Thursday, March 15, 2007  Answering Joseph Massad  Joseph
Massad, an associate professor at Columbia University, wrote an
article for Al-Ahram Weekly and reprinted at Electronic Intifada
about Israel's "racism." Since he is far brighter than the
typical Neanderthal that writes for EI it is worthwhile to
review his argument and show that not only is Israel not racist,
but his claims amount to a form of anti-Semitism.  His thesis is
laid out in the first two paragraphs: Israel's struggle for
peace is a sincere one. In fact, Israel desires to live at peace
not only with its neighbours, but also and especially with its
own Palestinian population, and with Palestinians whose lands
its military occupies by force. Israel's desire for peace is not
only rhetorical but also substantive and deeply psychological.
With few exceptions, prominent Zionist leaders since the
inception of colonial Zionism have desired to establish peace
with the Palestinians and other Arabs whose lands they slated
for colonisation and settlemen