Welcome to Anti-Zionism is Antisemitism Fortnight

Anti-Zionism is today's most prominent form of antisemitism and one that can be hard to spot. In this two-week special event, we will be exposing it for what it is.

The first time I heard of Daniel Clarke-Serret was when someone forwarded me his essay Pure Jewish Anger last year. I knew immediately that I wanted to collaborate with him.

I have been a journalist for three decades, and done everything from mentor first-day rookies to edit Pulitzer Prize winners, so I know talent when I see it.

What struck me about Daniel’s piece was his exceptional prose and the quality of his thinking.

Writing is a strange skill. On one level, it is innate. You can either write well, or you cannot. No amount of training can turn a poor writer into a good one. Yet for those who can write well, the right mentorship can lift their writing from good to great.

Daniel’s writing was superb. He used vulgarities without being crude and was erudite without being snobbish. His essay was, as his title promised, pure Jewish rage.

Yet, it was well-structured, well-reasoned, historically factual, and built on sound philosophy. This is what separates a good polemic from a mad rant, and what separates a mere writer from a thinker.

When I checked out Daniel’s Substack publication Guerre and Shalom (you are an idiot if you do not subscribe immediately), it was not at all what I expected.

Far from being polemical, it was a unique and educated mix of politics, philosophy, poetry, religion, and all-round erudition, connected by Daniel’s love of Western thought and civilization. It was Renaissance man.

Moreover, it was written in several different “voices”, ranging from the polemical to writings that would be at home in a philosophy journal. The quality, however, was unchanged. This showed his rare versatility. I really wanted to collaborate with him then.

A few weeks ago, my desire became a reality. I wrote an exclusive story on Why the media is antisemitic and anti-Israel for his publication (subscribe here), and he then did an hour-long interview with me about it. It was a challenging interview, too.

The reader response was fantastic, so I returned the favor. I asked Daniel to pen an essay for Moral Clarity arguing that anti-Zionism is antisemitism, and I would then interview him about it on my podcast. He kindly accepted.

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So, with apologies for such a long introduction, I am delighted to announce the beginning of Anti-Zionism is Antisemitism Fortnight.

It comprises five parts, beginning today.

1. Imperfect Good v Absolute Evil: A visual guide. Daniel’s photo essay (I told you he was versatile) is magnificent and easy to digest. If you are going to wade into antisemitism’s and anti-Zionism’s muddy waters, you had better know the difference between good and evil. This essay shows that understanding.

2. A republication of Daniel’s The General Theory of Antisemitism, a more academic piece in which he expounds his deep understanding of antisemitism, a unique and ancient discrimination that is so amorphous it can be hard to pin down. This essay will being clarity to the question of what exactly is antisemitism.

3. I shall be writing an essay on The Relationship Between Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism, looking at how antisemitism’s religious foundations informs modern anti-Zionism. If that sounds like an arcane and academic topic, rest assured it will carry Moral Clarity’s usual fervor.

4. THE MAIN EVENT. Moral Clarity will be a publishing a exclusive essay from Daniel explaining why Anti-Zionism IS antisemitism. I told him that to meet Moral Clarity’s editorial standards, it would need to be punchy, and he has pulled no punches in this polemic, which he will cross-post on his site. This will tackle head-on what is today’s primary form of antisemitism.

5. I will interview Daniel about his story for Moral Clarity’s podcast. I will be putting my journalistic interviewer’s hat back on and making sure he does not duck any tough questions.

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   “Imperfect Good v Absolute Evil: A visual guide” by Daniel Clarke-Serret

   "How to use tunnels in wartime" and other advice for morality in times of conflict.

   GOOD

   How to use tunnels during wartime:

   

   How to protect children during wartime:

   

   How to distribute food during wartime:

   

   How to help your country during wartime:

   

   Where to station troops during wartime:

   

   How to treat the enemy during wartime¹:

   

   How to treat your city during wartime:

   

   How to educate your children during wartime:

   

   How to be a leader during wartime:

   

   EVIL

   How (not) to use tunnels during wartime:

   

   How (not) to protect children during wartime:

   

   How (not) to help your country during wartime:

   

   

   Where (not) to station troops during wartime:

   

   How (not) to treat the enemy during wartime:

   

   How (not) to treat your own city during wartime:

   

   How (not) to educate your children during wartime:

   

   How (not) to be a leader during wartime:

   

   GOOD OR EVIL? YOU DECIDE…

   

   

   

   

   THEY’VE DECIDED:

   

   SO’S HE:

   

   SO’S SHE:

   

   SO HAVE THEY:

   

   THEM TOO:

   

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   AND YOU?

   No matter your race,
   religion,
   or nationality;
   you have a decision to make.
   And it's an easy one;
   unless you've been to Harvard.
   
   And if you're a Palestinian
   or a Lebanese
   who believes in the future of your children;
   And if you're a Palestinian
   or a Lebanese
   who believes that civilians must be protected in war;
   
   Evacuated,
   educated,
   hidden in tunnels,
   and cared for by your own government:
   
   You must rise up
   against Hamas,
   Hezbollah,
   the United Nations
   and Western academia.
   
   You must join me on the side of the imperfect good.
   You must fight for the right of your own people to live in a decent, moral society which values human life and promotes pluralism.
   
   It is not that Israel is perfect.
   It is far from that.
   Neither were the British in WWII.
   But there is such a thing as absolute evil.
   And only when the muffled Palestinians and Lebanese speak up will there be a change.
   
   Arab culture is obsessed with martyrdom.
   Well your chance to become a real martyr has come.
   A martyr for a better future for your own children.
   
   It is easy to say.
   Almost impossible to do.
   But unless you name evil,
   fight it,
   speak out against it, and
   are prepared to die for it,
   we are all doomed.
   
   However,
   if you choose wisely; if you speak out
   against the unspeakable evil in your midst;
   if the blood of 1000 anti-Jihadi martyrs  flows in the streets of Gaza;
   Then you will be free.
   
   Free Palestine. 
   Really free Palestine.

1. An Italian prisoner-of-war football team in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. The referee is a local man, Harold Waltham. From the Irish Times.