Kesher Talk: 02/02/2003

Friday, February 07, 2003

Vile anti-Semitic letter published by Daily Illini: The Daily Illini, the student-run newspaper for the University of Illinois, ran a guest op-ed piece that could have come from the pen of Hitler himself. Titled "Jews Manipulate America," the article is an incoherent rant that basically urges the expulsion of Jews from American life. The murder of Iraqi scientists? It's part of an Israeli plot. The risin in London? Jews are responsible, writes Ariel Sinovsky:

Current news from England tells us about discovery of a home stile lab producing potent ricine poison. Since this poison can be manufactured in every home, it constitutes the most serious threat ever. The President should act immediately to deal with this threat. First, separate Jews from all government advisory positions and give them one year fully paid sabbatical. No matter what sort of allegiance they have sworn to the United States, their true Jewish hearts are with Israeli, not American, interests. Secondly, the President should create a Palestinian state within 60 days. Only a free sovereign Palestine will stop poison cooking "homemakers."

These bizarre, loony, and virulently anti-Semitic rants were printed by a supposedly respectable student newspaper. Clearly, not everyone who writes a letter to a publication -- professional or student-run -- gets it printed. Yet here is the editor's spineless response:

• The editors of The Daily Illini do reserve the right to determine what letters are published and edit those letters we decide to run. But we are committed to giving all people a voice in our publication — even those views we find vile, distasteful or simply ridiculous. Our commitment to this mission often means we print the opinions of others with whom we do not agree. This was the case Wednesday.

• We do not print anonymous letters, letters without contact information or letters that slander private figures. The author of every letter is called to confirm authorship; we do not require that authors be listed in telephone directories.

It is difficult to read what many feel is racist, hateful or immature speech. (emphasis added) But there is also grave danger in silencing these views based on the opinion of the editor or editorial staff. What is hate speech to one member of a society is free speech to another. While we might not agree with the letter, we defend the speech's right to a place in our paper. We choose to set the bar as far from self-censorship as is possible.

Please. The letter essentially slandered an entire group of people. It was based on blatantly factually incorrect information. Does this mean that every anti-Semitic crank can send it a slew of letters that the Daily Illini will willingly print? Can I make information up -- masquerading as fact -- and have it published in a newspaper? And, it's "difficult to read what many feel is racist speech?" The column could have been plagiarized out of Mein Kampf! And if top-tier college journalists can't figure out that advocating all Jews to be banned from government (which the author writes) as racist, the state of journalism education at the U of Illinois must be pathetic.

As I alluded to above, newspapers certainly have the right not to print every letter it receives. If refusing to print a letter to the editor was a violation of free speech, newspapers would have their own "graffiti" sections -- hundreds of pages devoted to the thousands of letters they receive daily. I've sent a dozen or so letters to the Washington Post over the years, and only one has been printed. This is basic Journalism 101. Heck, anyone who's read a newspaper should know this.

Sadly, the university chancellor (an oddly ironic title) was just as timid in criticizing the newspaper. She argued it was up to people to combat the hate speech with more speech, criticizing those hateful views that attempt to cut off dialogue. Here's an excerpt of her response:

When hateful speech enters the marketplace, its goal is to cut off thoughtful debate.

I urge members of the University community to continue to respond to these outpourings of bigotry as members of a university should, through vigorous but civil debate and intergroup dialogue.

Our emphasis in these precarious times ought to be on how we come together to solve vexing social problems, remembering that we are all one people.

Can she issue a criticism more biting than about how we are all one people? Not a single word of criticism towards the Daily Illini, and hardly a mention about the letter itself.

Unbelievable.

Thursday, February 06, 2003

I have to say this: I just heard on the radio Geula Cohen, for whom I have the greatest respect (although at times she tends to be a bit too emotional for my taste). Geula is not religious, or, at least as far as I know, not an orthodox. She said: "I think that the ultra-orthodox,...are desecrating God's name [by their hatred of Zionism], and people like Lapid are desecrating God's name by their hatred of the Jewish religion". I could not agree more. The most important point, in my view, is: does Lapid hate the Jewish religion? I don't think so. If anyone can prove me wrong, I will withdraw all my support for him (not that my support is relevant at all right now, mind you).

Some news from IBA radio: Rashid abu Shark, who is the head of the Palestinian preventative security forces, says that the Palestinian Authority will put more forces into preventing the shooting of missiles from its territory into Israel. He says such shootings are damaging to the Palestinians' interests.

