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A blog reader
sent in an article, excerpted below.
"Catholics call for Israeli hate-crime crackdown" Published September 20, 2012, at the RT website, link below.
According to the article, recently Christian sites have been vandalized in Israel. The vandals may be Jews; hateful graffiti was written in Hebrew. As comments below the article point out, a provocateur could have used Hebrew but not necessarily been Jewish.
Anti-Semitic websites love material like this. They will disseminate it emphatically and insist that it reveals the essential character of Jews. It does not. Vandalism is a cross-cultural phenomenon.
I wanted to post it here, though, as just another reminder that hostility between Christians and Jews is not exclusively the product of Christian anti-Semitism.
Of course Christians and other non-Jews must take responsibility for the anti-Semitism expressed by members of their groups.
At the same time revisionist histories that depict Christianity as essentially anti-Semitic and the source of all intergroup hostility do more harm than good.
Full text of article here.
"Catholics call for Israeli hate-crime crackdown" Published September 20, 2012, at the RT website, link below.
According to the article, recently Christian sites have been vandalized in Israel. The vandals may be Jews; hateful graffiti was written in Hebrew. As comments below the article point out, a provocateur could have used Hebrew but not necessarily been Jewish.
Anti-Semitic websites love material like this. They will disseminate it emphatically and insist that it reveals the essential character of Jews. It does not. Vandalism is a cross-cultural phenomenon.
I wanted to post it here, though, as just another reminder that hostility between Christians and Jews is not exclusively the product of Christian anti-Semitism.
Of course Christians and other non-Jews must take responsibility for the anti-Semitism expressed by members of their groups.
At the same time revisionist histories that depict Christianity as essentially anti-Semitic and the source of all intergroup hostility do more harm than good.
Full text of article here.
***
Last summer
in Poland I encountered well-meaning individuals, educational materials, and
institutions that were sending just that message, often quite overtly so, in so
many words: Christians and Christianity were the sole source of hostility
between Christians and Jews.
It was as if these modern, Westernizing Poles and their institutions were trying to replace the image of the Brute Polak as the hyper-Catholic, world's worst anti-Semite with the image of a New Age, Politically Correct Poland that threw Catholicism under the bus, gaining PC points thereby.
Just one example. The Museum of the History of Polish Jews is set to become an authoritative voice in Polish-Jewish relations. It features on its homepage an essay by Rabbi Joseph Polak that deploys the Bieganski, Brute Polak stereotype. I respond to Polak's essay in the blog post entitled "Polish Scum Responds." You can read that response here.
This scapegoating of Christianity and Christians as the sole source of hostility between Christians and Jews backpeddles from previous scholarship, some of it by Jews, that sees sources of hostility on both sides. Just one example among many, Eva Hoffman's popular book "Shtetl."
It was as if these modern, Westernizing Poles and their institutions were trying to replace the image of the Brute Polak as the hyper-Catholic, world's worst anti-Semite with the image of a New Age, Politically Correct Poland that threw Catholicism under the bus, gaining PC points thereby.
Just one example. The Museum of the History of Polish Jews is set to become an authoritative voice in Polish-Jewish relations. It features on its homepage an essay by Rabbi Joseph Polak that deploys the Bieganski, Brute Polak stereotype. I respond to Polak's essay in the blog post entitled "Polish Scum Responds." You can read that response here.
This scapegoating of Christianity and Christians as the sole source of hostility between Christians and Jews backpeddles from previous scholarship, some of it by Jews, that sees sources of hostility on both sides. Just one example among many, Eva Hoffman's popular book "Shtetl."
It is certainly true that "Westernizing" Poles commonly want to throw Christianity under the bus to appeal to the mostly-leftist academia and media worldwide. These Poles include neo-Stalinists, who are hard-core enemies of Polish Catholicism and patriotism.
ReplyDeleteCertainly prejudices go both ways. For more on the mutuality of prejudices in Jewish-Christian relations, read the following free online book by going to Google and typing in the title: Traditional Jewish Attitudes Toward Poles. The book is authored by historian Mark Paul.
ReplyDelete1.Sorry,this first point is not exactly with regards to this topic but still worth noticing: http://www.heise.de/tp/blogs/6/152831
Did You know that Art Spiegelmann,whom we have to be thankful to being reminded that the animal most fitting us Poles is,apparently, the Pig, is today being awarded a German award worth 50.000 Euros for this,ehm, good piece of work.Coincidence? I am not really sure when it comes to all things German.
