Sternhell's Hell

The Hebrew University's far-left professor is at it again.

Ze'ev Sternhell writes:-

In the right's view, Negotiations on partitioning the land are an existential danger because they recognize the Palestinians' equal rights, and thereby undermine the Jews' unique status in Eretz Israel.

Equal?

In his take on the new amendment to the Citizenship Law (loyalty oath), he presumes

...to prepare hearts and minds for exclusive Jewish control of the population of the entire land, it is necessary to cling to the principle that what really matters in the lives of human beings is not what unites them, but rather what separates them. And what separates people more than history and religion?

So, Sternhell thinks the Arabs have equal rights and moreover, thinks 'rightists' think that way as well. Now, not only is that quite simply wrong, a complete misrepresentation, but it is hubris for him to assume that. Not that smart, professor.

Arabs have full rights in the state of Israel, as my mentor, Professor Israel Eldad wrote, but no rights to the state or, in his original Hebrew, the Land of Israel. Citizens are equal before the law, which, by the way, is a two-way street. If indeed, due to history and religion, the Arabs cannot be loyal to the Jewish and democratic state of Israel, well, no citizenship. Residency rights, fine. Police protection as well. But that should require taxes paid, at the least, if not national volunteer service.

As if we don't have enough trouble, Sternhell creates his own hell for us in Israel.


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Sternhell Has A Criminal Record

Sternhell was taken to court by Bertrand de Jouvenel, in 1983, after Sternhell published his work Ni Droite, ni gauche (Neither Right nor Left). Jouvenel sued Sternhell on nine counts, resulting in Sternhell to be convicted for defamation. In his book, Sternhell accused Jouvenel of having had Fascist sympathies. Convicted on two counts, Sternhell did not need to retract his remarks from the book however.

(Robert Wohl. French Fascism, Both Right and Left: Reflections on the Sternhell Controversy. The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 63, No. 1, (1991), pp. 91-98).

Source

Another Perspective on Sternhell

From Israel-Academia Monitor:

In Zeev Sternhell's latest article, he might consider some kind of apology to the Jewish "settlers" of Judea and Samaria for writing the following in his Haaretz column in 2001:

"...No doubt about the legitimacy of the armed resistance in the territories themselves. If only the Palestinians had a bit sense, they would have been concentrating their struggle against the settlements, not hurting women and children and would avoid shooting at Gilo, Nahal Oz and Sderot. They should also avoid detonating explosives on the western side of the Green Line. This way the Palestinians themselves would delineate the outline for a solution that will be undoubtedly achieved in the future".

Now Sternhell is saying:

"I explained my position regarding the settlers: The lives of Jews living on both sides of the Green Line are "equally precious."

However, Sternhell's views regarding the settlements remain problematic. Every group of individuals that immigrates to a new land whether in Israel or elsewhere, becomes a "settler" society; including the Bedouins who immigrated to the Negev desert, the Arabs who inundated Palestine when it was designated as a home for the Jewish people, and the Jews who fled persecution. There is no crime in building a home. Furthermore, Sternhell's deafness and blindness to Arab propaganda demanding to throw to the sea Jews like Sternehell himself from the "Jewish settlement" of Jerusalem and his colleagues from Sheikh Munis which Tel Aviv University is built upon, is very difficult to understand.

Sternhell's suggestion the attack against him was perpetrated by extreme right-wingers ignores the fact that it is very likely to have been done by the Palestinians. Sternhell probably can't remember, but just recently he has attended a Palestinian conference in Paris where he told his listeners that: "although it was morally wrong to expel Palestinians, it was necessary to do so". See Al-Falesteenyia's "New History, Old Ideas" 30 August 2008.

Sternhell, just like other unrealistic academics, forgets he is dealing with the Palestinians, who over the last one hundred years, have proven to be a very violent people even vis-à-vis themselves.

Lastly, Sternhell falls into the trap which many Palestinians try to lure Israelis: The choice between two options: A two-state solution or a bi-national state solution. Let's remind Sternhell, that most Jewish Israelis do not forgive the Palestinians for being amoral, untruthful and murderous, eliminating the bi-national option; and that the Palestinians have never been a "people", or a nation which explains why they were never able to create a Palestinian state, eliminating the two-state solution. The third option, which is the most likely, is a continuation of what has existed until now, a Jewish State alongside a non-state terrorist entity. Got that Sternhell?

