{"id":20442,"date":"2016-09-02T00:34:44","date_gmt":"2016-09-02T07:34:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=20442"},"modified":"2016-08-31T13:53:22","modified_gmt":"2016-08-31T20:53:22","slug":"glavin-fights-falsehoods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2016\/09\/02\/glavin-fights-falsehoods\/","title":{"rendered":"Glavin fights falsehoods"},"content":{"rendered":"

Terry Glavin (photo from Terry Glavin)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A self-described \u201cman of the left,\u201d journalist Terry Glavin discovered he was an \u201caccidental Zionist\u201d during the Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006, when he noticed how the mood of the antiwar movement on the left was \u201calmost hysterical,\u201d and that it was not, in fact, antiwar, but rather pro-Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was something deeply toxic about the phenomenon that described itself as antiwar,\u201d he told the Independent<\/em>, adding that, irrespective of one\u2019s viewpoint on Israeli policy, \u201cif one was to choose the only principled, progressive position, it would have been to be on Israel\u2019s side.\u201d And, he noted, \u201cArab friends and Palestinian activists [have] gravitated towards the same idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Irish-Canadian said he has since \u201cbeen associated with a sturdy defence of Israel in Canada,\u201d in his columns, which have appeared in the National Post, Vancouver Sun, Globe and Mail, Georgia Straight<\/em> and Ottawa Citizen<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Glavin will be among the speakers at this year\u2019s FEDtalks on Sept. 22 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, helping to launch the Metro Vancouver Jewish community\u2019s annual campaign.<\/p>\n

In addition to his vast and varied published subject matter, Glavin\u2019s work as a journalist has taken him around the globe. His talk will examine, among other ideas, what Canada could contribute for healing the world, as well as what it means to be an \u201caccidental Zionist,\u201d a phrase he said he borrowed from Martin Sampson of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.<\/p>\n

In his work, Glavin strives to clarify the clashes in Israel, to help people understand them better.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not an Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The war is with Hamas,\u201d he said. \u201cWho are the worst enemies of Palestinian freedom? It\u2019s not Bibi Netanyahu. The most devoted committed enemy of Palestinian sovereignty, Palestinian liberty, rule of law, democracy, freedom are Hamas, Islamic jihad, Hezbollah and Tehran.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who apologizes for them, reiterates their propaganda lines, is an enemy of the Palestinians and their freedoms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having researched and written about the hatred of Jews and Israel, he concludes, \u201cThere is something unique about antisemitism.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just another bigotry. This talk of Israel eliminationism \u2013 if it\u2019s not antisemitism, what is it? It might not be Judenrein<\/em> (free of Jews), but it\u2019s Judenstaatrein<\/em>, no Jewish state,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Jews are unique, entitled to a nation-state of their own \u2026 [as much,] if not more, than any other nationality on earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The liberal left, moreover, has some self-reflecting to do, to know that \u201ccertain postures, certain habits of speech, are now unacceptable, and some obsessive preoccupations are no longer tolerated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In his opinion, these statements include using the term Zionist as a pejorative, \u201ca term of abuse\u201d; saying that \u201cIsrael is the primary impediment to peace in the Middle East\u201d; and claiming the \u201cfalse idea that criticism of Israel is automatically antisemitic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seeking to bust this latter myth, in a bulk email to journalist colleagues, Glavin asked if any of them could offer an example where a legitimate critique of Israel has been denounced as antisemitism.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt didn\u2019t exist,\u201d said Glavin. \u201cI could not find any reputable Jewish or Israel organization or individuals who ever introduced a legitimate criticism of Israel as antisemitic. It\u2019s a canard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, another falsehood emanating from the left and from leaders of the Arab world, he said, is the idea that Israel is to blame for the region\u2019s \u2013 and, sometimes, the world\u2019s \u2013 ills.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what one Arab dictator after the next has forced down the throats of generations of Arabs to explain their own destitution and dysfunction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Some are rejecting that narrative, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people have begun to discover they\u2019ve been lied to \u2013 that Israel isn\u2019t the problem,\u201d said Glavin. \u201cThe jackboot on [their] neck is Baathist, not Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

For tickets to FEDtalks and information on all of the speakers, visit jewishvancouver.com\/fedtalks2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dave Gordon<\/strong> is a Toronto-based freelance writer whose work has appeared in more than a hundred publications around the world.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Terry Glavin (photo from Terry Glavin) A self-described \u201cman of the left,\u201d journalist Terry Glavin discovered he was an \u201caccidental Zionist\u201d during the Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006, when he noticed how the mood of the antiwar movement on the left was \u201calmost hysterical,\u201d and that it was not, in fact, antiwar, but rather pro-Hezbollah. \u201cThere […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[801,4295,6232,4361,4330],"class_list":["post-20442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-antisemitism","tag-fedtalks","tag-glavin","tag-hamas","tag-israel"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}