After reading Andrew Benjamin's opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald,
Israel does not act or speak for every Jew I found myself marveling at the dexterous leaps in logic that he was able to make.
Much in the same way as one blames their Aunt's letter writing for the reason their dog bites the local postman Mr Benjamin's denouncements of the State of Israel seem to be more based on his unfortunate discomforts as a Jew rather than any real logical deductions.
Mr Benjamin quite early in his opinion piece states:
"The source of the feeling is simple: Israel claims that it continues to act in my name."
I'm sorry to burst your own self inflated bubble Mr Benjamin but I seriously doubt if the State of Israel has even any knowledge of you. Pray tell me where you find the evidence that Israel as a country acts on behalf of all Jews and especially of you?
Israel is a country that has so many diverse opinions contained within I find it hard to believe that any citizen inside her would actually think Israel's actions represent their own thoughts let alone a Jew half way across the world.
You state that: "The Jewish community in Sydney and elsewhere insists on identifying themselves with Israeli actions. These acts are part of a tradition in which the state of Israel has set the measure for being Jewish."
Then in an astounding piece of high wire work Mr Benjamin connects the anti semitic attacks on a Synagogue in Sydney during the war between Hezbollah and Israel as proof of the Jewish community identifying themselves with Israel's actions.
This is where Mr Benjamin's logic flies out the door. The perpetrators of these hate crimes don't confirm any connection between Israel and the Sydney Jewish community, all they simply confirm is in their eyes a Jew is a Jew is a Jew.
Oh what wonderful arguments we could come up with if other groups hate crimes, actions and reactions are seen as concrete proof of so called connections and a willingness of those victimized groups to identify with certain groups or states.
Mr Benjamin, may I so kindly put it to you that you should spend more of your academic endeavors exploring the actual logical fallacies these groups have perpetrating these criminal acts than seeing their actions against Jews as some sort of ethereal proof that Israel represents all Jews.
I take exception to your portraying of Israel politics as:
"the politics of Israel - a politics that manifests itself in the bulldozing of houses in Gaza and the bombing of civilians in Qana .."
This quantum leap in logic is worthy of a Guardian hack, that it comes from an Jewish Academic from one of Australia's more prestigious universities is a troubling indictment indeed.
You seem to posit that because some hate groups see Jews as representing Israel, this confirms your theory of the myriad of possible connections between being Jewish and being a Zionist. I'm sorry but we both know being Jewish doesn't mean being a Zionist, nor even being a supporter of the state of Israel as you so eloquently prove via your actions in your diatribe.
Your real source of anger should be that there are groups who are willing to ignore these infinite differences within the Jewish community and treat all Jews with some sort of universal 'solution'.
In the finest tradition of holocaust deniers you draw connections between the holocaust and accusations of Israel 'hijacking it' in some sort of perverse power play.
You state:
However what endures for many as an outrage is Israel hijacking the Holocaust for its political ends: the Holocaust is used to sustain a specific geo-political situation.
I will not and can't argue that there are some who might carry this opinion, but I detest you state 'what endures for many as an outrage', Mr Benjamin this opinion is not held by 'many' it is held by a very small group fo which plainly you are one.
That you are against the State of Israel in its current form, I can appreciate and even respect in some regards, but that you accuse the country of Israel of 'hijacking' the Holocaust is utterly despicable, and unfortunately quite revealing.
With one broad sweep of your own perverse self serving logic you manage to dishonor the memory of 6 million dead and another six million living.
I fear you in your academic endeavors you have missed one of the fundamental principles of learning, 'Know thy self', but then I can understand why you might not want to as well.
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Mr Bagel: I have come across an article in the Australian Press its an opinion piece by an Australian Jew called Andrew Benjamin. I'm planning on writing about this particular article tomorrow but in the mean time please feel free to share his 'shame'.
Israel does not act or speak for every Jew
I WRITE as a Jew and as a synagogue member. I write as one whose academic work continues to move through questions of Jewish identity and the legacy of the Holocaust. Yet, I write with a growing sense of shame. The source of the feeling is simple: Israel claims that it continues to act in my name.