Abu Allah, who is the chair of the PA parliament, says that the PA has to come up with a political initiative aimed at resolving the Conflict, without waiting for the war in Iraq. He also calls for deeds, rather than words, from the PA leadership, when it comes to preventing Palestinian violence, and for reforms, and for admitting mistakes, etc.

Two of Sharon's advisors are on their way to Jordan. They were invited by Jordan's foreign minister, but the visit is said to have been postponed until after the elections in Israel.

Israel's FM Netanyahu and his Egyptian counterpart had a phone conversation. This report was very short, and then I did not hear all of it:-)

Now, is it just me, or are our cousins getting nervous?

Pushing the boundaries of health and kashrut: Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, site in 1967 of the first heart transplant in the U.S., is making another first: first institution in the city, perhaps the country, to offer traditional home-style glatt kosher Chinese hospital food.

The Chinatown along Eighth Avenue in Sunset Park, two blocks over from Maimonides, is exploding, and last year a thousand Chinese-Americans checked into the hospital. At the same time, Maimonides, nestled among the Orthodox Jewish enclaves of Borough Park and Midwood, already operated a strictly glatt kosher kitchen, with a staff of rabbis to light the stoves and oversee preparation.

But making the food fit for a hospital? Hospital food must be low in sodium — so much for soy sauce and MSG — and low in fat — so much for oily garlic sauces. Also, vegetables must be cooked until a dentally challenged elderly patient can masticate them with ease, and each entrée must weather refrigeration and next-day reheating.

How is Maimonedes doing? Since November, the hospital has been rotating a small selection of Chinese dishes through its menu: stir-fried beef with vegetables, subgum gingered fish, chicken lo mein and congee with meats. Last Thursday, the hospital arranged a tour of the kitchen for a NYT reporter to watch Mr. Hebaj whip up the chicken lo mein and gingered fish. "Just a little bit shiitake mushroom for a nice Oriental taste," he said as he stirred a few into an oversized frying pan labeled "meat," the closest thing the hospital has to a wok. The result, considering the constraints, was quite edible, even pleasant, in a mushy sort of way, with the addition of injudicious amounts of soy sauce (Mr. Hebaj revealed that he had already spiked the samples with considerably more soy sauce than he would be allowed to administer to patients).

The Farce is Strong With Them: Got back from vacation just in time for the Powell speech, and it was a doozy.

There was one thing that I found funny, though. People make fun of the UN Security Council for its perceived solipsistic arrogance, but I think that the members’ reactions to Powell’s speech were kinda odd. While none of the evidence presented irrefutably depicted any actual weapons (as opposed to the obvious Cuban Missile Crisis analogy), the entire speech was an indictment of Iraq’s violation of Resolution 1441, a resolution labored upon by the very same Security Council. In concert with Hans Blix’s previous speech, there can be no argument against Iraq's “further material breach” of its obligations. Some may not believe that this is a good enough reason to go to war, but it at the very least should demonstrate Saddam’s contempt for UN resolutions and inspectors. But what did Russia propose? More resolutions. And what did France propose? More inspectors.

Saddam obviously feels that UN Security Council resolutions are worthless, and an increasing portion of the American public feels the same way, but at the very least, shouldn’t the Security Council take it’s own resolutions seriously?

Wednesday, February 05, 2003

What on earth is happening over at the Guardian? Damian Penny and I have both been asking ourselves that question, but he collected the links. So go there, and onward to the Guardian, and be cheered.

The "Kosher Scoop Jacksons": Stephen Silver outlines the make-up of a new political hodge-podge - liberal Jewish hawks.

Tuesday, February 04, 2003

Latest on the Jewish anti-war Left. I previously reported on the Shalom Center's negotiations with United for Peace and Justice, - an antiwar group trying to position itself as the answer to A.N.S.W.E.R. (as it were) - on purging anti-semitism from its ranks and welcoming antiwar Jews who also love Israel and believe it has a right to exist and defend itself. (The UFPJ page on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been revamped a bit, possibly as a result of Jewish critique, but still has way too much revisionist "history.")

Latest email from Arthur Waskow, Director of the Shalom Center:

There will be a Jewish contingent in New York City as part of the United for Peace & Justice mass anti-war rally on Feb 15. The Shalom Center is working closely with JFREJ (Jews for Racial & Economic Justice) -- a New York City organization that is about 15 years old and well-rooted in NYC Jewish progressive life -- and with the rabbis of B'nai Jeshurun and Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, to plan and support that contingent.

