Paul's use of (by the way, Hi Paul! Why don't you stop lurking in the
bushes and come in like a mensch?) his use of 'anti-Semitism' is
slippery. The problem with redefining a term with established
connotations was clarified long ago by Humpty Dumpty (see also,
passim, Wittgenstein, Ayer, Russell et al).

"The way many Jews sometimes behave" is such a sneaky little piece of
dissembling ...

Mary, I'm disappointed in your ad feminam attack ...

Deborah, you have a good point about continuing the discussion, but
how? One way is to establish a small email group -- I suppose to join
such a group needs a central person to co-ordinate e-addresses -
yourself??

All best
Brian



From Paul Eisen to the Times:



Dear Sir or Madam

I was present at the Israel Shamir book launch at the House of Lords
and I applaud Lord Ahmed for giving Shamir a place to speak and to be
heard.

Is Shamir an anti-Semite? Well, it all depends what you mean by the
term. If you mean hating all Jews simply because they are Jews, then
that is just plain insane. But if you mean having serious criticisms
of the way many Jews sometimes behave, both individually and
collectively, or even considering the possibility of a mindset of
"specialness" within many Jews which, when empowered and unbalanced,
can lead to notions of supremacism, then that is another matter
altogether.



Paul Eisen

London N5



--- In JustPeaceUK@yahoogroups.com, "Deborah Maccoby"
<deborah.maccoby@b...> wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> Now that Brian has sent Shamir's letter to the Time to the list, I
think everyone - if they feel they can bear it of course - should read
the other letters, including letters from Paul Eisen and Gilad Atzmon.
As I said, these letters, in their cumulative effect, are not for
people of nervous disposition. I thought I was hardened by now, but I
have been very shocked and upset by them. So I do advise strong drinks
before starting to read these letters. I don’t know if any of
them
have been published by the Times, but I doubt it as they are so
unspeakable.
>
> Notice too that the Just Peace UK list is at the end, with all our
messages on it (including this one!) Which means we should continue
these discussions off line.
>
> Deborah
>
>