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The good bad and indifferent

February 17, 2012 06:27

There was this professor who was walking down the corridor of his university department when he encountered one of his brighter students.

He said " young lady yours was a damn fine answer to my last assignment question "

She said " yes sir but it was a damn fine question. "

Your questions raise too many questions that need to be answered before they can themselves be adequately answered ( that's what you get when you quote grave, self important yet sloppy people )

However, not wishing to be a complete party pooper, I am going to assume some of these answers.

I have been unable to persuade myself that there can be racism without at least one racist.So I have reformulated the question( s ) along the lines of " Do you agree that this that or the other occurrence is always a racist incident / event. Since I am not persuaded that there is such a thing as anti Israeli racism as opposed to anti semitism I am just going to say racism. If you object to this and are inclined to say I have not answered the questions you asked I can only advise that you address your questions to those to whom they make sense.

Do you agree that seeking the destruction of Israel is ALWAYS a racist event/ incident ? Hard to imagine such an occurence that wasn't so I am inclined to say yes I do agree. That is not to say that saying such things as " The State of Israel was a bad idea " or " an idea that needs to be radically revised " etc etc is ALWAYS such.

Do you agree that denying Israel's right to exist is ALWAYS a racist event / incident ? Well does any state exist as a matter of right or as a matter of fact ? If as a matter of right it could only be within a closed system, eg a legal right, a right under international law, say.So I do not agree that saying this is ALWAYS a racist event / incident. It could be a mistake.

Do you agree that singling out Israel for selective condemnation and opprobrium is ALWAYS a racist event / incident ? No I don't agree. Every time we refer to someone, something, some country we single out. The word " selectively" doesn't make any difference. What is the difference between " single out " and " single out selectively" ? The word selectively is redundant. If I say Syria sucks I am singling out Syria. ( singling out Syria selectively if you like ).

February 17, 2012 06:27

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