Israel doesn't have a right to exist because no state has any rights, least of the right to exist. What a silly concept! Can you imagine if the Russian Tsars had taken the Bolsheviks to the ICC<fn> because their right to exist had been violated? What a concept. <i>People</i> have rights. International law regulates various aspects of how states may interact, but does not grant any rights to them. There is no "no takebacks" clause in international law. Any state can disappear or change shape if the people living there will it. <h>For shame: focusing on Israel</h> So let's take a look at this interesting line of argument<fn>: focusing on Israel’s war crimes is antisemitic because there was less of a focus on everyone else’s war crimes. Netanyahu named Saudi Arabia and Yemen. He could just as legitimately have named the U.S., but, not only would it be politically impossible, it probably didn't even occur to him. He's not wrong! But it’s not a unique line of reasoning. It’s the same thing Americans do when they claim that they aren’t as bad as Saddam Hussein in Iraq, or that they’re no worse than whatever their occupation happened to replace in whatever country they're blowing the crap out of. If you protest Trump, then why didn't you protest Obama? And so on. Do people have to show proof that they also marched against the bombing of Yemen or Iraq before they’re allowed to say anything about the annihilation they’re observing in Gaza? <h>It's not <i>principle</i>, either</h> The reason the argument works is because there's a grain of uncomfortable truth to it. There are reasons why people protest one thing and not another. Sometimes these are racists reasons. Often they're plainly partisan reasons. Sometimes it's just because you weren't aware or as politically engaged, or whatever. People are enormous hypocrites who basically do the thing that they think will benefit them the most personally. You brainwash them a bit, then wind them up and send them out into the world on what they think is their own personal crusade. This is not a new dynamic. No-one actually cares about dead or suffering or starving people that they don’t know. They only care about those people when they’re closer to home, when they know them or when that suffering could impact their own lives directly. <h>It's a bit much, is all</h> <pullquote align="right" width="10em">Why don’t we get to do genocide when everyone else does?</pullquote>I heard Jeff Dorchen of This is Hell! make Netanyu's argument in a recent episode.<fn> He said that he doesn’t remember so many people marching against South Africa, so this newfound hatred of apartheid must be antisemitic. Brilliant! What he doesn’t address is just how much more visible the apartheid is now, outside of Israel. There was no social media, no ubiquitous video during South Africa's apartheid. It was so much easier not be aware of it. He also ignores that the Israeli occupation is at least 55 years old and it’s only <i>now</i> that there is anything like some pressure being applied for Israel to behave in a civilized manner toward all of its citizens. It’s absolutely rich to be able to shit on people for many decades and then start whining when someone finally calls you on your bullshit. What I find specifically interesting in Israel's case is that a lot of Israeli politicians---by their own proud and oft-repeated admission!---think that Muslims—and nations like Saudi Arabia—are reprehensible, just base and bestial. They're not Jewish and therefore <i>lesser</i>. But then isn't it odd that they hold themselves to the supposedly low standards of a low culture that they disdain? How many decades should you be able to stomp a mudhole in some other culture before we’re allowed to ask you to stop without being told we’re specifically against your culture or religion? I’m asking seriously here, ‘cause I wanna put it in my calendar. I don’t want to step on any toes here. Let me know. Do you see how you might find yourself asking, "how in God’s name is any of this antisemitic?" Should Saudi Arabia knock it off too? Absolutely! Should the U.S. knock it off? Oh my God, the U.S. is the worst---the most hypocritical of all. Israel stands in the very long shadow of U.S. hypocrisy here. It's highly disingenuous and unfair to round up everyone who disagrees with you to a racist<fn>, though. I mean, c'mon. Total kindergarten tactics. <h>Why now?</h> Israel is getting picked on for its human-rights transgressions, not because its people are largely Jewish, but because <i>it’s small</i>. Israel punched above its weight for decades because it protected itself with the magic shield of equating any criticism of its policies with antisemitism. Germany and the U.S.—and much of the rest of Europe—are still trying to do it. But there’s only so far above your weight you can punch before you get your clock cleaned. <pullquote align="left" width="10em">There’s only so far above your weight you can punch before you get your clock cleaned.</pullquote>Israel went too far. They stepped out from under even the long, long shadow of the U.S. Empire’s protection and people finally saw enough. They were shown too much, and are not afraid enough of the repercussions anymore. Israel, as they say, "lost control of the narrative." This has nothing to do with antisemitism. It has everything to do with force-projection. Israel projects a tremendous amount of force for its size, but not an infinite amount. The U.S. gets away with a lot more because no-one dares piss it off. That used to be the same for Israel—until the weight of its crimes outweighed its threats. <h>And the others?