John Greenfield,

Correct.

Is Antony Loewenstein a Jew? His surname reflects zip. If he is a Jew, one assumes he uses this to present some sort of "street cred". Very "yellow press". And what a way to get publicity. "I'm a Jew therefore 'I know' ... "I'm a Jew ... woe is me ..." The chattering masses lap this up ...

I don't question whether he is Jewish because of his comments about Israel - which on close reading are sophistry without substance - but because he shows none of the logic, knowledge and intelligence that I have come to associate with Jews.

He and Marilyn Shepherd read from the same page - which speaks volumes about his analytical skills and his selective use and abuse of facts. Never let facts get in the way of a good rant ...

Onya Marilyn....

You mentioned "semites are Arabs and Assyrians"

but what you didn't mention is that there has been an ongoing genocide against Christian Assyrians by Muslim Arabs and Kurds, such that today they almost don't exist.

The same anti Christian anti Jew mentality which has seen the virtual extinction of the Assyrians, is at work in Hamas and the various Palestinian groups.

Paul has spelt it out very clearly to you.. I've added....

You may consider this 'free therapy' :) we won't charge you for the healing.
Just don't go back and expose yourself to the same intellectual germs and visuses which we just now expunged from your mind.

To Cazza and david f:

A large proportion of the rabid anti-Israel nonsense that Marilyn so kindly offers us is either factually incorrect or totally unbalanced.

The sad thing is that she prefers to "post and run" - don't expect any response when you challenge her statements. She's long gone! I simply treat her failure to respond as an admission of defeat.

Paul L,

That was an excellent list of very relevant differences between the Israel-Palestine situation and the China-Tibet. Not all occupations are the same. Drawing simplistic analogies like Lowenstein does may be superficially appealing but it's hardly quality analysis.

One thing that would do the Palestinians the world of good would be to not allow terrorist organisations to set the course of the political agenda. Then let's talk about the evil Zionists and their lack of 'progressive thinking'. Isn't it obvious that the Palestinian majority support mass murder instead of attempting to find solution through diplomacy?. Why else would Hamas and Fatah be there?. 'Palestine' is a beaten 'nation'. The sooner they understand that Israel isn't going anywhere, and nothing will improve until they expel extremism and acknowledge that their territory is nothing more than a large camp of herded extremists. The only reason enclaves like Gaza still exist is because otherwise it would be an internal issue of security more so than with the added security of a border

I'm with you Marilyn,

We constantly hear bleating about the holocaust and how we must remember it to prevent it happening again. In every major city in the world millions are spent on memorials and museums to remember. But did this prevent Pol Pot or Rwanda? Where were the Jewish politicians screaming about preventing genocide? What about the Australian Jewish media - did they mount a campaign to condemn genocide? Just recently in Bosnia, did anyone hear anything about from Israel when the Bosnians were being ethnically cleansed? The answer is no, no and no. The brutal facts are that Jews only care about suffering when its Jewish.

We hear this constant bleating about poor Israel. Yet Israel gets more than 50% of US foreign aid for weaponry just to kill the Palesinians and hold on to illegal settlements. All the while millions of people around the world receive no US aid and die of starvation, and such basic diseases like dysentery. Where are the Jewish voices about suffering here? Once again, Jews seem to recognise suffering only when it's Jewish.

We hear constant bleating about poor Jews being discriminated against. Anti-Semitism has to be the most abused word in the history of the world. Jews are about the most educated, well-connected, politically active, and wealthiest minority in the world. There is no minority with more power or influence. Yet we constantly hear about their suffering. Give me a break. Thank God Jews never endured slavery like Africans or the living conditions of remote Aboriginals or we'd never hear the end of it.

There is enormous suffering in the world today. Millions endure hunger, poverty and early death from preventable diseases. I really couldn't care less about what happened 65 years ago. Israel is the most potent example of all that we don't learn from history. I think the real worry is that one day people might just wake up to this self obsessed minority and then there really might be anti-Semitism.

I see that the Israeli's have denied entry to Jimmy Carter for daring to talk to Hamas, another Israel invention so that Israel could deny Arafat. He went to Ramallah and even put a wreath on the grave of Arafat.

Judaism is just another cult for pete's sake yet we are expected to believe all sorts of drivel about them. In ancient times it could be understood if they were persecuted when they pronounced themselves the people of the god they made up for themselves. Today they would be laughed out of the room.

It's deranged. Last night I heard Background Briefing about the nutjob Haredi's. Violence, rioting, laziness, over breeding. State sponsored paupered violence by one small group of ultra-orthodox no better or different than the Taliban. Modest dress, no phones, no TV or radio, no work for dad, 8 or more kids for mum.

There are 14 million people in the world who claim they are jews, but what on earth is a jew.

And that nonsense about anti-semitism. A semite was originally a person who spoke a semitic language or a jew. The jews simply ignored everyone else covered by it to lambast everyone who didn't agree with them.

I am as tired of jews and their imaginary friends as I am of so-called christians, buddhists, muslims and all the others.