Beating the 'Israeli Apartheid' B.S.ers

(Note: this post, which first appeared on May 12, is back from blogger oblivion.) Achtung! Do you hate Israel (oh, not because it's Jewish, but because it's "oppressive," "imperialistic" and "occupying")? Want to meet other like-minded souls? Then, friend, this one (creative spelling and all) has your name on it:

63 years Since the 1948 Nakba , 63 of Israeli Occupation, Ethnic cleansing, Refugees who were expilled from their land, and 63 ofApartheid.

Come Join the Rally of the suppoerters of the Palestinian people for Self Determination and their Right of Return to their homeland

 Date: May 15th, 2011 Time: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM   

Where: Toronto, ON. In front of the Israeli Consulatel ( 180 Bloor St West )  

Endorsed By: Palestine House; Canadian Arab Federation; Canadian Boat to Gaza; Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid; Educators for Peace; Middle Eastern Student Association; Palestinian Cultural Association; Risalah Theatrical Group; Saudi Student Association Downtown; Students Against Israeli Apartheid;  Toronto Coalition to Stop the War

What's to be done with people who play dirty, who fabricate lies (bullshit) about Israel? How do we combat them? As I've been saying for some time, simply presenting the facts won't cut it. We must go beyond a dry recitation of history, beyond a refutation of the lies, and expose the bullshitters as bullshitters.

Omri Ceren says much the same thing in the current issue of Commentary:

...Revealing deceit and deception and standing up for the facts and truth are of independent value, historical value, lasting value. But they are not enough. There is a prior and broader dynamic that is much to be addressed. The overarching culture of impunity, in which libels against Israel can be leveled and discarded without cost, has to be identified and dismantled.

Along with addressing mischaracterizations at the source, the fight must be taken to those who accept the "bullshit" and repeat deceptions and distortions and false narratives and outright inventions without taking steps to examine the veracity of the charges or verify the existence of the events. Secondary peddlers must be confronted, shamed, and forced to examine not their own biases--it is too much to expect that--but the way in which they are allowing themselves to be used to transmit not just false propaganda, but obviously, plainly false propaganda...

In other words, we must delegitimize the delegitimizers. Something, alas, that's much easier said than done, but that, nonetheless, must be done.