According to the blogger Octopus, Dennis Marks (AKA dmarks) is a "friend" of The Swash Zone due to his efforts in "confronting anti-Semitism".
Dennis CONFRONTED antiSemitism? OK, I believe that. But he also engages in it (examples to follow).
First, however, as far as "confronting anti-Semitism" goes, Dennis only does so in a manner that is consistent with his far Right Conservative beliefs. By that I mean his support for Israel is unwavering. And, as with many Conservatives, he sees any and all criticism of US-Israel policy, or any criticism of Israel at all as "antiSemitism".
There is a name for this viewing of any criticism of Israel as "anti-Semitism", BTW. This phenomenon is known as the "New AntiSemitism". And, as it relates to the Right (in both the US and Israel), is a tool they utilize to shut down all debate regarding - or criticism of Israel. Perhaps some of these antiZionists go too far - but not ALL criticim of Israel is "antiSemitism", and labeling ALL criticism thusly is not helpful.
| Via Wikipedia: Brian Klug, senior research fellow in philosophy at St Benet's Hall, Oxford... argues against the idea [of] "new" anti-Semitism. He accepts that there is reason for the Jewish community to be concerned, but argues that... it is an unhelpful concept, because it devalues the term "anti-Semitism", leading to widespread cynicism about the use of it. People of goodwill who support the Palestinians resent being falsely accused of anti-Semitism. |
I agree with Mr. Klug. Innocent Palestinians have a right to live their lives in peace. And they largely agree that Israelis have a right to live their lives in peace. A recent poll of residents of the Palestinian territories shows that 56% of West Bank respondents and 70% of Gazans said YES "when asked whether Hamas should maintain a ceasefire with Israel" (June 15-17 West Bank/Gaza public opinion survey).
| Excerpt from Gaza Public Rejects Hamas, Wants Ceasefire: ...when asked if Hamas should accept Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas's position that the new unity government renounce violence against Israel, a clear majority (57 percent) answered in the affirmative. The [survey responses] clearly indicate that most Gazans reject military escalation. (Washington Institute for Near East Policy article by David Pollock). |
Hamas does not represent all Palestinians and concern for innocent people caught in the crossfire between Israel and Hamas is not "antiSemitism" (and far more Palestinians are being killed in these conflicts over Israelis).
So we have people critical of Israel, in that their actions are killing innocent people (more innocent Palestinians killed than innocent Israelis killed by the actions of Hamas). Although some people would blame ALL the deaths on Hamas. One of those people would be Dennis Marks, an individual that says there can be no debate, only blaming of Hamas. However, even if placing all the blame on Hamas were justified, it accomplishes nothing. But it is the Conservative position.
| Like most [US Conservative] supporters of the Israeli government, they treat even the slightest hint of criticism as if it were a mortal attack on Israel itself. The slightest deviation from their "Israel can do no wrong" agenda evokes howls of condemnation. (Why Are Right-Wingers So Crazy in Love with Israel? by Ira Chernus. Alternet 1/14/2013). |
This explains the ridiculous comment Dennis made (in agreement with fellow Rightwing crazy Rusty Shackelford about the nomination of Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense.
| Rusty: Hagel is a friggin moron. Why settle for this idiot? ... The guy could'nt find the cheeks of his ass with both hands. (2/14/2013 AT 1:08pm). Dennis Marks: But but... Rusty, he's the terrorists' choice. So of course he should get approved. Seriously, I agree completely. And he should be criticizing our enemies not our friends. (2/14/2013 AT 3:58pm). |
Although Rusty never said anything about Hagel being "the terrorist's choice". That idiocy was all Dennis... but it is in line with what the far Right believes. I'm surprised Dennis didn't label Hagel an "antiSemite", although I'd say it is very strongly implied with the reference to him as "the terrorist's choice".
And, from this statement about Hagel (among others) I confidently conclude that Dennis is a strong adherent of the "new antiSemitism". And I agree with Norman Finkelstein's views on the matter.
| Via Wikipedia: Norman Finkelstein argues that organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League have brought forward charges of new antiSemitism at various intervals since the 1970s, "not to fight antiSemitism but rather to exploit the historical suffering of Jews in order to immunize Israel against criticism". |
Well, not just the Anti-Defamation League, but the Rightwing in the US and in Israel. And because Norman Finkelstein dares reveal the truth on this matter, Dennis detests him. He's a Jew that stands against Dennis' side on this debate. Please note I have not dug into Finkelstein's work and do not really know if he takes his antiZionism too far. So this commentary should absolutely NOT be taken as a defense of EVERYTHING Norman Finkelstein has written. I'm only agreeing with him in regards to the statement I quoted.
