An oh-so-polite and oh-so-fairminded anti-Semite

Anti-Semites are nothing if not eager to justify themselves, so when I write about anti-Semitism I invariably receive correspondence such as the below, in which an obvious anti-Semite, imagining himself not to be one, engages in a parody of rationality, while also, after I initially told him to go away, trying to sound very polite and respectful.

A reader writes:

Mr. Auster

White America has to watch, listen to and mentally absorb non-stop anti-white propaganda put out by Jewish screenwriters, commentators, activists and spokespeople 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year – and you guys have a hissy fit because a few Jews have to endure the presence of “anti-semites” for a few hours at the American Renaissance conference?

Give me a break!

And by the way – what exactly qualifies one to be an “anti-semite” these days anyway? Please inform me because the term seems to be in a state of flux lately. I’m sure most of you would say that David Duke and Kevin Alfred Strom are anti-semites. But what about Joe Sobran and Kevin McDonald? Would you actually call them – or more accurately, brand them – as anti-semites and condemn them to the public relations hell that this term inflicts upon people?

I say there needs to be a new word to describe those individuals who do not “hate” Jews but who DO criticize and call attention to negative Jewish behavior and influence. I’ve personally started using the word “Semitically-Critical”. How’s that guys? Is that moderate enough for you? Or should there be NO WORD that legitimizes people who are critical of Jewish behavior?

Please let me know.

LA to reader:

You should post this at American Renaissance, where it belongs.

Reader to LA:

Mr Auster

Thanks for the suggestion.

I’ve read some great writing from you and I respect your intelligence, so I guess I’m actually curious to know what YOU think rather than AR. Would you agree that there needs to be a descriptive term (“semitically-critical” or whatever) that describes someone who criticizes or calls attention to negative Jewish behavior and influence—yet does not “hate” or wish harm to Jews?

How do white gentiles go about explaining to other white gentiles why thier society is changing and why white people are being demonized on thier TV sets? I agree that not ALL Jews are responsible for this- but so many are, it’s impossible to ignore. Like it or not, the dynamic is there.

The average white (who may not be as smart as you or I) needs an expanation to understand why this has happened to thier nation and why it continues to happen. And yes, prehaps the Jews DO need to feel a little threatened, a little insecure, a little uneasy about pushing for open borders, donating to the ADL or putting pro-miscegenation messages on primetime TV. Right now, it seems as if the Jews can say or do anything against white gentiles without any consequences. What if suddenly there WERE consequences? Would that at least bring them to the table and start talking to us (thier neighbors for the last hundred years) as human beings again???

Again Mr. Auster, I do have great respect for your writing and your opinions. So please tell me—do you actually think that NO ORGANIZATION should SPECIFICALLY TARGET the Jews for their anti-white activism? If not, can you give me a reason WHY not?

Respectfully,

LA to reader:

You referred to about 100 people at the AR meeting who gleefully applauded at the suggestion that Israel would not survive, not as anti-Semites, but as “anti-semites,” in scare quotes. Those are people who openly hate Jews and wish harm to Jews as Jews. Yet you put “anti-semites” in scare quotes. Denying the existence of anti-Semitism is something anti-Semites do.

You pretend to be interested in the difference between anti-Semitism and legitimate criticism of Jews. Anyone who reads my site would know that this is a major theme of mine. Yet you don’t understand that at all, because you actually think that the behavior of the anti-Semites at the conference was “legitimate criticism” and that people who were upset about it (both Jews and non-Jews) were having a “hissy fit.”

Also, your description of the ills of American society and the attack on the whites is an anti-Semitic cartoon, in which only Jews are doing this, and not the entire cultural and political establishment of white West, the great majority of which is non-Jewish.

In short, you’re an anti-Semite going through the motions of being a rational and thoughtful person.

Don’t waste any more of my time.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at April 18, 2006 05:18 PM | Send