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Last update - 16:36 02/11/2007
It's Judeo-Fascism Month in Israel
By Bradley Burston
tags: Yigal Amir, Israel, politics 

Conservative students and their mentors have just observed "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" on American college campuses. The goal, according to the David Horowitz Freedom Center, was to "draw attention to a leading issue of our time, radical Islam and terrorism."

I mention this only because, for Israelis, the event would have been easy to miss. Not only because it was taking place thousands of miles away, but because of a concurrent local campaign that is still going on. Inexorable, inescapable, it has reached every home in the nation.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: Judeo-Fascism Awareness Month.
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The campaign can be seen to be more effective by far than its American counterpart. Perhaps this is because it cannot be ignored. Perhaps it is because it is led by the Judeo-Fascists themselves.

They are a compelling group. You can't take your eyes off them. There is Larissa Trimbobler, who plays the beloved if dubious Sarah to Yigal Amir's Shabtai Zvi. Then there are the apostles. There is singer screed-writer Ariel Zilber, who appears either to be permanently self-medicated, or in need of being. There is Avigdor Eskin, the prince of pulsa denura. There is Yigal Amir's mother, Geula, the molder of young minds, everyone's favorite day-care provider. And then there are the disciples, the rank-and-defile, the hilltop hopheads, the gunslinger grunge and grange society of the wild West Bank, the Kahane worshippers, the Muslim-baiters.

But forget for the moment the idea that the circumcision of Amir's newborn son is to fall precisely on the 12th anniversary of the November 4 assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Lay aside, for the moment, Trimbobler's stated intention to someday tell her son, not that his lifer father Yigal was a murderer, but that he "sacrificed himself for his people." Forget all that for now.

Consider instead, that like any carnival sideshow, the Movement for the Beatification of Yigal Amir has its lessons for all of us. One of them is this: It was Yigal Amir who paved the way for the disengagement from Gaza.

The fact is that, there was general agreement across Israeli society - among hardliners and centrists as well as leftists - that the only right that Yigal Amir deserved in prison, was the right to remain silent.

But for many on the left, slamming the dungeon door on Yigal Amir didn't go nearly far enough. Following the 1995 assassination, the rage of the left - as well as its guilt over its often waffling support of Rabin - was so all-consuming, that it was not enough for its members to see Yigal Amir apprehended, indicted, convicted and imprisoned for the rest of his natural life.

The left wanted to see the right as a whole punished for the murder. The left wanted to see the right as a whole suffer for the crime. The left was willing to wait as long as necessary to see the right punished. Ten years later, the left would get its chance.

When Ariel Sharon floated the notion of expelling all settlers from the Gaza Strip and several settlements in the West Bank, the left kept quiet about the longterm wisdom of Israel taking unilateral actions that bypassed the Palestinian Authority.

How better to pain the right, than to erase entire swaths of the settlement enterprise. How better to pierce the very heart of the national religious right, than to use the Israel Defense Forces to oversee the expulsion of settler families, the demolition of settler homes, the dismantlement of settler schools, synagogues, hothouses, farms and small businesses.

If revenge is a dish best served cold, you couldn't get much colder than the left. There was little concern for the plight and the fate of the settler deportees, the baffled and distraught children, the deeply betrayed teens, the suddenly unemployed and homeless parents.

The right was finally paying the price for the assassination, and the left was there to watch every moment, live and in color, by satellite.

There was little speculation on the left as to the potential consequences of the act, the effect it might have on the rise of Hamas, the chance that jihadists would exploit the pullout to attack Sderot and other border towns, kibbutzim and moshavim within Israel.

There was little willingness on the left and among leftists in the media, to go after the prime minister over a long series of corruption suspicions. After all, this was Ariel Sharon, of all people, the vaunted champion of the right, the very symbol of settlement expansion, who was taking the settlement movement apart, red roof tile by red roof tile.

Now, after a dozen years of beseeching the right for failing to search its soul over the assassination, it is high time for the left itself to look inward. Instead of monitoring and magnifying the every word and deed of the Judeo-fascist, the left should consider reaching out to and aiding the Judeo-fascists' unintended victims, the Gaza settlers, whose abandonment, trauma and continued vulnerability to Qassam attack, have served to give Israeli society serious misgivings about any future territorial concessions and settler relocation.