2.Back to the topic of this post:True,it may or may not have been a Jew.If not,it might have been a Radiostation Gleiwitz-type of false-flag operations.But this here were Jews (ultra-orthodox),spitting and attacking/hitting Christian (of all denominations) priests and pastors:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/ultra-orthodox-spitting-attacks-on-old-city-clergymen-becoming-daily-1.393669
To be honest,I dont give a flying anything about who is doing this-it is unacceptable behaviour for ANYONE.And NO,these people being Jewish (or,if they were Black,or homosexual for that matter) does and should not account for anything.
3.hyper-Catholic, world's worst anti-Semite with the image of a New Age, Politically Correct Poland
ReplyDeleteYes.To be honest, this is utter crap.Italians are Catholics,as well.So are Spaniards.I went to the glorious Euro match between Italy and Germany (public viewing,2:1 awesomeness).Many,many Italians were wearing rosaries around their necks,the day before the match Italys trainer went,in Poland,to a pilgrimage site to pray for victory.Does ANYONE in the glorious,enlightened West demean Italians for being Catholic? Or homophobic,because of it? (in the South of Italy,because of a culture of machismo,being gay is not really all that funny.In Poland,there is no such culture.) OF COURSE NOT. I am not a Catholic,and I have a lot of things I would like to see change in the Catholic church (ordination of women,acceptance of monogamous homosexual relationships) BUT right now, the Polish Catholic Church is a haven of comunitarianism and patriotism, standing on the side of the Polish nation and for Polish national culture-thus, I have come to support it.What does Western "enlightenment" and so-called "modernity" have to offer us? Multiculturalism (which means in fact the fragmentation of society into separate groups), "democracy" (which,right now does not exist anywhere,as those with the money are the real rulers of everything) , "feminism" (which rather amounts to special rights for women instead of equal rights for everyone) ect. One other thing-in the West, people are "enlightened"-they do not believe in f.e religion,they are demeaning people who do believe as somewhat less intelligent.They are believing in "progress",right? Now,lets take an example-A is a person believing,lets say,in religion. He/She is going to church once a week,praying,taking part in pilgrimages,even visiting the relics of saints Otherwise,A is grounded in reality and a critical person.A is "a backward person,a peasant". B is progressive-he is pro-Animal rights (thus reducing humans to the status of animals), against nuclear power (thus reducing economical possibilities for everyone) against genetically modified plants (which have saved millions of human lifes during the "Green Revolution") pro-multiculturalism (thus promoting the downfall of whole societies,as seen in many British cities) pro-relativism (thus promoting the downfall of Western civilisation as a whole). Now,who is the dangerous barbarian? It depends on the nationality. There is a great Polish author,named Ziemkiewicz, who is constantly,and in an amusing way,ridiculing those Poles who have inferiority complexes,remining them that,no matter what, we are,to those "enlightened" Europeans (who have,in fact, undermined the ground they are standing on-European culture-and inevitably it will sooner than later cave in along with them) "biali murzyni" ("white niggers").I agree with him-it does not matter, how unsafe Jews are starting to feel f.e in France or Germany (and NO, this is not the fault of the Muslims only,but also fo so-called "Leftists" attacking Israel as "nazis")-Poles are vile anti-Semites (or rather:linens to project ones guilt onto.Time to use this against them....)
Also,dear Goska, I have discovered two books You could be interested in:
ReplyDeleteŻyd - wróg odwieczny? Antysemityzm w Polsce i jego źródła, ss.860, Wyd. Nisza, Warszawa 2012.
This book is utter rubbish,and very long and tedious rubbish-it took me some time to read it.Basically,it is accusing Poles of being eternal,vile anti-Semites,the worst-of-the worst.Unfortunately, this woman is ALSO a researcher at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews . Also, she could know it better,her mother,Krystyna Cała, was a hero, a member of the Armia Krajowa,of Zegota (thus a rescuer). How bad is she? Well...let herself speak for herself:
http://www.rp.pl/artykul/310528.html
Also, this book here:
http://sklep-niezalezna.pl/pl/p/e-book-Bestie-Tadeusz-M.-Pluzanski/465
The title is provocative-Bestie-but an extremely interesting and well researched book. There is one thing the should be talked about,in order not to let anti-Semitism fester in the dark.According to the IPN (hardly a stronghold of antisemitsm) 40% of all Stalinist functionaries in Soviet-occupied Poland had a (n atheist) Jewish background,many of whom,like Helena Wolinska, were accusing Poles of "being anti-Semites" and Poland of "being the country of Auschitz and Treblinka". This is a quality of anti-Polonism paralleling the German case (Germans,such as Goering in Nurnberg, were accusing Poles of,yes!!!,being "vile anti-Semites").
Yes, Hanna, and this is my objection to Political Correctness. If it was an attempt at reaching peoples hearts and teaching them to keep "the law of loving kindness" on their tongue, then I would think it a wonderful thing. However, in my experience of it as a Polonian, it defines who is "uber" (must not be criticised or insulted) and who is "unter" (who can safely be criticised and insulted). And it doesn't bear much relation to anything that actually happened, as it is politics-driven.
