Swastika spray-painted on a synagogue door? Absolutely. Elon Musk extending his arm straight out in a Nazi-like salute — well, he's an odd duck, given to weird jigs and twitches. And since he's gone on record supporting neo-Nazis in Germany, I'd say debating the meaning of a gesture is beside the point.
Bottom line: Just as I cherish my right to speak freely, so I do not lunge toward offense, nor leap to stifle others. When I was passing through the Chicago Cultural Center last week, showing it off to a Chicagoan who had never been inside, we passed by the "U.S.-Israel War Machine" that this week is causing a fuss. I paused. My underwear remained unknotted. I took a photograph, thinking it could be used when addressing a certain kind of hysterical anti-Americanism. We moved on to look at the gorgeous Tiffany dome.
A valuable skill, moving on. I was surprised, and disappointed, Thursday to open the Sun-Times and read a story about the puppet, and a nearby one of Benjamin Netanyahu, being labeled antisemitic by 50th Ward Ald. Debra Silverstein, the City Council's lone Jew (I was the only Jew in my elementary school. That's rough. I hope Silverstein isn't constantly being called on to stand up and explain what Hanukkah is about. Embarrassing).
She asked the city to take the display down.
Sigh.
Debra, Debra, Debra. Did the creator of "U.S.-Israel War Machine" pay you for this bit of press agentry? Because you took a crude papier-mache caricature sitting unnoticed in a seldom-visited corner of the Cultural Center — remember my friend, who lives blocks away, had never set foot inside — and slapped it into the pages of the Sun-Times. Nice work. Maybe next you can organize a book launch for the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
I love Israel, I'm a Zionist, and I hope that a thousand years from now there is still a Jewish State of Israel. I also think Benjamin Netanyahu is the devil, that he left the door open for the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, and my big puppet of him would have longer fangs and more blood dripping off his fingers.
Does that make me an antisemite? I suppose in some eyes. The same way my thinking that Donald Trump is a criminal who should be in prison instead of the White House makes me a traitor to many. I think it makes me patriotic.
Sympathizing with yourself is common as dirt. If we look at the problems in our world, 99% of them are from people so enthralled with their own precious selves that they are unable to grasp the humanity of anybody who is not exactly like them. I don't understand why it's so difficult to accept that a lot of people with connections to the Palestinian territories, either through family or culture or inclination, are upset over the situation. I certainly am. And some of those people might want to express their outrage. With a pair of big puppets. At the Cultural Center.
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Conflating criticism of Israeli government with antisemitism (or being a self-hating Jew or Hamas sympathizer) is such an old tired trope at this point, it crosses into stupidity. I'm glad you called it out so skillfully.
ReplyDelete"Enforced respect is no respect at all." - That's so well-put.
Bill Maher has jumped the shark on this subject. Every program he's on.
DeleteWell said-as is the column-excellent-
Delete"Enforced respect is no respect at all." And yet, Orange Julius is still pontificating about how the Untied Snakes will "demand respect"' from other countries. Mr. Bluster is a joke on the world stage. He's like the fat bully on the playground who screams: "Stop laughing at me or I'll beat you up!" Can't even watch or listen to the ten-second sound bytes anymore. I will wear out the buttons on my remote by spring.
DeleteCriticism of Israel has been equated with anti-Semitism and hated for Jews for as long as I can remember, especially if you are One of the Tribe. Years ago, at a long-gone message board, I was labeled as being a "slef-hating Jew"...and I responded with "Call me watchoowanna. Those murdering Slefian bastards have always persecuted our people...so I don't care much for the Slefs, either. Never forget"
DeleteAlways leave 'em laughing.
As for Debra Silverstein, her job is to represent the people of West Rogers Park...all of them, not just the Jewish population. Not to publicly pontificate about Middle East politics, which is beyond the scope of her jurisdiction. Sorry Debra...an anti-Semite does not automatically lurk near every mezuzah.
Stick to beautifying Devon Avenue, Debra. Don't give unnecessary publicity to a crude and crappy sculpture that looks like something from a pro-Palestinian street parade. Had to look at it three times before I realized it wasn't labeled: "Uncle Sham." That might have actually been more effective.
