Posted on 03/09/2006 4:32:42 PM PST by SJackson
Last week, I attended a function organised by a new Jewish singles group in Melbourne, Australia. For a while, I was sitting next to a guy who was wearing a pro-Aborigines T-shirt. He told me that he is a social worker and passionately involved in, and personally supports, all Aborigine causes. During conversation, I casually said that I am surprised that at Jewish functions usually no one even mentioned the Israel and the Middle East conflict.
His reply was sudden, strong and categorical: "Jews do not have any rights on the Palestinian land!" All his compassion, love, empathy and humanism had vaporised, gone in a second. He shouted with powerful, unbreakable conviction.
He did not care about political correctness and how offensive his words and ideas could be. He raised his voice and obnoxiously made his statements, perfectly knowing that no one among the 'nice Jews' around would contradict or challenge him. It seems that in modern society, only detestable bullies and self-hating Jews have the right to express their opinion without fear of being censored or ostracised. And, he was right; no one made any attempt to participate in our discussion.
He did not want to hear anything at all that would contradict his opinion. I understood with whom I was dealing and my assumptions were correct. Later, he told me that he is a member of the Jewish Democratic Society, a local Jewish self-hating leftist organization. (I had previous experience with the members of this organization. As a rule, they jump and scream like a pack of mad dogs when the word "Israel" is mentioned in their presence.)
He also reminded me of some responses I have received recently to my article, "Sinai Option - The Road to Permanent Peace!" - full of categorical rejection of the idea that the Arabs can be transferred from the Jewish land. Many have shown strong support and tried to justify the fictitious Arab claims. At the same time, some of those passionate, nice, sympathetic 'humanists' expressed the wish that Jews would and should be transferred to Canada or to the desert of Arizona. All their friendliness and compassion is gone; strangely, none of it is applicable to Jews.
Those people do not surprise or anger me. To a degree, I even respect them. At least they have some convictions and beliefs, and openly express them. It is the silent Jewish majority that is disappointing and dangerously treacherous. Conversations about the weather, travel, workout at the local gym, diet and, at best, the stock market are their predominant pastimes. They display indifference, apathy or lack of knowledge and understanding that the current danger that Israel and Jewish people face should be the major concern. How to awake them from this lethargic sleep? Do we really need to wait for another war in Israel, pogrom in Russia or Holocaust in Europe to bring the message home?
I know that after thousands of years of persecution by the scum of the Earth, it is difficult to have high self-esteem. The stigma of the 'villain of the world' is still haunting many Jews. We are still unable to shrug off the shtetl, the Galut, the slave mentality. But it is crucial that Jews regain self-respect and self-love now. History is moving too fast; delay could be detrimental for the Jewish nation.
PING
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In reading the article I was struck by the fact that no sports team has named themselves The Aborigines.
Then, one wonders, what lands do the Jews have a right to - and why do the Palestinians have a greater right than the Jews?
Winners of wars get land. That's how it works.
Makes you wonder if all the Jews in New York also belong to this :Jewish Democratic Society,
It's the Stockholm Syndrome -- identification with the enemy.
...and should be transferred to Canada or to the desert of Arizona
That's silly. In such a situation, Arizona wouldn't remain a desert for very long, and the Palestinians would then want that land as well.
The Aztlan movement has considered that.
You must understand. There are Jews and there are Jews. Judaism (Jews, please correct me if I am wrong on this) is at once a religion, a race, and an ethos. The religion part is easy, but the fact is, most Jews aren't very religious.
Then there is the race: the semitic race if you will. A distinct ethnicity. For example, when Hitler tried to kill all the Jews, I doubt he would have wanted to kill a Christian that had converted to Judaism. He wanted to kill members of the Jewish "race," not religion.
Finally, there is the ethos. Jews with roots in Eastern Europe (particularly Russia) became heavily politicized there in the face of pogroms and other persecution. They became radicalized and leaned toward the socialistic mindset that overthrew their main nemesis, the Czar. They emigrated from Europe to the US, Canada, Australia, and many have retained that radical, socialistic bent. That is why Jews are so overwhelmingly Democrat in the US, and why Jews are in the forefront of so many left wing causes.
About the Australian Jew in question: no doubt he is ethnically Jewish (but that is probably of minor importance to him); I doubt he has seen the inside of a synagogue in years (if ever); but, surely he possesses the ethos carried by many Jews of Eastern European origin.
Hard to believe how a Jew could be against Israel or other Jewish causes. Well, this, of course, is becuase there are three worlds of Judaism, and the guy in question identifies primarily with only one of them: the politicized, leftist one, while (self) hating the other two.
The Jews were in the holy land long before Mohammad was butchering and raping.
Not necessarily, Ive no way of knowing his level of observance. He could be religious and believe Jews and Muslims could walk hand in hand through Hevron were it not for the right wingers. He lives in Australia, after all. I dont want to hazard a guess about the leftist mindset, but there really are people, lots of them, who think it's all just a matter of sitting down with our enemies around a campfire and chanting. They have a website, Ill link below.
. For example, when Hitler tried to kill all the Jews, I doubt he would have wanted to kill a Christian that had converted to Judaism. He wanted to kill members of the Jewish "race," not religion.
Unfortunately, no. A single Jewish grandparent was enough, irrespective of ones faith. Or a Jewish wife, or even connections to the Jewish community.
And yet again, my lame attempt at hyperbole is been humbled by my underestimating the extremism of socialists.
Just for that, I'm going to rip off the aztlan.net javascript that does that cool title bar scrolly deal.
Needless to say, they haven't yet perfected what Arafat had to teach them. But they weren't visiting in the midst of a war to taste the falafel.
At the end of the day Israel has earnt its right to exist through being cohesive as a society and thus being able to defend themselves. This is neither a good or bad thing it is merely a fact.
Someone aughter introduce this writer to Gerard Jackson and the blokes at BrookesNews. [ http://www.brookesnews.com - brookes@brookesnews.com ]
"He told me that he is a social worker and passionately involved in, and personally supports, all Aborigine causes."
I wonder how long before the compassion runs dry?
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