Israel's (the far-right government counter-parts to the Bush-Cheney cabal) continued immoral actions in Gaza put in jeopardy not just Israel, but Jews all over the world and not just to growing anti-Semitism and condemnation, but also to violence and retaliation. Here is a sampling:
UK:
Businessman Sir Alan Sugar and record producer Mark Ronson (right) feature on a list of high-profile British Jews who could be targeted after their names were published on an extremist website following Israel's assault on Gaza.
Other names listed include David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, and Lord Levy, the long-time friend of Tony Blair and former chief fundraiser for the Labour Party.
Brondesbury Park Synagogue was the target of an attempted arson attack this week as the Community Security Trust continued to warn Anglo-Jewry to be on its guard in the wake of Israel's anti-terror operation.
ANSA) - Rome, January 8 - A proposed consumer boycott of Israeli products, as a protest against the Israeli offensive in Gaza, has sparked outrage among politicians on both the right and left in the Italian capital who saw it as targeting the city's Jewish community.The proposal came from the Rome chapter of a small left-wing union in the retail services and food sector, Flaica CUB, which denied on Thursday that their initiative was in any way anti-Semitic.
''There does not exist nor will there ever be compiled any list of shops belonging to members of the Israeli community where shopping should be avoided,'' the union's local secretary Giancarlo Desiderati said.
''We have never singled out the Rome Jewish community, to which we express our support for their past suffering and whom we consider to be made up of honest and hard-working citizens,'' Desiderati said.
and:
Pope Benedict today condemned the use of violence by both Israel and Hamas in his annual speech to diplomats accredited to the Holy See. "Once again I would repeat that military options are no solution and that violence, wherever it comes from and whatever form it takes, must be firmly condemned," he said in an even handed address.
He rejected "hatred, acts of provocation and the use of arms" and deplored the renewed outbreak of violence in Gaza which was "provoking immense damage and suffering for the civilian population".
To express solidarity with the Palestinian people, Venezuela expelled Israel's ambassador, is organizing humanitarian aid, and has called on the international community to protest. In response, the Israeli government called Venezuela a terrorist state.
US:
CAMARILLO -- A Jewish preschool in Camarillo has been vandalized with swastikas and anti-Semitic phrases for the second time in a week and the fourth time in a year.
A parent discovered the hate messages Monday morning at the Gan Camarillo Preschool.
Last Wednesday, vandals etched black swastikas on the sidewalk in front of the school along with the words "white power."
The National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism (BNVCA) reported that in Paris and several other French cities, Jews have been targeted since the beginning of Israel's military operation.
Attackers launched two cars packed with petrol bombs at a synagogue in south-western city of Toulouse, Monday night, causing damage but no casualties. One car was set on fire and pushed by the other until it hit the door of the synagogue, at a time when about a dozen people were attending a class with a rabbi. The building caught fire but all those inside escaped unharmed.
Rostock, Germany - Stone-throwing vandals broke windows at a synagogue in the German city of Rostock overnight, police said Thursday, adding they had not yet identified the attackers. Several windows were broken, including a fanlight with a Star of David painted on it over the front door of the community centre. Police stepped up patrols near the centre. The port city of Rostock is part of eastern Germany, where neo-Nazi violence has been the most prevalent in recent years.
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That is just a small sampling, but you get the idea. Anyone openly defending this extreme and immoral attack by Israel's right-wing does not support Israel in particular or Jews in general. One cannot argue that the losing the moral position on the question of self-defense; losing allies all over the world; and seeing a spike in hate-crimes and open displays of anti-Semitism is a good thing.
Maybe if one is getting paid to argue such a anti-Jewish position - and it is an anti-Jewish position, then such an argument (as immoral as it is) makes some sense. But anyone else arguing in favor of Israel's suicide politics, is either themselves hoping for the destruction of Israel or is so steeped in American empire dreaming, that they have no idea the consequences that such violent arrogance produces.
As a Jew I am ashamed of what Israel is doing under the banner of my heritage. As an American, I am ashamed that the US has and continues to support this attack. As a person with a conscience, I am outraged. As a journalist, I am alarmed at the media censorship. As a human rights advocate, I demand that Israel stop.