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The Word SemitismSemite HistoryA great flood wiped out southern Mesopotamia some 5000 years ago. The Sumerians (Eridu Genesis), Babylonians (Gilgamesh) and Mosaics (Noah's Ark) tell stories about this flood. Toward the end of the 1700s a German historian used the name of Noah's son Shem to designate the language group encompassing Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, Assyrian and others. He called this language group "semitisch". A few decades later Semite could refer to the peoples who spoke these languages. By the late 1800s, the Jews co-opted the meaning of semite to mean Jews exclusively in the term anti-semite.Anti-Semitism means dislike, hostility, prejudice and/or discrimination against Jewish people. Anti-semitism is a form of racism even if Jews do not constitute a race. They are an ethnic-religious group. Silent SecularizationWere it not for Hitler there wouldn't be many Jews today. Secularization was well underway in Germany (and the West in general) before the rise of the Nazis. Many Jews felt more German or socialistically universal than Jewish. Marriages with Christians, although limited, were increasing. We can see where this development was heading if we extrapolate it to today's USA. 48% of American Jews marry non-Jews. Intermarriage and the secularization process dilutes and dissolves the Jewish population. This is a major concern among fundamentalist Jews who use the term Silent Holocaust to describe the loss of Jews through intermarriage.Let's hear what Adam Keller, editor of The Other Israel in Tel Aviv has to say about this: I find this term, "Silent Holocaust", more obscene than all the pornography in the world put together. The Holocaust ... was the systematic genocide and mass murder of millions of people, solely because of their ethnic and religious identity. The so-called "silent holocaust" is the freely chosen exercise by human beings of the right to choose a spouse.... Only a monstrously perverted mind can possibly conceive of making such a comparison. This comes from a mindset in which an individual counts for nothing, his or her wishes count for nothing, and the individual's only worth is as being a component of an overwhelming, all-supreme Nation or Ethnos. This is a racist way of thinking, a fascist way of thinking. It is, I must say, Hitler's way of thinking, and I am deeply ashamed that some Jews have taken it for their own. The Silent SplitViewing secularization as a holocaust or an assimilation depends on which side of an old issue you stand. Two thousand years ago the Mosaics split into Jews and Christians. The Jews entrenched themselves in the old traditions. The Christians transcended the traditions and united with the people around them. The Jews maintained that they were God's chosen people. The Christians claimed that everyone is equal in the eyes of God.Where the classical split divided the Mosaics, today's split divides the Jews. No clearly defined terms designates the two sides of today's split, but this was also the case at the beginning of the division 2000 years ago. Zionists & SemitesZionists command the lead for traditional doctrine. They are supported by conservatives, fundamentalists and other Jews who confess allegiance to the old traditions. The Jews on the other side of the split withdraw from the Jewish traditions, drift into secularization and assimilate into the population at large. They have no collective name or organization. I'll call them Semites.Many Semites criticize the policies of the Zionists individually, but have no unified voice to defend themselves against the massive propaganda and aggressive policies of the Zionists, who claim to represent all Jews. Consequently, the Semites are defenseless, vulnerable and threatened. The Anti-Semite TendencyAnti-Semitism is heating up. If current tendencies continue, it will eventually boil over and the results will be ugly. Seen in a larger perspective, it ranks as a minor segment of diminishing tolerance in general. Hate, racism and xenophobia advances. Criticism of Israeli politics doesn't fall into the category of anti-semitism despite Zionist efforts to claim otherwise. The genuine racist form of anti-semitism festers under the surface.Although Jews, with their long experience as victims of persecution, could be a positive force on the barricades against racism and intolerance, they shake their fists instead at society at large and scream "Anti-Semitism!" Doing nothing would be an improvement. As it is, they aggravate their situation. The Chosen VictimsThe Jews tell us that they've been persecuted for the past 2000 years. They fail to see that all minorities have been persecuted during the past 2000 years. Unlike most minorities and dissenters who suffered the anger of dominant surroundings, many Jews never dissolved or became assimilated. (Many did.) They clung to their minority status in