Right-wing Response to Sternhell Incident

Jackie Levy wonders why leftists call for dialogue with Arab terrorists, harsh response to Jewish terror in The Left’s selective logic

Something about the automatic responses to the attack on Professor Ze’ev Sternhell was too loud, too generalizing, and too theatrical in the negative sense of the word. In short, there was something about the reactions of leftists such as Zahava Gal-On, Haim Oron, and Peace Now members that insisted on turning them into a caricature.

Were any of them happy that the severe incident took place? I would not go that far, yet still, it was nice to see the color back in their face.

From the very beginning, it was clear that none of the abovementioned figures would make do with less than a comprehensive, collective guilty verdict. Police investigators did not have any leads yet, yet Oron and Gal-On are not regular people like you and I. The hand of God rested on them – the God of all those people who know everything in advance – and prompted them to engage in prophecies. Yet as amateur prophets tend to do, they were using too many hand gestures, their voices were too loud, and the substance they uttered was, how shall we put it, not the best we ever heard.

Assaf Wohl condemns attack on leftist professor, but thinks he too is part of Israel’s fanatical camp in Alliance of the Zealots:

Zealotry is not the exclusive territory of the religiously devout. Anyone who ever visited a university knows that, as opposed to the yeshiva world for example, the proper academic approach will always aim to address the words being uttered, rather than focus on the person who uttered them. Therefore, it doesn’t matter at all whether a person who called on tanks to roll onto the settlement of Ofra is an anarchist or an Israel Prize-winning professor whose words are backed by impressive bibliographies and footnotes.

Not only did you fail to apologize for your grave words, you actually pride yourself on your intention to continue uttering them. And for what purpose exactly? Beyond the benefit of media attention, what does your approach contribute? What exactly were you thinking when you said: “…There is no doubt in respect to the legitimacy of armed resistance in the territories themselves. Had the Palestinians possessed a little wisdom, they would focus their struggle on the settlements…” (Haaretz, May 15, 2001.) How can these words of yours be interpreted in any other way except a call on Palestinian murderers (“armed resistance in the territories,” as you referred to it) to harm your political rivals across the Green Line?

Or how about your message regarding the need to dispatch tanks to a community that is home to men, women, and children? “Only those willing to move on Ofra with tanks would be able to curb the fascistic current that threatens to drown Israeli democracy.” (Davar, April 5, 1988.) Isn’t this zealotry?

The Sternhell Bombing Photos

Here are the two photos released regarding what is claimed to be an assassination attempt against a Hebrew Ubniversity professor who suggested to Arab terrorists to better direct their violence at targets such as army bases and Jewish "settlements".





That's it, folks!
Source

A Voice from the Sane Right

On the bombing of Prosessor Zev Sternhell's door:-


Alliance of the zealots

Hello Professor Sternhell,

I was greatly saddened to hear about the attempt to physically harm you. I will start by saying that my words here are not meant to encourage an attack on you or, heaven forbid, justify what already happened. Such incident is intolerable and just like any other sane person I hope that law enforcement authorities will properly deal with the attackers.

Well, Professor Sternhell, it appears that we disagree in respect to identifying the danger threatening the State of Israel. Your statements show that you view the settlements as the root of all evil in our country. I, on the other hand, believe that the eternal danger to our state and people comes in the form of well-known zealots. They are the ones who since early on in Jewish history made sure to ruin, time and again, any attempt to build a national autonomy; and you, Professor Sternhell, display obvious signs of belonging to this zealot genre.

...What exactly were you thinking when you said: “…There is no doubt in respect to the legitimacy of armed resistance in the territories themselves. Had the Palestinians possessed a little wisdom, they would focus their struggle on the settlements…” (Haaretz, May 15, 2001.) How can these words of yours be interpreted in any other way except a call on Palestinian murderers (“armed resistance in the territories,” as you referred to it) to harm your political rivals across the Green Line?

Or how about your message regarding the need to dispatch tanks to a community that is home to men, women, and children? “Only those willing to move on Ofra with tanks would be able to curb the fascistic current that threatens to drown Israeli democracy.” (Davar, April 5, 1988.) Isn’t this zealotry?...

