Uri Avnery; bigot

[Mediocrates]

From a Mizrahim, comments about Avnery clear patronizing bigotry about Mizrahim and how little he knows....

http://www.jewishrefugees.blogspot.c...jews-from.html

From news article:

Avnery: The Orientals have deep grudges against the Ashkenazim. They believe – not without justification – that they have been humiliated and discriminated against from their first day in the country, and still are, though quite a number of them have reached high economic and political positions. The other day, a top director of one of the foremost financial institutions caused a scandal when he accused the “Whites” (i.e. Ashkenazim) of dominating all the banks, the courts and the media. He was promptly fired, which caused another scandal.

The discrimination has been overstated and in many ways is a thing of the past. And one cannot generalise: As our commenter Sylvia says: Turkish, Iranian and Iraqi Jews have done very well - while Jews from North Africa are still struggling.

Avnery: The Likud came to power in 1977, dethroning Labour. With short interruptions, It has been in power ever since. Yet most Likud members still feel that the Ashkenazim rule Israel, leaving them far behind. Now, 34 years later, the dark wave of anti-democratic legislation pushed by Likud deputies is being justified by the slogan “We must start to rule!”

The scene reminds me of a building site surrounded by a wooden fence. The canny contractor has left some holes in the fence, so that curious passers-by can look in. In our society, all the other blocs feel like outsiders looking through the holes, full of envy for the Ashkenazi “elite” inside, who have all the good things. They hate everything they connect with this “elite”: the Supreme Court, the media, the human rights organizations, and especially the peace camp. All these are called “leftist”, a word curiously enough identified with the “elite”.

How has “peace” become associated with the dominant and domineering Ashkenazim?

That is one of the great tragedies of our country. Jews have lived for many centuries in the Muslim world. There they never experienced the terrible things committed in Europe by Christian anti-Semitism. Muslim-Jewish animosity started only a century ago, with the advent of Zionism, and for obvious reasons.

Ah, that Golden Age myth again. Avnery is blissfully ignorant of the history of Jews in Arab countries, where they lived in an atmosphere of 'cordial hatred' - as Professor Paul Fenton, a scholar of Moroccan-Jewish relations once put it. Avnery is at once ignorant of antisemitism in the Koran, and the long history of Jewish servitude, known as 'dhimmitude', under Muslim rule. (Somebody please tell him about pre-20th century massacres).Furthermore it is shocking that a German Jew whose family escaped the Nazis should be ignorant of the Nazi inspiration behind 20th century Arab Jew-hatred.

One can picture the Avnerys of the world literally being confused that Mizrahim have shoes and can read and aren't in zoos.

[wat0n]

The irony is that if one follows his own logic, as a former member of Irgun he played his role into fostering this hatred.

[curlyg]

Parts of what he says are correct.

The ethnic divide is still very real. One need only turn on the TV, or look at the ethnic origin of ministers from the birth of the country to the present day, or the composition of the Supreme Court, or look at other centres of power in the society to see that this is true. Whether or not this discrimination appears overly in law is not relevant - the facts speak for themselves in proving that it exists. I think the blog's author grossly understates the level of discrimination which Mizrahi jews faced historically and in the present.

The rest of Avenri's comments are nonsense. The Likud came to power in 1977, admittedly with the backing of the Mizrahi population -- but under the leadership of an Ashkenazi Jew. Likewise, every head of the Likud since then has been an Ashkenazi Jew. So his thinly veiled attempt to attribute anti-democratic legislation to Mizrahim seeking to "start to rule" is laughable.

[Mediocrates]

As if the slightest most obscure differences obvious only to one another don't define the most basic genocidal oppressions across the entire Arab world. Bigotry indeed exists however when Marsh Arabs are being gassed by non Marsh Arabs, Alawites are using Sunnis for tank practice, Hashemites keep Palestinians from being citizens in their own land, Bengazi Arabs blow up Tripoli Arabs who are both blown up by Bedouins and everyone wants to kill the Druze....?

Be serious. I can't peruse a blog w.o. reading some idiot 'progressive' shouting that Mississippi should be nuked and everything south of the Mason Dixon line is nothing but cousin humping no teeth no shoes wearing slaveowners? Please spare me your pieties Mr. Avnery.