a minority-antagonistic world, constantly tiptoeing around the fragile valve of tolerance in a pressured world - and were constantly scalded by the steam of rage when the pressure could not be contained.Minorityism characterizes the plight of the Jews during the past 2000 years rather than anti-Semitism. All fractional groups, sects and cults suffered the same fate as the Jews regardless of their customs and beliefs when tolerance was knocked over by violent circumstances. During the 14th century when fear roared through the minds of the plague-stricken masses, a mere rumor was enough to ignite the mob to ransack an ethnic group. Only one ethnic group was available at the time, but any one would have served the purpose of canalizing the fear. Crusaders destroyed Jewish colonies on their way to the holy land, but they annihilated many Christian villages as well. Christian Marked BloodThis 'we' have been persecuted claim, diverts attention from general intolerance and persecutions. All minorities and dissenters have been persecuted. The slaughter of Cathars, Huguenots, Sicilians, Mennonites, Irish, Armenians as well as witches, Indians and other "pagans" have left bloody pools along the roads of history.In these times of disgusting and vulgar prejudices, it is worth noting that Christians have not only slaughtered minorities and dissenters throughout history, but have gone for the throats of each other as well. The 100-years War, the 30-years War, the World Wars and hundreds of other wars have been Christian enterprises. Inquisitors, Klu-Klux-Klaners, mafia, Nazis, Fascists, South American dictators, African racists, pedophiles, etc., have been Christians. Christians are not exceptionally violent or evil, but claiming that they are morally better than any other people spits in the face of reality. It's the we-are-different/special/superior/chosen type of racism.The Jews blast away at highest volume with their chosen victim song. Remember our suffering! Remember the Holocaust! They repeat this refrain over and over again - completely clueless to the effect it has on the people around them. In America, for example, Afro-Americans can count more Africans who died on the ships that were carrying them into slavery than Jews who died in concentration camps. The Afro-Americans outnumber the Jews 5 to 1. The Latin-Americans, who also far outnumber the Jews, rank higher in suffering and death statistics under a much longer period from suppressions, death-squads and dictators in the south. Many other people have sufferings to remember. Comparing sufferings is pointless. The point is that the Jews don't seem interested in suffering, suppression and death unless it is their suffering, suppression and death. The Chosen MinorityThe Jews are not alone in this selective view of past tragedies, but they have the longest history and should know better. They are also the most threatened group today, minorityism's smallest minority, the ideal scapegoat.No group will be immune from persecution until all groups are secure in freedom and justice. It's all or none. The chosen victim theme, also known as the Holocaust industry, doesn't help the anti anti-semitism cause. Analytically blindAlthough the Jews are keenly aware of anti-Semitism, they fail to analyze its dynamics. Why, for example, is anti-Semitism growing? It is not a constant. How come the Jews enjoyed tolerance and prosperity in Germany for over 100 years before they suffered a decade of deadly racism? Tolerance and persecutions are not natural occurrences. They result from human priorities.This pattern of long periods of (relative) tolerance that quickly turns into violent persecutions repeats itself regularly, for Jews as well as other minorities. Historical examples of tolerance that turns ugly, resemble today's circumstances. Financial turmoil and hard times, conflicts and wars, uprisings and protests, corruption and scandals, sinking confidence in the leadership.... And at this time, as at many times in the past, the Jews are in the cross-hairs of growing intolerance. We're approaching the point where powerful people will decide that the Jews posses considerable advantages as scapegoats. Not to mention the lure of their assets to be confiscated. Anti-semitism is directed against the Jews, but it is an excellent gauge with which to evaluate the prejudices, intolerance, discrimination and hatred that threaten us all. Can anti-semitism be turned back? It's possible. Will it be turned back? Not very likely. Why? Because it's not a question of anti-semitism. It's a question of tolerance in general... and a struggle to isolate those who mix religion with politics. It's a struggle of life and death. On the one side people are divided into categories, labeled and set against each other. On the other side people are united in the body of humanity to promote understanding and cooperation.
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