ZGram - 3/28/2002 - "Easter Offensive"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

Copyright (c) 2002 - Ingrid A. Rimland

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

March 28, 2002

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

It's almost Easter, and here is Israel Shamir, one of the genuinely 
ethical Jewish writers and thinkers of our time, offering his 
thoughts on "Easter Offensive":

[START]

The war in Palestine has become a global war between followers and 
deniers of Christ.

  "Here in Palestine, Jesus is again walking the Via Dolorosa. 
Palestinians are being crucified. Palestine has become one huge 
Golgotha", wrote Canon Naim Ateek of Jerusalem Anglican Church a year 
ago. This parallel between the Passion of Christ and the present 
onslaught of the Jewish state on the human rights in Palestine and 
elsewhere caused a great controversy; supporters and deniers jousted 
for a few months<mhtml:mid://00000076/#_edn1>[i].

His words became even more relevant now, as during this year the 
suffering of Palestinians grew immensely. Just before Easter, 
Sharon's government began what careful Kofi Annan described as a 
'conventional war' with jets, tanks and helicopters against 
defenceless civilian population. Two thousand years ago, only people 
of Jerusalem were present, while Christ was rushed to Golgotha. Now, 
in the global village of 21st century, the whole mankind became a 
witness of this tragic and lasting event. We all stand on the 
sidewalk of Via Dolorosa. The fateful question, 'whether this man 
should be crucified', applies to all of us. If we stop the execution, 
we shall change history.

The adversary acutely feels the fatefulness of the struggle. That is 
why the war in Palestine became a part of the global war between 
followers and deniers of Christ. It is not an accident that at the 
same time, the Virgin in Bethlehem was 
shelled<mhtml:mid://00000076/#_edn2>[ii] by Jewish tanks; in the US 
and elsewhere, the Jewish-dominated 
media<mhtml:mid://00000076/#_edn3>[iii] began a vicious smear 
campaign against Catholic clergy; while in France, a film Amen 
denigrating the late Pope Pius came to cinemas. Suggestively, the 
Cross on the movie's posters turns into [a] Nazi swastika.

Christendom made a grave mistake by unilaterally abandoning [the] 
ideological struggle against the Jewish paradigm. One should make a 
clear distinction between Jews as persons, and the Jewish paradigm as 
ideology. Jews are just human, and deserve to be treated and accepted 
as human. The Jewish paradigm should be confronted and counteracted. 
Two important issues were confused: the question of external 
relations, human and civil rights, human dignity on one side and 
ideological difference and variance, on the other side. They can, and 
should be treated separately.

Christianity and Judaism offer two different, indeed opposing 
approaches. Their struggle is a natural competition. At first sight, 
the two sister-faiths are similar; both celebrate at Easter/Pesach 
their accepted sacrifice by a narration, the liturgy of Passion for 
Christians and the family narrative of Haggadah for Jews. But at the 
second thought, they could not differ more. Passion is a story of 
supreme self-sacrifice of the Chosen one for the sake of universal 
salvation, the Haggadah is a story of sacrificing the enemies and 
salvation of the Chosen ones. At Easter, Christians celebrate 
resurrection of one who sacrificed himself for us. It is affirmation 
of altruism to the highest degree. Jewish Passover has an opposite 
idea: it is our salvation and their death. Egyptians and the people 
of Canaan should be sacrificed, so we would live better, that is the 
Passover idea, the affirmation of national egoism.

It is not a pure scholastic dispute, but a question of praxis as 
well. Since the rise of the Jewish paradigm, the prosperous nations 
sacrifice the poor nations so they would live even better. The 
growing poverty of the Third World is the proof of it. Look at the 
figures. Between 1960 and 1980 per capita income in Latin America 
grew 73%, and in Africa, 34%. During the period of 'economic 
liberalization', or the rise of Jewish paradigm, 1980 to 2000, that 
growth plummeted to 7% in Latin America and in Africa it went into 
reverse - minus 23%.<mhtml:mid://00000076/#_edn4>[iv]

This paradigm does not stop at the border; it works in the 'core 
country', in the US, as well. There, the rich sacrifice the less 
affluent so they would live even better. A new study, Divergent 
Paths<mhtml:mid://00000076/#_edn5>[v], proved that ninety percent of 
young workers in the US now doing worse than they would have 20 years 
ago. Since 1980, only a small percentage of Americans improved their 
lot, while for the rest, the perspectives of 'upward mobility' are 
gloomy. In the best ally of the US, in Britain, the figures are even 
worse. Both these countries have now poorly educated youth and 
inefficient health care. In the same period of time, rich people 
became richer by far, tells the study; while the Jewish community's 
average income became twice that of Gentile American.

In Israel, an average Jew has eight times the income of a Gentile. 
Nowhere the praxis of Easter/Passover dispute is obvious as much as 
in Palestine. When the Jews came to Palestine, they were quite poor. 
The British administration enacted a local statute allowing building 
only of stone in Jerusalem. Stone was expensive, Jews were poor, and 
the statute was described as 'anti-Semitic'. In 1948, the Gentiles' 
stone mansions of Jerusalem were confiscated and given to Jews, while 
the legal owners were pushed into refugee camps. They languish in 
poverty so we can live better.

In the bare hills around al Halil/Hebron, Palestinian villagers have 
no water, and their flocks die near dried-up spring. The spring water 
goes by a pipe into the swimming pool of a Jewish settlement. It is 
also a realisation of the maxim, 'let them die, if we can live 
better'. Using the Passover idea, the Talmud 
rules<mhtml:mid://00000076/#_edn6>[vi] on priority for drawing water 
at a well, "need of a Jew to do his laundry takes precedence over the 
lives of Gentiles". It is implemented in real life, in real time, in 
Israel.

Theology is ideology, and there is no place for ideological 
compromise between these opposing paradigms. The perceived difference 
between the twain was stated by the sides as follows. A prominent 
modern Jewish scholar and editor of Talmud, Rabbi Adin Steinzaltz 
described Christianity as 'simplified Judaism, adapted to the 
childish minds of Gentiles'. On the other hand, a grandson of a 
Rabbi, Karl Marx, wrote: 'Christianity is the sublime Judaist 
thought, while Judaism is a sordid utilitarian application of 
Christianity'.

Now, in these days, we should decide what to celebrate - the altruism 
of Easter or egoism of Passover. I would conclude with the marvellous 
words of Robert Leverant, "What the Jews are doing to the 
Palestinians is abominable. To participate in a service where the 
Jews are going to say "we are victims" is beyond my ability to 
stomach".

[END]

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Israel Shamir is an Israeli journalist based in Jaffa. His articles 
can be found on the site 
<http://www.israelshamir.net/>www.israelshamir.net In order to 
subscribe to this list or to be removed from it, please write to 
<mailto:info@israelshamir.net>info@israelshamir.net Ask for 
permission in order to publish as hard copy.

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Thought for the Day:

"I never could believe that providence had sent a few men into the 
world, ready booted and spurred to ride, and millions ready saddled 
and bridled to be ridden."

(Richard Rumbold)