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From: steinber@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU (Louis Steinberg)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: Middle East, Oil and the costs of Militarism
Message-ID: <4214@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Mon, 18-Nov-85 16:15:45 EST
Article-I.D.: topaz.4214
Posted: Mon Nov 18 16:15:45 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 26-Nov-85 21:13:59 EST
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Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
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Xref: lsuc net.politics:2076 net.religion.jewish:1578

> > me:
> >  notice the
> >danger TO THE ANTI-APARTHEID FIGHT of the Zionism-is-racism lie.  To
> >link Israel and South Africa is to radically minimize the oppression and 
>>suffering of the Blacks, and waters down the term "apartheid" from a specific
> >and real evil into meaning, essentially, "something I don't like".
>
> Hisham: 
> Just for the record:
> 1. There has been a U.N. resolution in 1975 condemning Zionism as a racist
>    movement.

Indeed.  It was specifically this action of the UN, and similar actions by
the UN and other groups, that I claim damage the anti-apartheid fight.

> 2. [and] 3.  [two books published by AAUG press, charging]
>    Israeli support for el Salvador's Junta, Somoza in Nicaragua
>    the Shah in Iran and South africa. [and that] men like
>     Ben Gurion, Ariel Sharon, and Moshe Dayan sought to destabilize Arab 
>     neighbors through covert military operations and terrorist activity.

Even if all these claims were true, the only one bearing on apartheid or
racism is the charge that Israel supports South Africa.  This simply
substantiates my claim that by making "racism" a stick to beat Israel
with, anti-Israelis are watering down the specific force of the term,
making it a synonym for "things I don't like", and thereby damaging the
fight against a very real and specific evil.