There are strong societal pressures not to refer to 'Jews'. This to some extent is understandable, given their history at the hands of others, perhaps mainly 'Christians', certainly in the last Century at least. But note the change of 'aura' and defensiveness around the two religious descriptors. Yes it is now politic to distinguish between 'Jew' and 'Zionist' as indeed it might be between 'Christian' and 'Fascist' but why should any of these terms be equated to terms of abuse and therefore proscribed? If a person claims to be a Christian or Jew (or any other religion or philosophical persuasion) why should the mention of it be automatically condemned? What we are dealing with here is the policing of thought and expression. If it was equally applied it may be defensible. It is applied unequally and arbitrarily, the clear purpose being to protect some and injure others in the arena of public opinion, so important to policy makers and political leaders. Religion is full of paradoxes and contradictions. What we may term 'the West' is predominantly of 'Christian' heritage and persuasion, yet it would be a brave person to claim that Christian principles are necessarily evident in either its domestic or foreign policy despite the fact they are often appealed to. We should not feel restrained in our ability to be critical of Tony Blair's decisions (for example) because he is a committed Roman Catholic or prevented from questioning how the one affects the other. And just as ambiguities exist within faiths they exist between them. Thus Christianity and Judaism have much in common but also many points of difference and antipathy. In this context it is interesting how practising Christians, particularly in America, have been overwhelmingly supportive of Israel, even when it can be seen to be practising unfair and inhuman acts. So in conclusion and I apologise for going on - "I didn't have the time to be more concise" - I reject the tactic used by powerful clandestine forces to stifle any criticism of persons or nations that claim to be Jewish simply by labelling it 'anti-semitic'. (It cannot be defended that there are persons currently in the news, that have apparently used it to their advantage to avoid criminal prosecution) Similarly Israel has used the ploy to avoid the sanctions that would otherwise be justified. I am no more anti-Jew than I am anti-Christian, but neither term can be allowed to stand in the way of discussing objective fact.
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