, oppressive polices (like the settlements) especially under its > current government, without being anti-Semitic. I identify myself as such a > critic. I also agree that there are those Israelis and supporters who do > not seem to accept this. But I do think it is more likely that people who > advocate for the use of violent terrorism, the destruction of the state of > Israel, and defend Louis Farrakhan, can reasonably be described as > anti-Semitic. > > On Thu, Nov 29, 2018 at 6:25 PM Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I’d never even heard of the guy until this afternoon. Not sure what he >> does, and not sure why he was speaking at the UN. But once again, because >> Israel has no separation of church and state, it is assumed that those who >> speak against the Israeli government’s history of discrimination and abuse >> are therefore anti-semitic, so when he advocated violence as an option for >> the Palestinians, CNN sacked him. Let me be clear: I naturally assume he is >> as big a gasbag as every other CNN pundit, and there’s always a good reason >> to fire a gasbag pundit regardless of party affiliation. But I listened to >> his speech at the UN; it was bold, but he said nothing against Jews. >> Supposedly his words echoed rhetoric by those campaigning for a Palestinian >> state. OK, I don’t know that, but is that alone something to be fired over? >> What am I missing here? >> >> https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/29/media/marc-lamont-hill-cnn/index.html >> -- >> Kevin M. (RPCV) >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > >> -- > Sent from Gmail Mobile > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Kevin M. 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