Sunday 6 February 2011

Portuguese 15th c. anti-Semitism compared to Israeli cruelty towards Palestinians

Israel-bashing has become such a sport and Israel-bashers' resources are endless and fanciful.  Joseph Dana [1], a great expert, has come up with a historical comparison that no Portuguese has ever dreamt of.  And in the process he even manages to get his facts wrong.

"Attacking children and youth is one of the most perverse forms of collective punishment. In the 15th century, King Manuel of Portugal [wrong again, it was not King Manuel but his predecessor and cousin, King John II - see below - picture] ordered the first born [wrong] child of almost two thousand Jewish families be banished to the remote island of São Tomé in order to collectively punish [wrong] the Jews for not converting to Christianity upon their arrival to Portugal from Spain. Eventually, Portugal forcibly converted its Jewish population, but over [it is either "almost" as written above or "over" as written here, not both in the same paragraph] 2000 children were banished to the island. [...]

The Portuguese banished Jewish children to a remote island, Israel banishes Palestinian children to remote concrete jails."


Click to enlarge (Pidgins and Creoles: References survey, by John A. Holm)

[1] "Dana’s writing has been published in the Nation, Electronic Intifada, The National, Alternet, Huffington Post, Haaretz and Al Jazzera English. His reporting from the West Bank has been feature in the New York Times." (from his blog)

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