Antisemitism club
This polemical term describes a reasoning of usually Jewish circumcision advocates to accuse critics of circumcision, circumcision opponents and intactivists lump-sum anti-Semitism.
This club has been swung very sharply in the circumcision debate in various countries:
Examples
Denmark
- Rabbi Lexner told Kristeligt Dagblad, “A ban on circumcision is equivalent to saying to those that have practiced Judaism in Denmark for 400 years that they may as well leave.”[1]
- In a longer article titled "The Scandal of Scandinavia", Jewish author Liam Hoare from the UK pulled out all the stops to lump all alleged or actual cases of anti-Semitism again and again with the circumcision of boys.[1]
(IntactiWiki comment: The rhetorical means of throwing as much dirt as possible hoping that something sticks, should not have failed for many readers. Repeatedly talking about circumcision and anti-Semitism in the same context can be seen as framing.) - Fin Rudaizky, a former leader of the Jewish community in Denmark, claimed that in addition to children’s welfare activists, “many others use the situation to show that they are against Jews, Muslims, and they can express anti-Semitism and xenophobia without admitting to it.”[2]
- Henri Goldstein, the president of the Jewish Community in Denmark, has said the potential ban represents “the worst threat since World War II” to the country’s Jews.[3] This suggests that the Danes would be as bad as the Nazi Germans if they passed the circumcision ban.
- Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, leader of the Social Democrats, cited a historic promise made to the Scandinavian country’s small Jewish minority to shield them from harm. In Frederiksen’s view, the European legacy of antisemitism, persecution, and the Holocaust demand a leniency toward Jews not afforded others, even if she herself finds the ancient custom “difficult to fathom.” Opponents of circumcision have accused the PM of “playing the Nazi card.”[4]
- Rabbi Andrew Baker is the current American Jewish Committee’s director of international Jewish affairs. In a commentary on Religion News Service (RNS) he links the protection of male children against forced genital mutilation with anti-Semitism, by saying: "As European governments have woken to the need to fight anti-Semitism, they should adopt a common approach to guarantee this religious practice."[5]
Germany
- The President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, threatened emigration of all Jews from Germany and called the Chancellor, fractions and prime ministers of all provinces to bring a law "immediately after the summer break" on the way that still allows circumcision. This way he assumed all circumcision critics lump sum to want to create a situation where Jews could not longer live in Germany.[6]
- The President of the federation of European rabbis, rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt from Moscow, put the Cologne judgment in connection with the Nazi ban of the Shechita and calls it "the heaviest attack on Jewish life since the Holocaust". Thus he assumed sweeping all the people who keep the Cologne decision right, Nazis, and thus set politians massively under pressure.[7]
- Israel's Vice Prime Minister Silvan Schalom said the banning of religious circumcision would mean "Jews out!". He also equates all critics of circumcision with Nazis, thereby pressuring policymakers massively.[8]
- Israel's Interior Minister Eli Jishai, head of the strictly religious Shas party, called on Chancellor Merkel to immediately end the criminalisation of circumcision. "Jews in Germany should not be forced to have to choose between compliance with national or divine laws." He assumed all who work for genital self-determination of boys to confront anti-Semitism against the Jewish religion and also called to the fact that Jews in Germany should not stop at national laws.[9]
- Israel's President Schimon Peres called Federal President Gauck to promote circumcision for religious reasons. "The Brit Milah (circumcision) is a Jewish ritual. Since thousands of years, it is central to Jewish identity and makes a Jew." This way he imputed that all critics of circumcision would not accept to exhibit a Jewish religious tradition over national law, due to their anti-Semitism.[10]
- Charlotte Knoblauch, former President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, asked very provocative: "Do you want us Jews yet?" and therefore insinuates that all circumcision critics want Jews to leave Germany. This way she set politicians massively under pressure.[11]
- The Berlin rabbi Yitzhak Ehrenberg mentioned in September 2012 at a rally in Berlin, referring to his recent visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp, the sufferine of one and a half million babies and children torn from their mothers in the murder factories of the Nazis, tortured and murdered - this is the physical destruction, so Ehrenberg. What however now is demanded in Germany that boys should decided at the age of 18 whether they be circumcised or not - Ehrenberg continued - is from a religious perspective even worse than the physical destruction.[12] Thus he not only relativized the Holocaust, but referred all intactivists board as worse than the Nazi SS.
- The same Yitzhak Ehrenberg said in an N24 interview on October 5, 2012 to Michel Friedman, circumcision critics were primitive, because they believe that they came from the trees of the jungles (monkeys). And because they were all atheists, they are automatically antireligious for him and therefore anti-Semitic.[13]
Iceland
- To foil the Icelandic circumcision ban initiative, Jewish leaders developed a new three pronged approach: In addition to pressure from Jewish communities, other religious minorities were asked to join the fight. Also international economic interests were brought into the mix, by reaching out to US politicians one of Iceland’s top five export destinations. “We employed economic interests, letting Iceland know that passing this law will have political and maybe also economic implications,” noted Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, President of the Conference of European Rabbis, who also promoted the campaign.[14]
(Note: Even in 2020, the Icelandic law proposal hasn't been stopped yet.) - The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is openly threatening to destroy the Icelandic tourism industry with fake anti-Semitism allegations if Iceland would prohibit genital mutilation in children.[15].
References
- ↑ a b Hoare L. The Scandal of Scandinavia. The Tower Magazine. April 2013; Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ↑ (18 June 2018)."As Denmark considers a ban on circumcision, some Jews consider leaving", The Times of Israel. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ↑ (13 September 2020)."Netanyahu thanks Danish prime minister for opposition to circumcision ban", The Times of Israel. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ↑ Lybech, Rasmus (30 September 2020)."Denmark’s proposed circumcision ban will make Jewish life ‘untenable’", Forward. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ↑ (19 November 2020)."Banning circumcision is an unnecessary bar to Jewish belonging in Europe", Religion News Service. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ↑ (29 July 2012)."Zentralrat sieht das Judentum in Deutschland gefährdet" [Central Council sees Judaism in Germany at risk] (German). Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ↑ (8 August 2012)."„Schwerster Angriff auf das jüdische Leben seit dem Holocaust“" ["Most serious attack on Jewish life since the Holocaust"] (German). Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ↑ (19 November 2012)."Beschneidungsverbot heißt „Juden raus“" [Circumcision ban means "Jews out"] (German). Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ↑ (23 August 2012)."Beschneidung: Ruf nach Merkel-Machtwort aus Israel" [Circumcision: Call for Merkel's power word from Israel] (German). Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ↑ (24 August 2012)."Beschneidungsdebatte – Peres bittet Gauck um Hilfe" [Circumcision debate - Peres asks Gauck for help] (German). Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ↑ (25 September 2012)."Wollt ihr uns Juden noch?" [Do you still want us Jews?] (German). Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ↑ (24 September 2012)."Verunglimpfungen statt Argumente?" [Disparagements instead of arguments?] (German). Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ↑ (5 October 2012).
Friedman schaut hin - Beschneidung in Deutschland
[Friedman looks - circumcision in Germany] (German). Retrieved 25 December 2020. - ↑ (2 May 2018)."Rabbis celebrate squashing of Iceland's mooted circumcision ban", i24 News. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ↑ Donkz 1.0 (HviturAsni) (6 September 2019).
Here are the letters the ADL sent to one of our ministers. It basically says. If you ban circumcision we´ll use our media to destroy your tourism.
, Twitter. Retrieved 13 September 2019.