The scent of racism

[vierundzwanzig]

Shock is the proper reaction to the remark of cabinet Minister Gideon Ezra, who explained last week that Arabs should be used as security guards in Israel because only they have "the sense of smell needed to smell other Arabs, more so than guards who are immigrants from the former Soviet Union." If anyone in Europe dared to say something similar about Jews, the world would be outraged, and rightly so. Another possibility is to ignore what Ezra said: Whats the relevance of a low-life utterance from a marginal minister whose level of speech only casts a gloomy light on the institution he came from, the Shin Bet security service, and on his current place at the cabinet table? On second thought, though, we should be thankful to Ezra: He has provided an apt description of the reality in which we live. We do in fact "sniff out" Arabs, all of whom are suspect in our eyes solely because of their ethnic origins. We are all racists.

http://www.palestinecampaign.org/print_article.asp?xid=n&id=1135

(Sorry, had a hard time locating the original source but I have no reason to doubt it)

[DuctapeFatwa]

1. Here's the Haaretz link

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=296475&contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y

in case there is a problem with a source that contains the word "Palestinian"

[donsu]

2. it's more then a "scent", it's a 'stink' of racism

scent is much to kind. never be kind to racists.

[The Stranger]

3. Pure racism.

Disgusting.

[Herschel]

4. I see no issue

The use of smell as an identifacation tool is nothing new. Race and ethnicity based odor is legitimate and has been utilized many times.

[newyorican]

5. Well,

I'm speechless....

On Edit: I found my "voice". I have a question. What does the child of an Israeli-Jew and a Palestinian smell like?

[StandWatie]

6. araboushim, obviously

You are a real piece of work, Hersh...

[tinnypriv]

7. I/P officially just entered the twilight zone

n/t

[Aidoneus]

8. the boys at Stormfront may agree..

but, um.. oh. :wow:

[StandWatie]

9. only people I can think of who would agree..

are maybe the Chinese police, they believe they can smell if someone is from Hui province (Muslim by coincidence or not) but as far as I know no one has duplicated this quirky habit unless Hersh has it on the downlow that Israeli's seriously do this rather than say the much quicker, provably reliable and equaly dehumanizing habit of maybe making people drop their pants before they walk in and seeing if they are cut or not.

[Forkboy]

14. Didn't expect you to

[jos]

26. But do those of the same ethnic or racial group

have a better ability to detect one another? I would think those who are from a different racial or ethnic group could detect better.

Since you seem to have no problem endorsing this prejudice, may you can enlighten us?

[chapter32]

29. Very impressive

Thanks for the enlightening post.

Keep up the good work.

[Herschel]

10. All of you listen

Various factors such as hygiene practices, body glands, diet, and application of scented materials may be common in races, producing a particular scent. Hence, Arabs may well be capable of smelling their own.

[rini]

11. Sorry

on this I have to disagree. The man should not have said anything so dumb. Now what you said is true, but in reverse. I have a friend from Viet Nam who told me it took her a long time to used to the scent of westerners. I noticed (when I lived in Europe) that different nationalities each had their own scent. So I think an outsider might notice a different odor, but a member of that ethnic group doesn't notice it at all.

[newyorican]

12. Hersch, be honest, you can tell me...

Do Arabs stink?

[Herschel]

13. Those are your words

Not mine. I will leave it at that.

[The Magistrate]

15. It Would Seem Worth Pointing Out

The most effective of the recent bombings have been carried out lately by persons passing as observant Jews. Is every likely Shas adherent to snuffed at as a serious security measure?

There does not seem a great deal of difference in diet, at least in the sort of spices and foods consumed, between Israelis and Arab Palestinians. Nor are there great differences of genotype. Perfumes and hygiene are all easily altered by disciplined operatives. In short, none of this means a damned thing by way of real usefulness.

A fellow now absent from our company used to have the refrain: "Defending the indefensible!" You would seem, Mr. Herschel, to be providing an illustration for that cry here.

It is always worth recalling the whole of Commodore Decatur's celebrated toast: "My Country, Right or Wrong! When right to be kept right, when wrong to be put right!"

[The Stranger]

18. I believe that some of this is similar to what Nazis said about Jews.

But I am glad you are posting these things. They are enlightening for the rest of us.

Another way to identify people is by their words, thoughts, and actions about other peoples.

