Ben-Dror Yemini: “Lies are the measure of anti-Zionism”
Author of the book “The Industry of Lies,” the 67-year-old Tel Aviv writer warns Europe against anti-Semitism disguised as ideals
Ben-Dror Yemini was born in Tel Aviv on February 17, 1954 to a Yemenite Jewish family. He studied humanities and history at the University of Tel Aviv, after which he graduated in law.
After graduating, he worked as an advisor to the Israeli Minister of Immigration Absorption, later becoming its spokesman.
In 1984, he began his career as a journalist. His book “Political Punch” is a critique of politics and society in Israel. Starting in 2003 and until 2014, Yemini was the editor of the opinion page of “Maariv”.
Thirty years later, Ben-Dror began writing for the “Yedioth Ahronoth” newspaper. In that same 2014, he authored the essay “The Industry of Lies,” in which he expresses his views on the anti-Israel narrative by far-left groups.
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לקראת פגישה עם ראש עיריית סקרמנטו (בירת קליפורניה), הקהילה היהודית ואורחים נוספים ומרתקים, במסגרת משלחת של שאראקה. הסיפור המלא ביום שישי הבא sharakango@ pic.twitter.com/HMGH13t0v2
— Ben-Dror Yemini (@BDYemini) November 12, 2021
Most of his journal articles are intended to refute what he considers to be anti-Israel claims. He has published articles on the conflict between Jerusalem and the Arab world, in which he examines issues of genocide, refugees, Palestinian and Arab capital, the status of Israeli Arabs, multiculturalism, and the social stigma of women.
He argues that “anti-Zionism is politically correct anti-Semitism.”
And he adds, in a maximum synthesis of his value horizon: “In the same way that Jews have been demonized, Israel is demonized; in the same way that the right of Jews to exist has been denied, the right to self-determination is denied to Israel; and in the same way that Jews have been presented as a threat to the world, Israel is presented as a threat to the planet”.
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What is the difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism? Is there a clear line of demarcation where the former ends and the latter begins?
“This is a central question that confuses many people. One day an American judge said, ‘I can’t define what pornography is but I know it when I see it.’ I think the same applies to anti-Semitism. The question one has to ask when wondering whether a behavior or phrase is anti-Semitic or simply critical of Israel is, ‘are they lying or not?’ If someone criticizes Israel without lying and with an honest spirit then it is healthy criticism. For example, it is more than legitimate to criticize occupation policies, as on the other hand many Israelis do. If instead Israel is attacked through lies, then it is no longer an honest criticism but a specious attempt to delegitimize the country and its Jewish character as such. This is where anti-Semitism begins.”
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Is anti-Semitism widespread on the European left?
“Some on the left believe they can say anything. One should not generalize, there is in fact a big difference between the anti-Semitic left and those who really fight for social justice. However, it must be acknowledged that the lies I was talking about earlier are not marginal in the pro-Palestinian left that is actually and anti-Israel. It encourages Palestinians to maintain their rejection of Israel, which they would not do if they did not have this kind of international support. In doing so they perpetuate the suffering of the Palestinians and slow down the peace process. This is not a marginal phenomenon, but a widespread sentiment among intellectual elites who take on anti-Semitic attitudes without often even realizing it. They say they are against the existence of any nation-state, but then they mobilize against only one of them: Israel and its Jewish character. They deny Israel the right to exist and demand the right of self-determination of the Palestinians without respecting that of the Jews”.
Many left-wing parties in several European countries have created some sort of alliance with radical Muslim movements….
“There are several cases of convergence between the extreme left and jihadism. The far left stands so side by side with people who are against human rights and women’s rights. Jihadists talk openly about the extermination of the Jews, as one of the leaders of Hamas said recently. If you side with these movements, you give them credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of the Palestinians and thus boycott the peace and reconciliation process. At the end of the day you are against the Palestinians because you perpetuate their suffering in the current situation.”
The inhumanity of the first revolutionaries germ of catastrophes
לפני למעלה מעשור הופעתי עם אורי זכי בארה”ב, כשהיה שליח “בצלם”. גם אז, גם בהמשך, זכי היה ונותר ציוני אדוק.
בשנים האחרונות “ציונות” מזוהה עם הימין. במובן הזה, המינוי של זכי ליו”ר מרכז הרצל הוא מינוי חשוב. ציונות היא מכנה משותף. גם של רוב הימין. גם של חלק גדול מהשמאל pic.twitter.com/j0rxAylunu— Ben-Dror Yemini (@BDYemini) September 22, 2021
So you are referring mainly to the links between European politics and the Muslim Brotherhood?
“You Europeans do not realize the danger you run by linking yourselves to these movements, jihadists and radicals. In the Arab world, on the other hand, there are now many voices, even important ones, that rise up against Islamism. This is also because they touch the consequences with their own hands. The Islamists kill above all other Muslims, who represent 98% of the victims of the global jihad”.
Part of the Israeli left sees in right-wing extremism the greatest threat to Jews in Europe and accuses Netayahu of having strengthened it through his endorsements to populist parties. What do you think about this?
“I don’t like the connections Netanyahu has had with Viktor Orban and the leaders of other European populist movements. However, I see that some European leaders, starting with Federica Mogherini, are going to visit Tehran. So I say: don’t lecture us. You cooperate with regimes much darker than Orban’s Hungary.”
(this in-depth article belongs to a special reportage realized by the journalist Luca Steinmann for the Italian newspaper “La Verità”)
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