The peace process, if it is to begin again, must begin, at least in part, at home. If its fate is to remain stalled indefinitely, the only victors on our side will be Mr. and Mrs. Yigal Amir, and their rat pack of hagiographers.

May Yitzhak Rabin's memory be for a blessing. And for lessons we all need to learn.

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  1.   stupid article 09:49  |  Yigal 30/10/07
  2.   Bradely`s Conspiracy Theories 10:01  |  David 30/10/07
  3.   Don`t whine, Yigal, your prison is kosher too 10:07  |  Yitzhak 30/10/07
  4.   Oh just convert alread to Islam, Mr. Burston. 10:12  |  SLAVO 30/10/07
  5.   Tear down the arab version of UN 242 10:13  |  Joseph E . 30/10/07
  6.   Argggggg! Is this mess of a person even Jewish?? 10:13  |  GrossedOut 30/10/07
  7.   what facism means ? 10:18  |  Atilla 30/10/07
  8.   Logical connections? 10:30  |  Sherlock Holmes 30/10/07
  9.   The Assassination of Rabin Was A Shocking Crime 10:39  |  Tim R 30/10/07
  10.   DON`T PUSH IT TOO FAR, WE`RE PRETTY STRONG 10:42  |  Indrajaya 30/10/07
  11.   Judeo-fascism is slightly more widespread, Bradley. 10:49  |  Michael 30/10/07
  12.   Bradley`s version of `Perfected Jews" 10:54  |  Joseph E . 30/10/07
  13.   Atilla, what Turks do to Kurds is Otto-Fascism, agree? 10:56  |  Genuine Tosefta 30/10/07
  14.   The Neo-Judeo-Fascist Rabin started an uncalled for era 11:03  |  Genuine Tosefta 30/10/07
  15.   IT WILL TURN AGAINST YOU (2nd TRY, EDITED) 11:07  |  indrajaya 30/10/07
  16.   INDRARAT is back and fresh from the latest Islamo-Fascism convent 11:12  |  Genuine Tosefta 30/10/07
  17.   "Islamo-Fascism" and "Judeo-Fascism" = Stupid terms 11:13  |  Swiss (Dino) 30/10/07
  18.   Haaretz makes Der Stürmer look like a "pro-Jewish" paper 11:16  |  Haaretz SNAFU 30/10/07
  19.   For the sake of his people 11:20  |  Choni Davidowitz 30/10/07
  20.   The Left did not wait ten years 11:26  |  Joseph E . 30/10/07
  21.   Bradley, it was not the leftists who..... 11:28  |  Yaakov Sullivan 30/10/07
  22.   Larissa Trimbobler is Judeo-Fascism? 11:32  |  Jonathan S 30/10/07
  23.   Very cool article 11:33  |  Paul E 30/10/07
  24.   what does this article mean? 11:41  |  Seth 30/10/07
  25.   #13 Please pay attention to Indrajaya 11:43  |  FOX 30/10/07
  26.   Islam uber Alas, Dino 11:51  |  FOX 30/10/07
  27.   Well Spoken, Bradley 11:56  |  Yehudit 30/10/07
  28.   #7 what was shocking tim was it was after the event 12:00  |  victor hardman 30/10/07
  29.   Excellent article~!!! 12:02  |  akiva (zionist) 30/10/07
  30.   Indrajaya, always with the taunting! 12:08  |  akiva (zionist) 30/10/07
  31.   It`s Judeo-Fascism Month in Israel 12:08  |  Sam Popack 30/10/07
  32.   Swiss (Dino) 12:15  |  akiva (zionist) 30/10/07
  33.   To Indrajaya and Bradley 12:17  |  Paul E 30/10/07
  34.   # 21, FOX 12:25  |  indrajaya 30/10/07
  35.   #13 Take a hike. Americans wont be threatened 12:31  |  Petra 30/10/07
