If you speak up against genocide in Palestine you are anti-semitic?? Like Dylan, I thought that Arabs were also a Semitic people?

There is a difference between being appalled by the gross human rights abuses of the Zionist state and being anti-semitic. Israel has a right to exist but so too does Palestine.

I am non-religious but not anti-religious, I couldn't care less what religion and culture individual's identify with, but I won't be silenced from expressing horror over atrocities for fear of being labelled - that counts for being labelled anti-Semitic for being horrified at the appalling lot of the Palestinian people just as much as it does for being labelled "racist" for speaking out against the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe.

Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist, put it like this:

"Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle East is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest"

BTW 1340 what genocide in Palestine?

can someone explain how an area of land that was 80% moslem came to be a jewish state? the moslems didn't get a vote?

this happened when i was young, and my understanding didn't go past thinking paul newman was great in 'exodus'. but there was a lot more to it, wasn't there?

how can israel have a right to exist, if it was built on theft and murder?

anti-semitism has many causes, but zionism is a real reason to condemn those jews who support it. as long as you condemn non-jewish supporters of zionism, i think you can escape charges of prejudice. so i do: the christian fundamentalists, and the american foothold strategists are rather more despicable, the 1st for idiocy, the 2nd for cynical exploitation of jewish hope in the service of american imperial plans.

DEMOS,

If you don’t believe Israel has a right to exist then you don't. Perhaps neither do Australia or the United States, both of which took the land from the natives.

For what it's worth here is my two cents worth.

No country has a right to exist. There is no such thing as a "right to exist."

In REALITY countries exist only for so long as they have the means and will to defend their territories against those that want to conquer it. If they lose either the means or the ability the country ceases to exist. The strictures of so-called "international law" notwithstanding, thus it has always been.

This has meant different things for different countries at different times. A small country like Belgium is fortunate to be surrounded by neighbours who have no interest in conquering it. But Belgium was not always so lucky. In 1940 the Germans did invade. Had other countries, notably the Soviet Union and the United States, not combined to defeat Germany there may have been no country of Belgium today.

Australia is a vast island-continent which has no land border with any other country. The only country that has the logistic capability to actually invade Australia is the US and the Americans aren't interested. So Australia is about as safe as it is possible for any country to be. (This induces in some Australians a kind of smug self-righteousness. Australians tend to be very critical of the actions of countries in a less fortunate geo-strategic situation).

In contrast to Australia and Belgium, Israel is a small country surrounded by enemies. It will survive so long as it has the ability and will to defend itself. When that ceases so will Israel. Of course so will Middle-Eastern oil supplies. It's difficult to pump oil in a radioactive environment.

Would Australia be different if it had a 1,000 km land border with Indonesia?

steven, you are singing my song. of course 'right' is just the other face of power. if zionist supporters would always be so frank, much time could be saved. neither will i argue for the moral quality of the european conquest of america and australia.

the problem arises in palestine that the conquest is far from over. the losers are neither dead nor resigned. when you consider the number of jews vs moslems in that area, and birth rates, i believe that zionism will be a 'brief' interregnum in palestinian history, in spite of current military superiority.

not only are zionists militaristic thugs, they are also quite likely to lose, as jewish babies don't spring out of the barrel of a gun. once you come to that conclusion, it seems sensible to negotiate a secular 'greater palestine' while you still enjoy a position of military superiority.

As a woolgrower usually found Jewish woolbuyers fair enough to deal with as long as you yourself were up to date with the day's prices.

Also have admiration for Jewish success in business, as well as their talents in the arts, including in the arts of both politics and science.

But do worry about Israel as a small nation with so much mental capacity and the need to still prove herself as a nation.

Further, Israel being so stragically armed by the US, as well as Jewish neo-cons having so much influence in the White House, leaves one with a very uneasy feeling.