Easterbrook redux
: A super Charles Krauthammer column today on l’affaire Easterbrook. He says, as many of us have — and as Easterbrook has, too — that he expressed himself stupidly and that was wrong. But…
What is going on here? Jews are being attacked in Germany. Synagogues are being torched in France. Around the world, Jews — such as Daniel Pearl — are hunted and killed as Jews. The prime minister of Malaysia tells an Islamic summit that “1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews. . . . We are up against a people who think . . . they have now gained control of the most powerful countries. . . . We cannot fight them through brawn alone” — and gets a standing ovation from the heads of state of 57 countries. And amid all this, the Anti-Defamation League feels the need to wax indignant over a few lines on a Web log? …
Nonetheless, the idea of destroying someone’s reputation and career over a single slip of this type is not just ridiculous, but vindictive.
And hugely beside the point. The world is experiencing the worst resurgence of anti-Semitism in 50 years. Its main objective is the demonization and delegitimization of Israel, to the point that the idea of eradicating, indeed obliterating, the world’s only Jewish state becomes respectable, indeed laudable. The psychological grounds for the final solution are being prepared.
That’s anti-Semitism.
Easterbrook has apologized. Leave him alone.
: UPDATE: See Steven I Weiss’ cover story in Jewsweek: “Gregg Easterbrook’s not an anti-Semite…
…and the media just can’t figure out why. The anatomy of a blog controversy.”
