tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32508350.post8050234115617512857..comments2024-01-13T15:37:31.043+11:00Comments on THE BLANK PAGES OF THE AGE: DOUBLE TALKUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32508350.post-59866565458218517472008-03-16T04:46:00.000+11:002008-03-16T04:46:00.000+11:00In order to better understand how much of an idiot...In order to better understand how much of an idiot Loewenstein really is you should have cited the letter he attacks and the vile article written by Alan Ramsey that preceded it. On the one hand you have Goot and Knoll advocating peace and mutual understanding and on the other, Ramsay and Loewenstein spitting out bile and hatred and support for Islamist fascism. This is the letter:-<BR/><BR/><B>Friendships with Israel are more enduring than hate-filled rhetoric</B><BR/><BR/><I>"After the slaughter, sickening jubilation" (March 8), was an entirely appropriate headline following the murder of eight students in Jerusalem, and the celebration of their massacre by gun-toting Palestinians. Writing on the same day, Alan Ramsey found it appropriate to indulge one of his passions - hatred of Israel ("Don't mention the war as Israel lauded").<BR/><BR/>Ramsey's piece crosses the line from robust debate to racial vilification. He denies the Jewish people their right to self-determination; applies double standards by requiring Israel to adhere to standards not demanded of any other democratic nation; and uses images associated with classic anti-semitism. He refers to Israel as "the core malignancy convulsing the Middle East", ignoring the well-documented deficits in human rights and freedoms throughout the Arab world that the United Nations identifies as the real cause of instability.<BR/><BR/>He is outraged that Israelis defend themselves against Hamas and other Palestinian groups who seek out, kill and maim Jewish civilians.<BR/><BR/>Ramsey's reference to the "relative pin pricks of (homemade) Hamas rockets fired into territory illegally occupied by Israeli settlers" is another howler. For the past seven years hundreds of rockets have been fired from Gaza at towns and cities within Israel itself. The intended victims are Israeli civilians living not in the occupied territories but on sovereign Israeli territory. A few weeks ago one of these rockets blew off the legs of an Israeli boy. All this despite Israel's withdrawal from Gaza. And why? Google "Hamas charter" and read the document for yourself.<BR/><BR/>It is only when there is any sign of hope that a peaceful settlement might be achievable that Hamas perpetrates its outrages. It does not want a peaceful settlement with Israel. As its charter makes clear, it wants no Israel.<BR/><BR/>In a disgraceful reversion to classic anti-semitic canards about Jews and money, Ramsey makes the baseless declaration that Australian parliamentarians support Israel only to safeguard their Jewish financial support.<BR/><BR/>Ramsey cannot fathom that Israel, despite years of being portrayed as the bully-boy, can still command the genuine admiration and support of millions of Australians.<BR/><BR/>It's not just because Israel is a thriving democracy whose Arab as well as Jewish citizens enjoy human and political rights undreamt of elsewhere in the Middle East. The long friendship between Australia and Israel can be traced back to the Great War, when Anzac troops in Palestine were first welcomed into the homes of the Jewish pioneers who were laying the foundations of Jewish statehood. The personal friendships forged then and ever since are far more enduring than the hate-filled rhetoric of Alan Ramsey and those he promotes.<BR/><BR/>Robert Goot president, Executive Council of Australian Jewry<BR/><BR/>David Knoll president, NSW Jewish Board of Deputies</I>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32508350.post-71309089055309692262008-03-16T00:03:00.000+11:002008-03-16T00:03:00.000+11:00It's so easy attacking Loewenstein that it is tiri...It's so easy attacking Loewenstein that it is tiring doing so. Where does one start, when he displays so much ignorance, such an incredible lack of knowledge and so much maliciouness bordering on paranoia? The problem is that there is so much to be attacked, that whatever one says will not complete the job: there will always be more, so that it looks as though what is left is somehow ok. Loewenstein has the singular distinction of always being wrong, whether in facts or in opinions based on those non-facts. Unfortunately there are some, like those fans that are allowed to write comments on his blog, who follow St. Antony. Oh, and those 45 (including Antony, his mum and his dad) who signed that atrocious ad. Tiring indeed.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32508350.post-58397778427914550862008-03-15T23:57:00.000+11:002008-03-15T23:57:00.000+11:00Stuff all that! His support for the Islamist fasci...Stuff all that! His support for the Islamist fascist Hamas says it all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com