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Showing posts from April 16, 2006

The Cigar Store Indian and the Israel Lobby

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The Liberty & Power blog on the History News Network had an interesting discussion on the Mearsheimer & Walt piece on the Israel Lobyy . These comments by Aster Francesca caught my attention: I don't trust M&W at all. This piece presents all the classic elements of anti-semetic conspiracy theory- Jews with vast financial power secretively manipulating 'our' society. Now, there's nothing in the article which is prima facie anti-semitic and M&W scrupulously just lay out a factual case which just *happens* to coincide with the world as viewed according to the hoariest old hatreds and stereotypes. What makes me very suspicious of the authors is that they must know this, and yet write their piece in the cute, dissembling dispassion of academic postivism as if they are totally oblivious to the cultural resonance of their theory. They give a few 'we are not antisemitic' statements, scrupulously portray their concepts and generalisations as particular,