re: Oliver Stone steps in it

(intended for posting as a response in the Oliver Stone thread, posted on-page instead because it's long-ish)

Anti-semitism is the original sin of Western Civilization. Scratch the surface of ANY extremism and you'll find it down there somewhere. I'm told it's more pronounced in Europe, where it has a longer and more socially-ingrained history, but it bubbles up here in the U.S. on either "side."


By and large, Religious Conservatives seem to "support" Israel because of some sort of End Times fixation. POLITICAL Conservatives, on the other hand, seem to "support" Israel less out of pro-Jewish leanings than anti-Arab leanings. Generalizations, of course, but not unreasonably so.

ACTUAL American Jews, meanwhile, remain a largely liberal/Democrat voting base; though many American liberals (IMO) tend to be foolish and reactionary when it comes to appraisals of Israel/Palestine, as though they're ideology won't let them "process" the idea of a conflict where the rich nation is the "good guys" (re: democratic, primarily fighting on defense) and the poorer nation is full of "bad guys" (re: terrorism, civilian targets, religious bigotry); reflexively "siding" with Palestine without much regard for history. Though I hasten to add, it MUST be noted (by both sides) that The Palestinians are basically being "used" to wage a proxy war by outside-funded agitators at this point in the story.

One death is not "worse" than another in the broad sense, but the Holocaust IS a special case because of it's circumstances and what it symbolizes: The Industrial Age - which was supposed to civilize the world - used to committ THE fundamentally uncivilized act. It was the first genocide-by-assembly-line. That's important. Yes, Hitler DID kill more Russians - but that was a war with both sides taking casualties, something that's been with us since the beginning. Horrible, but not unique.

That people still need the singular uniqueness of The Holocaust "explained" to them, and why so many can shrug it off as some kind of "overrated" atrocity kept alive for sympathy by the omnipresent "Israel Lobby" is why Stone is WRONG, and we DO need to keep focusing on it. Because some of us still just don't get it.