At NYU, devilish Shlomo Sand predicts the Jewish past and pastes the Zionists
Of all the events I’ve covered surrounding Jewish identity and Israel in the last year, none has given me so much pleasure as the lecture last night by Shlomo Sand at NYU on the Invention of the Jewish People. Most events I go to are grinding, awful, heartrending, often with lamentations and pictures of mutilated children. This one was pure intellectual deviltry of the highest order by a Pavarotti of the lecture hall. And while it was fiercely anti-Zionist and included references to the mutilated children, it left me in just an incredibly elated mood. For I saw real light at the end of the tunnel, and not the horrifying dimness that surrounds almost all other events that deal with Israel politics here– for instance with the neoconservative Weekly Standard’s disgusting pursuit of J Street.
Mondoweiss
Fascinating.
ReplyDeleteWhen Sand spoke to Palestinian professors at Al Quds University, they told him to speak Hebrew, because they had all learned Hebrew in Israeli jails. And he told them that just because Israel had begun with a great crime did not mean that it had not begun. “Even a child that was born from a rape has a right to live. ’48 was a rape. But something happened in history. We have to correct and repair a lot of things.” The next day the Palestinian papers had his rape line in big headlines.
ReplyDeleteInteresting point.
As long as Israel claims a historical right to the land it's going to be opposed. When they acknoledge that such claims are a fraud and a mockery, we can talk about their right to live on the land..
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And worse! Biblical!!! Which is far more insane!
Well, it is neither historical nor biblical, at least in the sense it has been used by fascist murderous apartheid Zionists. Actually in some circles this knowlege has been understood for some time, it has just been obscured in biblical studies and antiquities departments. What we see with Sand is the right moment to popularize the facts, with the hope that it will spread through the Zionist ranks removing their "stated" foundation from beneath their collective feet.
ReplyDelete<span>Well, it is neither historical nor biblical, at least in the sense the myth has been used by fascist murderous apartheid Zionists. Actually in some circles this knowlege has been understood for some time, it has just been obscured in biblical studies and antiquities departments. What we see with Sand is the right moment to popularize the facts, with the hope that it will spread through the Zionist ranks removing their "stated" foundation from beneath their collective feet.</span>
ReplyDeleteTGIA, Israelis do have the right to live either in one of two states, or as part of a single plural one state. However, either way, they need to respect the civil and property rights of Palestinians. VZA, it is an "Interesting point."
ReplyDeleteThis topic used to interest me, but by this time it has gotten so mixed up with the Israel/Palestine issue:anti-Zionists try to prove European Jews come from Khazaria and Zionists try to prove they originate in the mideast. It's difficult to sort out, and I don't really care enough to try. Judging from the features of Jewish people I know, I do see European, African, Asiatic, and Mideastern features. (That simple statement sounds Nazi-ish to me. In any case, what happenned 1000, 2000, or 6000 years ago is irrelevant to what is happenning to Palestinians today: if there was found to be some genetic connection between ancient Israelites and contemporary European Jews, my position wouldn't change: Palestinians should have never been forced off their land, and they should be allowed to return with full rights.
ReplyDeleteThat was me.
ReplyDeleteJoe, I think all Jews are a mixture, as are all humans. People choose an identity and stress the aspect of their ancestry which confirms their preference (or prejudice). It would be a mistake to deny some Middle Eastern ancestry to the Ashkenazim, but I'll wager it's minimal.
ReplyDeleteA sidelight on this: the Queen of England includes among her ancestors a plumber and a publican (innkeeper, whatever). All reference to this side of her ancestry is suppressed, because it doesn't fit in with the myth.
One group touched on in the article is the North African Jews. Some of them have Berber tribal names as surnames. Is this because the Berbers once adhered to Judaism, or because some Jews were admitted to Berber tribal society. Maybe Shlomo Sand addresses this point.
Jemmy, where did you find that out about the Queen and the plumber? lol. Joe, I agree with you, we have all those features in us.
ReplyDeleteThere are only two reasons for excessive interest in pedigree, one is elitist and the other is for division to the point of class or war.
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<span>" ... where did you find that out about the Queen and the plumber?"</span></div>
<div class="jsk-ItemBody jsk-PrimaryFontColor"><span>I think it was in a book called "English Genealogy" by one Sir Richard Anthony Wagner. So strictly speaking the facts aren't suppressed, but you won't read them in any newspaper article or in any fawning hagiography.</span></div>
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ReplyDelete<span>" ... where did you find that out about the Queen and the plumber?"</span>
<span>I think it was in a book called "English Genealogy" by one Sir Richard Anthony Wagner. So strictly speaking the facts aren't suppressed, but you won't read them in any newspaper article or in any fawning hagiography.</span>
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Just imagine the mayhem these people with big state-owned fire power have created for decades. Death & destruction has exceeded atrocities that similarly blosomed in the '30 & '40 ...wihtout the gas.
ReplyDeleteQuestion is how do people live up to such brutalities given that they all seem to sing such divine songs from their good Books?
Is it because in the end, such atrocities, letting States mete them out are engraved in very unsubtle verbiage in the good Books and the God is known to be no Dalai Lama? Why wont you create a culture of violence per se if the Books did not have such seeds?
It would be impossible to believe it could be otherwise: because that would mean each can live a psychological life created by its own experience with the Soul! Now, who but K can claim that?
bougnoul
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:)
<span style="cursor: pointer;">bougnoul</span>
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In French it's a bit a "sand nigger" as our "friend" fleming would say..It's good to see it claimed with pride..
But who is K ?
If Mr. Sand is right, then the Holocaust was futile as well as being an atrocity. Hitler made it possible for Israel to be created. If I were a Palestinian I would take a DNA test if that were atall possible in their present circumstances.
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