The following is an excerpt of Harper’s
speech to the Knesset earlier this week.
Pay close attention to the last sentence quoted below. Harper said that the old anti-Semitism ”has
been translated into more sophisticated language for use in polite society.” In
other words, if one is critical of Israeli policies the critic is an
anti-Semite. It is a form of “You’re
either with us, or against us” binary thinking one finds in George Bush (the
lesser) and in many other instances.[1] It has its ancestral roots in The New Testament
Bible, when Jesus says “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does
not gather with me scatters.” (Matthew, 12:30)
Likely the allusion was not lost on Harper’s immediate audience – and his vast entourage, including select voters at home.
Here is just what was said:
Unfortunately, ladies and gentlemen, we live in a world where that
kind of moral relativism runs rampant.
And in the garden of such moral relativism, the seeds of much more
sinister notions can be easily planted.
And so we have witnessed, in recent years, the mutation of the old
disease of anti-Semitism and the emergence of a new strain.
We all know about the old anti-Semitism.
It was crude and ignorant, and it led to the horrors of the death
camps.
Of course, in many dark corners, it is still with us.
But, in much of the Western world, the old hatred has been
translated into more sophisticated language for use in polite society.[2]
[1]
See Wikipedia “You’re either with us, or against us”
[2] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/read-the-full-text-of-harpers-historic-speech-to-israels-knesset/article16406371/?page=2