The Jewish community in Sydney and elsewhere insists on identifying themselves with Israeli actions. These acts are part of a tradition in which the state of Israel has set the measure for being Jewish.
The proof of this is the perverse logic in which responses to the politics of Israel - a politics that manifests itself in the bulldozing of houses in Gaza and the bombing of civilians in Qana - take the form of attacks on synagogues, Jewish cultural centres and Jewish cemeteries. Each time Israel acts in a certain way, security measures around synagogues are doubled.
Why? The straightforward answer attests to the victory of those who have linked and continue to link being a Jew to Israel and thus to those who conflate Judaism and Zionism.
The consequence of this is that a critique of Zionism or a disagreement over the policies of Israel are taken at best as a criticism of Jews and, at worst, as anti-Semitic. The evidence is clear. Attacks on synagogues in Seattle and Parramatta underscore the results of this. These attacks are the result of the politics of a nation state.
For a Jew, Israel is both the name of a state and the locus of ideals and actions.
Israel, as a place in which the endless and complex negotiation with others takes place, is the Israel that exists within Judaism. This is the Israel evoked in the liturgy. The state of Israel needs to be judged in relation to the other Israel.
There is a Judaic critique of Israel; one which once articulated would allow some Jews to undo the project that continues to identify the policies of a state with both a culture and a religion.
Until that undoing is accomplished Jewish community centres - religious or secular - will continue to be attacked. Israel, in its present manifestation, sustains anti-Semitism.
And yet, it will be argued the Holocaust has made the state of Israel a necessity: a state was needed so that such events not happen again.
State creation always displaces a people. And the results of that founding displacement should always be acknowledged, understood and in the end resolved.
However what endures for many as an outrage is Israel hijacking the Holocaust for its political ends: the Holocaust is used to sustain a specific geo-political situation.
The other night in Sydney at the Great Synagogue a speaker defended the incursion into Lebanon on the grounds that it would prevent a further Holocaust.
Given arguments of this nature, questions need to be asked. What right does a national government have to speak on behalf of those who died? What sanctions the deploying of that legacy in order to justify the bombing of Lebanon? For a Jew, and indeed for others, these are profound and important questions.
Understanding the Holocaust, tracing its impact upon how we think today, is a project that endures. Moreover, it is a project that resists easy summation. The idea that it can figure as an element of state policy is both an intellectual and ethical scandal. This needs to be said.
Until Jews are prepared to articulate the need to sever the identification of Judaism and Israel, anti-Semitism will flourish. Until Jews are prepared to argue that the Holocaust and its legacy is not the province of a nation state, let alone a justification for Zionism, our responsibility in relation to the dead will continue to be betrayed. We should demand better of ourselves.
Andrew Benjamin is a professor at the University of Technology, Sydney, and a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.
References:
The Sydney Morning Herald: Israel does not act or speak for every Jew
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You know the New York Times is quite an innovator when it comes to dealing with Terrorism.
They're always willing to help when it counts. The was the fiasco where the New York Times published secret information on the US Federal governments access to banking transactions, 23 rd June 2006 Bank Data Is Sifted by U.S. in Secret to Block Terror seems there was a little fallout from this action Behind Bush's Fury, a Vow Made in 2001
Then there was the 'New York Times' expose on 'Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts' again there was fall out and criticism of the New York Times, Has the “New York Times” Violated the Espionage Act?
Well it seems things are going a bit slow with helping the New York Times terrorist buddies, so in effect they've launched a public appeal.
If you think you're clever and have an innovative idea that could help stage a successful terrorist attack well post it to the New York Times for all and sundry to see...
If You Were a Terrorist, How Would You Attack?
When I read this article I thought, well I know I have several innovative ideas which possibly might not have been thought of, I'm sure a lot of others might think so to.
...and because of this I don't feel comfortable putting these ideas down in a public forum
Then I'm sure you would get the commenter that would say what ever you come up with the a Terrorist would have already thought of it already.
and my final thought?
