Let's get this out of the way first. I didn't kill Christ. You may think I did but if so you would be wrong.
I also did not kill Rachel Corrie, nor have I killed a single Palestinian child. I haven't used a bomb or gun or missile on anyone. I haven't knocked down anyone's house, stolen their land, arrested or imprisoned anyone.
It's a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning in paradise. I have work to do, which is too bad because I'd rather just hang around, read the paper, take a nap, watch the ball game. I have to get my house in better shape because I have to sell it. I don't have a choice. If I were one of those Jewish bankers who run the world, I wouldn't have to sell it, but the Jewish bankers are on the other side of the family.
I've already spent a couple of hours of ethnic cleansing, de-friending several anti-semites on Facebook. It's too bad, because I really do believe in free speech, but when it's hate speech I kind of lose my tolerance in a hurry.
The occasion for all this merriment was not the death of Helen Thomas but its aftermath. Thomas was an independent journalistic voice who refused to kiss George Bush's ass over Iraq and thus got herself de-friended by George. These things happen.
Anyhow, in the various encomiums to Thomas ---- is it 'encomia'? ---- there was a brief reference to a comment of hers about Israel, except that she seemed to confuse the country with the religion of Judaism. She is not the only one who makes that error, of course, but she might've known better.
I wrote something in praise of Thomas, who I liked a great deal, but mentioned that her error in conflating Jews with Israel was troubling to me. Then I decided, what the hell, I'll post my feelings about the subject in the 'status' box. That was late last night.
This morning, my comments had generated a small firestorm of responses, nearly all of them supportive. But there were a few that rankled.
For some reason I don't quite get, there are some people who insist that the crimes of Israel can be attributed to Jews, and that the terms are interchangeable. I've seen this once in awhile with comments about 'Jewish bankers,' too, which must be news to the CEOs and other major stockholders of, say, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, and so on.
It's a way to express hatred and racism within the veil of political discourse. It is not Israel which is oppressing a group of people, it is Jews. It is not bankers who are screwing everybody, it's Jewish bankers.
One of the former 'friends' on Facebook insisted that Israel was nearly all Jews, that Jews worldwide supported Israel, and that there really was no distinction worth honoring. American Jews, of which I am one, are clearly indistinguishable from Israeli Jews, at least in her mind.
I guess that means that Roman Catholics are responsible for the Church enabling priests to molest children. Child molesters: Roman Catholics.
I did not 'de-friend' any of these folks immediately. I simply replied, trying to assist them in their education. They were not, alas, educable. One person couldn't understand why 'the Jews' had to displace the Palestinians when there were perfectly fine 'Jewish communities' in her home state of Indiana.
I de-friended her because I can't shoot her. I don't have a gun, I don't live in Indiana, and unless she's black the jury would probably convict me.
It sure is taking the human race a long time to learn anything. We seem to persistently want to separate ourselves from others. Why else would we routinely refer to 'black comedians' or 'Jewish bankers' when we'd never automatically identify white people or Christians that way? That I've been a 'Jewish lawyer' for thirty years is somehow significant to some people who would never describe someone as a 'Protestant lawyer.'
In the United States, we deny that we're racist. Everyone can make it here, goes the propaganda. We've got a black President. Women are on the Supreme Court. California has two Jewish Senators. Then George Zimmerman kills Trayvon Martin and it's impossible to ignore the cardinal fact that had Martin been white he'd still be alive.
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