On 05/12/2007, Rama Rama ramaneko@gmail.com wrote:
- Not all Jews are Israelis, and not all Israelis are Jewish. Neither all
Israelis nor all Jews agree with the policies of Ariel Sharon. Criticism of a policy, however disgraceful it is, does not amount to racism. That there are groups determined to identify any criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism does not imply that such attacks should be tolerated on a mailing list unrelated to Middle East politics.
People who equate Israelis to Jews, Jews to Israelis, and claim that the leader of Israel is the leader of the Jewish people are Zionists. Zionists are themselves racist (the very notion of a racial state (i.e. Israel) is racist) and there are many Jews who oppose Zionism. Zionists often accuse any opponent of Israel as being anti-Semites (a very powerful, emotive term). We shouldn't let the emotion of this term interfere with rational discussion about political cartoons.