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Israel Shamir (
quote: Still another is the internationally infamous anti-Semite Israel Shamir, whom Mana published on its website in 2003. His article hinted, among other things, that Jews were responsible for establishing and administrating the Gulag Archipelago, and claimed that a settlement in the West Bank was a bulwark for "Nazified Jewish faith." The arguments were enhanced with descriptions of famous mythic or real Jews in such terms as "Shylock the loan shark" or "the-pay-while you-cry-Holocaust-sobster" for Elie Wiesel.25 and
and to have translated the works of Shai Agnon from Hebrew into Russian.
"Israeli writer is Swedish anti-Semite"
May 2004 and says that was registered in Sweden in 1984 and gained Swedish citizenship in 1992. Shamir says he left Sweden for Russia and then Israel in 1993, before returning in 1998, saying that he had remarried in Israel in July 1994. However, others argue that Swedish files show that he was married in Sweden. He was known as Jöran Jermas from 2001 to 2005, before changing his name to Adam Ermash, although continuing to use Israel Shamir as a pen name.
Israël Shamir, un antisémite dans le texte...
/ref> The book was republished in 2004 by the French Islamist Éditions Al-Qalam company, which led to a civil case brought by the ''Ligue internationale contre le racisme et l'antisémitisme'' (LICRA), with the publisher sentenced to three months in prison (suspended) and a 10,000-
Israel Shamir (Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
: Исраэль Шамир, ; born 1947 or 1948), also known by the names Robert David, Vassili Krasevsky, Jöran Jermas and Adam Ermash, is a Swedish writer and journalist, known for promoting antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
Ravid, Mathan. "At Issue: Antiracism for Anti-Jewish Purposes?: Reflections on the Swedish" Mana" Affair." Jewish Political Studies Review (2010): 75-84.quote: Still another is the internationally infamous anti-Semite Israel Shamir, whom Mana published on its website in 2003. His article hinted, among other things, that Jews were responsible for establishing and administrating the Gulag Archipelago, and claimed that a settlement in the West Bank was a bulwark for "Nazified Jewish faith." The arguments were enhanced with descriptions of famous mythic or real Jews in such terms as "Shylock the loan shark" or "the-pay-while you-cry-Holocaust-sobster" for Elie Wiesel.25 and
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...
.
Shamir has published or self-published a number of his books; his book ''Flowers of Galilee'' (2004) was banned for a time in France over allegations it was inciting racial hatred and antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
.
Background and personal life
Shamir says that he was born in a Jewish family in Russia, and converted to Orthodox Christianity. By his own account, his birth name was Izrail Schmerler. Shamir says that he was born in Novosibirsk,Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
, in 1947, although the ''Shorter Jewish Encyclopedia
The ''Shorter Jewish Encyclopedia'' (''SJE''; russian: Краткая еврейская энциклопедия, Kratkaya Yevreyskaya Entsiklopedia) was published in 11 volumes in Jerusalem from 1976 to 2005 in Russian by the Society for Resear ...
'' says that a man called Schmerler was born in 1948. Shamir says that he "studied mathematics and law at Novosibirsk University". He also says he moved to Israel in 1969. He claimed to have served in the Israeli Paratroopers Brigade and fought in the Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...
. He also claimed to have worked for the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...Norman Finkelstein
Norman Gary Finkelstein (; born December 8, 1953) is an American political scientist, activist, former professor, and author. His primary fields of research are the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the politics of the Holocaust. He is a g ...
told '' Tablet'' that Shamir is a "maniac" who "has invented his entire personal history. Nothing he says about himself is true".
''Searchlight
A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...
'' describes him as a "Swedish anti-semite",Tor Bach, et al, ''Searchlight
A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...
''"Israeli writer is Swedish anti-Semite"
May 2004 and says that was registered in Sweden in 1984 and gained Swedish citizenship in 1992. Shamir says he left Sweden for Russia and then Israel in 1993, before returning in 1998, saying that he had remarried in Israel in July 1994. However, others argue that Swedish files show that he was married in Sweden. He was known as Jöran Jermas from 2001 to 2005, before changing his name to Adam Ermash, although continuing to use Israel Shamir as a pen name.