...It is difficult for me to bear zealotry from both sides, and when it comes to this issue I’m quite zealous. Therefore, please allow me to propose a practical solution, for you and for the entire nation of Israel, which would make our situation better. But please, take a deep breath before reading on and count to 10, at least. Indeed, without being granted his or your permission, I propose that you and rightist Professor Hillel Weiss cooperate. I remind you to count to 10.

Well, both of you will co-write an article under the headline: “The dangers of zealotry in modern times and the ways to address them.”

A Philological & Semantic Analysis of the "Terror Flyer"

In addition to what I already have noted (here), Steve Plaut sent me some of his thoughts which include these "observations":

- Sternhell's political outlook and opinions were repugnant before the attack and did not become any less repugnant because of the attack.

- Radical Leftist sedition does not become legitimized because of the
attack on Sternhell, no matter who carried it out.

- Critics of the radical Left do not become delegitimized because of
the attack on Sternhell, no matter who carried it out.

- Critics of Prof. Sternhell's opinions have as much right to express
their criticisms as Sternhell himself has to express his.

But there is more to this act of violence, in my humble opinion.

Let's take a look at the flyer left at the scene and try a bit of semantic and philological analysis.



My observations:

1. There is no ב"ה or בס"ד, usual heading of religious persons writing. Those abbreviations mean "with God's help".

2. The signature "the Army of the Statist Liberators" is ridiculous. The whole concept of ממלכתי, i.e., supporting the state is anathema to the radical natioanlist right.

3. Why announce an award of 1.1 million NIS? 1.1??? What was that, a typo?

4. The state of Israel is described as the "dream" (חלום) of the past 2000 years. Religious/nationalists would use the word "vision" (חזון).

5. In the list of weapons that Israel has handed over to the PA is included מכונות ירי (and why not יריה?) which is a fairly archaic term for machine guns which may indicate someone over 65. A youngster who has actually served in the army would use תת-מקלעים or straight out קלצ'ניקובים - Klatchnikovs.

6. The use of the Hebrew term for "Palestinians" is פלשתינאים which is not usual. Either פלסטינים or ערבים - Arabs would have been used.

7. The inclusion of "sins" of the state of Israel of abortion encouragement would indicate Hareidi groups, not nationalists.

8. The same for the inclusion of encouragement of "gay pride parades".

9. The use of מלכות יהודה - Kingdon of Judea instead of the Kahanist demand for מדינת יהודה - State of Judea also indicates to me Hareidi or GSS composition.

10. Sternhell isn't mentioned in the flyer and the addition of the 1.1 NIS reward for the murder of Peace Now leaders is an addition, with a different typeface.

Something is fishy.

And see here, too.


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P.S. Consider this in relation the above:

26/09/2008
In the name of patriotism
By Avner de-Shalit, head of the Department of Political Science at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

At the time of writing, the identity of the person or group that placed a bomb at the entrance of Prof. Zeev Sternhell's home is not yet clear. However, they should be aware that this abominable act will not deter Prof. Sternhell, or any other member of academia, from having his say. Just as it is impossible to prevent painters from painting, it is impossible to prevent scholars from trying to discover the truth and publish their conclusions, even if they are controversial.

Of course, we must not get carried away into making collective accusations. The attempt to harm Prof. Sternhell was not carried out by "the right" or "the settlers." But even if a "small handful" or "extremists" are responsible for it, it serves as a sad example of the state of Israeli society on the eve of Rosh Hashanah 5769 and testifies to the prevailing atmosphere.

That is because it reflects a society that on the one hand is frighteningly violent, and on the other does not exhibit enough will to confront violence. These patterns of violence, which are taken from the repertoire of the criminal underworld, include phone threats, written threats, and in the end a physical attack or attempted assassination. They are directed against the ideological "other" - someone whose views not only differ from those of the violent group, but who is not "one of ours." In this atmosphere, a person who criticizes the country in general or the settlement enterprise in particular is certainly not a good Jew, so he is "other," not only in his opinions but also in terms of the group he is affiliated with. From here it is a short path to threats and physical attack.

The attempt to harm Prof. Sternhell is also an example in another sense. If it really was done by people from the right, as seems to be the case at the moment, it proves the extent to which the concepts "Zionism" and "patriotism" have become empty of content, or simply have had their content distorted.

