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Ari Lieberman

Danny Glover, Anatomy of a Bigoted Hypocrite

Radical leftist Danny Glover, an outspoken supporter of the anti-Semitic BDS movement, is at it again this time calling for a boycott of an upcoming film screening scheduled to be held in Tel-Aviv. Glover called for a complete cultural boycott of the Mideast’s only democracy stating, “We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine, and support their call for cultural and academic boycott of Israel.” Considering his past associations with assorted autocrats and xenophobes, Glover’s sanctimonious comments reek of hypocrisy and are demonstrative of man more concerned with bashing those pesky Jews than advancing the cause of human rights.

Glover, along with the likes of Roger Waters and Alice Walker, typify today’s contemporary brand of anti-Semitism. It is more insidious than the more traditional anti-Semitism of yore in that it masquerades itself as a human rights issue but is in reality, a malevolent form of racism. Precisely because of this, famed Soviet dissident and human rights activist Natan Sharansky formulated a test, known as the 3-D Test of anti-Semitism, to determine whether positions and statements critical of Israel veer into traditional anti-Semitism. The test centers on whether attacks are meant to demonize and delegitimize Israel and whether those who level the criticism are applying blatant double standards.

Based on this test, it is clear that Glover’s attacks on Israel plainly cross the line of legitimate discourse and constitute anti-Semitism and racism in its most vile form. Glover has chosen to let loose with invective against Israel, a vibrant liberal democracy, while ignoring egregious and ongoing human rights abuses occurring throughout the Arab world and the world at large.

Indeed Glover, who perniciously labels Israel as an “Apartheid regime” attended the Dubai Film Festival in the UAE, a country rife with human rights abuses, xenophobia, homophobia and misogyny. Its convoluted system of justice would likely make Orwell cringe. In 2013, a Norwegian woman who had filed a complaint with Dubai authorities alleging rape was herself charged with having sex outside of marriage and alcohol consumption and sentenced to 16 months of incarceration. Other women who were victims of sexual assault in Dubai and had the temerity to file complaints against their attackers have endured similar horrific experiences at the hands of Dubai authorities.  In its annual survey, Freedom House labeled the UAE “Not Free” and citing a host of human rights abuses, gave it an atrocious negative rating of “6,” with “7” being the worst rating.

Glover has also cozied up to autocratic Venezuelan rulers, Hugo Chavez and his successor Nicolas Maduro and defended their oppressive regimes and authoritarian styles. Glover’s passionate defense of Maduro came in the midst of a violent government crackdown on democracy protestors. Maduro employed para-military thugs armed with clubs and guns to beat the protestors into submission and borrowed chapter and verse from the brutal methods employed by the mullah’s of Iran when they were confronted with similar disturbances in 2009.  In the Freedom House survey, Venezuela fared just slightly better than the UAE with a ranking of “5.”

But to truly get a sense of Glover’s duplicity and warped sense of justice, one need look no further than an article he co-authored with radical leftist and Castro admirer, Saul Landau. Glover laments the incarceration of the so-called “Cuban Five,” a group of Cuban spies convicted after a jury trial on a multiplicity charges ranging from aiding and abetting murder to possession of forged documents. Glover absurdly likens their trial to the hypothetical of Jews being tried in Berlin, 1938. Here Glover demonstrates at best, willful ignorance but more likely, a malevolence innate in all racists. In the same breath, he accuses Alan Gross, a forgotten American held hostage by Cuban authorities since 2009, of engaging in “activities designed to undermine Cuba’s government.” Gross’s sole “crime” was to provide Cuba’s tiny Jewish community with internet access. For that “crime” Gross now languishes in a Cuban dungeon after being tried in a kangaroo court by government appointed stooges. Gross’s seizure and incarceration by Cuban authorities violates all norms of international law but Glover doesn’t see it that way. In Glover’s convoluted mind, it is the United States that is at fault and the Cubans are blameless.

Glover, who was quick to characterize George W. Bush as racist, ironically establishes himself as the premiere racist and hypocritical bigot. He sees fit to wrongfully demonize and delegitimize Israel with mendacious and defamatory rhetoric but in the same breath not only ignores worldwide human rights abuses but actually advocates for those who perpetrate them. As such, Danny Glover joins the ignominious club of marginal haters such as the detestable Roger Waters, whose depravity knows no bounds.

About the Author
Ari Lieberman is an attorney and former prosecutor. He has authored several articles covering political and military issues concerning Israel, the United States and the Mideast at large.