Career
Shamir says that he went to Russia and wrote about the political changes in the country until 1993, for newspapers including ''Pravda
''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...
'' and the extreme nationalist ''Zavtra''.
The French edition of Shamir's ''Flowers of Galilee'' was originally co-published in October 2003 by Éditions Blanche and Éditions Balland. It was withdrawn from sale at the end of October after Balland's director had his attention drawn to the content of the book, which he considered anti-semitic.(in French), Gilles Karmasyn, Pratique de l’histoire et dévoiements négationnistes (PHDN), 10 November 2003Israël Shamir, un antisémite dans le texte...
/ref> The book was republished in 2004 by the French Islamist Éditions Al-Qalam company, which led to a civil case brought by the ''Ligue internationale contre le racisme et l'antisémitisme'' (LICRA), with the publisher sentenced to three months in prison (suspended) and a 10,000-
euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
fine, and the banning of the book. The ban was overturned on appeal, and the fine reduced.
In 2005, Shamir was featured as a speaker in the "Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
As the Biggest Threat to Modern Civilization" conference co-chaired by David Duke
David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is an American white supremacist, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, far-right politician, convicted felon, and former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. From 1989 to 1992, he was a membe ...
in Ukraine, and sponsored by the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management
Interregional Academy of Personnel Management ( uk, Міжрегіональна Академія управління персоналом (МАУП), translit.: ''Mizhrehional'na Akademiya upravlinnya personalom'', English acronym: MAUP) is a pr ...
which has been associated with antisemitic discourse in Eastern Europe.
Allegations of antisemitism and Holocaust denial
According to the scholar of antisemitism , Shamir borrows from neo-Nazi terminology when describing an alleged "Zionist" conspiracy to bring about theIraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
, image ...
. Bachner has said that Shamir's writing would have been of little interest had they been published only on his website, however, ''Flowers of Galilee'' was issued by a respected publisher and promoted by parts of the left in Sweden. The book was recommended by former Swedish MP and promoted by The Palestine Solidarity Association in Sweden which also engaged Shamir as speaker. In ''Cabbala of Power'', Shamir writes: "The Jewish 'plan' is no secret; there is no need to re-read ''The Protocols
''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' () or ''The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. The hoax was plagiarized from several ...
'' or to ask Jews what they want."
Henrik Bachner, described Shamir's online outlet as "a multilingual website in which Jewish conspiracies are brought forward as an explanation for both historical and contemporary world events". Stephen Pollard reported in ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' in 2005 that it included such statements as "Jews asked God to kill, destroy, humiliate, exterminate, defame, starve, impale Christians, to usher in Divine Vengeance and to cover God’s mantle with blood of goyim." The Anti-Defamation League reported in 2006 that Shamir had written on his website of "accumulating evidence of Israeli Connection" for 9/11 and wrote of the United States and Israel creating the attacks to carry out anti-Muslim policies. He had expressed his belief in the "blood libel
Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mur ...
" on his website.
In 2004, ''Searchlight
A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...
'' wrote about his connections to antisemitic publications and groups, and the campaign Hope not Hate
Hope not Hate (stylized as HOPE not hate) is an advocacy group based in the United Kingdom which campaigns against racism and fascism. It has also mounted campaigns against Islamic extremism and antisemitism. It is self-described as a "non-par ...
has listed Shamir as a "notable Holocaust denier," citing the "rabid Holocaust denial material" on his website. At an event at the British Houses of Parliament
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north ban ...
in 2005, Shamir claimed "Jews indeed own, control and edit a big share of mass media" and said US foreign policy in the Middle East was a "fight for ensuring Jewish supremacy".
In 2006, discussing the upcoming Iranian International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust was a two-day conference in Tehran, Iran that opened on December 11, 2006. Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the conference sought "neither to deny nor prove t ...