I think the best idea I could come up with as a potential terrorist plan would be
Lay back, get comfy and log into my favorite Terrorist sympathizer Newspaper the Good Old New York Times and see all the ideas that Americans put down in the one spot in a very popular newspaper, and pick out the ones that I hadn't thought of. Thats my terrorist plan!
thanks New York Times.
you really are the Best Terrorist buddy!
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You know after watching the tirade of the big brother contestant Amber Siyavus Tomcavage, I haven't felt so repulsed in a long time.
If Big Brother was a competition to present one self as the most revolting skankiest ex meth ho then I would say Amber has got a hell of a chance.
It's not, so even if you might not like the show, it doesn't matter, the important thing is the Anti Semitic racial slurs that Amber was caught saying are utterly unacceptable.
If you haven't already done it please go to the CBS website and make a complaint.
The Feedback form is available via the Feedback button at the bottom of the page.
If you want to see what she said check out the Mr Bagel post below or check out Fox:
Anti-Semitic Rant on CBS 'Big Brother 8'
Anti-Semitic Rant on CBS' 'Big Brother 8'
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If you don't watch 'Big Brother' on CBS, you're not missing anything. Every summer they trot this turkey out so we can watch hideous human beings compete for money while the cameras roll and host Julie Chen rolls her eyes.
This summer has been no exception. Normally, these people just expose their greed and stupidity. This is a group of people, after all, who in eight seasons have never cracked a book or discussed anything other than their appearances.
But two nights ago on CBS' overnight feed on Showtime Networks, a player named Amber Siyavus Tomcavage stirred things up. The 27-year-old Las Vegas cocktail waitress must have forgotten that the cameras were on when she — under her breath — had a long discourse with housemate Jameka about "the Jews." Her mother must be so proud.
The essence of Amber's complaint? That Jews she has met are "bad" people, and you could tell them by either their noses or their names.
Jameka, who professes to be a Christian, made no reaction to Amber's declaration. None of the footage has been shown on CBS' broadcast so far, but it's all over the Internet.
Amber's exact statement: "The majority of people I know from New York are Jewish, and the majority of Jewish people I know, my gosh, so many are so selfish. So weird. Even my sister always tells me, she's like my sister, and my mom will meet someone and I'll be like, 'I don't like that person. That person doesn't seem like a very good person to me,' and my mom and sister are like, 'You know why?' Why? 'They're Jewish.' How do you know? 'Amber you can tell by their last name, you can tell by their nose.' I'm like, 'Really?'"
There is at least one Jewish player in the house, Eric Stein, also 27, of New York. Stein was made "America's Player" when the game began — a secret unbeknownst to the other players — and should win barring any surprises. His main quality has been that he is the least offensive of the group.
And what a group they have been. There's a 44-year-old father who looks like Tommy Lee. His pretty, blond, undernourished 20-year-old estranged daughter is in the house as well. She had a thing with a 25-year-old hunky failed football player (since evicted) who also flirted with the other men and talked about having gay sex.
Only one half of another gay couple is left. They were actually former lovers, but not before we learned the now-evicted one gave the other an STD.
Is this America? No. These are people whose lives are so pathetic and desperate that they want to be on TV 24 hours a day.
In England, there's a whole channel devoted to "Big Brother" around the clock. Here, thankfully, it's only three hours a night.
Still, even giving this gang one hour is too much. They are empty souls, devoid of nearly anything remarkable other than their ability to cause revulsion.
Update at Life of Rubin: Big Brother controversy
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Antisemitic remarks made by contestant broadcast on US Television
If the video fails to play click here:
Big Brother Amber putting down Jewish people and New YorkersUnited States
Big Brother 8 houseguest Amber stirred things up after she had a long conversation with fellow houseguest Jameka about “
the Jews.”
The cocktail waitress stateded her opinion about Jews and says the ones she met are “bad people” and you can tell one by their name and noses. “The majority of people I know from New York are Jewish, and the majority of Jewish people I know, my gosh, so many are selfish. So weird.
