http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/search/story.html?id=9c9ff723-3058-4189-826b-2308fbff2909
B.C. magazine sparks outcry by 'outing' Jewish neo-cons
'Why won't anyone say they are Jewish?' article asks
Scott Stinson
National Post
Friday, April 02, 2004
Kalle Lasn insists he is not anti-Semitic.
The editor-in-chief of Adbusters says he knew an article that
purports to "out" a large number of leading U.S.
neo-conservatives as Jewish would be provocative, but he did not
expect the "visceral" reaction that has seen the B.C.-based
anti-consumerism magazine deluged with demands to cancel
subscriptions.
"This has made me feel like I am the victim," Mr. Lasn said,
adding he has never seen "this level of threatening phone calls,
this level of swearing, this level of cancelled subscriptions" in
his risk-taking company's 15-year history.
The flashpoint for the anger is an article Mr. Lasn wrote in the
current issue of Adbusters. "Why Won't Anyone Say They Are
Jewish?" posits that a disproportionate number of leading U.S.
neo-conservatives are Jewish, a fact Mr. Lasn says is relevant
because "neo-cons seem to have a special affinity for Israel that
influences their political thinking and consequently American
foreign policy in the Middle East."
The implication is the United States is pro-Israel because many
of Washington's policy-makers are Jewish.
Readers and critics have taken particular umbrage at an
accompanying list of what Adbusters calls "the 50 most
influential neo-cons in the U.S.," such as Vice-President *****
Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defense
secretary Paul Wolfowitz. Twenty-six have a black dot next to
their name to denote they are Jewish.
"It's an old tactic," said Ed Morgan, the Ontario chairman of the
Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC). "They were counting the number of
Jews in the U.S. Communist party back in the '50s. But it's still
startling to see a list and see an asterisk next to Jewish names.
"Jewishness and a particular political position do not equate,"
Mr. Morgan said. "The point is to address issues of policy on
their merits. Ethnicity is beside the point."
Frank Dimant, executive vice-president of B'nai Brith Canada,
said Adbusters "must have been short of news to look at that kind
of a thesis." He noted the administration of former president
Bill Clinton had several Jews in positions of influence, yet that
administration "bent over backwards" to appease Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat.
Mr. Lasn, however, is unrepentant. The Adbusters Web site
includes the original article, a selection of positive and
negative responses from the public and a follow-up piece from the
editor-in-chief that says if the list "were a list of dentists or
firefighters ... that would indeed be offensive" but because the
neo-cons "are the most influencial [sic] political/intellectual
force in the world right now" it is "necessary to put them under
a microscope."
Daniel Pipes, director of the U.S. think-tank Middle East Forum,
is on the Adbusters list, with an asterisk. He said the
magazine's project is absurd "because of the implication that
religion defines politics."
"There are plenty of leading Jews against the war in Iraq. There
are plenty who are neo-cons. It's no guide whatsoever to a
person's political leanings."
He also said the list is inaccurate, both in identifying
neo-conservatives and Jews.
Mr. Dimant said he is particularly concerned that Adbusters
purports to have shed light on the "Jewishness" of its subjective
list of influential Americans -- a notion reminiscent of
decades-old hate-mongering theories about secret Jewish cabals
that control the media and world governments.
"It's very hard to run the world banking system and the foreign
press from my little office in Toronto," he said.
Mr. Lasn dismisses such talk. "We are not going to censor
ourselves. We are not going to worry about people comparing it to
unsavoury things from the past."
"Our goal was to launch a debate. We hope it gets even bigger
than it is now."
Mr. Morgan said the CJC will have a formal response, although "we
have not determined what course of action we're going to take."
© National Post 2004
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