  36.   #30 Paul More Arabic humor? 12:35  |  Petra 30/10/07
  37.   Let the term be forgotten, along with its creators the neocons 12:36  |  Tosefta 30/10/07
  38.   Israel Left-right 12:41  |  Avi Yerushalmi 30/10/07
  39.   What do you mean with "month"? 12:52  |  John 30/10/07
  40.   # 13 Indy on Islamo-fascism 13:00  |  Lynn 30/10/07
  41.   # 38, LYNN 13:18  |  indrajaya 30/10/07
  42.   SHAME ON OU HAARETZ...INDRAJAYAYA THREATENS JEWS AND YOU 13:20  |  GrossedOut 30/10/07
  43.   Judaism never sanctifies death, Islam does. 13:35  |  Tom Bell 30/10/07
  44.   Jonathan of Frankfurt on the Massacres #20 13:38  |  Yaakov Sullivan 30/10/07
  45.   Bradley`s Idiocy 13:45  |  Norman Cone 30/10/07
  46.   to : Geniune Tosefta 13:49  |  Atilla 30/10/07
  47.   #31 To Paul E 13:51  |  Hastaroth 30/10/07
  48.   burston`s article is just a rehash of old issues,old terminology, 14:06  |  lakshmi 30/10/07
  49.   B.B. 14:08  |  Walid 30/10/07
  50.   term facism 14:10  |  Tristan 30/10/07
  51.   what a clown!!!! 14:10  |  Ben Uziel 30/10/07
  52.   Mother-fascism? Feather-cloud-fascism? Milk-man-fascism? 1) 14:27  |  zmogus 30/10/07
  53.   Ben Uziel and the Goldsteinns, Amir and the spouse 14:32  |  Yaakov Sullivan 30/10/07
  54.   Yearly festival of hate 14:32  |  Saul Mashbaum 30/10/07
  55.   "Judeo-Fascism" : DENOUNCE BRADLEY AS AN ANTI-SEMITE 14:37  |  JACKAL 30/10/07
  56.   *8 Indrajaya 14:42  |  going too far 30/10/07
  57.   Please confirm, Mr. hardman 14:52  |  Murray 30/10/07
  58.   Mother-fascism? Feather-cloud-fascism? Milk-man-fascism? 2) 14:53  |  zmogus 30/10/07
  59.   Beautifull article 14:55  |  Edith 30/10/07
  60.   There is a fascist in each and everyone of us 15:08  |  Edith 30/10/07
  61.   Balanced and fair 15:17  |  Gene 30/10/07
  62.   #55bjorn-YOU`RE PART RIGHT. IT`S VERY MUCH LIKE THE 30`s FOR JEWS 15:26  |  Mitch Iginer 30/10/07
  63.   Judeo-Fascism Awareness Month 15:30  |  MIKE 30/10/07
  64.   Bradley will do anything for a story 15:36  |  Mark 30/10/07
  65.   Bradley will do anything to make his deadline 15:40  |  MarkC 30/10/07
  66.   Walid 15:42  |  ODP1 30/10/07
  67.   Rage of the Left Brings Darkness 15:46  |  B 30/10/07
  68.   Judeo-Fascism is Real 15:51  |  dan 30/10/07
  69.   Jew-Hatred in Islam #42 15:54  |  Jonathan S 30/10/07
  70.   Action is in hand against Haaretz and Bradley for incitement 15:59  |  Judge R. Denholm 30/10/07
  71.   The irony of facists 16:07  |  FOX 30/10/07
  72.   #9 Michael: Jew- and Israel-hatred is also slightly more widespre 16:22  |  Yonatan 30/10/07
  73.   # 24 FOX /30 akiva (zionist) (1) 16:23  |  Swiss (Dino) 30/10/07
  74.   #15 Swiss (Dino 16:24  |  Yonatan 30/10/07
  75.   Omigawd, James (Yaakov) Sullivan is back 16:26  |  Yonatan 30/10/07
  76.   #42 James Sullivan and "our ancestors" 16:36  |  Yonatan 30/10/07
  77.   # 24 FOX/ 30 akiva (zionist) (2) 16:37  |  Swiss (Dino) 30/10/07
  78.   Bjorn 55# 16:41  |  Cyasher 30/10/07