Monday, December 29, 2003
This is effing ridiculous. I never mentioned anything about assisting Iranians in Bam because, well, I just figured that it was obvious. The people of Iran are not our enemy. The government of Iran is, or will be, or whatever and whenever. But the people are not. Assisting them just seemed too damn obvious to me.
But then I came upon this "controversy" about whether people of good will should actually help those poor, crushed people in Bam. Via Michelle I quote Meryl:
Here's my opinion: This is where the Jew card gets played. This is where I come into conflict with my own conscience. I don't want innocents to suffer, ever. Neither does Lair, in spite of what some people may think. But yes, Andrea, he's angry, and so am I. And yes, we want to lash out at the people who tell us that of all the people in the world, they'll accept help from everyone but Jews. Yeah. That does tend to make us angry.
Our anger springs from experiencing the ever-present Jew hatred that permeates the Middle East. The anger springs from the fact that Iran bankrolls Hizbullah, which has thousands of rockets in Lebanon aimed directly at the border farms and villages of northern Israel. The anger springs from Hizbullah's murder of hundreds of Jews in Buenos Aires. The anger springs from the easy anti-Semitism of some Iranian bloggers, who say they're not anti-Semitic, yet repeat the anti-Semitic canards about Israel and "Zionists." The anger springs from the realization that yes, the mullahs are scumbags, and yes, they don't represent all Iranians-but there are a fair number of Iranians, including, I'd wager, in Bam itself, who would also refuse help from Israel.
You cannot possibly understand our anger, Michele. You cannot possibly understand our anger, Andrea. And I say this knowing full well what stalwarts you are in rejecting all Jew-hatred. But you're not Jewish, and you don't get what it feels like.
...
And she finishes with this:
It may seem an ugly side of us to you. But we all have our ugly sides.
I cannot believe I'm reading this crap. Part of the reason I find myself so in sympathy and synergy with Jews and Israelis is because of our common humanity. Get it? Humanity. And, dare I use the word, sophistication. This comes as close to racism as I can ever remember coming from the right-thinking members of the blogosphere.
It's disgusting. Even I, who has stated quite clearly that I have a never-ending animus towards Palestinians, base that base feeling in evidence of their perfidy. Never, once, have I seen evidence that would advise me that Persians in Iran hold such categorical and racial hatred towards Jews. And to assume that, because the mullahs who dominate the government of that country hate the Jews, the population likewise hates is a presumption that is chilling in implication and galling in actual practice.
The reason I find myself sympathetic, and in political harmony with, the Israelis is because they are, to my mind, the best of the West in the Middle East. Part of that lauded "best of the West" is an understanding that genes are not opinion and government isn't popular opinion. Especially in a dictatorship!
No, this will not cause me to rethink my support of Israel in particular and Jews in general. And the reason that is, is because I will not let a few nefarious individuals speak as un-elected representatives of an entire people.
Get that?
But then I came upon this "controversy" about whether people of good will should actually help those poor, crushed people in Bam. Via Michelle I quote Meryl:
Here's my opinion: This is where the Jew card gets played. This is where I come into conflict with my own conscience. I don't want innocents to suffer, ever. Neither does Lair, in spite of what some people may think. But yes, Andrea, he's angry, and so am I. And yes, we want to lash out at the people who tell us that of all the people in the world, they'll accept help from everyone but Jews. Yeah. That does tend to make us angry.
Our anger springs from experiencing the ever-present Jew hatred that permeates the Middle East. The anger springs from the fact that Iran bankrolls Hizbullah, which has thousands of rockets in Lebanon aimed directly at the border farms and villages of northern Israel. The anger springs from Hizbullah's murder of hundreds of Jews in Buenos Aires. The anger springs from the easy anti-Semitism of some Iranian bloggers, who say they're not anti-Semitic, yet repeat the anti-Semitic canards about Israel and "Zionists." The anger springs from the realization that yes, the mullahs are scumbags, and yes, they don't represent all Iranians-but there are a fair number of Iranians, including, I'd wager, in Bam itself, who would also refuse help from Israel.
You cannot possibly understand our anger, Michele. You cannot possibly understand our anger, Andrea. And I say this knowing full well what stalwarts you are in rejecting all Jew-hatred. But you're not Jewish, and you don't get what it feels like.
...
And she finishes with this:
It may seem an ugly side of us to you. But we all have our ugly sides.
I cannot believe I'm reading this crap. Part of the reason I find myself so in sympathy and synergy with Jews and Israelis is because of our common humanity. Get it? Humanity. And, dare I use the word, sophistication. This comes as close to racism as I can ever remember coming from the right-thinking members of the blogosphere.
It's disgusting. Even I, who has stated quite clearly that I have a never-ending animus towards Palestinians, base that base feeling in evidence of their perfidy. Never, once, have I seen evidence that would advise me that Persians in Iran hold such categorical and racial hatred towards Jews. And to assume that, because the mullahs who dominate the government of that country hate the Jews, the population likewise hates is a presumption that is chilling in implication and galling in actual practice.
The reason I find myself sympathetic, and in political harmony with, the Israelis is because they are, to my mind, the best of the West in the Middle East. Part of that lauded "best of the West" is an understanding that genes are not opinion and government isn't popular opinion. Especially in a dictatorship!
No, this will not cause me to rethink my support of Israel in particular and Jews in general. And the reason that is, is because I will not let a few nefarious individuals speak as un-elected representatives of an entire people.
Get that?
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