B'nai Jeshurun is now planning that all its members who wish to take part in the rally will leave the Shabbat morning services together. We cannot yet say where the Jewish contingent will meet, because the NY Police deepartment has unconcionably dragged out the negotiatioons for a parade permit with UPJ.

Then some stuff about contacting media and the mayor's office about the parade permit.

Among other participants in the contingent are branches of the Workmen's Circle/ Arbeterring; the Jewish Peace Fellowship; Tekiah of Boston; Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel of Washington, DC; and perhaps other groups from NYC and Philadelphia.

B'nai Jeshurun and Stephen Wise are large mainstream well-respected (albeit left-leaning) NYC congregations. I don't agree with them about Israel or the war, but they are trying to create an antiwar movement which treats Israel as a normal country with legitimate defense needs rather than the source of all evil, and that's a good thing.

And as I said before, Arthur Waskow has always been one of those old-style patriotic left-liberals who wants America to live up to its ideals, not the new kind of nihilistic anti-American leftist. In fact, every 4th of July he chants the Declaration of Independence in the manner of chanting a haftarah (Shabbat reading from the prophets), which is very cool.

I am a member of B'nai Jeshurun (although I attend other shuls more often - I joined because they host a lot of classes and singles events) and know many members who are not happy with their stance on Israel and have criticized their rabbis for not supporting Israel more in her crisis.The issue doesn't seem to divide the congregation on the surface - people seem to be "agreeing to disagree." (And I mostly attend other shuls because I hate the organ and prefer davening with smaller groups.)

The big picture. I like to characterize invading Iraq as "the least bad alternative." I am a liberal, I am not vengeful, I don't hate Arabs, Muslims, Palestinians, or any group in the aggregate. I try to figure out this complex issue in terms of costs and benefits, while steering clear of conspiracy theories, sensationalism, sloganizing, demonizing, and stereotyping as much as possible. Oh sure, I'll use a phrase like "idiotarian" because it's fun, but I try not to think in cliches.

So my support of the war comes from an accumulation of actions on the part of Saddam Hussein, that - in aggregate - are too provocative to ignore, and Lileks - as usual - says it best:

I don’t believe this war is being fought because Saddam kills his own people. Saddam is a particularly egregious example of a common tyrant; he stands out because he rules a land with great strategic importance, and because his particular brand of megalomaniacal sociopathy makes him an unpredictable actor. It’s not the torture, the war against Iran, the war against Kuwait, the destruction of the oil fields, the gassing of his own people, the starvation of his people to divert resources for palaces and mosques designed to make Robin Leach swoon. It’s the torture and the wars and the oil-field fires and the gassing and the starvation and the palaces and the big grinning fark-you to the terms that ended the last war. Oh, and also the germs, and the gas, and the rockets, and the nukes.

Exactly. Enough is enough. This is the closest I've seen to a soundbite exposition of "the least bad alternative."

When is a WASP a Jew? A genealogist researched Sen. John Kerry's roots and found out information Kerry himself didn't know, including that his grandfather, who committed suicide in 1921, was born Jewish.

You may be asking: so what? This would only be relevant if the Nazis were rounding up thos of 'Jewish blood.' According to most strains of Judaism, you're only born into Judaism via your mother. Everyone else must apply to join the tribe.

I don't foresee Kerry looking to convert anytime soon. Nor do I think he cares about exploring his Jewish heritage. But it does make for a neat diversion, a quirky feature story in an otherwise stullifying presidential primary race...

Jewish jobseekers of the world, unite! A new web site from the Rabbinical Board of Greater New York wants to connect Jews with jobs.

Monday, February 03, 2003

While most people mourned the loss of the astronauts on Saturday, some Palestinians -- you guessed it -- cheered.

Sunday, February 02, 2003

Zichrono Livracha. Some thoughts from Israel about what Col. Ilan Ramon's flight into space meant to a country traumatized by war and international vilification. The IDF is sending a military Rabbinate representative to Texas, who is an expert in identifying casualties.

"The day will come when we will launch more astronauts into space," [Sharon] said at the opening of the weekly government meeting. "I am sure that each and every one of them will carry in his heart the memory of Ilan Ramon, a pioneer in Israeli space travel."

An interview with Ramon before the launch, including a lovely picture that I haven't seen anywhere else.

Kesher Talk

Friday, February 07, 2003

Thursday, February 06, 2003

Wednesday, February 05, 2003

Tuesday, February 04, 2003

Monday, February 03, 2003

Sunday, February 02, 2003

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