ReplyDeleteYou mention the book "Maus" and note it is still being lauded and applauded. Doesn't that demonstrates it very well? I don't care how brilliant the book might be, how well written, it would simply not be acceptable to picture members of a PC-protected minority group as "swine". Can you imagine the outrage if he had pictured African or Hispanic Americans that way? But he couldn't have. The book would not have been publishable. And rightly so too.
On the gigantic silver lining side, this underlines the importance of the door to door preaching work being done by followers of Christ all over the world.
The Inspired Scriptures tell us, clearly and simply, that we are all one family, and that our Creator requires us to treat each other with kindness and respect.
Áh Sue, You know, lately, I was talking to a friend of mine about stuff like that and I told her-"One really should be a gay,Jewish black person,better even,transgender.Than...one would become UNTOUCHABLE." Pardon my cynicism, but I really do believe in the words of Martin Luther Kind-persons should be judged by the content of their character,and nothing else-clearly,this is NOT happening. Personally, I don't care if someone is Jewish,Muslim,Atheist,black,white,Asian,male ,female-either your a good human being or not.
ReplyDeleteI personally don't care much about scriptures (of any religion) but yes,they do encourage us to be decent and kind towards others-clearly, this is not happening....agh...sight...well,lets hope for better days...
It should be noted there's more to the story of Christian anti-Judaism and especially Christian anti-Semitism as Ms. Goska has aptly shown in this post. Also see the excellent books below which show that there was another side to traditional Christian anti-Semitism:
ReplyDeleteReckless Rites: Purim and the Legacy of Jewish Violence by Elliott Horowitz
Jesus in the Talmud by Peter Schafer
Cursing the Christians?: A History of the Birkat HaMinim by Ruth Langer
Mother of Mercy, Bane of the Jews: Devotion to the Virgin Mary in Anglo-Norman England
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"
ReplyDeleteThis scapegoating of Christianity and Christians as the sole source of hostility between Christians and Jews backpeddles from previous scholarship, some of it by Jews, that sees sources of hostility on both sides. Just one example among many, Eva Hoffman's popular book "Shtetl." "
Agree. Here are some excellent examples that see sources of Christian-Jewish hostility on both sides:
Jewish Responses to Early Christians: History and Polemics - 30 C.E. to 150 C.E. by Claudia J. Setzer
Ignatius of Antioch and The Parting of the Ways: Early Jewish-Christian Relations by Thomas A. Robinson
Dictionary of the Later New Testament and It's Developments published by IVP Academic(see especially their article Christianity and Judaism: The Parting of the Ways)
Jews and Christians in Contact and Controversy by William Horbury
CORRECTION:
ReplyDelete"This scapegoating of Christianity and Christians as the sole source of hostility between Christians and Jews backpeddles from previous scholarship, some of it by Jews, that sees sources of hostility on both sides. Just one example among many, Eva Hoffman's popular book "Shtetl." "
Agree. Here are some excellent examples that see sources of Christian-Jewish hostility on both sides:
Jewish Responses to Early Christians: History and Polemics - 30 C.E. to 150 C.E. by Claudia J. Setzer
Ignatius of Antioch and The Parting of the Ways: Early Jewish-Christian Relations by Thomas A. Robinson
Dictionary of the Later New Testament and It's Developments published by IVP Academic(see especially their article Christianity and Judaism: Partings of the Ways)
Jews and Christians in Contact and Controversy by William Horbury
Note: I made some serious typos in my last post.
Also, here are some other excellent examples that see sources of Christian-Jewish hostility on both sides:
ReplyDeletePersecution, Polemic, and Dialogue: Essays in Jewish-Christian Relations by David Berger:
https://www.amazon.com/Persecution-Polemic-Dialogue-Jewish-Christian-Relations/dp/1934843768
The Scholastics and the Jews: Coexistence, Conversion and the Medieval Origins of Tolerance by Edmund J. Mazza:
https://angelicopress.org/product/the-scholastics-and-the-jews/
"Let Us Go and Burn Her Body": The Image of the Jews in the Early Dormition Traditions" by Stephen J. Shoemaker:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3170205?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Note: Stephen Shoemaker talks about the image of the Jews in the traditions of Mary's death in his book The Ancient Traditions of the Virgin Mary's Dormition and Assumption as well.
Here's another excellent example of an book that sees sources of Christian-Jewish hostility on both sides as well:
ReplyDeleteEncyclopedia of Early Christianity(2nd edition) by Everett Ferguson(see especially the article Christianity and Judaism in this book).