Re. your battle with libcom.org

http://pacificaforum.org/posts/2

it does seem strange that a collective of mostly Brits should have become so enamoured of American crypto-Zionism. They recently claimed that something someone in San Francisco wrote about the Iraq war contained 'casual antisemitism', seemingly just because it makes some 'tail wagging the dog'-type observations. 

Anyway, I've had a good look at the stuff you've been writing on Pacifica Forum. In general I think it's pretty good. In particular, I think your article about the David Irving meeting was a very well argued defence of the need for 'freedom of speech' in connection with the Holocaust and related issues.

But the best thing about your writings on the Israel/Palestine/US question is that they've encouraged me to read Gilad Atzmon's stuff.

http://gilad.co.uk/politiks.htm

He's a cool dude! I can see exactly why the Zionists and PC lefties hate him so much. I suppose the main point he's making is that if you want to oppose Zionism then you have to oppose Jewish identity. This is spot on. I remember the folk singer Leon Rosselson once making a comment at one of his gigs along the lines of

"if you're of Jewish origin but you're not religious and you're not a Zionist there's not really much point in calling yourself a Jew".

Unfortunately, he then fudged the issue by claiming to believe in some kind of 'Jewish spirit' and then sang a song about it. I guess Mr Atzmon wouldn't do that.

The only problem I have with Atzmon's writings (but maybe I haven't read enough of them) is that he doesn't seem to see, or can't be bothered to point out, that most of what he says about the inconsistencies and double standards associated with pro-semitism/anti-semitism apply just as much to other forms of racism. But he certainly makes his points very clearly.

Personally, I think it's worth talking about these kind of issues because it highlights the whole area of 'the irrational in politics'. The reasons people have for adopting all kinds of inconsistent attitudes to racism (and sexism) don't really have much to do with 'politics' in the usual sense - we're in the realm of psychology. What we're dealing with here is 'emotional blackmail' politics, and it's a very powerful force! An importance difference between the US and the UK in this area is that in the UK the Islamists are able to organise greater forces of emotional blackmail within the left than the Zionists are. However, I still think it's worth pointing out that a lot of what passes for opposition to racism is actually racist, although obviously not with the intention of making the anti-racists feel guilty about it.

Finally, I think that the guy who removed Wildcat from his site was acting despicably.