Max Blumenthal

8 Responses to “My Appearance on Lebanon’s Future TV”

1. Chayma says:

   August 8, 2011 at 7:22 pm

   Very interesting……. and rather bizarre, the way they put the “Feeling the Hate” midway..

   In any case, I’m glad you covered the subject of the growing Talibanisation of Israel relative to the Palestinians, and internally.

   “Feeling The Hate” was a classic, though if you make something similar in Israel, it would be great if it had people who were not drunk. That way, the video cannot be discredited, as a drunken brawl.

   Watching the Lebanon’s Future TV appearance above, reminds me of the question that more and more people are asking now, namely
   What percent of the Israeli populace support a theocracy?

   Perhap’s you can find out??

   Be safe Max, especially if you decide to join the campers in Tel Aviv! Will you be covering Glen Beck’s shenanigans too?
2. Joel says:

   August 8, 2011 at 8:06 pm

   Max. Let a black South African school you on what apartheid really is:

   A black African reminds us what “apartheid” means
   The New York Observer has a generic article about the BDS movement trying to bully a Brooklyn food co-op to boycott Israeli products. Somewhat more interesting are the first two letters published about it.

   The first one is from a BDS supporter, Bill Mazza:

   Frankly, I find much of what passes for “debate” on this issue unproductive as the opposition relies on fear-mongering and labeling (as with blanket charges of ‘anti-Semite’) designed to immobilize the opposition. Fox News would be proud.

   Why do we “single out Israel”? We don’t. Many of us work on my issues of social justice both within US borders and without. But US tax dollars have helped fund the recent increase in both pro-apartheid legislation of the Israeli government–such as the recently-passed gag ruling against even talking in favor of a boycott in Israel–and violence. This is not an issue any of us engaged with lightly.

   I do know this. Today most of the voices who, for decades, spoke in support of South African apartheid policies are silenced by their shame. I’m hopeful the same will be true of contemporary supporters of Israeli apartheid.

   The Park Slope Food Coop actually formed with a boycott of South African goods in place, a decade before the struggle reached popular support in the 80s. We’re simply asking that the Coop membership get on the right side of the moral and historical struggle against apartheid again.

   For someone who is against “labeling” he seems to be fond of using the word “apartheid” a lot.

   The response letter by Baruti is therefore worth reading:

   Mr. Mazza,

   I’m from South Africa. An African South African, not a colonialist. (Americans just call me black.)

   I experienced Apartheid. Separateness. It was ugly. Many of my friends died.

   I’ve been to Israel. The West Bank. Gaza. Inside of Israel. Lived there for a year touring for a book I want to write.

   Mr. Mazza, you don’t know what Apartheid is. For all of Israel’s faults, you dishonor yourself and my fallen mates by using the word.

   The UN does not use the phrase “Israeli Apartheid” and you repeating it overand over again does not give it authority. There is really no comparison between Israel and South Africa. We appreciate your help over there in the US for “saving” us back in the eighties, but we here
   in S.A. did the dirty work. We suffered. We went to jail. We died. You stayed safe, signed a few pieces of paper, spoke at a meeting or two maybe. You follow the same route for your work on human rights in the Middle East.

   Tutu is beloved here, but he is not our polestar. He is as political as anyone and we all know it. SA is still quite corrupt and dangerous and he is beholden to make statements reflecting those interests. Sadly, because atrocities were committed by both sides in our war for freedom,
   corruption and crime are what we have reaped, and freedom is still very hard to find today in SA. You are, I’m sorry to say, very uninformed about what causes you take up.

   It’s nice to have someone who knows what “apartheid” means slap a poseur upside the head.
3. AdamAW says:

   August 9, 2011 at 4:56 pm

   I’ve been trying to unpack this ’self-hating Jew’ accusation in order to try to make a bit more sense of it:

   For a ’self-hating Jew’ to mean anything at all it must be contrasted with the ’self-respecting Jew’ [although that term is not used] which is assumed to represent a healthy norm. According to this manner of thinking a normal healthy self-respecting Jew is one who has a natural and understandable sense of allegiance to the state of Israel as the homeland for the Jews. A self-respecting Jew is allowed and expected to make allowances for the state of Israel, and to defend the reputation and honor of his Jewish brothers and sisters. Such behaviour is perceived, by fellow pro-Israeli Jews and Israeli sympathises, as displaying an entirely appropriate degree of loyalty, which in turn is conceived of as a supreme moral value. And if a self-respecting Jew is a little over-zealous in his defence of Israeli actions and a little one-sided in his views, well that is only too understandable in view of the 2,000 years of persecution that the Jews. The more vehemently the self-respecting Jew defends the ‘right of Israel to exist’ the more deserving he become of sympathy and support – at least to the mind of other pro-Israeli Jews and Israeli sympathises.

