More on Albanese: Peter Beinart’s view
JVL Introduction
Peter Beinart reflects on the controversy over Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Ever-thoughtful, he finds her use of the term ‘Jewish lobby’ highly problematic and explains why. But he refuses to allow his objections to deflect from her fundamental message of advocacy for Palestinian rights.
While we think Beinart is plain wrong in his brief comments on Jeremy Corbyn, we really appreciate his general thoughts on how to talk about difficult and problematic issues.
And, although framed in the context of the USA, his conclusion resonates with all of us: “the unstated but very clear assumption [in much of the US press and the Jewish media] is that Palestinian lives just don’t matter nearly as much as Jewish lives do. And that seems to me really tragic. It’s something we need to struggle against.”
Thanks to Peter Beinart for permission to repost.
This article was originally published by the Beinart Notebook on Mon 19 Dec 2022. Read the original here.
The Cancel Culture Right-Wingers Love
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The Israeli hasbara programme seems to have missed this one while dredging up old quotes. I wait with bated breath for Ariel Sharon to posthumously be declared a vile antisemite.
“Every time we do something you tell me America will do this and will do that . . . I want to tell you something very clear: Don’t worry about American pressure on Israel. We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it.”
Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, October 3, 2001, to Shimon Peres, as reported on Kol Yisrael radio.
In the meantime, I’ll take Avi Shlaim’s vigorous condemnation of this campaign to demonise Albanese as opposed to Beinart’s lukewarm attempt to paint the outcry against her as possibly justified. Not to mention his atrocious comment about ‘Corbin’!
In respect of America, the words used by Franscesca Allbanese were inappropriate; but so far as Britain is concerned “Jewish Lobby” is actually correct. How else would one describe organisations called “Board of Deputies of British Jews” and “The Jewish Leadership Council.”
I was disappointed to see that Peter Beinart has fallen for the smears about Corbyn as in this article he references in comments under his article. I though he was better than this.
https://forward.com/opinion/436159/yes-jeremy-corbyns-record-on-anti-semitism-is-bad-but-his-critics-are
There cannot be a ‘Jewish Lobby’, the IHRA forbids even mentioning it & as for his criticism of Jeremy Corbyn…………Beinart is an American, some of my own family (in-laws) from USA believe that I am a Communist because I describe myself as a ‘Corbynista’.
Yes, Brian (and agree with Roshan – PB owes JC a formal apology AND EXPLANATION without which apologies are meaningless). But there are plenty of Jewish – and other – lobbies…. And many are not Jewish-chauvinist or Zionist – but some are….
End of?
fraternally, Chanukkah and Xmas and Saturnalia greetings…
This is not one of Peter Beinart’s better articles.
My own take on it is here:
Francesca Albanese – False Allegations of Anti-Semitism Against UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine for Mentioning a ‘Jewish Lobby’
When accusations of ‘anti-Semitism are used to Justify Israeli War Crimes then all you do is make anti-Semitism respectable