Translation: Arab Lovers. Leftists Disengaged [from reality?]
Another one I saw yesterday but don't yet have a picture says: Leftist Maniacs.
On my way home yesterday from work, I saw a billboard that was so out of place that I wished I had a camera to take a picture of it. It was so stupidly offensive against Israeli left-wingers that I couldn't believe I was seeing it.
Turns out, I was right. I couldn't believe it, because it was not put out to bash Israeli leftists, but to imply that an Israeli right wing organization was bashing Israeli leftists. Haaretz reports today that the radical left wing party, Meretz, put out this particular ad campaign to shock leftists out of their complacency. Good work guys!
I have 3 comments on this:
1. When a self-proclaimed "Zionist" party resorts to such depths of hatred to further their own agenda, you have to wonder if there's any remaining common denominator with them. Demonizing the right wing for a cheap, cynically political soundbyte is improper, immoral, and has no place in a Jewish state.
2. Attention pro-disengagement Jews: You have been cynically used by the Israeli left. As much as you honestly believe the disengagement was the right thing to do, your views will continue to be exploited by the radical left in Israel, whose real agenda is that of hatred and division. I will never forget hearing Meretz MK Ran Cohen saying 13 years ago, that after Israel finally abandons all of Yesha, the next step will be the secularization of Israel. Food for thought.
3. According to the Israeli law of "Sedition", Israeli Criminal (punishable) Law 1977, section 136, article 4; Definition of Sedition:
לעורר מדנים ואיבה בין חלקים שונים של האוכלוסין
"Arousing contention/strife and malice between different sections of the population"
Sounds like Meretz to me.
If we are going to ever continue any dialogue in this country and move forward with any common denominators, this sort of disgusting and venomous hatred must stop.
As much as the Left may despise the settler movement's activity; directing people's hatred at the right wing, instead of at the right wing's policies accomplishes nothing for the cohesiveness of our country and brings animosity to a new level.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael
16 comments:
I'm wholly unimpressed.
Parrot;
Unimpressed with the Meretz Ad campaign?
Unimpressed with my analysis and blogging of the subject?
All or some of the above, and then some?
The Campaign: particularly distressing to me as a past Meretz voter. And I think your post is very good.
Are you living here long enough to know anyone who has the money and the wherewithall to drag Beilin and Meretz through a well publicized court proceeding where a sound investigation of their comments and activities would be paraded for all to see, with heavily aggregated documented textual, audio and video evidence so deep that no one could deny how seditious, divisive, contentious, malicious and inciteful they are? (my - was that only one sentence?)
We've learned by now that it is all about money. Doesn't the Torah/Right world have enough dough to get moving on these kinds of things? Or is it being spent on million-dollar vacation homes. Beilin and his ilk deserve nothing less than to be put through the ringer, to be held accountable for propagandizing and brainwashing so many people here, turning them into Jew-haters and Arab sympathizers.
C'mon Jameel, what's the plan, man!
Yonah;
Since sedition is a criminal investigation, its up to the AG to decide on whether or not to pursue it. He'd probably say it's within the bounds of freedom of speech (though it never stops Israel from going after the rightwing, and despite the fact that there's a law on the books against this type of speech).
You are correct that alot of it is about the money. I think you mean the money that Beilin and Meretz get from the EU and the New Israel Fund to promote their policies.
I doubt there is much to do on a practical level, except spreading the word.
I thin Meretz will have a problem come the elections. It was a big mistake was to elect Yossi Beilin as leader because he's very much a "one trick pony" and since the PA elections, peace making won't be on the agenda. They should have chosen Ran Cohen who has a clear social agenda. The problem is that now Labour have a leader with a clear social agenda leading a party which unlike last time does not look like it will rip itself apart. So why should anyone have to vote for them?
This 'smeer' campaign is no better than teh scare tacttics of Likud's "kadima l'gvulot '67" or anything by Dubya in the last Septic elections.
My tuppence.
Yellow Boy
Jameel,
BTW I am fairly certain that Meretz don't get money from the NIF, but I am not sure what you mean by Beilin getting money from them. Care to clarify?
YB
YB: Actually, "Kadima Legvulot '67" is exactly about attacking a message, not the people.
Rewriting it to make it equivalent would be: "Kadima L'gevulot 67 so the bastard Leftists don't destory the country" (I'm only writing that to make a point, please pardon the invective)
Regarding NIF: There's this over here: http://israel.net/timetospeak/26.htm
...and I thought it was public knowledge. I'll see what I can dig up. I'll be more than happy to clarify my findings
Jameel,
-ECF, whoever they receive money from, is neither "Beilin" nor "Meretz." They are an independent not-for-profit.
-Plenty of MKs, past and present, are involved in, or even head, not-for-profit organizations with agendas. On BOTH sides.
-That link you've provided is slanted, bordering on libellous, definitely not to be relied upon as an objective source of information about the Israeli non-profit world.
In Jerusalem once i saw graffiti that said (sorry no Hebrew, my computer is broken) laKahanistim yeish zayin qetantan!
Jameel,
Sorry, I disagree. "Kadima l'gvulot '67" is only attacking the message if that is Kadima's message. Now admittedly I have not yet seen any of their campaign literature (I'm not even sure if they have any yet, officially I think they only really started campaigning today), but I would be very surprised if that's their line.
The Likud are scaremongering and attempting to play on peoples' fears and prejudices, just like Meretz with these stupid posters.
Yellow Boy
YB: You may be right concerning the Likud's attmepts to play on people's fear and prejudices, but Meretz is playing on (and encouraging) people's hatred and divisiveness.
We can disagree, but most people that I spoke to who have seen this ad were pretty disgusted with it.
Parrot: The site I found above was the first one that popped up in google. I've heard this before, so I will look for more sources tomorrow.
Jameel,
I wrote a similar post last night.
http://joesettler.blogspot.com/2006/01/have-you-insulted-leftist-lately.html
I drove around the GD region today, and saw some even more extreme versions of their signs, as well as versions with explanations at the bottom.
I guess when your basic identity is defined around hate, the message eventually comes through.
I'll try to post a blog later about my further conversations with my leftist friends on the real reason they want us out of Hebron (and Amona).
I'll save you the time and assure you that you won't find any evidence that NIF or the EU support anything beyond the various NPO's that the politicians are involved in.
(And of course you know that there are plenty of NPOs which involve politicians of the other extreme, which are funded by similar bodies and can also objectively be considered anti-something... But we could argue this for days, if you like)
Just for the record Jameel, I have no particular allegiance to Likud or Meretz. I think both sets of ads are equally cheap and pathetic.
YB
The world of politics at its best...ugly.
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