…”a complete idiot playing a leading role in Israeli politics”*
by Will, 1 March 2008
Reducing politics to an ideological, shitty little sophist practice — well that’s the job of HP Sauce Scum (who use Melanie fucking Phillips as a primary source for the defence — har-har — you could not make this shit up - you really couldn’t)!
Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai should resign immediately and fuck off. Then he should come back and fuck off again.
The idea that a minister can predict a Shoah in Gaza without invoking the spectre of the Holocaust is absurd.
The idea that the use of the word “Shoah” in this context does not invoke the spectre of the Holocaust is naive beyond belief.
Obviously I’ve checked this with Hebrew speakers and they confirm that it was a comment which was going inevitably to resonate with Holocaust analogy.**
Saturday 1 March 2008 at 2:32
“Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai should resign immediately and fuck off.”
agreed
Saturday 1 March 2008 at 6:54
Matan Vilnai was not advocating that Israel perpetrate a holocaust in Gaza, which is what you accuse him of. He was warning that any military operation by Israel in Gaza will result in heavy civilian casualties, even though Israeli forces would try to avoid inflicting them as much as possible. That is why he used that word, with its resonance; he wants the Hamas rulers to realize how dangerous is the game that they are playing when they launch thousands of rockets at Israeli towns and send bombers to murder Israeli civilians.
It is clear that Hamas would welcome a bloodbath. But that is not a reason for any Israeli minister to resign; rather, it is a reason for eliminating the Hamas leaders.
Saturday 1 March 2008 at 11:19
no one imagines he means it literally. he’s just a complete fucking idiot who has used a particular word in a context where it’s use can only give succor to Hamas and fits the Israel=Nazi Germany discourse so many enjoy spouting these days.
and I don’t want to hear anything about what that word might “really” mean in Hebrew. the fact is that anyone with a tither of wit, never mind a supposedly brainy government minister, should have been able to see the consequences of saying what was said and the use that would be made of it
Saturday 1 March 2008 at 14:59
A ludicrous comment that was obviously made consciously and oh how the loonies will love it. The sort of apologia on HP is unbelievable stupid. We need active engagement with reality not partisan bollocks on either side
To be pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli at the same time is not a contradiction.
http://www.ipcri.org/
Saturday 1 March 2008 at 16:16
“To be pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli at the same time is not a contradiction.”
It’s the only position worth taking.
HP Saucers have never given the same benefit of the doubt to Ahmadinejad or the Hizbullah or Hamas crazies when they’ve uttered similarly inflammatory comments. Then again, HP Saucers are for the most part racist.
Saturday 1 March 2008 at 18:32
… well, any site that appeals to that respected authority ‘Mad Mel’, a vile, despicable racist harpy … etc etc.
This is a gem gleaned from a recent foray:
Posted by: Islamo-obsessive at February 28, 2008 06:24 PM
Posted by: duh at February 28, 2008 06:42 PM
Sunday 2 March 2008 at 14:16
The loonies have already found the quote and they love it.
Yesterday I, accidentally, went to a meeting where Illan Pappe was speaking and one of the first audience questions was something along the lines of:
“Do you think that Matan Vilnai threatening a Holocaust on the Palestinians shows a new fascism is rising in the apartheid prison state?”
I don’t even know how to engage with that sort of idiocy.
Sunday 2 March 2008 at 21:52
“To be pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli at the same time is not a contradiction.”
My fear is that the Gadgie will be expelled from the blogosphere on the grounds that he is far too sane and insufficiently simple-minded for this sort of thing.
Thursday 6 March 2008 at 1:49
Graeme:
Vilnai was not uttering inflammatory remarks. He was talking about Hamas self-inflicting tragedy on their own constituents. Unfortunately for him, because there are so many jerks like you who want to paint him as Ahmadinejad’s moral equivalent who get to broadcast their opinions, along with David Hirsh and Eric Lee holding Vilnai to a standard they would not likely hold any other politician for using language that might be misconstrued by people who don’t need any help applying the worst possible motives is yet another example of vilifying Israelis, but from a quarter that ought to know better, his comments have become a shot heard round the world.
Thursday 6 March 2008 at 10:09
Funny … when Ahmedinejad suggested that Israel should be ‘wiped from the page of human history’ or whatever the exact words were, people didn’t seem nearly as willing to get to grips with the nuances of Farsi.