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Kbowe]

16. Hersh make you know what you are dealing with in Israeli supporters

eom

[Muddleoftheroad]

17. I have a question

How is it that animals can tell the difference between people of different races? Do they do it by smell? I have known several dogs that positively DESPISED black people and would treat people of other races -- including dark-skinned Hispanics -- as if they were their long lost family.

I honestly don't know about this one way or another.

[The Stranger]

19. I find it interesting to see the portrait of MLK next to your post

which manages to talk about dogs but never manages to condemn the racism that the original poster exposed.

[Muddleoftheroad]

20. I raised a question

I find this whole topic disturbing, but I honestly don't know if there is any basis in it or not. That's it. No knowledge. No pretend knowledge. So I'm even sure whether to be offended.

All I know is that animals seem to be able to discern racial makeup -- a point I have found out the hard way. Do they do it by smell? It sure doesn't seem like they do it by sight.

If THAT is the case, then there is some potential legitimacy to that what seems so, well, unseemly.

[vierundzwanzig]

21. Your avatar

is a radical contradiction to what you just said. Do you seriously believe the relevance of your post to the above article?

This is some of the most racist stuff I have ever heard and could come straight out of 'The Eternal Jew'.

The Nazis used your very arguments.

[Muddleoftheroad]

22. Let me ask you

Are you familiar with the fact that Good Ol' Boys used to (and probably still do) train dogs to hunt black people? I ran into one such dog when I was a teen and it tried to kill me. How did it know I was black -- at night?

I did my best to try and make sense of this issue rather than go off half-cocked, which seems to be what your post has done.

[bemildred]

23. A straight answer:

I am very skeptical that dogs can distinguish races
by smell, as the genetic differences are insignificant.
(I know, there are genetic correlations, but these are in
the nature of x% of this versus y% of that, there is no
diagnostic trait, as you know there are even white "negroes".)

A study I read on race in Latin American showed that racial
classification (based on skin, hair, etc.) correlated very
poorly with ancestry, i.e. european, african, native american.

This does not mean the cultural factors might not work to
some degree, as Herschel points out, just that it has nothing
to do with race, which is in any case a delusion.

In the case in question, as The Magistrate points out, a good
bath and some thoughts about camoflage should circumvent any
utility this "idea" might offer, we could start up a market in
good Israeli sweat.

[Muddleoftheroad]

24. LOL

I love the last part.

Now, back to my question. How do dogs do it if NOT by smell?

[newyorican]

27. "Race" doesn't have a "smell"

The last time I checked, dogs also have eyes and ears. Dogs can be trained to react to the unfamiliar, or to certain odors, such as drugs or explosives.

The guard dog trained to react to unfamiliar people loses it effectiveness as the dog comes into contact with more friendlies. Since dogs can also see, the sense of smell is only one factor in determining friend or foe.

Most dogs that go after black people are trained to react to visual stimuli. If the dog hesitates or doesn't attack as expected, it probably either saw heard or smelled something familiar.

[Muddleoftheroad]

32. OK, my case

Night time and I was walking -- no talking, dark as pitch that night. The dog came away from a nearby house and attacked me. No visual cues. No audio clues. Just me.

Anyhow, clearly none of us know on this point. This dead horse is splattered by now.

[Darranar]

33. Maybe it was a watch dog or something?

The owner forgot to close the gate on his fence, maybe. I don't know the details.

Why do you think it was trained to attack black people?

[StandWatie]

31. there is no difference in race

Sephardic Jews and Arabs are the same thing, they eat the same food, etc..

Only a very chauvanistic European Jew or ignorant American bigot would find any merit in these arguments.

[bemildred]

34. I didn't say dogs don't do it by smell.

[chapter32]

28. What do dogs have to do with Racial Profiling?

I have never seen or heard of a 'Racist Dog'.

Can Dogs Be Taught to Attack Based on Race?

http://www.bet.com/articles/0,1048,c1gb3632-4307-1,00.html#boardsAnchor

[Darranar]

25. Okay, a couple points...

This is a remark meant to portray the Arabs as a seperate species that insiders can detect. It is clearly a racist comment, and HAS NOTHING TO DO with the slight differences in smell that might exist between the groups.

[Lithos]

35. locking

this thread seems to have taken a detour which is unfortunate.

Lithos
FA/NS Moderator
Democratic Underground