Even my sister always tells me, she’s like my sister, and my mom will meet someone and I’ll be like, ‘I don’t like that person. That person doesn’t seem like a very good person to me,’ and my mom and sister are like, ‘You know why?’ Why? ‘They’re Jewish.’ How do you know? ‘Amber you tell by their last name, you can tell by their nose.’ I’m like, ‘Really?’” Amber said to Jameka.
Maybe she didn’t realize that house mate Eric, is Jewish?
Footage of Amber’s rant against the Jewish hasn’t been aired in CBS yet, but it can be seen all over the internet.
Well lets see what action the US producers take after the racial slur made against the eventual winner in England the contestant that made that slur was asked to leave.
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I just finished reading one of the lousiest pieces of biased journalism to have come from the Israeli side of the wall.
Seems leftest Nobel prize desperado Amira Hass is at it again.
In the article The Hebron Tactic Amira Hass describes the Settlers reactions to what really appears to be a deliberate provocation on behalf of the UN driver who just happens to have 2 Haaretz hacks in the vehicle.
Hass writes:
One man, followed later by a young guy, descended from Mitzpeh Yair, one of the unauthorized outposts in the southern Mt. Hebron area, and prevented a United Nations jeep from traveling. UN directives prohibit leaving the vehicle in such cases, in order to avoid an escalation of friction. And so we, three Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) staffers and two Haaretz journalists, were forced to watch them demonstrate their lordliness from inside the car: The older one blocked the vehicle, in the middle of the unpaved road, with his body. Using hand movements, he ordered the engine shut down. When that didn't happen, he jumped on the hood and then on the roof and back on the hood, and finally lay back on the windshield and played with the wipers, taking them apart. The driver progressed slowly down the track, and the man leaned back on the windshield with force, until it broke and shards went into the driver's eyes.
Let's look between the lines?"The older one blocked the vehicle, ...., and finally lay back on the windshield and played with the wipers, taking them apart. The driver progressed slowly down the track, and the man leaned back on the windshield with force, until it broke and shards went into the driver's eyes."
A settler is on guard duty to make sure that Palestinian terrorists don't slaughter the settlers.
He stands in front of the Vehicle (a relatively passive act) gesturing for it to stop to ask for ID, but instead of simply stopping, the driver with 2 suitable leftist journalists inside decides to make a issue out of nothing. (
Or is that a news story out of nothing? )
An alternative reality..The settle demands the vehicle stops and provides ID, after the UN drivers refusal to stop and provide ID, the settler takes issue.
The settler lies on top of the vehicle to block the drivers vision, the UN driver accelerates, the settler hangs on to the wipers, the driver breaks and then accelerates and of course the settler's body hits the windscreen, then Hass exaggerates "shards went into the driver's eyes"... Smell a beat up?
Whats more likely Whilst a vehicle is moving?
A settler placing weight on a windscreen (whilst holding onto wipers) and shattering it or the driver breaking, then accelerating suddenly and causing the settler to forcefully come in contact with the windscreen?
Seems Amira Hass has a problem with Olem?
"Both the older man and younger guy living at the outpost were born abroad. The younger man, a British citizen, has not yet been given new-immigrant status. "
To see the bias that just oozes out of this excuse for Journalism, click
The Hebron Tactic
By Amira Hass
For about 25 minutes, they behaved liked lords of the land: One man, followed later by a young guy, descended from Mitzpeh Yair, one of the unauthorized outposts in the southern Mt. Hebron area, and prevented a United Nations jeep from traveling. UN directives prohibit leaving the vehicle in such cases, in order to avoid an escalation of friction. And so we, three Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) staffers and two Haaretz journalists, were forced to watch them demonstrate their lordliness from inside the car: The older one blocked the vehicle, in the middle of the unpaved road, with his body. Using hand movements, he ordered the engine shut down. When that didn't happen, he jumped on the hood and then on the roof and back on the hood, and finally lay back on the windshield and played with the wipers, taking them apart. The driver progressed slowly down the track, and the man leaned back on the windshield with force, until it broke and shards went into the driver's eyes.
