From item 37:

>#239 The Accidental Purist [other] (2) (Sun, Apr 14, 2002 (10:29)):
>
> One point worth mentioning in all this:  Arabs are semitic.  The word
> antisemitic has no place in this thread.

The term "anti-Semitism" was coined by Wilhelm Marrih in 1879 to provide a
more scientific and dignified term meaning "anti-Jewish".

The word "Semitic" refers to a language group, not people.
Semitic languages are spoken from western Africa to the far East.
Surely no one would be against an obscure scholastic grouping of languages.
Clearly the word is not the sum of its parts (no more than inflammable,
or that we drive on parkways and park on driveways).

Here are some common dictionary definitions:

www.m-w.com
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

        hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious,
        ethnic, or racial group.

http://www.bartleby.com/61/91/A0349100.html
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition 2000.

        1. Hostility toward or prejudice against Jews or Judaism.
        2. Discrimination against Jews. 

If anyone wants to drop the euphemism "anti-Semitic" and use the words
"anti-Jewish", that's fine by me. But let's don't confuse the issue.

203 responses total.

Aramaic, Hebrew, Arabic, and I think maybe Assyrian are among the Semitic
languages with written texts.  Phoenician?  In German anti-Semites were
probably not anti-Arab when the term was coined.

Seems to me that Anti-Arabic/Muslims seems to be the more common affliction
nowadays.  If anyone criticises Israel for invading palestianian lands, they
are considered anti-semitic. 

Hmm.  I guess all those Saturday School teachers I had were wrong.  

Then I'm glad we cleared that up. (:

Sindi, I'm sure that the Germans Jew-haters who coined the term "anti-Semite"
also didn't care much for Arabs. It wasn't an issue for them, however,
since Arabs weren't really present in their society.

There are many other Semitic languages, including some of the earliest ones
put on paper (er, stone tablets) such as Akkadian (from which Babylonian and
Assyrian were derived).

The western/Greek alphabet derives from Phoenician (a close relative
of Hebrew in the northern Semitic language group, while Arabic is a
southern Semitic language, along with Amharic and classical Ethiopic).

Re: 2 - and if the Saudi ambassador to Britain sings the praises of suicide
bombers who blew up 13 year-old girls, it's considered normal.

re:  "#2 (rlejeune): Seems to me that Anti-Arabic/Muslims seems to be the more
common affliction nowadays."  Actually, according to a recent WSJ piece, since
the September attacks Arabs are being featured more prominently in
advertisements and viewed more favorably in other media.

fuckin sand-niggers... eh, klg?

While anti-Semitic attacks are on the rise:
Stories so far, this month alone, from http://www.icare.to/news.html

ATTACKS ON JEWS LEAVE MARSEILLE WONDERING ABOUT A RUPTURE

FRANCE'S JEWS ADOPT FORTRESS MENTALITY UNDER DAILY ATTACKS

FRENCH SYNAGOGUE ATTACK IN LYON

BELGIAN GOVERNMENT CONDEMNS BRUSSELS SYNAGOGUE ATTACK

FRENCH SYNAGOGUE BURNED DOWN AMID SPATE OF ANTI-SEMITIC ATTACKS

S. AFRICA DECRIES ANTI-SEMITISM AT DURBAN RACISM CONFERENCE

2 JEWISH AMERICANS ARE ATTACKED IN BERLIN

I believe I've previously mentioned the fire-bombing of a Synagogue in Tunisa
in which maybe a dozen people were killed, and an attack on a Jewish soccer
team in France.

Hm, maybe Caren and I won't go to France, after all.
We've been thinking about a European vacation...

France is a beautiful country, though.
Too bad the French only speak french or refuse to speak another 
language.
As for racism: against Arabs and muslims, mostly restricted to southern 
France, due to their large influx there.
Against Jewish people: Lille, Paris and othe rmajopr industrial areas 
with many immigrants.

STARCHY SHORTS MAKE LEERON'S BUT SCRATCHY

LEERON BURNS THE MEATLOAF

HAPPYBOY ORDERS A PIZZA

hehehehehehehehe... haaahahahahaaa,...

From today's Ha'aretz:

12:22   A group affiliated to Bin Laden`s al-Qaeda terrorist network claims
        responsibility for Tunisian synagogue blast  [which killed 16 people]

13:02   Danish national soccer team receives bomb threat ahead of match
        against Israel on Wednesday 

I guess that the Danes will be considered "collaborators" if they play
soccer in Israel and thus fair targets for attack.

It is very sad that this conflict has to be taken out on others because 
they happen to share the same religion. French Jews arent Israelis for 
goodness sake and I find it sickening that people would take out their 
frustrations on them. 

I wasn't aware that Danes were, in any way, tempted to take threats 
seriously.  We've long been known for our thickheaded stubborness.

Jew-haters don't draw petty distinctions between Israeli Jews, French Jews,
Tunisian Jews, or American Jews.  Any Jew's good enough for them, and this
should shed some light on the fact that the Middle East conflict isn't just
about politics, it's about wiping out the Jews and the Jewish state.

Sounds paranoid.

yeah.  True, though.

It isn't paranoid if everyone is out too get you.  Okay, not everyone, but
a very large number of people really seem to hate the jews.  This has
beengoing on for 2000 years, and I really don't know how to stop it.

re #16: Whereas Leeron carves the Druze out from his hatred of Arabs, and
        you? You probably don't mind seeing Arab girls in porn....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,685657,00.html

an iranian took my virginity!

Iranians are Persian.

oh. are they semitic? they are muslim though. and BROWN.