After all, who was the target of this attack? Prof. Sternhell is one of Israeli society's and Zionist history's outstanding figures. A person who lost everything he held most dear in the Holocaust, but survived, immigrated to Israel, became an army officer, a teacher and one of the greatest scholars in Israel and the world over. Prof. Sternhell has devoted the past 40 years to researching fascism and the rise of the radical right in Europe - the Jew who rose from the ruins of the Holocaust and pointed an accusing finger at fascism and its sources, without an inferiority complex, but with pride, a unique academic sensitivity and while remaining faithful to the principles of research.

Prof. Sternhell's research deals with intolerance, political hatred, anti-enlightenment and fascism. He has won international recognition and admiration, as well as the Israel Prize, but has also been the target of a great deal of violence and hatred. Any violence is unacceptable and deserves condemnation, but we should stop for a moment and think: What have we come to if those who speak in the name of patriotism attack a man like that?

Therefore all of us - including the spiritual leaders of those whose opinions are not the same as Prof. Sternhell's - are obliged to wake up and strongly condemn the act, educate toward nonviolence, and explain to their students that love of the land should not be separated from love of man, which also means tolerance for a person's views and opinions. We must also demand that the legislature and law-enforcement authorities do not make light of threats of this kind. We must not allow a climate that tolerates violence.

Words Are A Double-Edged Sword

“Only one who is willing to attack Ofra with tanks, will be able to stem the tide of fascism threatening to drown Israeli democracy”.

Professor Zev Sternhal, Davar, April 5, 1988


I decry violence.

I therefore, first and foremost, express disdain for people like Professor Sternhal (prounounced Shtern-hall) who use their intellectual standing and position to preach violence. Even Haaretz notes that in

his remarks in the media, specifically an article he wrote in Haaretz which justified an attack by Palestinians on settlers...

And, of course, I condemn the bomb attack against him, whoever did it. It is immoral, illegal and unproductive.

I do, however, find it odd that pro-Pals., those of the "peace camp", always manage to explain away Pal. terror by assigning its cause to Jews/Israeli/Zionists. Pal. terror is a reaction to Jewish colonization, settlements, raodblocks, occupation, harrassment and much more. It's always our fault.

So, what is the illogic in that someone would think that Sternhhal was attacked due to something he did?

Like writing in Haaretz on May 11, 2001, justifying Arab terror against settlers, calling on Arabs to murder settlers and encouraging them to place explosive charges, but only on the eastern side of the Green Line.

"There is no doubt regarding the legitimacy of the armed resistance in the territories themselves. If the Palestinians had a bit of sense, they would concentrate their struggle against the settlements. [...] They would similarly refrain from placing explosive charges on the western side of the Green Line."

or in (now defunct) Davar in April 1988:

"Fascism cannot be stopped with rational arguments. This can be stopped only by force, and when there is willingness to risk a civil war. When necessary, we shall have to forcibly deal with the settlers in Ofrah or in Eilon Moreh."

If I define the peace camp (which I don't) as fascist, can I write the same words about, say, Shenkin Street in Tel Aviv where the cafes are full of pacifists and progressives?

More this past August:

It is there, between Hebron and Yitzhar, that the settlements are burying the democratic Jewish state...the unwillingness to confront groups of toughs who flout the law and government decisions is a disgrace in itself, it is not the major obstacle to ending the occupation...a mafia-like culture of theft, lies and deception developed in the territories...a minority took control of the fate of the entire society and held it hostage, due both to the left's ideological impotence and a lack of character, determination and leadership. If society does not find the emotional strength to remove the noose of the settlements, nothing but a sad memory will remain of the Jewish state as it still exists."

Those are fighting words.

As is recorded in Matthew 26:52: Then said Jesus...all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. The pen is not always mightier than the sword.




P.S. Note, too, how Peace Now director makes political capital:

In the wake of the attack and the discovery of the fliers, police have beefed up security around the home of Peace Now secretary general Yariv Oppenheimer.

Not That Smart for an Academic

Zev Shternhel writes:-

The Six Day War took Israel back an entire generation. It has now become clear that colonial rule encourages the mixture of populations, and occupation requires seeking destructive solutions in terms of human rights. We should not delude ourselves: A democracy of lords will not last long. If we consciously create second-class citizens, if we anchor discrimination in a law armed against the intervention of the Supreme Court - the only gatekeeper of our liberty - we necessarily undermine the foundations of democracy.

And the demographic situation, combined with a worsened security situation, will not bring about any significant change in the reality of what the Arabs intend to do and what, then, forces Israel to respond in its self-defence and future existence.