Who Are the Real Racists in the Middle East?

[TomSea]

Excerpt:

February 12, 2019 7:57 am
Who Are the Real Racists in the Middle East?
avatar by Jonathan S. Tobin / JNS.org

As for evidence of Israeli racism, let’s concede that the Jewish state has its share of louts, hotheads, and yes, haters. But such people are not lauded as heroes or role models. They are generally condemned and face prosecution if they translate their vile talk into unlawful action.

The evidence for Netanyahu’s racism is based on a single comment he made during last-minute campaign stops on election day in 2015 in which he said: “The right-wing government is in danger. Arab voters are coming out in droves to the polls. Left-wing organizations are busing them out.”

That sounds bad and it is. It earned Netanyahu condemnation from Israeli Arabs, as well as President Barack Obama. The prime minister subsequently apologized. But appearances notwithstanding, all he was pointing out was that if his base of voters didn’t turn out, the Joint List of Arab parties would earn a larger share of the vote and block the creation of a Likud-led government. Moreover, he was also not wrong about European NGOs intervening in the election and seeking to bolster the vote for the Arab coalition, which is split between supporters of Hamas and secular factions that also want to see the Jewish state eliminated. Seeking to offset their influence is reasonable, not proof of racism, even if Netanyahu chose his words poorly.

Read more at: https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/02/12/who-are-the-real-racists-in-the-middle-east/