NationStates Jolt Archive

Howard Dean (D-VT) called the Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, an anti-Semite. I do not normally mix Politics and religion into debates but in this case, I have to make an exception due to the nature of the region.

Several democrats actually boycotted his speech on the floor of the House because he hasn't come out and denounced Hezbollah. I can see why they would get all huffed up over what Malaki said in the NYT but still, he is the democratically elected leader of Iraq and he does deserve the same respect as any other head of state.

I do not think that PM Maliki is an out and out anti-semite but he should really have condemned Hezbollah along with Israel for the current crisis in Lebanon.

What do you all think. I am going to ask though that we do keep this civil and leave out the mudslinging and namecalling out of respect for other posters. Thanks.

Howard Dean (D-VT) called the Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, an anti-Semite. I do not normally mix Politics and religion into debates but in this case, I have to make an exception due to the nature of the region.

Several democrats actually boycotted his speech on the floor of the House because he hasn't come out and denounced Hezbollah. I can see why they would get all huffed up over what Malaki said in the NYT but still, he is the democratically elected leader of Iraq and he does deserve the same respect as any other head of state.

I do not think that PM Maliki is an out and out anti-semite but he should really have condemned Hezbollah along with Israel for the current crisis in Lebanon.

What do you all think. I am going to ask though that we do keep this civil and leave out the mudslinging and namecalling out of respect for other posters. Thanks.

Israeli hatred is so ingrained into arabic thinking even a moderate Pro-US arab leader still feels anger towards Israel. It's because The Jews aren't arabic and haven't accepted Islam, and in 3 hard fought wars they NEVER were able to conquer Israel, despite tons of Aid from the commies.

It's NOTHING the US Will EVER EVER EVER EVER be able to fix.

...but still, he is the democratically elected leader of Iraq and he does deserve the same respect as any other head of state...


Just because you are a democratically elected leader does not make you a decent person, or worthy of ANY respect at all. It just means your propoganda machine is run well. I would take several dictators over several "democratically elected leaders".

For example: Pinochet, Franco, or Sadat vs. Chavez, Hitler, or Milosevic

Meh.

I think it just shows that many Americans still haven't moved an inch towards understanding the middle east. I'm sorry to say this, but even Designated Marksman is closer to the truth than some of those congressmen.

What I did like though were some of the right-wing analysts on Aussie TV who immediately started spinning this as a ploy to win popularity at home. In Iraq, that sort of realpolitik is okay of course...not so much in Lebanon. :rolleyes:

Howard Dean (D-VT) called the Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, an anti-Semite. I do not normally mix Politics and religion into debates but in this case, I have to make an exception due to the nature of the region.

Several democrats actually boycotted his speech on the floor of the House because he hasn't come out and denounced Hezbollah. I can see why they would get all huffed up over what Malaki said in the NYT but still, he is the democratically elected leader of Iraq and he does deserve the same respect as any other head of state.

I do not think that PM Maliki is an out and out anti-semite but he should really have condemned Hezbollah along with Israel for the current crisis in Lebanon.

What do you all think. I am going to ask though that we do keep this civil and leave out the mudslinging and namecalling out of respect for other posters. Thanks.

maybe he did not want to commit suicide? considering the sectarian violence in iraq at the moment, he probably thought it would be more... politic to stay away from the topic.
Oh and several democrates walked out because he did not denounce hezbollah. What do you think would have happened if he denounced isreal?

On a slightly different note i love how an arab can be anti-semite.
link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semite#Ethnicity_and_race)
"In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic (from the Biblical name "Shem") was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages. This family includes the ancient and modern forms of Amharic, Arabic, Aramaic, Assyrian, Akkadian, Hebrew, Maltese, Syriac, Tigrinya, etc.
As language studies are interwoven with cultural studies, the term also came to describe the extended cultures and ethnicities, as well as the history of these varied peoples as associated by close geographic and linguistic distribution. The late 19th century term "anti-Semitism" came to be used in reference specifically to anti-Jewish sentiment, further complicating the understood meaning and boundaries of the term. Such usage, as well the advent of population genetics, against which other once-useful ethnic terms show a biasing imprecision, has led to much debate about its scope and usefulness in science."

Whats the big deal? Its not like the man has any power

On a slightly different note i love how an arab can be anti-semite... ~snip~


*sigh*

Yes, we are all fully aware by now that ONE historical definition of semite includes arabs. However, in modern language, it's PRIMARY definition has come to refer solely to ethnic Jews.

*sigh*

Yes, we are all fully aware by now that ONE historical definition of semite includes arabs. However, in modern language, it's PRIMARY definition has come to refer solely to ethnic Jews.

THE definition includes all people that speak a semitic language. If people cannot use terms correctly, then they should be corrected.

*sigh*

Yes, we are all fully aware by now that ONE historical definition of semite includes arabs. However, in modern language, it's PRIMARY definition has come to refer solely to ethnic Jews.

Yes. The primary and incorrect version.

Just because a lot of people use something doesn't mean it's correct.

The democrats and republicans (and there are elements of this in both parties) who are blindly pro-israel need to understand that an elected official in an Arab country HAS TO hate Israel at least a little bit. To expect them to be fair in balanced in their publicly expressed opinion is not realistic.

THE definition includes all people that speak a semitic language. If people cannot use terms correctly, then they should be corrected.

Yet in every history book for the last fifty years, anti-semite has refered to hating ethnic Jews, and had NOTHING to do with arabs. You aparently are unaware of the evolutionary nature of language.

Designated Marksman is closer to the truth ...

Now I'm depressed.

Howard Dean (D-VT) called the Prime Minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, an anti-Semite. I do not normally mix Politics and religion into debates but in this case, I have to make an exception due to the nature of the region.

Several democrats actually boycotted his speech on the floor of the House because he hasn't come out and denounced Hezbollah. I can see why they would get all huffed up over what Malaki said in the NYT but still, he is the democratically elected leader of Iraq and he does deserve the same respect as any other head of state.

I do not think that PM Maliki is an out and out anti-semite but he should really have condemned Hezbollah along with Israel for the current crisis in Lebanon.

What do you all think. I am going to ask though that we do keep this civil and leave out the mudslinging and namecalling out of respect for other posters. Thanks.That's funny, because boycotting a speech by a head of state is exactly what some chaps from the Likud block in the Knesset did to Horst Köhler when he paid Israel a visit.

So no problems with them not going; that's their right.

Apart from that, Dean is a populist. He's no better than the man in power now.

actually that's wrong. The term anti-semitic (ref.: to anti-judiaism) has been used since the end of the 19th century. Since Judaism was generally the largest minority religion in Christian Europe, Jews were often the primary targets of religiously-motivated violence and persecution from Christian.

but as Yehuda Bauer said:
""Antisemitism, especially in its hyphenated spelling, is inane nonsense, because there is no Semitism that you can be anti to."

Nouri al-Maliki is walking on razor wire in regards to governing his country. If he were to publically denounce a foreign Shi'a paramilitary he would have to face an angry Shi'ite reaction at home. And if he outwardly criticised Israel he would get a stern telling off from his Coalition backers. From what I've seen of Mr Maliki, he seems to be a highly skilled politician - in that he has managed to go this long without mortally pissing anyone off.