Quote …I’m starting to think that neither term is particularly helpful. Zionism has too many owners, all with their own interpretations. I’ve been trying to find a substantive difference between racism and antisemitism. There are technical differences, but only if you take the definition of racism to the letter. I think you can argue lthat Islamophobia and Antisemitism are in essence precisely the same thing as racism. They’re both designed to humanise, and those that espouse any of them consider their victims to be less than human.
It doesn’t matter whether the hatred is based on race, religion or sectarianism. Four triggers, same final destination. Whenever that hatred manifests itself in violence, there’ll be return passengers that now have a reason to hate. It’s a depressing self-perpetuating cycle and I say that as an observer, not a poor cunt that has to live with it or die because of it."…
And that is to some extent my point. I fail to understand how someone can accept that the State of Israel can exist in its homeland and then still say they are anti Zionist, when Zioniism was about establishing their homeland full stop. Any twisting of the phrase is a pseudo intellectual attempt to not appear racist, but as so often with extreme ends of politics people in these bubbles are blind to their own racism.
what I have read about what Livingstone said is limited, but he seems to be making a very narrow point that at one period prior to the Second World War, Nazi Germany and Zionists spoke about sending German Jews to a homeland. Yes, but the trouble is Livingstone tries to make it sound as if those talks justify anti.Zionism. Not true. Livingstone hates the state of Isreal, he would love Hamas to destroy it, so by the definitions above he is truly a repugnant racist character.
must go now, will pick up the debate later when I finish my working day amongst my Arab friends in Riyadh.