</h> Russia suffers from the same problem. They didn’t get away with their invasion because they’re a chosen enemy of Empire. They have negative force-projection. The world considers them to be <i>less</i> powerful than they actually are. They get away with nothing. <img attachment="fingerpointing.jpg" align="right">Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, delivers fossil fuels. Its ability to project force on the hapless Yemenis remains unrestricted. It’s aided and abetted by the U.S. There has never been the same uproar. The reason is not <i>antisemitism</i>, but pure Machiavellian, market-force conclusions. Nobody wants Saudi Arabia to stop delivering oil. They haven’t pushed their madness and crimes far enough to tip the scales, as Israel has. Congo is in utter turmoil, with 20M people internally displaced, but the raw materials continue to be delivered, so we ignored the 100 warring factions. As long as the coltan flows, everything else can be ignored. What does Israel supply to the world? Other than disdain? OK, they do have the absolute best, zero-click spyware that money can buy. Top-notch.<fn> <h>The laziness of the conqueror</h> Let’s be honest, Israel is being very, very provocative with this latest attack. They are making it very clear that they either have a completely different worldview---one in which they are definitely the good guys---or that they just do not give a shit what anyone else thinks. The U.S. is backing it, so f&%k off. I just think it’s rich when those who’ve controlled the narrative and gotten literally everything they ever wanted start yowling their heads off about discrimination as soon as the leash tightens just a tiny, little bit. I understand Israelis thinking this—they’re mired in just as much a soup of propaganda as Americans. But Dorchen is outside of that miasma and should honestly know better.<fn> I think what we’re witnessing is the laziness of utter dominance. The people in charge of Israel drank the Kool-Aid that they get to do whatever they want whenever they want so long ago that they’ve forgotten that they had to drink Kool-Aid to come around to that mindset. They neglected their duty to brainwash the next couple of generations, in both their own country and all of the others. Despite massive efforts, it was impossible to keep this current stage of the conflict out of the news. In fact, they definitely wanted it in the news! They all were so far up their own asses that they couldn’t conceive of anyone looking at the situation and coming to any conclusion other than “Israel is defending itself against utter evil.” They forgot that there is a ton of context that they routinely elide. They no longer had any idea what the world looked like outside of their echo-chamber. So what did they do? They went back to that hoary classic. Accuse literally everyone who doesn’t agree with them of antisemitism. <h>Democratic hypocrisy</h> I think there's also a disavowal of the standards that they claimed for themselves. That is, Israel will not stop telling everyone that it is the only democracy in the Middle East. It's practically on the flag. But it's not on the flag. You know what's on the flag? The star of David. It's a Jewish state. Israel is a very modern state, in that it is an ethnotheocracy, but it <i>identifies</i> as a democracy. So, yes, the standards to which the world holds you are higher, Israel. But it's because you asked us to grant you the benefits of being certain things the world considers to be morally superior. At some point, the piper comes calling, and you have to live up to those standards. At some point, you have show the receipts instead of just claiming things and reaping the benefits. Israel has gotten so accustomed to be taken at its word that, at the first sign of doubt, they react by suspecting foul play. This is dishonest to themselves as well as to the rest of the world. You can only burn so much goodwill before the other kids stop playing with you. <h>It's not just Israel</h> Of all people, I am 100% aware that nearly all of this essay pertains to the U.S. of A. just as well, if not better, than it does to Israel. But please reference the thousands of other articles on my blog for in-depth critiques of the USA. This one's about Israel. Just quickly, though: I do think that the U.S. is losing whatever's left of its shine, as well, perhaps accelerated by its full-throated support of Israel's recent actions. I just saw an article that wrote something about "anti-Israeli" rather than "antisemitic", but they should really have written "anti-Israel", I guess. Or "anti-Israeli government", to be more precise. I think it's important that we remain vigilant in maintaining the distinction. As a U.S. American, I know all too well how an ostensible democracy manages to avoid representing the will of anything but a psychotic minority most of the time. I’m not against the people of Israel, not at all. Some of them might be ignorant of what their government is really doing, or they kind of know, but they don’t care, because "I’ve got mine, jack" and "I’ve got bills to pay." But that doesn’t make the average Israeli any more evil or racist than any other first-world resident, not really. Americans and Europeans are just as capable as Israelis in this regard. Very few of them, relatively speaking, speak up—or are even aware of—the extent of their own countries' true crimes. <hr> <ft>I know. It didn't exist then. It's exaggeration for effect.</ft> <ft>I already discussed it a bit in the essay <a href="{app}view_article.php?id=4917" author="" source="">Blowback: Iraq, Israel, and no-nothing know-it-alls</a>.</ft> <ft>Racism is a superset of antisemitism. I've already seen billboards in Switzerland that read "Gegen Razismus und Antisemitismus", which is redundant. If you're against racism, then you're against antisemitism, which is a subset.</ft> <ft>I'm having a hard time drawing a bead on Jeffey lately. I think his heart's in the right place---and he may even have been intending a deeply satirical take in this essay, in which case it was too deep for me. I couldn't tell the difference between him and the raving lunatics making the same arguments in Israel. I give him the benefit of the doubt because I've agreed with him in the past.</ft> <ft>I am being 100% serious here. Israeli firms are the world leader, if that's the kind of thing you're looking for.</ft> <ft>As noted in the footnote above: maybe he does and he's just too subtly satirical for me.</ft>