This is part of Marc H. Ellis’s “Exile and the Prophetic” feature for Mondoweiss. To read the entire series visit the archive page.
Was the creation of Israel, like the Egyptian revolution, an exercise in magical realism? Is the Holocaust, when employed in a distorted way, remembered in the same way?
In the creation of Israel – ethnic cleansing. In the Holocaust – mass death. Neither are banners for the creation of a (real) future.
Distorting reality is not only for novels. It’s the way of the world. So it seems.
If magical realism is the way of getting things done – if by magical realism we mean excusing, neglecting or transcending the suffering that surround us – then the magic will inevitably be dispelled by the history which narrates suffering. When this transpires the magic-creating realists are stripped naked. They are left with the exercise of power. Without the magic, power escalates its demands for submission.
We have seen this in Egypt during the past two years. We have seen this in Israel over the last decades.
We would love to think that the exercise of power is limited and is destined to be (successfully) opposed. Is this real or magical thinking?
Professor Matthew Strecher defines magic realism as “what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe.” But the magical realism we’re dealing with now is less strange than thoroughly predictable.
Thus the Egyptian military is widening its crackdown – and as the New York Times reports, broadening the definition of Islamist. Yes, now liberals are being rounded up and being accused of what they hate. This should remind us of book burning in former times. The lesson: soon the books burned will be the ones you love.
Indeed with the Egyptian military having the upper hand, the crackdown on all dissent will deepen. Meanwhile the United States and United Kingdom – vultures as they can be – are circling Syria. Of course, they’re promising that there won’t be “our” boots on the ground. Is that a way of magically believing that massive suffering won’t occur because the ones who suffer aren’t “ours?”
It’s dispiriting, to say the least. And we and our allies are vultures and imperialists of the first order.
Please don’t neglect to mention that Israel is leading the proverbial charge for the US to strike Syria. From another post of mine:
“And, for our next serving of “please sir, I want some more”:
“Prominent Israeli Cabinet ministers are calling for a U.S.-led response to an alleged chemical attack in Syria last week that the prime minister describes as a “terrible crime.”
Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet Sunday that “this situation cannot continue.” Justice Minister Tzipi Livni told Israel Radio that a U.S. response to the alleged poison gas attack would help discourage future chemical weapons use, but also have security implications for Israel.” ”
link to abcnews.go.com
Thanks Prof.
“Islamists” are now to be hated as much as “terrorists”– anyone can be reviled and labeled by the “strongmen” because they don’t fall into the neat hole that the square peg does not want or need. Too much Islamophobia, shrieking about “terrorists”, denial of the truth that people want desperately to be free is at the crux of all of the mayhem…much of which we created and embroidered in the first place.
We’ve wrought and enabled enough terror ourselves. It’s past time to stop.
So-called liberals who oppose takfiris in Syria but support them in Egypt are suffering from Obamatitus.
And don’t give me any of that ‘magical realism’ bs about defending ‘democracy’, not Egyptian takfirism.
Marc, ” Indeed with the Egyptian military having the upper hand, the crackdown on all dissent will deepen”. I agree, at this point in time it would appear that anyone against the “new order” in Egypt is regarded as a traitor, especially if you have a longish beard. The army now has more of a free hand than they had under Mubarak,with the opposition fragmented, the so called liberals will soon find out what their counter revolution brings, as a preview Elbaradei’s “betrayal of public trust” charge is a chilling straw in the wind.
Magical Realism has never been confined to novels. Haven’t you ever heard the 20th Century nugget that Art imitates life? It’s still going strong in the 21st Century. Socrates will always have to eat the hemlock. It’s really not hard to see that the germ matrix of all fantasy fiction lies in repeated historical human nature. How could it be otherwise?
“Are we all Islamists now?”
No.