Sunday, February 14, 2016

A Call For Death To Jews In Austria, Death Wishes For Clarence Thomas -- Just Good Honest Criticism?

Antisemitism in Europe reaches a new low when a representative of the law can openly defend the right of someone to openly praise the death of Jews at the hands of the Nazis as a legitimate form of criticism of Israel.

Benjamin Weinthal writes Austrian prosecutor: Call to kill Jews is legal criticism of Israel, noting that a Turkish man posted on his Facebook page a quote falsely attributed to Hitler: "I could have annihilated all the Jews in the world, but I left some of them alive so you will know why I was killing them." -- this in the context of criticism against Israel’s war against Hamas last summer.


Photo
Credit: AFP/file


This follows a similar claim after a firebomb attack on a synagogue in Germany. In a verdict delivered last February, a German court ruled that the attack on the synagogue was actually motivated by a desire to bring “attention to the Gaza conflict” and was not Antisemitic. [Hat tip: Aiden Pink]

Stefan Schaden, a member of the advisory board of the Austria-Israel Society remarked:
This position [of the prosecutor] is, unfortunately, becoming more popular. Everything passes as so-called criticism of Israel. Anti-Semitism seems to have been officially abolished. In view of the climate in Europe, it is a dramatic development.
There may be more truth to what Schaden said than he realized.

Just over this weekend we are seeing vicious hatred expressed as "criticism" in a way not even related to Antisemitism.

Twitchy has a post featuring a variety of tweets by people on Twitter not just rejoicing in Scalia's death but wishing the same for Clarence Thomas.

Other people on Twitter stopped short of wishing for Thomas's death:
All in the name of criticism?

Peggy Noonan notes a decline in respect for US institutions:
All this goes hand in hand with the general decline of America’s faith in its institutions. We feel less respect for almost all of them—the church, the professions, the presidency, the Supreme Court. The only formal national institution that continues to score high in terms of public respect (72% in the most recent Gallup poll) is the military.
This is more than just a lack of respect, it is anger -- and during this presidential campaign it is being channeled into support of one candidate in particular, who is known for flying off the handle and calling people names.

This is more than just being anti-establishment, and it is being seen in more than just the US -- as we  see malevolent attacks launched with increasing ease against a widening array of "enemies," with the same vitriol we see aimed at Jews.

It is irrational.
It is hateful.
It is dangerous.
And it is growing.

-----
If you found this post interesting or informative, please it below. Thanks!


Technorati Tag: and and and .

No comments: