Wednesday, January 18, 2017

It's Impossible To Be Antisemitic, Part 2246

Hey, remember that time an Australian theater refused to allow a (non-Israel-related) Jewish group to put on performances commemorating the Holocaust because the theater thought it would be incompatible with their opposition to Israel? Now, an Australian mayor declined to attend a ceremonial synagogue service because of "the gross and illegal occupation of the West Bank which creates intense international division and bitterness and, unresolved, will cause endless terrorism around the globe, including here."

Think he's antisemitic? Wrong! Always wrong!
“Many people hold very strong views about, in this case the occupation of the West Bank. Many people who are indeed Jewish do so, and I am myself half-Jewish. To infer from a view about occupation that someone is anti-Jewish…it’s just ridiculous,” [Mosman Mayor Peter] Abelson said.
One almost might think that attendance at a non-Israel related Jewish event in Australia could be meaningfully distinguished from one's views about the occupation of the West Bank. Of course, one might have also thought that firebombing a synagogue could be meaningfully distinguished from one's views about Israeli military campaigns in Gaza. Alas.

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