Comments on: Justin White Trots Out the Kapo Insult

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 04:54:01 +0000

@Barnaby Yeh: I’m not sure what this proves other than that Moroccans & every other Jewish ethnic group in Israel is capable of domestic violence. Surely you don’t mean to single out Moroccans as the only group that does these sorts of things.

By: Barnaby Yeh

Barnaby Yeh — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 22:58:58 +0000

@Richard

“There was a phrase popular in Israel a few decades used to describe Moroccan Jews: Morokai sakine (Moroccan [with a] knife).”

Where there is smoke there is fire:
Man stabs wife, himself in Ashdod
Nov. 2, 2008

Gilbert Fadida, stabbed his wife to death in the city.
Rosie Fadida’s body was found by paramedics, marked with multiple stab wounds.
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1225199630414&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 05:43:16 +0000

@B.BarNavi: Yes, I agree. There are right-wing militant Jews who have no religion whatsoever. But since we were talking about Justin and how his politics & religious beliefs are intertwined I made some observations based on my own experience about the nexus between Orthodoxy and hard-core Israeli religious-nationalist views.

I don’t believe in demonizing the Orthodox & saying they are the cause of all this madness. But some Orthodox certainly contribute to it.

By: B.BarNavi

B.BarNavi — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:29:24 +0000

Also, right-wing militaristic tendencies tend to run in Orthodox circles, but is by no means in the mainstream! Believe me, as someone who hangs out in Orthodox circles, this is FAR from the norm!

By: B.BarNavi

B.BarNavi — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:26:19 +0000

There’s a line between concern for your own people and being outright paranoid/hateful.

And who said there was anything as “suicidal peace”? A rational being would see that aggressive territorial policies contribute more to Arab violence than anything else. A realist would know how to balance survival of the Jewish State with territorial dominance. That some people fail to see that is simply pathetic.

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:51:00 +0000

@Zev:

He is not a far-right reactionary, he is a very rational, honest Jewish person who is not ashamed to feel pain for his people.

Spoken by someone who uses the following phrase “knife-sharpening Arabs.” There was a phrase popular in Israel a few decades used to describe Moroccan Jews: Morokai sakine (Moroccan [with a] knife). The stereotype was ugly & racist then, & no less so now.

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:02:22 +0000

@tangentlama: I’m afraid I have to disagree…with the caveat that there are a large number of sensitive, tolerant & progressive Orthodox Jews. That being said, if you examine the politics of large swaths of the Orthodox movement it’s extremely conservative: Lubavitch, Meir Kahane, the settlers, etc.

By: Zev

Zev — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:40:15 +0000

I know Justin, I had him over for a Shabbos, and some time ago we studied together in the same yeshiva. I can tell you that he has not lived in Tapuach or any Jewish places encircled by the knife-sharpening Arabs, except Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. How presumptuous, if not cubbyholing of you to make that rationalization.

I ‘d say his being an exception to the physicists’, or scientists’, or intellectuals’ requirement of having to espouse leftist, or pro-Arab, or peace at suicidal cost, insults those circles.

He has suffered utmost discrimination because of this, and because he dared to be observant in anti-religious, anti-Jewish, pro-terrorist milieu.

He is not a far-right reactionary, he is a very rational, honest Jewish person who is not ashamed to feel pain for his people.

By: tangentlama

tangentlama — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:08:08 +0000

Richard, you say that there are ‘certain right-wing tendencies in the [Orthodox] denomination’. I’m sorry but on this occasion I must disagree with you. It is the interpretation of a person that makes for a right-wing (cruel/severe) religious stance. I know alot of people who were brought up Orthodox I don’t recognise any right-wing tendencies in them - maybe conservative, maybe liberal, but definitely not ‘right-wing/Kahanist’.

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:53:26 +0000

@Marci: THanks for yr perspective which I value. BarNavi, who knows Justin, has also pointed out the latter’s humanity, which doesn’t exactly reach out to one from the prose he writes. I’ll try to take that into account in future.

BTW, I write in my site rules that e mail sent to me will only be considered private on inclusion of a special request for this consideration. I also note that insulting, demeaning or downright rude e mail will receive even less consideration for privacy in the event the author requests it. And Justin didn’t.

He has commented here & is welcome to do so as long as he follows the site comment rules.