Behind the Aegis
Behind the Aegis's JournalSemitic Anti-Semitism
At the risk of preaching to the choir (or the “minyan,” we guess?), there is an issue that we at the Jewish Voice would like to clear the air about, and that is, exactly what constitutes anti-Semitism, and when, if ever, it “doesn’t count.”
Anti-Semitism is defined as “Hostility and prejudice directed against Jewish people; (also) the theory, action, or practice resulting from this.” (Thank you, Oxford English Dictionary.) Note that nowhere in the definition of the term is it stipulated that the source must be non-Jewish, or “non-Semitic.” While one may assume that most instances of anti-Semitism involve non-Jews, this needn’t necessarily be the case, just as a person expressing racist views about people of African descent wouldn’t be rendered any less of a bigot by being black. A self-hater of any race or religion might be confused, but they still hate.
Why do we bring this up now, you ask? Comedienne Roseanne Barr, in her ongoing attempts to stay “edgy” and culturally relevant, managed to make waves last week with a Tweet about “Jewish mind control.” Now, Roseanne has a history of making nonsensical remarks (such as “I’m running for president”), some of them anti-Jewish or anti-Israel. What really bothers us, however, is her defense against critics: “I’m a Jew, so refrain from calling me an anti-Semite.” Maybe if Roseanne would refrain from acting like (and probably, being) an anti-Semite, perhaps people would stop calling her one. Being Jewish can’t shield you from factually-based accusations of anti-Semitism, any more than a rich person could rob a bank, then get away with it by telling the Judge “I can’t possibly be a thief; I already have money!”
On a related note, Arab activists will sometimes deflect charges of anti-Jewish bigotry by explaining that, being “Semitic” themselves, they are incapable of anti-Semitism. As world-renowned historian and Mid-East scholar Bernard Lewis once put it (and I’m paraphrasing here): this is the logical equivalent of saying that a translation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion printed in London is anti-Semitic, but one printed in Cairo is not because Hebrew and Arabic are cognate languages.
more: http://jewishvoiceny.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1858:semitic-anti-semitism&catid=101:jv-editorial&Itemid=284
Austria investigates alleged anti-Jewish cartoon
VIENNA (AP) — Austrian authorities are investigating a cartoon on a rightist political leader's Facebook page that critics say smacked of anti-Semitism by showing a repulsive fat banker with a large hooked nose and what appeared to be Star of David patterns on his cufflinks, an official said Tuesday.
The rightist Freedom Party has called criticism of the caricature politically motivated and said its leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, denies the cartoon posted on his Facebook page Sunday was directed against Jews.
Strache accused his detractors of "trying to link me to something insidious" and said they were seeing Stars of David where there were none. He also said that anyone who automatically assigns ethnicity or religion to a hooked nose is a racist.
Still, the investigation could lead to legal action against those who were responsible for the cartoon.
Thomas Vecsey of the Austrian Prosecutor's office said Tuesday that legal experts will decide in the next few days whether to charge those responsible for the posting with incitement to religious or ethnic hatred, a criminal offense in Austria.
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The Sounds of Hate: The White Power Music Scene in the United States in 2012
The recent tragic shooting spree at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, in which Wade Michael Page killed six people before killing himself after a shootout with police, has drawn attention to the shadowy world of white power music. Page, a committed white supremacist and member of the Hammerskins, a hardcore racist skinhead group, was heavily involved in the white power music scene in the United States. He played in a number of white power bands over the previous 12 years, most prominently the bands Definite Hate and End Apathy.
Page was just one of hundreds of white supremacist musicians listened to by thousands of white supremacists in the United States and beyond. Today, white power music permeates the subculture of the white supremacist movement. Not all white supremacists enjoy white power music, but many of them do, especially neo-Nazis and racist skinheads. For listeners, white power music is not simply entertainment. It is music with a message, a medium used to express an ideology suffused with anger, hatred and violence.
White Power Music in the United States
Today, white power music is well established in the United States, where it has existed for three decades. Hate music arose originally in Great Britain in the 1970s as the skinhead subculture that originated there diverged into two different streams: a traditional skinhead stream and a racist skinhead stream. As racist skinheads emerged, they created a white supremacist variation of the skinhead-related music genre called Oi! (sometimes also known by the deliberate euphemism “Rock against Communism” or RAC). In the late 1970s, and more so in the early 1980s, both the racist skinhead subculture and its music crossed the Atlantic to the United States and Canada.
During the 1980s, the racist skinhead subculture grew and evolved, especially on the West Coast, where it also interacted with the punk music scene that was strong there at the time. As a result of this intermixture, another genre of white power music was born: hatecore punk, a racist version of hardcore punk. Hate music grew as the racist skinhead movement spread, especially in the late 1980s and early 1990s. By this time, a number of American hate music bands had formed—some of which, such as Bully Boys, still exist today.
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