ZGram - 3/28/2002 - "Easter Offensive"
irimland@zundelsite.org
irimland@zundelsite.org
Thu, 28 Mar 2002 19:38:12 -0800
Copyright (c) 2002 - Ingrid A. Rimland
ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny
March 28, 2002
Good Morning from the Zundelsite:
It's almost Easter, and here is Israel Shamir, one of the genuinely
ethical Jewish writers and thinkers of our time, offering his
thoughts on "Easter Offensive":
[START]
The war in Palestine has become a global war between followers and
deniers of Christ.
"Here in Palestine, Jesus is again walking the Via Dolorosa.
Palestinians are being crucified. Palestine has become one huge
Golgotha", wrote Canon Naim Ateek of Jerusalem Anglican Church a year
ago. This parallel between the Passion of Christ and the present
onslaught of the Jewish state on the human rights in Palestine and
elsewhere caused a great controversy; supporters and deniers jousted
for a few months<mhtml:mid://00000076/#_edn1>[i].
His words became even more relevant now, as during this year the
suffering of Palestinians grew immensely. Just before Easter,
Sharon's government began what careful Kofi Annan described as a
'conventional war' with jets, tanks and helicopters against
defenceless civilian population. Two thousand years ago, only people
of Jerusalem were present, while Christ was rushed to Golgotha. Now,
in the global village of 21st century, the whole mankind became a
witness of this tragic and lasting event. We all stand on the
sidewalk of Via Dolorosa. The fateful question, 'whether this man
should be crucified', applies to all of us. If we stop the execution,
we shall change history.
The adversary acutely feels the fatefulness of the struggle. That is
why the war in Palestine became a part of the global war between
followers and deniers of Christ. It is not an accident that at the
same time, the Virgin in Bethlehem was
shelled<mhtml:mid://00000076/#_edn2>[ii] by Jewish tanks; in the US
and elsewhere, the Jewish-dominated
media<mhtml:mid://00000076/#_edn3>[iii] began a vicious smear
campaign against Catholic clergy; while in France, a film Amen
denigrating the late Pope Pius came to cinemas. Suggestively, the
Cross on the movie's posters turns into [a] Nazi swastika.
Christendom made a grave mistake by unilaterally abandoning [the]
ideological struggle against the Jewish paradigm. One should make a
clear distinction between Jews as persons, and the Jewish paradigm as
ideology. Jews are just human, and deserve to be treated and accepted
as human. The Jewish paradigm should be confronted and counteracted.
Two important issues were confused: the question of external
relations, human and civil rights, human dignity on one side and
ideological difference and variance, on the other side. They can, and
should be treated separately.
Christianity and Judaism offer two different, indeed opposing
approaches. Their struggle is a natural competition. At first sight,
the two sister-faiths are similar; both celebrate at Easter/Pesach
their accepted sacrifice by a narration, the liturgy of Passion for
Christians and the family narrative of Haggadah for Jews. But at the
second thought, they could not differ more. Passion is a story of
supreme self-sacrifice of the Chosen one for the sake of universal
salvation, the Haggadah is a story of sacrificing the enemies and
salvation of the Chosen ones. At Easter, Christians celebrate
resurrection of one who sacrificed himself for us. It is affirmation
of altruism to the highest degree. Jewish Passover has an opposite
idea: it is our salvation and their death. Egyptians and the people
of Canaan should be sacrificed, so we would live better, that is the
Passover idea, the affirmation of national egoism.
It is not a pure scholastic dispute, but a question of praxis as
well. Since the rise of the Jewish paradigm, the prosperous nations
sacrifice the poor nations so they would live even better. The
growing poverty of the Third World is the proof of it. Look at the
figures. Between 1960 and 1980 per capita income in Latin America
grew 73%, and in Africa, 34%. During the period of 'economic
liberalization', or the rise of Jewish paradigm, 1980 to 2000, that
growth plummeted to 7% in Latin America and in Africa it went into
reverse - minus 23%.<mhtml:mid://00000076/#_edn4>[iv]
This paradigm does not stop at the border; it works in the 'core
country', in the US, as well. There, the rich sacrifice the less
affluent so they would live even better. A new study, Divergent
Paths<mhtml:mid://00000076/#_edn5>[v], proved that ninety percent of
young workers in the US now doing worse than they would have 20 years
ago. Since 1980, only a small percentage of Americans improved their
lot, while for the rest, the perspectives of 'upward mobility' are
gloomy. In the best ally of the US, in Britain, the figures are even
worse. Both these countries have now poorly educated youth and
inefficient health care. In the same period of time, rich people
became richer by far, tells the study; while the Jewish community's
average income became twice that of Gentile American.
In Israel, an average Jew has eight times the income of a Gentile.
Nowhere the praxis of Easter/Passover dispute is obvious as much as
in Palestine. When the Jews came to Palestine, they were quite poor.
The British administration enacted a local statute allowing building
only of stone in Jerusalem. Stone was expensive, Jews were poor, and
the statute was described as 'anti-Semitic'. In 1948, the Gentiles'
stone mansions of Jerusalem were confiscated and given to Jews, while
the legal owners were pushed into refugee camps. They languish in
poverty so we can live better.
In the bare hills around al Halil/Hebron, Palestinian villagers have
no water, and their flocks die near dried-up spring. The spring water
goes by a pipe into the swimming pool of a Jewish settlement. It is
also a realisation of the maxim, 'let them die, if we can live
better'. Using the Passover idea, the Talmud
rules<mhtml:mid://00000076/#_edn6>[vi] on priority for drawing water
at a well, "need of a Jew to do his laundry takes precedence over the
lives of Gentiles". It is implemented in real life, in real time, in
Israel.
Theology is ideology, and there is no place for ideological
compromise between these opposing paradigms. The perceived difference
between the twain was stated by the sides as follows. A prominent
modern Jewish scholar and editor of Talmud, Rabbi Adin Steinzaltz
described Christianity as 'simplified Judaism, adapted to the
childish minds of Gentiles'. On the other hand, a grandson of a
Rabbi, Karl Marx, wrote: 'Christianity is the sublime Judaist
thought, while Judaism is a sordid utilitarian application of
Christianity'.
Now, in these days, we should decide what to celebrate - the altruism
of Easter or egoism of Passover. I would conclude with the marvellous
words of Robert Leverant, "What the Jews are doing to the
Palestinians is abominable. To participate in a service where the
Jews are going to say "we are victims" is beyond my ability to
stomach".
[END]
=====
Israel Shamir is an Israeli journalist based in Jaffa. His articles
can be found on the site
<http://www.israelshamir.net/>www.israelshamir.net In order to
subscribe to this list or to be removed from it, please write to
<mailto:info@israelshamir.net>info@israelshamir.net Ask for
permission in order to publish as hard copy.
=====
Thought for the Day:
"I never could believe that providence had sent a few men into the
world, ready booted and spurred to ride, and millions ready saddled
and bridled to be ridden."
(Richard Rumbold)