, '' Deutsche Welle'' wrote that the Iranian government "said it intended to invite academics such as German neo-Nazi awyerHorst Mahler
Horst Mahler (born 23 January 1936) is a German former lawyer and political activist. He once was a far-left militant and a founding member of the Red Army Faction who later became a Maoist, before switching to neo-Nazism. Between 2000 and 200 ...
and the Israeli journalist and Christian convert Israel Shamir, both of whom are Holocaust deniers."
In December 2010, Shamir's connection with WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...
brought him more public attention. Katha Pollitt
Katha Pollitt (born October 14, 1949) is an American poet, essayist and critic. She is the author of four essay collections and two books of poetry. Her writing focuses on political and social issues from a left-leaning perspective, including abo ...
, writing in ''The Nation
''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'' in December 2010, described Shamir's web site: I spent a few hours on www.israelshamir.net and learned that: "the Jews" foisted capitalism, advertising and consumerism on harmonious and modest Christian Europe; were behind Stalin's famine in Ukraine; control the banks, the media and many governments; and that "Palestine is not the ultimate goal of the Jews; the world is." There are numerous guest articles by Holocaust deniers, aka "historical revisionists."In early 2011, David Leigh and
Luke Harding
Luke Daniel Harding (born 21 April 1968) is a British journalist who is a foreign correspondent for ''The Guardian''. He was based in Russia for ''The Guardian'' from 2007 until, returning from a stay in the UK on 5 February 2011, he was refus ...
, writing in ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', described Shamir as being "notorious for Holocaust denial and publishing a string of antisemitic articles." The '' Jerusalem Post'' called him "an avowed Holocaust-denier" who said of the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust was a two-day conference in Tehran, Iran that opened on December 11, 2006. Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the conference sought "neither to deny nor prove t ...
that it "proved that the Holocaust dogma is a basic tenet in the great world-embracing brainwashing machine of mass media". Shamir denied the accusation of Holocaust denial in an article for ''CounterPunch
''CounterPunch'' is a left-wing online magazine. Content includes a free section published five days a week as well as a subscriber-only area called CounterPunch+, where original articles are published weekly. ''CounterPunch'' is based in the Unit ...
'', writing that his family "lost too many of its sons and daughters for me to deny the facts of Jewish tragedy" but that he denies "the morbid cult of Holocaust". In his 2011 ''Tablet'' interview, Shamir referred to "perceptions during the war" of Auschwitz as a "quite awful deportation camp" whereas "after the war, different perception came. And that was a perception of mass annihilation, and mass murder, and all that." Asked which "perception" was true, Shamir said he had no interest in the subject. When asked if the concentration camps were used for mass murder, he responded by saying he had "no knowledge about it at all" and rejected "the idea that it is important."
Association with WikiLeaks
Shamir is a vocal backer of theWikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...
organization. In a Sveriges Radio interview with WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson
Kristinn Hrafnsson (born 25 June 1962) is an Icelandic investigative journalist who has been the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks since 2018. He was the spokesperson for WikiLeaks between 2010 and 2017.
Career
He has worked at various newspapers i ...
, Hrafnsson stated that Israel Shamir "is associated with" WikiLeaks, as are "a lot of journalists that are working with us all around the world" who "have different roles in working on heproject". In an article by Andrew Brown published in ''The Guardian'' during December 2010 Hrafnsson was quoted as saying Shamir was WikiLeaks representative in Russia. ''Russian Reporter'' claimed it has "privileged access" to the 2010 United States diplomatic cables leak
The United States diplomatic cables leak, widely known as Cablegate, began on Sunday, 28 November 2010 when WikiLeaks began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates, embassies, and d ...
via Shamir. In 2011, Shamir posted unredacted copies of diplomatic cables dealing with former Soviet states that hinted at the names of State Department sources that ''The Guardian'' and WikiLeaks had redacted. When asked why he published the unredacted cables, possibly putting the sources at risk, Shamir said "Handing confidential and secret information to everybody is the thing of Wikileaks. That’s what it is about. Your question is like asking police why they catch thieves. That is what they are for."
