Anti-Semitism & The Left
So I'm reading a wacky extreme-left wing alt-hygeine publication called Fifth Estate who's motto just happens to be "The Spirit of Anarchy." Feel free to chuckle.
I like to read magazines like this on occasion just to keep up with what's going on in the ultra-left (although they claim to transcend such petty distinctions as "left" and "right." But they're into the objectification of everything so they can enjoy this label for now).
I myself at one time was a pissed off highschooler who for hormonal reasons felt disinfranchised and held down by the "man." I every now and then like to relive a bit of what was like to listen to lots of Rage Against the Machine and to consistently give the finger to "the man" by doing such amazingly counter-cultural revolutionary things like smoking pot, stealing money from water fountains, and working as a pizza delivery boy. I remember these things, and thank the Lord I now have better things to do with my life, one of them being bathing on a regular basis.
But back to the magazine. So I'm reading the letters to the editor. One self described "Jewish Anarchist" gave a brief response to common criticism of the Jews by far-leftists (who currently are those holding the mantle of raging anti-semetism in the US). It was a competently put defense. The kicker though was the response from the editor, a Mr. E.B. Maple (feel free to drive him into a rage by leaving a McDonald's wrapper on his lawn. I'll find his address for you). One of his opening comments was, and I quote:
"I think a better question would be why, someone who identifies with the anarchist tradition takes the time to author a convoluted defense of a nasty little nation state." Right. Good point.
The topper is in his concluding paragraph:
"Palestinian civilian deaths at the hands of Israel state terror, including 300 children (oh, I know they were throwing stones at tanks), is triple that which the Israelis have experienced. 'It's too bad' that so few Israeli citizens refuse to cease acting out he logic of their country's origins, which have put the Jews in as much peril as they were before the Holocaust."
Now, I may be out there, but what I THINK this guy is saying is that it was the Jews fault they ended up in the Holocaust, and that again, it being their fault, they're nearly at the same place.
Now, I'll be honest, I've got some sympathy for the Jews. I think they've taken it in the shorts for the last 2,000 years. The issue for me isn't whatever bizarre connection there is between their religion and the Christian tradition. That isn't what makes me sympathize with them. Its simply that here are these people that have been pretty much been the scape goat for nearly every "problem" that has popped up in West. Got The Plague? Shouldn't have walked by that synagogue. Oh, business not doing well? Its 'cause your business is in the Jewish district of town. And let's not forget the greatest villain in all of western literature next to Satan: Shylock, a Jewish merchant.
Despite this, the Jews have managed to make a pretty good run at things. Insert a few stereotypes: they have a huge role in Hollywood, the media (I like the New York Times), and the diamond industry. Jewish folks consistently are well educated, hard-working, and wear really funny hats. All this despite a general consensus that they are creepy, scarry, and secretly running the world (The Illuminati).
So I feel like, that for one reason or another, we owe the Jews a bit. The holocaust freaks me out. How a country that was supposedly at the pinacle of science, philosophy, AND theology could do something just so unbelievably wrong boggles my mind.
And that somebody representing a movement that professes to be the real defenders of freedom, liberty, equality, and freedom would implicitly blame the Jews is indicative of some of the most warped and wrong thinking I've come across in a long time.
Josiah Q. Roe | By Josiah Roe | 11:19 PM
Comments
Since I'm not american and not english at all, can somebody explain me, please, what this article "Antisemitism and Left"
is about ??
Is author pro- or against Jews/Israel ??
Posted by: munya at May 31, 2003 10:45 AM
Anti-Semitism is basically racism against ethnic Jews, whether it be accusing all Jews of some kind-of Zionism, or or some type of plot to rule the world.
I suppose I'm pro-Jewish and pro the Nation of Israel. Largely because I figure the Jews are already in the Middle East, so they should stay there and have their country.
I'm also pro-Israel for reasons that would seem silly to many.
My best friend is Jewish.
The Jews have been persecuted for most of western history, so I kinda feel we owe them.
I have a hard time respected a culture that sends their children with bombs to blow up the land that they want (doesn't make sense to me), so I figure on that point alone Israel seems a bit more sane than their Palestinian enemies.
I dig Jewish culture, their bad bread, funny hats, and great wedding celebrations (especially the dancing).
I also kinda feel that even if the "Jews" arent God's chosen people today ("chosen" now applying to believers everywhere), that God did, at some point, give them the land of Canaan. I'm not sure why it should be kept from them now. I know it's not law or anything, it's just a gut feeling on my part. Maybe it's the time I spent at a Christian Fundamentalist school. I don't know.
I also like that Jews and the nation of Israel are fiercely loyal to The United States.
When I was in England last year, when all the hoopla over the war in Iraq was occuring, I saw this girl wearing a shirt that said, "Don't worry U.S.A., Israel is still on your side." It was a nice guesture, in a country that was otherwise spitting on me for being American.
Posted by: JosiahQ at May 31, 2003 01:21 PM
Post a Comment About "Anti-Semitism & The Left"
Email "Anti-Semitism & The Left" to a friend!
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://chattablogs.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/16
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Anti-Semitism & The Left:
