Her name is Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, and, while she isn't a published historian, her pedigree as child of Holocaust survivors is decidedly better than Finkelstein's: her father was Heinz Galinski, Germany's top Jew in the 1980s. Both Finkelstein and Hecht-Galinski put lie to the canard that Jews can't be antisemites. Apparently, Henryk Broder has decided to take her down, and we should all be rooting for him. (One of the myriad peculiarities of contemporary Germany is that only another Jew could afford to stand up to Hecht-Galinski the Jew).
Broder himself, another child of Holocaust survivors, is probably Germany's most formidable columnist and a fascinating person on his own right. He knows a thing or two about antisemitism, and in the 1980s he wrote a great book called Der Ewige Antisemit (The Eternal Antisemite), in which he devastatingly documented the extent to which already by then the Left had become a bastion of antisemitism, while pretending to hide behind mere criticism of Israel. It was quite an eye-opener, I remember.
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"[H]er pedigree as child of Holocaust survivors is decidedly better than Finkelstein's"
This has got to be one of the most peculiar statements I have read in some time.
They give out pedigrees for Holocaust survivors' children? I had no idea it was such a p*ssing contest.
Well, Lancethrust, had you ever spent much time around Holocaust survivors you'd be aware that there's definitely what you might call a pissing contest; actually, more like a hierarchy. They don't all participate in it, obviously, but enough do to make it very obvious ("You were only in hiding? Never saw a camp???)
My comment, however, wasn't about the survivors, with whom I don't argue, but about these two Jewish antisemites who flagrantly hold up the Holocaust-survivor identity of their parents as a moral justification and a shield from criticism. Seen from that perspective, the German woman comes out ahead of the American one.
My comment, however, wasn't about the survivors, with whom I don't argue, but about these two Jewish antisemites who flagrantly hold up the Holocaust-survivor identity of their parents as a moral justification and a shield from criticism. Seen from that perspective, the German woman comes out ahead of the American one.
I don't think Dr. Finkelstein uses his status to shield himself from criticism; it is just a statement of fact.
I do, however, feel that Israel has used the plight of Holocaust Jews to shield itself from valid criticisms at the same time they oppress the Palesinians in many of the same way Jews themselves were oppressed and brutalized. The Palestinians did not cause/participate in the Holocaust yet they are payting the price.
Should suffering of the weak at the hands of the powerful now become a p*ssing contest as well?
I recomend that you read Freddy Perlman's essay ANTI-SEMITISM & THE BEIRUT POGROM as he has great insight on using the Holocaust as an excuse to dehumanize others. Most of his family was wiped out so I guess his "pedigree" is not too bad.
To be honest, Lancethruster, those sentiments are silly. Since I've already responded to them in Right to Exist, and the New York Times said the book was persuasive, feel free to go read it.
Mr. Lozowick,
Thank you for your replies. I'll try to find a copy of "Right to Exist" and check it out despite what the NYT says about it. I don't see why you cannot post an item or two about why you think Fredy Perlman's sentiments are silly (or is it my own that are silly?), but so be it.
I find Dr. Finkelstein compelling and consider the man a true humanist universalist. I do not think that Zionists care for anyone other than other Zionists for the most part.
Does "Right to Exist" also entail the right to usurp another's land?
"Right to Exist" starts from the premise that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a tragic clash of two fully legitimate claims to the same land, and foresees that peace will come when both sides can accept that, and figure out a resolution that takes both narratives into account. This is, of course, the only reasonable way to understand the conflict, and the present tragedy is that while a majority of Israelis have accepted this, a majority of the Palestinians don't yet.
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