In 2010, Shamir described his relation with WikiLeaks as being "a freelancer who was 'accredited' to WikiLeaks". Shamir's son Johannes Wahlström is a spokesperson for WikiLeaks in Sweden. A request from Shamir, according to former staff member James Ball, was for all cables relating to "the Jews"; it was refused. Elsewhere, Shamir claimed to have received "thousands of cables about the Jews." According to Ball, a Russian reporter wrote WikiLeaks saying that Shamir was answering requests for access to cables about Russia with requests for money, saying they couldn't look through the cables themselves.
According to the Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
, leaked documents from WikiLeaks include an unsigned letter from Julian Assange authorising Israel Shamir to seek a Russian visa on his behalf in 2010. WikiLeaks said Assange never applied for the visa or wrote the letter.
Former WikiLeaks spokesman Daniel Domscheit-Berg
Daniel Domscheit-Berg (; né Berg; born 1978), previously known under the pseudonym Daniel Schmitt, is a German technology activist. He is best known as the former spokesperson for WikiLeaks and the author of ''Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Jul ...
said WikiLeaks' ties to Shamir were among the reasons he quit the organization. He described Shamir as a "famous Holocaust denier and anti-Semite."
Yulia Latynina
Yulia Leonidovna Latynina (russian: Ю́лия Леони́довна Латы́нина; born 16 June 1966) is a Russian writer and journalist. She is a columnist for ''Novaya Gazeta'' and the most popular host at the Echo of Moscow radio stat ...
, writing in ''The Moscow Times
''The Moscow Times'' is an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates s ...
,'' alleged that Shamir concocted a cable which allegedly quoted European Union diplomats' plans to walk out of the Durban II
The Durban Review Conference is the official name of the 2009 United Nations World Conference Against Racism (WCAR), also known as Durban II. The conference ran from Monday 20 April to Friday 24 April 2009, and took place at the United Nations O ...
speech by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for publication in the pro-Putin ''Russian Reporter'' in December 2010. Shamir has denied this accusation, though he has described Ahmadinejad as being a "brave and charismatic leader" on his website. By May 2011, a statement had appeared on the WikiLeaks website that Shamir had "never worked or volunteered for WikiLeaks, in any manner, whatsoever. He has never written for WikiLeaks or any associated organization, under any name and we have no plan that he do so."
Belarus
In an article published by the ''CounterPunch'' website in December 2010, Shamir praised theBelarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
president, Alexander Lukashenko
Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лукашенко, Aleksandr Grigoryevich Luk ...
and said WikiLeaks had exposed America's "agents" in the country. Shamir has been reported to have passed "sensitive cables" to the Lukashenko government. He is believed to have visited Belarus in December 2010 and to have given Vladimir Makei, then Lukashenko's chief of staff, unpublished and unredacted US diplomatic cables. ''Soviet Belarus'', a state-run newspaper began publishing what it claimed were WikiLeaks cables given to Lukashenko by Shamir in January 2011.
'' Index on Censorship'' later expressed concern that such a development could physically endanger Lukashenko's political opponents. WikiLeaks responded that "We have no further reports on this 'rumour/issue'", although another WikiLeaks representative called Shamir's alleged leaks "obviously unapproved."
James Ball wrote in 2013 he was aware the organization's later denial of its connections to Shamir were untrue because Julian Assange had instructed him to give Shamir 90,000 US cables. Ball wrote in ''The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...
'' in 2019 that Index contacted him less than a fortnight after Shamir left WikiLeaks headquarters (then in Norfolk) with a photograph of Shamir leaving the Belarus interior ministry. According to Ball, soon afterwards Lukashenko announced a Belarusian WikiLeaks would be released to show opposition leaders in the country were on the American payroll and thus effectively grounds for their arrest.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shamir, Israel 1947 births Living people Late modern Christian antisemitism Members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem Novosibirsk State University alumni Writers from Novosibirsk Soviet emigrants to Sweden Swedish journalists Swedish people of Russian-Jewish descent Swedish Holocaust deniers WikiLeaks Anti-Zionism in Sweden