There are no "Semitic people", only languages.
Farsi is not a Semitic language.

http://www.memri.org/news.html#1019000308

The following are excerpts from a Friday sermon delivered by Palestinian
Authority Imam Sheikh Ibrahim Madhi[1] at the Sheikh 'Ijlin Mosque in Gaza
City, broadcast live on April 12, 2002 by Palestinian Authority television:

"We are convinced of the [future] victory of Allah; we believe that one of
these days, we will enter Jerusalem as conquerors, enter Jaffa as conquerors,
enter Haifa as conquerors, enter Ramle and Lod as conquerors... all of
Palestine as conquerors, as Allah has decreed 'They will enter Al-Aqsa Mosque
as they have entered it the first time'" 

"Anyone who does not attain martyrdom in these days should wake in the middle
of the night and say: 'My God, why have you deprived me of martyrdom for your
sake? For the martyr lives next to Allah'" 

"Our enemies suffer now more than we do. Why? Because we are convinced that
our dead go to Paradise, while the dead of the Jews go to Hell, to a cruel
fate. So we stand firm and steadfast, in obedience to Allah" 

"...A reliable Hadith [tradition] says: 'The Jews will fight you, but you will
be set to rule over them.' What could be more beautiful than this tradition?
'The Jews will fight you'  that is, the Jews have begun to fight us. 'You will
be set to rule over them'  Who will set the Muslim to rule over the Jew? Allah
Until the Jew hides behind the rock and the tree." 

"But the rock and tree will say: 'Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, a Jew hides
behind me, come and kill him.' Except for the Gharqad tree, which is the tree
of the Jews." 

"We believe in this Hadith. We are convinced also that this Hadith heralds
the spread of Islam and its rule over all the land" 

"Oh beloved, look to the East of the earth, find Japan and the ocean; look
to the West of the earth, find [some] country and the ocean. Be assured that
these will be owned by the Muslim nation, as the Hadith says 'from the ocean
to the ocean'" 

"Oh Allah, accept our martyrs in the highest heavens" 

"Oh Allah, show the Jews a black day" 

"Oh Allah, annihilate the Jews and their supporters" 

"Oh Allah, raise the flag of Jihad across the land" 


Endnotes: 

[1] Sheikh Ibrahim Madhi is a Palestinian Authority employee. 

[2] Palestine Television (Palestinian Authority), April 12, 2002. 

My word.

Immediately following the above quote, on the same web page, is another
that is identified as

 "SD# 369 - Georgetown University Professor, Halim Barakat: 'The Jews Have
 Lost Their Humanity'; 'They Do Not Raise Their Children to be Weak' 
 In an article published in the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat [1],
 titled "The Wild Beast that Zionism Created:  Self-Destruction,"
 Georgetown University professor of Palestinian origin, Halim Barakat,
 criticizes Jewish and Zionist approaches to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
 The following are excerpts from the article:? " 

I'm not sure what that has to do with anti-Semitism, but the full quote
(further down the same page) is that:

        The Zionists Do Not Raise Their Children to be Weak and Human

As if Israel should take lessons about humanity from suicide/homicide
bombers, created by the desire to destroy Israel (See Hamas and PLO
"Covenants") and daily societal incitement to do so -- from government
run media (see above) to textbooks (see www.edume.org ).

Unfortunately for Israel, and as morwen predicted, the Danes were not
intimidated into not traveling to Israel and have taken a 3-0 lead.

"Jews Have Lost Their Humanity" sounded somewhat anti-semitic.

Is there any particular justification to assuming that Israel is more
enlightened or peaceful than other countries?

no.

Re #29: If you don't assume Israel is more enlightened and peaceful than
all other countries, you're an anti-Semite.  Just ask Leeron.

Oddly enough, I don't think Leeron has ever accused me of anti-Semitism. 
He's called me a fool, a liar, a dupe, and plenty of other things, though.

Actually, David, I've never said anything to that effect.

Re: 20 - does anyone else see anything in #16 that has anything to do with
hating or disparaging Arabs as a whole, or even with Arabs in general? 
Apparently Aaron did, but I just can't pick it out of #16.

it does infer that the 'conflict in the middle east' is all about jew-hating.
that any arab that has a problem with the occupation and abuse of palestine
is lumped into the category of 'jew-hater'. i'd bet nearly 100% of arabs
aren't quite happy with israel, so yes, id see you calling pretty much all
arabs jew-haters.

(hi 5!)

There are people who have a problem with the Israeli relationship with and
handling of the people of the West Bank who don't beat and murder random Jews
walking down the streets of Paris as a result.  There are even Palistinians
who deplore the murder of innocent Israeli children. (But they usually have
to keep quiet or they run the risk of being hung by their toes in a town
square after being shot and dragged through the streets.)

The connection between "Arab" and "Jew Hater" is not my concoction.
I was talking about "Jew-haters," Aaron's the one talking about "Arabs."

20:57   Hundreds of Jews demonstrate in Brussels after Jewish bookstore set
        afire last night.

Mike, I don't think anybody has missed your overt bigotry and hatred, 
as consistently expressed toward Arabs. If you thought you were 
still "in the closet", sorry. You outed yourself a long time ago.

oval, perhaps the problem is what they call "reaction formation". Some 
of those making such knee-jerk accusations may perceive that Arabs are 
driven by hate for the Jews because their personal views are built on 
the foundaiton of their own hatred for the Palestinians and Arabs -  
but which they may not be able to recognize in themselves. Or perhaps 
the problem is that too many people were raised by parents who hate 
Palestinians, and they are unable to detach themselves from the bigotry 
in which they were immersed from the earliest days of their lives.

Are there additional explanations for how somebody like Leeron can be 
so consumed by hatred, and so contemptuous of Palestinian lives, 
health, safety, and basic human rights? If so, I would like to hear 
them.

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