In his article Openly embracing prejudice (yes, again on comment is free, in that nest of, how to say it gently, the most virulent strain of debating societies), ever intrepid David Hirsh deconstructs the odious character of Gilad Atzmon.
I have followed David’s article, including the references to some quotes.
Yes, Atzmon says: “I would suggest that perhaps we should face it once and for all: the Jews were responsible for the killing of Jesus who, by the way, was himself a Palestinian Jew.” I am not sure whether to mention or not that a) the issue of responsibility for that act is still being bandied back and forth; b) the term “Palestinian” is so much “younger” than Jesus and calling Jesus a Palestinian Jew is witness to stupidity of the caller…
Yes, Atzmon says: “Hence, there is no room for comparison between Israel and the Nazis. If a comparison is to be made, then it is the Israelis who win the championship of ruthlessness and the reasons are obvious.” Should I mention that the only obvious thing is that Atzmon is deranged and that his “logic” is a logic of a person obsessed?
Yes, Atzmon says: “American Jewry makes any debate on whether the “Protocols of the elder of Zion” are an authentic document or rather a forgery irrelevant. American Jews (in fact Zionists) do control the world.” And yes, he pushes the same Elders of Zion crap. Although, deity knows, we (the Elders) could have done something about his foul mouth, what with us being on top of everything in this world.
In general – being a lover of jazz, blues and other stuff irrelevant to the subject, I stop short of purchasing a CD with that name figuring on it. I know that it is childish. After all, who would expect a talented sax player be an incarnation of Disraeli as well or, if that is too much to ask, Trotsky? Upon another thought I would even settle for Dan Quayle…
Atzmon’s site is an artless weave of logically disconnected statements, of stammering attempts to build a mini-philosophy on faulty facts and borrowed (even from Fisk!) slogans. His credo is as limited as his brain, and without doubt a good debater with half a brain (which is ten times as much as Atzmon possesses) will easily destroy anything Atzmon tries to stand for.
So what is the big deal? But I shall let David do the explaining:
So, what’s the big deal? I consider this Atzmon is an anti-Semitic crank; hardly unusual, is it? The big deal is this: Atzmon is currently being hosted and/or being given a platform by groups that are thought of as being anti-racist and on the left.
OK, point taken. Still, what is the big deal? That Atzmon is received so warmly by SWP and Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign? With all due respect to these mighty groups of lunatics, I could care less. We could care less, to be more precise. As a matter of fact, this phenomenon of scumbags gravitating together reminds me of the recent occasion when that other scumbag, George Galloway, was received so warmly in Canada by the unashamedly fascist (and pro-Nazi) SSNP. Granted, there are still a few remaining differences of opinions between SWP, RESPECT and SSNP, but as the French political market shows lately, these could be settled.
In short – Atzmon thrives on controversy. He seems to be growing larger and fatter on criticism and attention alone, so why feed the troll?
As a matter of fact, my personal poll in Israel (10 random participants) brought 8 counts of “Gilad Atzmon? Who?” with blank stare, 1 count of “Yeah, I definitely heard the name somewhere, could you tell me more?” and 1 count of “Yes, I sure know about the piece of shit”.
So it is 10% for Atzmon – quite high. I bet that a similar poll in UK, outside of SWP and jazz lovers will bring less than 1%. Which is about 10% less than the projected number of people suffering from schizophrenia in most modern societies. Not bad.
You know, upon a second thought, maybe I should buy CDs with Atzmon recordings. What the heck! On the other hand…
Cross-posted on SimplyJews
P.S. As usual, no links to the creep’s site: I am refusing to feed the zoo exhibit. Google yourself.
“Gilad Atzmon? Who?â€
No Kidding. The Only Gilad I can think of is that poor man Gilad (Shalit) who was captured by Paleosimians.
Israeli Paratrooper,eh? Ya, know… Not to put too much stock in theories from regualar B movies but…
In the movie ‘Team America’, the villian’s brain was infected by a cockroaches from space. Ya think there might be a connection here???
“…the villian’s brain was infected by a cockroaches from space.” Nope. Close, but no cigar, cond0010. He IS a cockroach from space. That’s the only acceptable explanation.
So … um… what will be on the name plate at your zoo exhibit, hmmm?
Unfortunately there is a large self hating Israeli expat community in the United Kingdom (many of whom advocate academic and economic boycotts of Israel) of which Atzmon is the most notorious. The only way a Jew gets accepted in the U.K. (and barely at that) is to be an Israel basher.
Exactly. Ymach shmo. Erase his name.
I feel bad for those British Jews who are under pressure to conform to a negative environment, and those Jews in academia under similar pressure.
But the solution is to stand up for what’s right, not to debate the ravings of lunatics.
It would be nice to think that Zionists do control the world but if we do, how come we’re doing such a lousy job of it?
While this is off topic, it is a pet peeve of mine (Down Spot!!). You should really mean “I could not care less“. To say as you do that you could care less means that you do care about the matter.
Alex: what you said
reminds me of the joke about the Jew in the 30’s who read Der Sturmer. When asked why he said, “At least I get to read how we are all so powerful and run the world. All the other papers just talk about all the troubles that we are having.”
If we are so powerful, why haven’t I received my checks yet.
Sabba Hillel: you are formally right re “could not care less”, however the current fashion requires “could care less”, which means in the slang: I could have cared less if I had cared at all. Or something like that.
In Israel the current fashion (it started with youngsters but even adults have started to copy it) is to use “It is a waste of time” regarding something in the opposite meaning, which is: it is so good that you should not waste your time hesitating – go for it!
Go figure ;-)
Actually, this English major has decided that “I could care less” should always be read in the sarcastic voice, thus not driving me crazy any more.
Personally, I use “I could not care less,” but then, I also never write “a lot” as one word.