Ali Abunimah runs the Electronic Intifada blog, which prides itself on anti-Zionist agitation.
This week, Abunimah is upset at the leader of Free Gaza, Greta Berlin, who recently claimed that Jews were running the concentration camps and the Holocaust.
Abunimah does not believe Berlin’s excuses, and demands an explanation for her words, basically accusing her of not telling the truth, and promoting racism. Reading this piece, Abunimah shows how Greta Berlins explanation is a lie, and really leaves her no room for manoeuvre.
Here’s the thing. Abunimah’s title is strangely subdued: “Greta Berlin’s statement is not correct”. What statement? If you didn’t know what Berlin had said about Jews and Nazis, you wouldn’t be remotely interested in Abunimah’s post.
This tells me that Abunimah is engaging in damage limitation, because he sees how unattractive this kind of aggressive anti-Zionism really looks, when it is so obviously racist. So I’m not sure he really believes what he’s saying.
Furthermore, Electronic Intifada still lists Sonja Karkar as an author. This is what Karkar says about Jews:
Is Holocaust II (shorthand for another great turning against the Jews) inevitable? Yes unless the Jews of Europe and America distance themselves from the Zionist monster before it’s too late to do so.
I think that’s just as bad as what Berlin says, but Abunimah doesn’t seem to mind.
Electronic Intifada recently published Stephen Salaita.
Stephen Salaita is a fan of the antisemite Gilad Atzmon. Atzmon is an unashamed antisemite who thinks that Shylock and Fagin are authentic representations of Jews, and who has floated the poisonous notion that, were Israel to attack Iran, it would prove that Hitler was right all along.
Ali Abunimah himself has condemned Atzmon for years for antisemitism. Whilst dismissing Atzmon, Abunimah claimed “We must protect the integrity of our movement”. But he still lets one of Atzmon’s admirers write on his blog.
Abunimah also publishes Ben White, who wants to boycott Jews based on the fact he dislikes Howard Jacobson’s face.
Abunimah also encouraged a young blogger who envisaged killing Zionists in a bloodbath, to carry on writing about Israel and ignore his critics.
The pattern is noticeable.
