Any discussion of the Israeli attack on USS Liberty will inevitably involve charges of “anti-Semitism” leveled against those who seek to have the inquiry reopened. Apart from the baseless absurdity of such charges, why would anyone say such a thing?
The most obvious explanation is that when there is no real defense to an argument, all too many people resort to attacking the messenger, rather than the argument. If you can’t counter the argument, accuse the person making it of misconduct whether it’s true or not. The more grievous the charge, the more likely that readers or listeners will be diverted away from the fact that there is no answer to the argument.
For no reason other than the fact that there are no facts to support the “tragic accident” argument, or effective counter arguments to the facts which show the attack to have been deliberate, many people who feel passionately about this issue resort to factually baseless name calling and character assassination.
One of the more persistent Liberty critics has made a career of refusing to address facts and arguments that he finds “inconvenient” for his position. Rather than deal with the hard facts of reality, he jumps on any real or imagined error and responds to that instead. If he is unable to find or fabricate any errors, he then relies on the old standard response, accusing his opponent of anti-Semitism.
USS Liberty did not invite attack, or initiate hostilities in any way. A number of the crew were sunbathing on the deck with the attack began. The unprovoked attack was sudden, deliberate, and completely without warning. How does asking for an inquiry transform itself into “anti-Semitism”?
The Liberty Veterans Association has gone to great lengths to distance itself from extremist groups. The LVA has never endorsed such groups, nor made common cause with them. Indeed, the LVA actively opposes all forms of extremism.
Baseless charges of “anti-Semitism” do substantially more actual harm than would appear at first glance. Besides immorally blackening the name of the falsely accused, frequent unsubstantiated repetitions of this accusation cheapen it. This, in turn, allows real anti-Semites to hide in the noise generated by the all too frequent and baseless applications of that term.
In evaluating the materials on this site, please do not reflexively buy into the notion that anyone who has an interest contrary to an interest of the State of Israel is automatically an “anti-Semite.” If you find anything that you feel reflects an improper racial, religious, or ethnic bias, please bring it to the immediate attention of the webmaster.
