Sometimes it’s easier to say it in verse.
What follows was inspired by reactions to my last two blogs after they were posted on Facebook. The first post was a deconstruction of a pro-Israel rally poster, the second was in the form of a Letter to Anne Frank. The words in italics are all verbatim quotes from Facebook comments, all from fellow Jews.
You might recommend I just stay clear of Facebook. But to have a digital presence on the Israel/Palestine front that’s not really an option.
So here’s my poetic Jewish response.
Other ways of Being Jewish are available
1.
You should be ashamed!
You are a disgrace!
But if you only knew me you wouldn’t say that
You are a fool!
But this is what I thought Being Jewish looked like
Most groups have an extremist self loathing fringe…
It’s true I made a mistake
Just ignore him
A big mistake
Just ignore him
I dragged values, ethics, human rights and obligations
Just ignore him
…into a place where they have no right to be
I thought this is what Being Jewish looked like
Big mistake
2.
I should have known better
Because other ways of Being Jewish are available
Robert Cohen you are a fool of the worst kind
Yes, it’s true
Other ways of Being Jewish are available
All equally valid
In fact
On the whole
Based on the Comments and the Likes
The other ways of Being Jewish
Are more valid than mine
3.
Such is the (un)civil Jewish War
Mate, you need to take your head out of your tuchas
I’ve no idea how it ends
Badly I suspect
I hear the IDF is harvesting brains
Really?
Unfortunately they could not find one inside Robert Cohen
If you only knew me you wouldn’t say that
4.
Robert, we both want the same thing
We do?
Peace
But is that peace and justice
Or merely peace and quiet
(for you)?
Do you seriously think your pals…
I dragged values, ethics, human rights and obligations
…Are going to give a flying f**k that you’re not like the other Jews??
It’s true
Other ways of Being Jewish are available
5.
I wrote a letter to Anne Frank
It seems he has been brainwashed…
I wasn’t expecting a reply
… by the culture of the sickest people
To ask what she thought of it all
But I did get a reply
This letter is shameful
In fact several
But none from Anne
6.
It must be true
I have read the wrong books
And met the wrong people
The people who
kill their own children
rather than part with their hatred of the Jews
But this response was better than some
The Holocaust deniers
The diary deniers
The Anne Frank deniers
I don’t think they are Jews
But I clearly have a talent
For bringing out
The very best in people.
7.
Robert Cohen you are a disgrace to the Jewish people
Values, ethics, human rights and obligations
I can’t understand the mental disorder kapos like you suffer
If you only knew me you wouldn’t say such things
I dragged values, ethics, human rights…
But it is quite clear
That other ways of Being Jewish are available
Just
Ignore
Him
8.
And now I’ve hit the big time
I have arrived on the scene
The first bonafide call for my death
I hope you die at the hand of your beloved Muslims
It’s the Jewish(un)civil war
With my values, ethics, human rights and obligations
I have brought
Incitement
Hatred
Terror
It’s true
Other ways of Being Jewish are available
But if you only knew me you wouldn’t say these things
Actually, maybe you would.
This post first appeared on Patheos site.
“Most groups have an extremist self loathing fringe… ”
Do we have any reason to suppose this is true? Some groups, perhaps, but most?
back to the basics
as the reality of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict becomes ever more clear
the split between racist and humanist Jews can only widen
racist Jew on the side of the Jewish settlers
humanist Jew on the side of the Palestinians
which side is to prevail depending upon whether the love that underlies humanism
can overcome the hatred so intrinsic to racism
“I hope you die at the hand of your beloved Muslims”
I have seen this comment in various forms all over the internet, especially after the Gaza war. There seems to be an almost mystical hope on the part of racist Jews that the anti-racist Jews will “come to their senses” on the day when their Arab friends turn on them. And that day WILL come because you can never thrust an Arab or Muslim.
One laughable exchanged happened on Dan Cohen’s twitter feed. He had tweeted out something about the situation in Gaza to which someone responded that he should go to Gaza and let the Hamas dudes lynch him. After it was pointed out that Cohen had been to Gaza and had met Hamas people without abuse his detractor had to move the goalposts: Well, you just wait until they have no more use for you, then you’ll be hanging from a telephone pole!
Reality is anti-semitic.
All other matters aside, Robert Cohen has given us a powerful and beautiful poem.
Thank you!
What a beautiful nonviolent response to such Facebook violence. Kudos to you for taking it all with humor and creativity. I’m with you about Anne – she’d be horrified at what has happened in the name of Zionism.