Tuesday, September 7, 2010
I think this is an important piece by Jeffrey Goldberg who was invited to visit Cuba. He spoke with Fidel Castro who excoriated Ahmadinejad for his antisemitism, Holocaust denial and slanders and threats against the Jewish people.
Castro reiterated the need for Iran to understand the special horror of antisemitism.
The long history of abuse suffered by Jews underlies Israel's fear of annihilation and obviously increases the chance of a catastrophic war.
In re theological antisemitism, he told Goldberg,
"This went on for maybe two thousand years," he said. "I don't think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews. I would say much more than the Muslims. They have been slandered much more than the Muslims because they are blamed and slandered for everything. No one blames the Muslims for anything." The Iranian government should understand that the Jews "were expelled from their land, persecuted and mistreated all over the world, as the ones who killed God. In my judgment here's what happened to them: Reverse selection. What's reverse selection? Over 2,000 years they were subjected to terrible persecution and then to the pogroms. One might have assumed that they would have disappeared; I think their culture and religion kept them together as a nation." He continued: "The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust." I asked him if he would tell Ahmadinejad what he was telling me. "I am saying this so you can communicate it," he answered.
snip
Fidel gives a shout out to the progressives: antisemitism is plain old bigotry and prejudice, not at all progressive. Funny, progressives couldn't come to that conclusion on their own. Very funny.
It IS ironic.
Regardless I think this could be a watershed moment on the Left and even in terms of world history.
Chavez can't help but hear this and Brazil, attempting to reason with Iran, must surely take into account what Castro has so correctly expressed.
This might also serve to re-center the Left. One of the core principles of real socialists, as opposed to foolish socialists, is anti-racism. Standing against antisemitism is an important part of REAL progressive ideology, which has sadly gotten lost in recent years.
Further, people in the Middle East must deal with this issue. It's gotten turned upside down by "intellectuals" - propagandists actually - who've hijacked Jewish history and attempted to turn it against the Jews in Israel - cf Joseph Massad. Indeed Jewish history has been "revised" all too often in the past. See in fact how retroactively our patriarchs become "Muslims" and how the Church became "the true Israel."
What Castro says is all too true about how we've suffered reverse selection, having been systematically tortured, murdered, expelled and forcibly converted until there are a mere handful of Jews left on the planet.
May this be a turning point.
Further, people in the Middle East must deal with this issue. It's gotten turned upside down by "intellectuals" - propagandists actually - who've hijacked Jewish history and attempted to turn it against the Jews in Israel - cf Joseph Massad. Indeed Jewish history has been "revised" all too often in the past. See in fact how retroactively our patriarchs become "Muslims" and how the Church became "the true Israel."
Indeed. "Intellectuals" have hijacked European history and attempted to turn it against Europeans in Europe and elsewhere. It's now a never ending series of hate crimes against "the Other." European history has been "revised" all to often. See how retroactively our patriarchs become Islamophiles, Thomas Jefferson hosting the first Iftar Ramadan dinner. Thomas Jefferson despised Islam, and rightly so.
PS - I find it truly sad that Castro is held in such high esteem by the Left, that Sophia thinks his utterances will be a watershed moment on the Left (and even in terms of world history).
But it does speak to the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the Western Left.
Start from Zero indeed...regression to prehistory. Take us back to the stone age, you progressive peeps.
fidel castro, the former dictator of Cuba, the brother of the current dictator of Cuba, raul castro, denounces anti-semitism?
I call the maxim of "the broken clock is correct twice a day".
Why am I not surprised to hear from EV on this matter, claiming that White Euro Christian Males are "the other" and further nonsense.
Sigh.
Look EV. Castro is a complex and contradictory figure, nobody who understands all the aspects of Cuba can possibly see him or Cuban history in black and white terms. For all the corruption and inequities of Baptista's Cuba the fact remains that innocent Cuban citizens were in many cases deeply harmed by the revolution.
Nevertheless at least socialist philosophers have tried to deal rationality with the vast economic gaps that divide people into different worlds even on one small island.
The US itself is dreadfully stressed by class and income and wealth inequality, polarized into a tiny percentage of people who control most of the country's wealth even at the same time our industrial base and our jobs have been off-shored, unemployment remains very high and now free market sages are advising the government to just let the housing market crash, regardless of the damage this will do to countless American homeowners as well as probably the banks who may find themselves holding more defaulted mortgages.
On the upside, this of course would allow the wealthy to buy up yet more American property at firesale prices. I'm sure to some of you this would be excellent news.
To me it sucks. Another economic crash we need like a hole in the head.
Further, at best left wing philosophers have tried to confront religious bigotry. That is more than I can say for Certain People who still see themselves in terms of their gender, ethnicity, color and religion as opposed to their common humanity.
Now I would appreciate it, EV, if you do not spam this thread. The subjects of antisemitism, the unique and awful horror of prejudice against Jews; Iran, Israel and the potential for a catastrophic war are vastly more important than your tiny problems.
Does Castro's condemnation signal the end of the leftist-Islamist alliance?
I wonder how many mosques are in the castro dictatorship of Cuba?
No, I don't think so, but maybe it signals the "excommunication" of Fidel from the ranks of the Left?
I wonder if the Guardian will give it space?
I don't think it's an end to anything, nor is it a new beginning. My guess is that this incident will be passed over in silence in most of the liberal and left-wing media.
Newspaper and magazine editors can decide what is newsworthy and what isn't. I'm guessing that it will be more convenient for many of them to consider this interview as an anomaly, and to let it sink into obscurity.
I read The Atlantic article. It's excellent.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/09/fidel-to-ahmadinejad-stop-slandering-the-jews/62566/
Thanks Sophia.
L'Shona Tova to all!
L'Shana Tova, Eddie, everybody!
So I went over to Harry's Place and Alan A. had posted the Goldberg piece also.
In the comment thread I said, well over here at Solomonia in the US of A we want to know when will Teh Guardian be publishing this good news?
Heh:)
http://hurryupharry.org/2010/09/08/castro-to-ahmadinejad-end-the-antisemitism/#comment-511524
Maybe they will get around to it? You never know:)
Sophia, it is important for you to take the next step and admit that what is being done to Israel and Israeli Jews, is what is being done and has been done to Euro Christians.
Otherwise, you sound like a hypocritical tribalist twit.
Shana Tova
Well lookie here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/08/fidel-castro-criticises-mahmoud-ahmedinejad
Earth to El Jefe, "The Cuban Model" never worked.