In the meantime, the younger guy appeared. He tried opening the doors of the jeep, screaming, "show me your identity cards" and placing big rocks in front of the wheels. By the time the army and police drove up, the older man yelled at Haaretz photographer Alex Levac: "Go back to where you came from." When he realized that Levac was a Jew and born in this country, he shouted: "Traitor, going with the UN." Both the older man and younger guy living at the outpost were born abroad. The younger man, a British citizen, has not yet been given new-immigrant status.
But what does that matter? It also didn't matter that the soldier described them as "problematic" and that the police are familiar with the older man from previous incidents of harassment. Nor did it matter that the police officers did not believe their absurd story that we had been in their olive grove and that we had tried to run the older man over. The tactic is one that is well-known from Hebron, the same tactic that helped to cleanse the Old City of most of its Palestinian residents: Jews harass and bully and then threaten to lodge complaints against their victims with the Israeli police.
Harassment and sabotage of a much more serious nature than what we experienced has become routine for the Palestinian shepherds and farmers in the area. As a result, about 850 of the 3,500 or so inhabitants of the area known as Masafer Yatta (Yatta's periphery) have left their habitations, in caves and tent encampments. Sometimes it is their access to water sources that is damaged, sometimes their herds, other times themselves. They have piles of papers attesting to the police complaints they have submitted. Until they stopped filing complaints.
It is easy to blame the two men, or those like them. But they practice terrorizing Palestinians because Israeli authorities let them do so.
In their own way, they do the same thing the "legitimate" occupation authorities do: They drive the Palestinians off their land to make room for Jews. In other words, they are following orders.
About 10 days ago, a Civil Administration inspector impounded a tractor and water tanker belonging to the Hadidyah, a community of farmers and herders in the northern Jordan Valley, as a pressure tactic aimed at getting them to leave their tent encampment on the grounds that it is located in a closed military area. They are one of dozens of communities that have been living in the valley for many decades. Since 1967 the Hadidyah have been displaced four times. Using all sorts of inventive tactics, the occupation authorities have turned these communities into unauthorized residents on their own land.
The springs and wells they used were turned over to the Mekorot Water Company: The water from the national company's drilling nearby is used by the "legitimate" settlers and its use by the Hadidyah is prohibited. As a result, they have to truck in water from a distant spring. The army has declared large areas of the valley firing zones. They end at the boundaries of the settlements.
The Israeli authorities have refused to rezone land to enable the community to live in the place the elders remember as their childhood home. But the adjacent land has been rezoned for the residence of Jews, Israeli citizens. Now the Civil Administration is hoping that thirst will drive them out of the piece of land allotted to them, which no longer has any land suitable for agriculture or grazing. That is Israel's policy toward the Palestinians in a nutshell, and talk of peace has not stopped it. The residents of the unauthorized outposts are merely imitating it and receiving both inspiration and protection from it.[end]
References:
Haaretz: The Hebron Tactic
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Mr Bagel has been riding the rounds and
here's a few words to have with ya beans
Bagel's pick of ten good posts in no particular order
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There's a forum at Jewcy called "Jew" as an insult
After reading some of the comments and seeing the antisemitism that can be associated with the term "Jew' I left a comment.
I'd like to know what others think?
Comment left at Jewcy Forum
I think this discussion raises some very important issues, in my opinion one of the most important is taking back the word Jew.
That racists use this as a derogative slur, must be seen in the context it is.
If an American was called an American, a Brit a Britain, an Australian an 'Aussie' would they be offended?
We should see it as a compliment, we must not allow racists, and bigots to claim this word as an insult. It's use as a slur is empowered by our avoidance of the term. It reaches to the very core of what antisemitism is about, if we can't use the word Jew in a positive way to describe ourselves then it has to be addressed.
Language is organic, it changes and grows and mutates, its time the original meaning of Jew returned!
