Disgusting image….no two ways about it.
This was posted by the head of the NAACP in Philly.
His explanation? Blame it on the offended party for, well, being offended…
“They use it as a trick,” he said. “If you’re in Europe and you criticize any of them like that, or if you’re in America, it’s anti-Semitism.”
Look, we have too much hate from the right against us, as blacks, Jews, Gays, Asians, and so on. We do not need to deal with hate between ourselves.
The whole story can be found here,
I was unclear in an earlier version of this diary and for this I apologize.
My point is NOT to say the views represent the totality of the black nor Jewish views on this topic. Rather
1) I show the photo because after much internal debate I thought that there would be a camp that would say they needed to see it to make their own judgement up about it, that it would not be complete without showing it for them to judge it vs. those offended right out by it. I thought. perhaps wrongly, to give the full story I should include it
2) My whole point of the diary is that there is not ONE voice for either community. Rather there exists a subset of each, thankfully small on each side, that attacks one another. My point from quoting the Rabbi later in the piece is that it is her statement, in her words, defines how I think the situation should be dealt with.
Sorry for the lack of clarity of the original diary.
I will try to give Muhammad the benefit of the doubt, though he often has praised Farrakhan. But again I agree that if Mr. Muhammad truly did not realize how vile and insensitive the image is, let’s treat this as a teachable moment.
I agree with a Rabbi from the area, please let us listen to her words and use them to grow together on both sides. We have enough hate to deal with what comes from the right. We all need to work, learn, and grow from one another.
Philadelphia Rabbi Linda Holtzman said the image makes her nauseated for its clear depiction of an anti-Semitic trope. However, she said the post, whether knowingly anti-Semitic or not, speaks to the need for more dialogue between the Black and Jewish communities.
BUT she does not engage in one-siderism….
“In the Jewish world, we will often rest on our laurels and say ‘Oh, we marched with MLK and we were there in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, therefore we’re somehow exempt from needing to do anything more and it shows we’re not racist,”
“I understand somebody being angry at a group of people who says, ‘Oh no, I’m completely with you,’ and then don’t act that way, or are not clear in their support unequivocally. I think the Black community is justly angry at the Jewish community.”
So let us unite, attack racism and anti-Jewish behavior wherever and whenever it pops up, and unite together as we should against the real common enemy.