I agree. Well said. I grew up in South Shore. Joined Boy Scout troop 585 which met at a Synagogue on Jeffrey Ave. I was one of the few gentiles. When camping at Indiana Dunes I chose to attend Friday night services rather than remain alone at camp. Refreshing, practical, positive, uplifting. I never participated in organized religion but always felt Judaism would be my choice if I did.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most biting commentaries in quite some time... "America already has a gulf — alas, it’s the yawning chasm between our ears."
ReplyDeleteYour piece today helps me realize that the people I like to have discussions with realize and struggle with the nuances of complex subjects. There is often no grand five to seven word sentence that can sum up the endlessly complex nature of most "things" we are faced with. While Democrats and educated Americans struggle with this, they continue to fall behind in the idiotic simplicity of MAGA.
The two staggering contrasts in cinema; the angry mob ready to kill Frankenstein creature because... and Dennis the Peasant's quote from Monty Python, "Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony."
Do you laugh with Dennis or reach for your pitchfork. That tells me a lot about who you are.
We'll written Neil. Thank you.
I’m with you!
ReplyDeleteGreat column. Regarding the "Gulf of America". Did you know Stephen Colbert came up with this idea, back in 2010? I bet the leader of the Inceligarchy won't like knowing that. https://latenighter.com/news/gulf-of-america-was-stephen-colberts-idea-first/
ReplyDelete... "which I disapprove of without opposing"... I like that! We need more of that sentiment in our current times.
ReplyDeleteFine column, Neil. She's waaay off-base on this one.
ReplyDeleteA Jewish state in the year 3025? I think we'll be lucky is there is any kind of state existing then the way we're going now.
ReplyDeletejohn
In the year 2525, if man is still alive, there will be tens of billions of miserable human beings on this planet, all struggling for mere survival, and for the basic necessities of life: food, water, air, and even a place to sit down.
Delete3025? There won't be one. What we now call "Earth" will be a blackened, lifeless cinder in the vastness of space.
Nobody pulled the Lion's tail in Oz. He did it to himself.
Yet another example of the "Streisand effect" which could be added to the list.
ReplyDelete"...an unintended consequence of attempts to hide, remove, or censor information, where the effort instead backfires by increasing public awareness of the information."
A term named after Barbra Streisand, who tried to squelch a photograph of her residence, which led to the largely unnoticed photo receiving much more attention.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Streisand_effect_examples
The problem with trying to censor a piece of art is that now it has been seen by way more people than would ever have seen it at the Cultural Center. So-the exact opposite of what the censor intended.
ReplyDelete"a crude papier-mache caricature sitting unnoticed in a seldom-visited corner of the Cultural Center"
ReplyDeleteAs for "unnoticed," when I saw the photo and read the column earlier today, it just did not occur to me that we had actually visited that corner and seen that exhibition when we visited the Cultural Center earlier this month. The kind of artwork on display not really being of interest to me, that piece made no impression on me at all. I wasn't examining any of the stuff carefully or for long, though.
My wife just pointed out that we had indeed seen this when we were there. D'oh!
As for the closing sentences of the column...
At least when the Yahoos were going on about Freedom Fries, there were no executive orders trying to actually implement the insanity. Who could have imagined then that those would turn out to be the good old days?
Which is to say, I’ll start calling it the “Gulf of America” at about the same time I start referring to the orange felon and ignoramus as an esteemed diplomat.
American is greater than most, but I would argue that it has ever been a great country. Just for example the country was not fin favor of bringing in Jews even before Hitler started killing them. Not even children and really not most refugees either. This is a fairly long article. Worth a read. Charlie Pierce always says history is fun. Sometimes it is. I don't think I knew that the government wouldn't allow Anne Frank and her family here. After reading this article I wonder if part of the reason we are supporting Israel is because we didn't come to the aid of the Jews. Israel is also a strategic place. If it wasn't the our government could care less. On a lighter note, Pee Herman's father was one of the founders of the Israeli Air Force. He flew in the 1967 war.
ReplyDeleteWell said Neil
ReplyDelete