Siah
15-10-04, 10:00
Selective Justice is Discrimination
By Mike Whitney
Al-Jazeerah, October 15, 2004
The Congress just quietly passed a bill called the Global Anti-Semitism
Awareness Act, allegedly to stem the tide of recent acts of anti-Semitism in Europe and the Middle East.
Agence France reports that, “US Jewish organizations have hailed the final congressional approval of a bill that compels the State Department to create a special office to monitor anti-Semitic abuses around the world and compile annual reports rating countries on their treatment of Jews.”
The bill is completely unnecessary and should be an embarrassment to
American Jews. (and I’m sure it is) It only serves to reinforce the claims
that Congress gives preferential treatment to Jewish issues and ignores the conspicuous human rights violations to other ethnic and religious groups.
Not one Jew was detained after 9-11 when over 1500 Muslims were rounded up without charges and dispatched according to the arbitrary impulses of the Justice Dept.
Not one Jew is among the 600 plus detainees locked away in Rumsfeld’s
Guantanamo concentration camp, most of who have been there for nearly three years without any legal counsel.
And, no Jewish Americans who are being stripped of their constitutional
rights (like Yasir Hamdi and Jose Padilla) and either condemned to exile or kept in prison indefinitely.
The action of the Congress is the most despicable type of calculated
bigotry; the type that displays itself as concern for human rights. It is
patently racist and the moral equivalent of “cross burning”.
Let these same brave congressmen appear in a public forum and tell us what bold steps they are taking to defend civil liberties or human rights for everyone. (even while they pass additional sections of Patriot Act 2) Let them boast of how this new bill reduces discrimination and moves us in the direction of justice for all.
No, instead they will devote all their energies to defending the rights
of the “few and the powerful”.
Are Jews the victims of racism and sectarian hatred in America? Yes, to some extent, but it certainly does not rise to the level of
requiring a special office to address those modest concerns. On the other hand, the affects of racism directed at Hispanics, blacks and particularly Muslims is appalling, and yet, completely excluded from consideration under this bill.
The selective application of justice is not justice at all, but discrimination.
Predictably, all the usual fingerprints were on this odious bill; getting
the full approval of right-wing luminaries like ex-UN Ambassador Jeane
Kirkpatrick, Jack Kemp and the self promoting Abe Foxman, AIPAC’s answer to Johnny Cochran.
Funny, I can’t seem to recall any of these dignitaries expressing their
concern when Ashcroft was tossing hundreds Muslims in the slammer after 9-11?
Like Congress, their indignation manifests their deep-seated animosities
rather than any commitment to justice.
The bill now goes to Bush who will undoubtedly sign it amid the fanfare of a Rose Garden ceremonial. It will give Commander-in-Chief another
opportunity to expound on the evils of anti-Semitism, even while his orders for torture are still being carried out in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.
The hypocrisy could not be more transparent if he wore a white cowl to the ceremony.
By Mike Whitney
Al-Jazeerah, October 15, 2004
The Congress just quietly passed a bill called the Global Anti-Semitism
Awareness Act, allegedly to stem the tide of recent acts of anti-Semitism in Europe and the Middle East.
Agence France reports that, “US Jewish organizations have hailed the final congressional approval of a bill that compels the State Department to create a special office to monitor anti-Semitic abuses around the world and compile annual reports rating countries on their treatment of Jews.”
The bill is completely unnecessary and should be an embarrassment to
American Jews. (and I’m sure it is) It only serves to reinforce the claims
that Congress gives preferential treatment to Jewish issues and ignores the conspicuous human rights violations to other ethnic and religious groups.
Not one Jew was detained after 9-11 when over 1500 Muslims were rounded up without charges and dispatched according to the arbitrary impulses of the Justice Dept.
Not one Jew is among the 600 plus detainees locked away in Rumsfeld’s
Guantanamo concentration camp, most of who have been there for nearly three years without any legal counsel.
And, no Jewish Americans who are being stripped of their constitutional
rights (like Yasir Hamdi and Jose Padilla) and either condemned to exile or kept in prison indefinitely.
The action of the Congress is the most despicable type of calculated
bigotry; the type that displays itself as concern for human rights. It is
patently racist and the moral equivalent of “cross burning”.
Let these same brave congressmen appear in a public forum and tell us what bold steps they are taking to defend civil liberties or human rights for everyone. (even while they pass additional sections of Patriot Act 2) Let them boast of how this new bill reduces discrimination and moves us in the direction of justice for all.
No, instead they will devote all their energies to defending the rights
of the “few and the powerful”.
Are Jews the victims of racism and sectarian hatred in America? Yes, to some extent, but it certainly does not rise to the level of
requiring a special office to address those modest concerns. On the other hand, the affects of racism directed at Hispanics, blacks and particularly Muslims is appalling, and yet, completely excluded from consideration under this bill.
The selective application of justice is not justice at all, but discrimination.
Predictably, all the usual fingerprints were on this odious bill; getting
the full approval of right-wing luminaries like ex-UN Ambassador Jeane
Kirkpatrick, Jack Kemp and the self promoting Abe Foxman, AIPAC’s answer to Johnny Cochran.
Funny, I can’t seem to recall any of these dignitaries expressing their
concern when Ashcroft was tossing hundreds Muslims in the slammer after 9-11?
Like Congress, their indignation manifests their deep-seated animosities
rather than any commitment to justice.
The bill now goes to Bush who will undoubtedly sign it amid the fanfare of a Rose Garden ceremonial. It will give Commander-in-Chief another
opportunity to expound on the evils of anti-Semitism, even while his orders for torture are still being carried out in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.
The hypocrisy could not be more transparent if he wore a white cowl to the ceremony.