MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop
MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE by Michael Wolraich Order today at Barnes & Noble / Amazon / Books-A-Million / Bookshop |
Some of you recall that earlier in the summer I posted something on increased anti-semitism in Europe, and it bothers me more than you might expect that at least one regular poster stopped posting after things got tense in the comment thread. I really do regret that happened, and I wish I could turn back the clock and bring back anyone who hasn't posted because of that.
I would be lying if I told you all that I don't have continued bruised feelings towards some folks on and off the masthead for what transpired over that thread. We'll see; time heals. I know some of you don't think about these things like I do. . .different strokes (imagine that).
In any event, it makes me feel less than pure to ignore what is happening to the surviving remnants of the Jewish communities of Europe, for so many reasons. Please don't take this as a sign that I don't care about what is happening to other people around the world, but what is going on in Europe hits up close and personal with me.
I never thought that in my lifetime I would read that people would chant "Jews to the Gas" in Germany. To excuse many (not all) of these folks as muslims who are angry with Israel is to excuse racism based on lowered expectations of our brothers and sisters of the Islamic faith.
Goldberg touches on something that touches me too, the removal of kosher foods from the shelves of a grocery store in London in response to protests against Israel's war with Hamas. Jews eat kosher food all over the world and it has nothing to do with Israel. People like to make fun of the arcane customs of kashrut, which is fine when in good taste. But I remember when my grandmother of blessed memory was in a rehab center, and she refused to eat until a rabbi came and told her that it was OK. That's why modern bslev tries to keep a kosher home -- really in her memory and those I never met.
I leave you with this. Next time you feel the urge to remind someone that anti-Israel is not the same as anti-Jewish, turn it around. Anti-Jewish should not be anti-Israel, but that's what's going down. As someone recently wrote, and I cannot find the cite: Careful Europe, your roots are showing.
Comments
I found the article that I was thinking of and referenced at the end of my introduction to Goldberg's piece. It's from an American Jewish woman in London named Hadley Freeman, and is based on her experience as a staffer with The Guardian, a newspaper that many supporters of Israel (myself included) believe to be overtly biased against Israel. Here's some of what Freeman writes (my bolds):
by Bruce Levine on Mon, 08/25/2014 - 11:43am
I didn't really follow the feud between you and Peracles on this matter. Peracles did shock me with his support for the CIA's overthrow of Allende; he may have had other extreme views.
by Aaron Carine on Mon, 08/25/2014 - 1:46pm
Nobody in this tale has what I would consider to be extreme views, sorry if I gave that impression.
by Bruce Levine on Mon, 08/25/2014 - 2:21pm
Peracles did not "support the CIA's overthrow of Allende" - he noted that a leader embracing bloodthirsty Communists, ISIS, Nazis, Khmer Rouge, KKK racists, Taliban, or other horrid fringes of society can cause a country to panic and respond in a bloody overblown fashion. In Indonesia, the response to Communist intrigue was 500,000 Indonesians killed. This is the real world, boys and girls. Relatively speaking, Chile was lucky.
Re: "at least one regular poster. stopped posting after things got tense in the comment thread", if it refers to me, I stopped posting because I got tired of re-explaining ad nauseum what I saw as fairly obvious points like paragraph #1. For politeness' sake, I'll spare you my thoughts on UK kosher delis.
by Anonymous PP (not verified) on Tue, 08/26/2014 - 7:03am
As I remember it, you defended the coup on the grounds that Allende had nationalized industries. Also, Chile was not lucky getting a democracy replaced by a bloody dictatorship. In the real world, the alternative to Pinochet wasn't mass slaughter, it was democracy.
by Aaron Carine on Tue, 08/26/2014 - 7:52am
Aaron, you're the best, but not on this thread, please!
by Bruce Levine on Tue, 08/26/2014 - 8:20am
I guess we are getting off-topic.
by Aaron Carine on Tue, 08/26/2014 - 8:57am
Gotta go to work and did not mean to offend you.
by Bruce Levine on Tue, 08/26/2014 - 8:59am
Not offended. I repent of straying off topic.
by Aaron Carine on Tue, 08/26/2014 - 9:15am
You have to have the appropriate "stuff" in the water to brine a good corned beef.
by Bruce Levine on Tue, 08/26/2014 - 8:18am
Peracles,
I'm off to "paperless office training" for old dogs needing to learn new tricks. When I started working for the USDOL after law school in 1986, we had one fax machine in the office and only the head solicitor and office manager were allowed to go near it.
Look, I won't lie to you and pretend that I'm happy with much of what you wrote, or how I feel you sometimes choose to debate. But please do accept my apology for whatever part that I played in causing you to fly the coop. FWIW, I have learned from you and I hope you understand that in my world that's a real compliment. And it's genuine.
With a limited amount of free time that I have in real life (like many of us I'm sure), the last thing I want to do is discuss important issues among the converted. On this I know we agree.
As to the "team" thing, as you know it's an expression, and I used it at the wrong time. The last thing I'd want to do is hide behind other folks and "other" you or anyone else. Heaven forbid. I cannot speak for others who chose to run with my use of the term for other purposes.
This place is not the same without you Peracles.
Peace brother.
Bruce
by Bruce Levine on Tue, 08/26/2014 - 9:17am
Have the Christian Churches spoken up?
by Resistance on Mon, 08/25/2014 - 11:58pm
Here's an article from the Washington Post describing what's going on in Germany, and the Goldberg piece links to some additional articles. The response of the German political leadership and major media has been immediate and unambiguous in condemning the hate speech. Honestly, I'm not sure about any specific church positions, but I have a hunch that they are out in the forefront condemning this. Germany is probably one of a handful of nations in Europe that Jews remain fundamentally secure, and there has been a large influx of Jews into Germany over the past 20 years from the former Soviet Union.
Edited to add. On the "Gas" statements, Goldberg leads to this piece by Deborah Lipstadt who, in turn, links to additional articles in her piece.
by Bruce Levine on Tue, 08/26/2014 - 12:18am
Germany is probably one of a handful of nations in Europe that Jews remain fundamentally secure,
True, (and ironic). Germany today is one of the most liberal societies around--I believe that the gay mayor of Berlin is a serious contender for the next chancellor. Put together with the strongly pacifist tendency in Japan, and we see that nothing is forever.
by jollyroger on Tue, 08/26/2014 - 12:57pm
Well, you do know that Hitler and his cronies were never really too fond of Berlin. Kind of a teeny bit of justice that Berlin is where he saw his end.
by Bruce Levine on Tue, 08/26/2014 - 1:44pm