Singling out Israel for criticism suggests racism
Re: “How Qatar World Cup could kick off end to war on terror”, Have Your Say, yesterday
Two letters make their anti-Israel case following the same old line of thinking. Yes Eric Bahrt, the Jew who hates his own people, let me tell you why criticising Israel is driven largely by anti-Semitism: because you never criticise Turkey for its treatment of the Kurds, or the Saudis for their mass murder in Yemen, or the Russians for their crimes against Chechen and Syrian civilians. Calling Israel a racist state proves two things: that you have never visited Israel (which the country will somehow get over), and by singling out Jews you are a champion racist yourself. The anti-Buddhism remark is so ignorant it is not worthy of a comment, but it does highlight Bahrt’s level of discourse.
Paul calls me anti-Muslim because I dare question Qatar’s eligibility to organise a successful World Cup, which of course I am not. I have Muslim friends and often fly Arab airlines. Paul’s logical arguments seem to be flimsy at best when he implies that excluding Israel will “unify” the world. You are spot on. Most of the world is already unified against Israel, so denying its fans access to the World Cup is a great way to fight terrorism as well, if I understood Paul’s idiosyncratic way of thinking.
Andy Leitner
