{"id":2683,"date":"2021-05-18T10:38:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T14:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.davideriknelson.com\/sbsb\/?p=2683"},"modified":"2021-05-18T06:40:27","modified_gmt":"2021-05-18T10:40:27","slug":"bigots-please-use-punctuation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davideriknelson.com\/sbsb\/index.php\/2021\/05\/bigots-please-use-punctuation\/","title":{"rendered":"Bigots: Please Use Punctuation!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve got no clue if your message is the command \u201cKIKE: FREE PALESTINE \u5350!\u201d<\/strong> or the wish for a \u201cKIKE-FREE PALESTINE \u5350\u201d<\/strong>, and that\u2019s driving me nuts. Please, parents: Don\u2019t just teach your children to hate Jews; teach them to use hyphens and colons properly!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Vandalized
[This message brought to you by <\/strong><\/em>
British Vandals for a Kike-Free Palestine, <\/strong><\/em>
and the Letter \u5350]<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Straight talk, though: If you\u2019re vandalizing a synagogue in England\u2014regardless of what words you paint\u2014it really doesn\u2019t have shit to do with Palestine or Israel or whatever.  Likewise, if you are holding a protest outside a synagogue (as has been the case at the synagogue ~1 mile for my house for the last 16+ years<\/strong>), it has nothing to do with what\u2019s written on the signs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, the extremely high likelihood that right now you\u2019re thinking \u201cMy Gosh! That is so clearly and obviously wrong, but you have to admit that Israel<\/em><\/strong> blah blah blah<\/em>\u2026\u201d \u2014that thought, it doesn\u2019t have shit to do with Palestine, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vandalism is anti-Jewish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protest outside a synagogue is anti-Jewish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expecting Jews in England or Michigan or\u2014hell, anywhere OTHER THAN ISRAEL<\/strong>\u2014to bear some special responsibility for Israeli domestic policy is anti-Jewish and, frankly, crazy. It\u2019s literally the same as protesting outside a Black church because you\u2019re upset about the ongoing lack of accountability or reconciliation from the Liberian Civil Wars<\/a>, or protesting the Xinjiang internment camps<\/a> by picketing outside of a Chinese restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact that any of what I\u2019m saying maybe makes you uncomfortable, that\u2019s for you to sort out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you\u2019re afraid I\u2019m maybe implying you harbor anti-Jewish sentiment, here\u2019s a test you can do in the privacy of your own head, and never tell anyone the outcome.  Do you agree with the following statements: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. I feel weird acknowledging the 3000+ rockets Hamas fired at Israeli civilians in the past month without also acknowledging the 20x difference in Israeli and Palestinian casualty rates.<\/em><\/li>
  2. When someone mentions the 58+ Palestinian children killed in this latest paroxysm of violence, I don\u2019t even think for one second about the terror of ~3000 rockets coming at you in a single month.<\/em><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    If you answered YES<\/em><\/strong> to both, congratulations: You\u2019re pretty much like every other person in the world.  If you\u2019ve ever wondered how something like the Holocaust happens, now you know.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sorry to be a bummer, but real talk and then we\u2019re done: Did you feel worse about the thousand rockets, or the 58+ Palestinian kids, or the fact that some Jew in Michigan<\/a> called you out about it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You probably feel attacked right now, so I want one last thing to be crystal clear: My answers to those two questions were \u201cYes\u201des, too.<\/em><\/strong> If your culture has a bias, you have that bias as well\u2014even if, in your heart of hearts, you despise the bias.  Even if that bias contributes to your own destruction.  None of us get to stand outside our culture; there are no free passes in this game.  It\u2019s noble to want to fix Israel, or Liberia, or China\u2014but sorta weird not to give a moment to healing yourself, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    Incidentally, my source for the image above includes some interesting history (which I\u2019ve touched on before<\/a>) specific to the town where this happened:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This anti-semitic attack in Norwich makes me want to tell a story of the Jews of Norfolk. By way of background, the first synagogue in Norwich dates back to 1087. This is a story of both hatred and decency. Of English antisemitism. This is the story of William of Norwich. 1\/8 https:\/\/t.co\/oP6EoqJDkg<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Daniel Korski (@DanielKorski) May 14, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>