We should claim it back and instead of reacting to it, due to the historic Antisemitic overtones, each of us take it as a challenge to reinforce that the term Jew simply signifies we are Jewish, and react in ways, that reinforce the positive meanings of the word.
To me Jew carries connotations of excellence, strength and resilience.
Acting at the individual level I always try to tag each of my posts 'Jew' so as to stop those hate sites from monopolizing its use.
What do you think?..
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The Brave militant heroes of Gaza have sent another of the endless rockets headed towards the citizens of Israel except this time it fell short. It fell short and killed a 8 year old boy and his 6 year old sister. It also injured 5 other children.
"The Associated Press had earlier quoted witnesses as saying the blast was the result of the children playing with a homemade rocket or a mortar shell that they had stumbled upon."
The Press has been incredibly quiet, there's barely a murmur of this event, there's no Arab cries for World condemnation at the UN. The least surprising event has been out of the endless parade of militant groups coming out of Gaza not one o f them has claimed responsibility. In the place where one rocket fired is usually claimed by a half dozen militant groups, there's a strange silence.You see killing Jewish Citizens is to be celebrated, but killing ones own is hushed.The sad thing is instead of mourning the death of these innocents, Gaza will celebrate them as shahids, martyrs who have died for the cause.The criminals who killed these children, will not be hunted down for the criminals they are. They will simply keep on trying to kill Jewish citizens, possibly children.Haaretz has More:
Qassam rocket fired at Israel kills two children in Gaza Strip[click...]
A Qassam rocket fired by Palestinian militants struck the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing an eight-year-old boy and his six-year-old sister, and injuring five other children.
The rocket, fired at Israel, fell short and hit the children's house in the village of Beit Lahiya. No group claimed responsibility.
Moaiya Hassanain, a Palestinian health official, said the wounded were evacuated to hospital for medical treatment.
The Kamal Adwan hospital identified the dead children as eight-year-old Wesam Abed Allah and his six-year-old sister Hala.
The Associated Press had earlier quoted witnesses as saying the blast was the result of the children playing with a homemade rocket or a mortar shell that they had stumbled upon. It is not uncommon for Qassam rockets fired at Israel to land inside the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, a Qassam rocket hit a preschool in the western Negev, causing damage to surrounding buildings but no injuries.
References:
Haaretz: Qassam rocket fired at Israel kills two children in Gaza Strip
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The principal of New York's first Arab charter school defended the sale of T-shirts that say "Intifada NYC."
Dhabah Almontaser, principal of the soon-to-open Khalil Gibran School in Brooklyn, defended the sale of the shirts, produced by a company that shares office with an organization for which Almontaser serves as spokeswoman.
Sale of the T-shirts, which prompted a critical news story in the New York Post on Monday, was condemned by New York state assemblyman Dov Hikind, an Orthodox Jew from Brooklyn.
In a letter to the New York schools chancellor, Joel Klein, Hikind said it is "outrageous" that Almontaser would "support and hail" the T-shirts.
"It is grossly insensitive," Hikind said. "I have had personal friends killed in the recent intifada. What is Ms. Almontaser thinking? If this is her mindset, a radicalized vision of Islam, she poses a danger to New York City students and she should be removed immediately. She has disqualified herself from being a principal in any New York City school."
Almontaser told the Post that while she understands the "negative connotation" the word "intifada" carries from its association with Palestinian violence, she doesn't believe the T-shirt's producers intended to promote violence in New York City.
"I think it's pretty much an opportunity for girls to express that they are part of New York City society ... and shaking off oppression," Almontaser said.
A spokesman for the Anti-Defamation League called the T-shirts "disturbing."
BagelBlogger: This is just so out of control. The US accommodates these fruit cakes and allows them to set up what essentially is a Madrasah. Just what the United States needs a school teaching more Muslims militant Islamic Fundamentalism views.
Can you imagine the up roar if a local NY school started selling 'Kill Palestinians/muslims' tshirts?
Well, please tell me the difference?
References:
JTA: Arabic School under Fire
Check out more on this at Hot Air: Intifada NYC
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