Smearing Israel’s Critics

[Nono]

In this excellent article, Johann Hari succinctly describes the Censorship Programme applied to anyone crazy enough to criticize Israeli policy regarding the occupied territories, Lebanon or other taboo subjects:

Johann Hari: The loathsome smearing of Israel's critics -- The Independent

(...) These individuals spray accusations of anti-Semitism so liberally that by their standards, a majority of Jewish Israelis have anti-Semitic tendencies. (...)

[Trotsky]

It's standard technique employed by people who feel threatened because they may feel that their position is not as strong as they would like or originally believed. The anti-EU brigade back home in Ireland are trying the same sort of idea, their claiming a whole host of things but the biggest claim being that anybody who votes for the Lisbon treaty is a traitor and as one guy wrote are "pissing on the graves of the patriots who died for our freedom from British oppression" because they are surrendering our sovereignty. Reduce the argument down to emotives and put pressure on peoples insecurities and prejudices. It happens all the time, it's not just Israel and is slightly unfair just to highlight just Israel.

[grandpa]

It's standard technique employed by people who feel threatened because
they may feel that their position is not as strong
as they would like or originally believed.
The anti-EU brigade back home in Ireland are trying
the same sort of idea, their claiming a whole host
of things but the biggest claim being that anybody who
votes for the Lisbon treaty is a traitor and as
one guy wrote are "pissing on the graves of the
patriots who died for our freedom from British oppression" because
they are surrendering our sovereignty.

These issues -- they inspire some to put their hands up in the air and declare the existence of truths to be impossible. If there were no enemy, one or more would have to be invented. Every critic can be accused of backstabbing.

Grandpa h.

[Nono]

I've been thinking in recent days about how the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (American Israel Public Affairs Committee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) has publicly bollocked anyone foolhardy enough to even hint that Syria ought to be dealt with and its interests recognized.

And lo and behold, who has been doing exactly that? The Israeli government.

That shows better than anything else could the kind of childish game being played by the pro-Likud lobby in the US.