London JC launched an attack on Prof' John Mearsheimer
Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 11:14PM Gilad Atzmon
Today, a week ahead of the publication of my new book The Wandering Who, the JC seems to be desperate to mount pressure on Professor John Mearsheimer, the highly respected academic who warmly endorsed my book.
It is apparent that the JC is yet to realise the length of the list of prominent scholars, writers and activists who support and endorse my new book.
In the article below, the JC prints a collection of quotes from the book that are supposed to be both embarrassing and contentious (I made them bold). Needless to mention, I am standing firmly behind all of my quotes, and each of my words
However, being the amateurish outlet that it is, the JC has made at least two mistakes:
1. I am not an ‘anti-Semite’. I am actually a firm opponent of any form of racism whatsoever -- and this includes questioning and challenging every possible appearance of Jewish political and ideological exclusivity and collectivism in the same manner that I would criticise any other manifestation or form of ethnic prejudice.
2. The book is not published by “The Susjin Agency” as the JC suggests but by Zero Books.
The JC article:
Mearsheimer backs book by antisemite By Jessica Elgot
http://www.thejc.com/A US academic who co-wrote a controversial book about the Israel lobby has praised a new work by the Jewish antisemitic writer Gilad Atzmon.
Mr Atzmon, a jazz musician and vociferous critic of Israel and Judaism, has written a book called The Wandering Who? published by The Susjin Agency.
The book was recommended on the publisher's website by University of Chicago professor, John Mearsheimer, an international relations expert and co-author, with Stephen Walt, of The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy.
In his book, Mr Atzmon writes: "The Holocaust religion is probably as old as the Jews themselves. I believe the Holocaust is engraved in Jewish culture, discourse and spirit."
He writes fulsome praise for Otto Weininger, a Jewish antisemite admired by Hitler, who supposedly said: "There was one decent Jew, and he killed himself."
Mr Atzmon writes that Weininger was "an antisemite as well as a radical misogynist". But he goes on to call him an "astonishing thinker" who "helped me grasp who I am".
David Hirsh*, a sociologist at Goldsmiths, University of London, and former Yale research fellow, said: "In their work on the 'Israel Lobby', I thought Mearsheimer and Walt slipped into antisemitic ways of thinking but I understood the view that perhaps this was an over-reaction.(1)
"Now, however, Mearsheimer is legitimising an unambiguously antisemitic book. He started by stumbling into antisemitism but is now openly embracing it. Mearsheimer, and even Atzmon, will be accepted amongst some sections of academia in a way that bigots against black people, Muslims or women would never be.
"Many scholars are nowadays incapable of recognising antisemitism; some others simply don't care about it; lots of people who do get it will remain silent."
SOAS Professor Colin Shindler** said: "Gilad Atzmon is entitled to express his views but, judging by his previous writings, few academics regard him as a serious writer. Such endorsements situate Atzmon as an exponent of the megaphone war between Israelis and Palestinians rather than as an independent thinker with an opinion. The cause of peace in the Middle East deserves better."***
Professor Mearsheimer could not be reached for comment.
You can now order Gilad Atzmon's New Book on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk
* (GA) David Hirsh is the ultra Zionist who stands behind Engage On Line, a Hasbara outlet operating as the UK ADL branch.
** (GA) Professor Colin Shindler, is a supporter of Israel and Professor of Israeli Studies at the SOAS University. It is amusing to find out that hard core Zionist Shindler is convinced that it is down to him to decide who should be leading the Palestinian solidarity discourse.
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