   The ’self-hating Jew’ by contrast is damned the moment that he opens his mouth: “How dare he make such criticisms of ‘his own’?” The accuracy or otherwise or his statements is simply irrelevant. The possibility that his facts may be accurate may be acknowledged, but his commitment to revealing ‘the truth’ and ignoring the sensibilities of his co-religionists is only further proof of his cold-heartedness and lack of humanity. In fact the possibility that his arguments may carry weight only heightens the need to discredit him. The pro-Israeli Jew or Israeli sympathiser cannot countenance that possibility – “He MUST be a self-hating Jew, for sure!”

   The only way out of this impasse that I can think of is to ask the pro-Israeli Jew or Israeli sympathiser what they would consider to be an appropriate level of loyalty for a Jew to feel for the state of Israel. And furthermore whether in their opinion a Jew should be ‘allowed’ to feel a sense of commitment to values other than loyalty to Israel.

   That at least might bring some of the issues implicit in this accusation out into the open.
4. whylie says:

   August 10, 2011 at 2:27 am

   You insult toaster ovens.
5. justme says:

   August 14, 2011 at 4:39 pm

   Brilliant interview Max!
   And bravo to Future TV for bravely airing the ‘Feeling the Hate’ video,which the US media tries so hard to BURY, and for excellant subject direction and questions.
   Bravo Max for pointing out the difference between Judaism and Zionism,and how the latter does not speak for the former. And how shameful it is for the US govt and corporations to side with the Israeli pariah state to make itself a pariah state,against global consensus.
   It says a lot about US government loyalties and who they really ‘care for’ while American democracy crumbles into economic,cultural and pluralistic dust!
   Israel would be such a wonderful state if it would just rid itself of that awful racist,bigotted Zionism?
   Israel,and the USA seem to forget that they both need the world,to survive, more than than they choose to admit!
   Good job Max,as always!
   Peace,Salam,Shalom.
6. AdamAW says:

   August 16, 2011 at 12:48 pm

   Hi Joel, let’s not get too hung up about the use of the word ‘apartheid.’ There are clearly a range of views on this one, including among black South Africans some of whom have no problem with it being used in connection with Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

   The real question is whether Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians both within Israel itself and in the West Bank is right or wrong.
7. muzz al atesta says:

   August 16, 2011 at 6:51 pm

   @Joel

   flog your weak tea hasbara where there might somebody dim enough to swallow it.

   Ronnie Kasrils on Apartheid Israel and Apartheid South Africa, 2009:

   “At the onset of international “Israel Apartheid Week” in solidarity with the embattled Palestinian people, I want to start by quoting a South African who emphatically stated as far back as 1963 that “Israel is an apartheid state.” Those were not the words of Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Tutu or Joe Slovo, but were uttered by none other than the architect of apartheid itself, racist Prime Minister, Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd. He was irked by the criticism of apartheid policy and Harold Macmillan’s “Winds of Change” speech , in contrast to the West’s unconditional support for Zionist Israel…To conclude: we must spare no effort in building a world-wide solidarity movement to emulate the success of the Anti-Apartheid Movement which played such a crucial role in toppling the apartheid regime in South Africa. Nelson Mandela stated after South Africa attained democratic rule that “ we South Africans cannot feel free until the Palestinians are free.” A slogan of South Africa’s liberation struggle and our trade union movement is “An injury to one is an injury to all!“ That goes for the whole of humanity. Every act of solidarity demonstrates to the Palestinians and those courageous Jews who stand by them in Israel – that they are not alone.”
8. Chayma says:

   August 18, 2011 at 6:43 pm

   Just rewatched this interview,

   This should be aired on Al Jazeera, as should the “Feeling the Hate” video, Max. I can’t believe google would censor it, or Vimeo.

   Also, I’d recommend you translate your work into the major languages, your website should have sections in all the worlds major languages. Your work is dynamite, and will be lapped up. Oh, and a forum here, for like minded people to debate would be great.

   Since you noted that all American’s watch Al Jazeera on the internet, it’s indicative of how little Americans trust the MSM media in the US.

   This interview should be on prime time Al Jazeera, beamed around the world in all the different languages that Al Jazeera broadcasts in. Or the BBC.