Frequent Critic Of Israel Claims No One Allowed To Criticize Israel

Chicago, November 22 – A man who earns a comfortable living disseminating criticism of Israel says supporters of Israel make it impossible to criticize Israel, the man told reporters today.

Ali Abunimah, 42, lashed out at Israel both online and in the presence of media today for stifling criticism of the Jewish state, referring to the content of the hundreds of articles, video clips, tweets, reports, and other material critical of Israel he has published since 2001.

“No one can criticize Israel and hope to keep a public career,” charged Abunimah, whose anti-Israel views have garnered him ample air time and column space in almost all major media outlets. “It opens a person up to charges of antisemitism, and the conversation is basically over,” explained the founder of the flourishing online publication Electronic Intifada.

“Once the cry of ‘Antisemite!’ comes out, the debate is done, and any legitimate criticism of Israel is effectively stifled,” claimed the regular contributor to prominent New York Times journalist Robert Mackey’s blog, who frequently cites him as a source critical of Israel.

Another criticism Abunimah levels at Israel-supporters involves invoking the Holocaust and Nazis to generate sympathy for their cause. “The emotional weight of the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes should be out-of-bounds in any discussion of Israeli policies,” says Abunimah, who has on multiple occasions approvingly cited comparisons of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to Nazi treatment of Jews, and endorses a policy of Boycott, Divest, Sanctions eerily similar in practice to 1930’s Nazi-mandated boycotts of Jewish enterprises.

“There is no place for inaccurate and emotionally weighted rhetoric, which is a staple of pro-Israel arguments,” notes the journalist, who frequently compares Israel’s behavior toward Palestinians with South African Apartheid policies of the twentieth century and uses the language of “pogroms” to describe the actions of some Jewish citizens who have acted violently toward Palestinians or their property.