The Anti-Semitic Slur Surfaces Once Again

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Over at Commentary, they’re partying like it’s 2003. Here is Jonathan Tobin on Maureen Dowd’s column today:

Dowd sees [Mitt Romney] and running mate Paul Ryan as the cat’s-paws of a shadowy group of “powerful” Jewish “neocons” who are out to seize the country in his name and enforce, “a duty to invade and bomb Israel’s neighbors,” on Americans….Those who write about “neocons slithering” are clearly intending to stoke prejudice.

….The bottom line here is the same despicable “Israel Lobby” smear that seeks to silence friends of Israel through the use of traditional anti-Semitic stereotypes. Dowd’s column marks yet another step down into the pit of hate-mongering that has become all too common at the Times.

I know, I know: it’s Commentary. What do you expect? But can’t we ever put a stop to this? Neocons exist. They’re neither shadowy nor conspiratorial. They’re part of an actual political movement with a very visible public profile. They tend to be hawkish, solicitous of Israel’s right wing, hostile toward Arabs, and they played a big role in committing the United States to a disastrous war in Iraq. That’s just reality, and the mere fact that many neocons are Jewish doesn’t give them a magic shield that protects them from criticism.

There’s nothing anti-Semitic in Dowd’s column. She just doesn’t like neocons, and she doesn’t like the fact that so many of the neocons responsible for the Iraq debacle are now advisors to Mitt Romney’s campaign. Pretending that this makes her guilty of hate-mongering toward Jews is reprehensible.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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