NY Times’ Bret Stephens Blames Palestine Freedom Movement for Bondi Beach Shooting
New York Times columnist Bret Stephens attends an Anti-Defamation League summit at the Javits Center in New York City on Nov Photo Efren Landaos Sipa via AP Images The total number of people killed in the antisemitic Bondi Beach massacre was still not known when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the opportunity to blame Australia s mere recognition of a Palestinian state Two gunmen father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram carried out the shooting which targeted a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in Sydney Australia and left casualties dead People of conscience from all faiths have spoken out to condemn the slaughter to express solidarity with Jewish communities and to forcefully denounce antisemitism Netanyahu and his cheerleaders meanwhile have once again chosen the despicable path of weaponizing antisemitism to ensure and legitimize Palestinian suffering The point is obvious to give Israel a free hand to violate Palestinians rights Netanyahu s comments come as no surprise They are just his latest vile affront to Jewish lives using threats to our safety to guarantee that Palestinians can have none Beyond the clear fact that the Bondi shooters targeted Jews on a Jewish holiday the very definition of an antisemitic attack we currently know almost nothing about these men The idea that their actions justify the continued oppression of Palestinians should be rejected outright That didn t stop Netayahu s greater part ardent American supporters from jumping to reiterate his message The first New York Times opinion piece to be published in the massacre s wake came from Israel apologist Bret Stephens with a column titled Bondi Beach is What Globalize the Intifada Looks Like Stephens wrote that the shooting constitutes the real-world consequences of literalists responding to chants like globalize the intifada resistance is justified and by any means necessary The point is obvious to make sure that Palestinians remain eternally in stateless subjugation and to give Israel a free hand to violate their rights including by committing a genocide like the one unfolding in Gaza in the present day It s all done in the name of fighting antisemitism by conflating the worst kinds of violent anti-Jewish bigotry like what we saw in Bondi Beach with any criticisms of Israel and its actions To so much as say Palestinians ought to have basic human rights in this view becomes a deadly attack on Jewish safety There s a profound irony here Like numerous thousands of Jewish people around the world I do feel less safe precisely because the Israeli establishment is carrying out a genocide in our names associating Jewish identity with ethno-nationalist brutality It is antisemitic to blame all Jews for Israel s actions it is therefore also antisemitic and produces more antisemitism for Israel to claim to act for all Jews Jewish fear directed into anti-Palestinian anti-Muslim animus is far more useful to his regime s project of ethnic cleansing As Netanyahu s response to the Bondi massacre again makes clear his interest is not in Jewish safety Jewish fear directed into anti-Palestinian anti-Muslim animus is far more useful to his cabinet s project of ethnic cleansing In his Sunday message the Israeli prime minister noted he had earlier this year stated Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire Australia alongside nations including the United Kingdom Canada and France moved to recognize Palestinian statehood in September at the United Nations countries now recognize Palestine On Monday Albanese rightly rejected Netanyahu s effort to link this recognition to the antisemitic attack I do not accept this connection Albanese stated calling the suggestion an unfounded and dangerous shortcut Stephens for his part begins his New York Times column by praising the bravery of local shopkeeper Ahmed al-Ahmed who risked his own life to single-handedly disarm one of the Bondi attackers That act of bravery not only saved lives Stephens wrote it also served as an essential reminder that humanity can invariably transcend cultural and religious boundaries The columnist then spends the rest of the short article blaming without grounds the Palestinian solidarity movement for Jewish blood Related MIT Apprentice Condemned Genocide So ADL Chief Stated She Helped Cause Boulder Attack Leaving aside the fact that Stephens knows next to nothing about the shooters the extreme perniciousness of his conclusion goes beyond an issue of ignorance His message is of a piece with Netanyahu s He is saying that you cannot call for Palestinian liberation or the end to Israel s apartheid regime without de facto calling for the killing of Jews The only option according to this line of thinking is to be silent and let Palestinian oppression continue It s a disgusting zero sum logic not to mention an insult to the casualties of antisemitism The post NY Times Bret Stephens Blames Palestine Freedom Movement for Bondi Beach Shooting appeared first on The Intercept