I do know, however, that there is another Jewish man by the name of Francis Boyle whom Dennis hates - mostly due to him believing that former preznit bush is a war criminal (TADM #4) - but also because of his views on Israel.
| Via Wikipedia: In an article published in Veterans Today, Boyle stated that "...the United Nations had no right to steal Palestine from the Palestinians and give Palestine to the Zionists in 1947". In the same article, Boyle predicted that the state of Israel "will continue its rapid descent into pariah state status" and that "When Israel collapses, most Zionists will have already left... for other states around the world. The Palestinians will then be able to claim all of the historic Mandate for Palestine as their State, including the entire City of Jerusalem as their Capital". |
And, just because I quoted Mr. Boyle in regards to his views on the war crimes of the former preznit, Dennis assumed I agreed with him in regards to his views on Israel. But I do not. The statement quoted above is ridiculous. Although he is correct about gwb's war crimes, he is not correct in saying that Israel was "stolen" or will "collapse".
With this I disagree and disagree strongly, not that Dennis acknowledges this disagreement. He lied and said Boyle "demand that Jews be expelled from Israel" (which he did not). Then Dennis said "you supported it", although I do not support this expelling. An expelling that Boyle has never "demanded", for the record. (TADM #38).
I actually believe that Israel should, and has a right to continue to exist... in agreement with Finkelstein who "is an advocate of a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict". Two-state or one-state; I've heard compelling arguments for both. Point is, I believe that Israel has a right to exist, as Norman Finkelstein does.
Which makes the following Dennis comment so outstandingly objectionable, repugnant, vile and disgusting. This was in response to a commentary on the Contra O'Reilly titled "On Anti-Israel Activist and Writer, Norman Finkelstein".
| Dennis Marks: Forget his genocidal hatred of Jewish Israelis. This man is one of those Holocaust-deniers. The kind of person WD defends, probably with the usual "calling people who dare criticize Israelis antisemitic" canard..... Yeah, these people are antisemitic because they criticize Israelis for not hurrying up and being ashes scraped out of industrial ovens (12/8/2012 AT 7:25pm). |
Note that the "r" in "scraped" is RED because this is how Dennis mistyped his sick lie. Originally. He has since deleted it. Not because he retracted anything or came to the correct realization that what he said was antiSemitic. He deleted it because I linked to, and apparently Dennis gets some "amusement" out of deleting his comments when I link to them (TADM #40).
I last time I brought up this comment with Dennis the scumbag - when I linked to a screenshot (see below) of it that I captured before he deleted it - accused me of "faking" the screenshot. No. I did not fake it. Take a look at the tread and you will see that Dennis deleted *all* of his comments.
This is a dead giveaway that Dennis definitely said exactly what the screenshot shows. I replied to Dennis' comment about Norman Finkelstein, calling him a "sick liar". This comment of mine is still visible in the original comment thread. What I say CLEARLY is a response to what Dennis says (in the screenshot). I mean, if I were calling Dennis a "sick liar" for something I was not justified in calling him a "sick liar" for... would he have deleted his comment? Would he have NOT defended himself in the next comment (instead of deleting that one also)? I think not.
The comment as quoted above (and as shown in the screenshot below) is accurate. Dennis REALLY said that a Jewish man whose parents were holocaust survivors has a "genocidal hatred of Jewish Israelis". Dennis REALLY said that a Jewish man who supports the two state solution criticizes "Israelis for not hurrying up and being ashes scraped out of industrial ovens".
This comment, in my strong opinion, crosses a line and is antiSemitic itself. There is simply NO excusing such a despicable fabrication, despite the fact that "based on his criticism of Holocaust exploitation, the Anti-Defamation League and others branded Finkelstein as a Holocaust denier".
At least they didn't say that he thought his parent lied (I don't know how they square that accusation with the facts), nor did they say that Finkelstein would have preferred that his parents had hurried up and become ashes scraped out of industrial ovens (which wouldn't have made any sense, as then Finkelstein would never have been born).
But, as is the case with many of Dennis lies, this one makes no sense. This vile and disgusting lie was the one that convinced me that Dennis is an antiSemite. I mean, who the hell could say such a thing about a man whose parents were holocaust survivors! Dennis could have voiced his disagreement with Finkelstein's antiZionist views, but this really goes way to far (TADM #6).
Which is why I HAD to object when the blogger Octopus (of the Swash Zone) said that Dennis "deserves kudos for confronting anti-Semitism". But instead of reconsidering his "kudos" (when I presented to him the facts concerning Dennis past antiSemitic statements), Octopus tore me a new one. Seems he does not care to know about Dennis' antiSemitism. Instead Octo claimed he "caught" me attempting to focus attention on myself and my "peeves in Cyberspace" (SWTD #271).
Nope. That is not what I was doing, Octo. I was attempting to enlighten you in regards to the true nature of your friend. But, Octo was very clear on that (in regards to Dennis' ugly antiSemitism) he wishes to keep his head burried in the sand. So be it, Octo. I surely cannot force you off your high horse or get you to listen to the truth. But that won't stop me from writing about it on my own blog. Not that anyone will read it, but the truth about Dennis Marks is here... if anyone is interested.
