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" First and foremost, here is what actually happened at the Chicago Dyke March for comrades who actually care about the substance of accusations of "anti-Semitism" and how they are used to attack the Left:" No, your report on the March is definitely what not happened. First, your credibility is suspect, since you defend the use of the neo-Nazi epithet "Zio". Secondly, the accounts given in the Windy City Times by award-winning reporter Gretchen Rachel Hammond are more credible, because they expose the inconsistencies in the accounts given by the CDM's leadership. First, one leader claimed it was the Star of David on the posters; then they changed their tune to alleged verbal disruptions by Laurel Grauer's contingent, etc. "... his quickness to condemn students at an Oregon college as part of an anti-white mob, playing into a far-right-wing, white supremacist campaign, without bothering to check if any of it was actually true" Actually, my comment did not condemn any students. I simply asked some questions about what other options did the professors in question have. "The individuals who genuinely have an anti-Semitism problem (Gilad Atzmon, Israel Shamir, etc) were never involved in organizing boycotts..." The fact that they were not the most active members is meaningless. They had proclaimed their solidarity with BDS and considered themselves part of it. Since 2012, they were no longer and have been quite pissed about that. "This sentiment, which is common on the social democratic left, is what explains not only the controversies above but also the current attacks on Corbyn over the mural. Without a pre-existing environment latent with anti-Arab racism, it would be hard to garner such suspicion. Sheldon Ranz' track record is more or less the embodiment of that." The only very 'slight' problem with all this is that I support Corbyn and have defended him against the Israel Embassy-directed attacks. Sheldon Ranz On Thu, Mar 29, 2018 at 9:50 AM, A.R. G via Marxism < marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > "'[The term "Zio"] was used that way by the leaders of the Chicago Dyke > March last year against a trans Jewish reporter, Gretchen Rachel Hammond, > who reported honestly about the anti-Semitic maneuverings of the March > organizers." > > I missed this tidbit in my previous response to Sheldon Ranz but that's > fine because I think it deserves its own topic, as it is an increasingly > common line of reasoning among social democrats who are co-opting > Palestine-related organizing. > > First and foremost, here is what actually happened at the Chicago Dyke > March for comrades who actually care about the substance of accusations of > "anti-Semitism" and how they are used to attack the Left: > > http://mondoweiss.net/2017/07/semitism-disproved-accounts/ > > In short, a longtime pro-Israel lobbyist who organizes LGBT-themed Israeli > propaganda junkets shouted down anyone who supported Palestine at a gay > pride march while waving around a flag with a Jewish star that loosely > resembled the Israeli flag. When the March organizers asked her why she was > behaving that way, she admitted to being "a Zionist" [like Sheldon Ranz] > and was then ejected from the March because the March organizers opposed > Zionism. She then took to the airwaves to claim that her expulsion was > because of her Jewishness or because the flag has a Jewish symbol, both of > which were lies. > > Much like the previous episode at Stanford University during the Nakba Tour > <https://freepalestinemovement.org/2016/04/13/palestinian- > refugee-stanford-students-censored-me/>, > the effect of circulating these completely bogus explanations for leftist > controversies has the effect of demonizing and erasing the most > marginalized segments of the Palestinian and Arab communities. In that > event, two Palestinian refugees, one of whom survived the Nakba, were > prevented from speaking because they did not believe that the regime that > expelled them has some sort of moral right to "exist" -- something Marxists > should take for granted about all capitalist regimes -- and did not > appreciate being told not to say so, even though they had no plans to do > so. > > After arguing about it for two hours, the refugees walked out. The > organizers saved face by trying to link the event to the alleged > anti-Semitism of a local activist who was assisting with flyers at the > event, which was in turn based on her having equally tenuous links to > others who were accused of anti-Semitism. Again, in previous discussions on > this forum, Sheldon Ranz has simply ignored the underlying controversy and > chalked it up to whatever half-assed claims of "anti-Semitism" floated > about. > > Sheldon Ranz also makes comments like "I say that as part of the BDS > movement who is proud that its leaders expelled anti-Semites from its ranks > back in 2012." > > *Of course, Sheldon does not mention which "part" of the BDS Movement he is > in. He is in the totally self-appointed part that tries to sanitize Zionism > as compatible with liberalism *while stigmatizing the Palestinian refugees, > thereby undermining the very empathy that is at the core of Palestine > solidarity, including BDS: http://socialistcurrents.org/?p=2914 > > There is, of course, nothing "supportive" about demonizing the existence of > Palestinians and assuaging the bigotry of those who hate them by reassuring > the bigots that those pesky Arabs will never actually return. > > But worse, Sheldon Ranz' comment that the BDS Movement "expelled > anti-Semites from its ranks" is non-sense: there are no "ranks" other than > the organizations that signed off in 2005 and unless one believes the > Zionist propaganda narrative that Sheldon has spread on forums like this, > there never was an "anti-Semitism" problem with the BDS movement > specifically. The individuals who genuinely have an anti-Semitism > problem (Gilad > Atzmon, Israel Shamir, etc) were never involved in organizing boycotts, and > the others, whom Sheldon alleges to be anti-Semitic (in my opinion, > wrongly) were simply never "expelled" by the BDS Movement which generally > does not issue such statements. A more generalized statement against > anti-Semitism from some of the BDS spokespeople floats around, but it is > redundant unless you harbor suspicions that Palestine activism is > anti-Semitic in the first place. > > There is only one reason Sheldon can make such claims about the BDS > Movement: he isn't actually part of it and has no significance beyond > undermining support for Palestine by whitewashing anti-Arab sentiment as > "liberal". > > I should note, Sheldon Ranz' desire to find anti-Jewish prejudices whenever > there is condemnation of Israeli racism/Zionism mirrors his quickness to > condemn students at an Oregon college as part of an anti-white mob, playing > into a far-right-wing, white supremacist campaign, without bothering to > check if any of it was actually true: > http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/pipermail/marxism/2017-June/276402.html > > Again, the anti-racist left was forced to explain itself in light of a > racist, yellow journalist campaign. I compiled the relevant information > here: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/pipermail/marxism/2017-June/276405.html > ----- > I could go on. But the basic reasoning behind all of Sheldon Ranz' beliefs > about anti-Semitism (and in the case of the university students, > anti-whiteness) is rooted in racism. If Sheldon saw Palestinians as equals > rather than as people whose existence needed to be explained away, he would > not accept naked smears against the Dyke March, Tony Greenstein for using > the term "Zio" (which literally just means "Zionist"), and so on. There > would be no need to make such bizarre links between anti-Zionism and > anti-Semitism. > > If, on the other hand, one believes that there is some sort intrinsic > legitimacy to Zionism, that Zionism is a protector of Jewish people against > evils, that anti-Zionism is somehow undermining that protection, then the > suspicion makes sense. In short, it is the same worldview that nativist > whites hold in America and Europe: they see America's white racial "purity" > as their protection from a host of evils (some imagined, some real, but > mostly imagined), and as such, any attempt to undermine this racial purity > is inherently suspicious and leads down the road to "white genocide". > > This sentiment, which is common on the social democratic left, is what > explains not only the controversies above but also the current attacks on > Corbyn over the mural. Without a pre-existing environment latent with > anti-Arab racism, it would be hard to garner such suspicion. Sheldon Ranz' > track record is more or less the embodiment of that. > > Amith R. Gupta > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/sranz18% > 40gmail.com > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
