Anne Frank mentions in her diary attending a few Zionist meetings with her boyfriend Hello, but chose to stop when she experienced the contention between factions. And Anne grew increasingly more political while in hiding, coming to understand the forces at work within The Netherlands that were supporting the Germans and those which Resistance represented. But above all of this, Anne saw Antisemitism as an age-old hatred that Jews were once again experiencing in the extreme. She had little illusion that it would be ended with the war's end. Instead, she spoke of the likelihood that this Jew-hatred would not end with the Germans and their collaborators' defeat. If she spoke of people as having good hearts, she spoke more often, and in that same paragraph, of the truly nasty aspect of human nature which got in the way of this being fully and often expressed. She was under no illusions, though so many who have clung to this out of context quote appear to still be. As for those who misuse Anne for their own politics, and especially those who would steal her legacy as a proud and conscious and expressive Jew who thought well of her sister's Zionist aspiration for emigration and service to the Jewish community in Palestine, I only ask: Have they no shame at all in feeding off the death of the Holocaust's most well known murder victim?
I think the question of - what would Anne say today were she alive (a question that, as you know, I had on my mind in different capacities) would also depend on whether or not she grew up in this era, or are we talking about an older Anne who survived to see what the world is coming to. Because there's also a generational aspect no doubt. And the immigrant and refugee aspect.
A LOT of Jews in the diaspora who haven't previously felt a connection to Israel now do, and rightfully so. I saw Jerry Seinfeld talked to the NY Times (I didn't read it) but my understanding is that he's sort of breaking his silence. It's just now, that so many people are starting to wear their Judaism proudly, that you realize how, even if someone was very culturally Jewish externally, we've been hiding. Sort of low-key assimilation where you try to be a good Jew and not rock the boat.
But the biggest issue, and that is really the core of the issue imo, is that you can be leftist, AND a zionist. Whatever the movement was in the past, today it's the belief of the Jewish right for self-determination in our homeland. That does not at all contradict Palestinian rights. You can support the one AND protest the lack of the other. I hate it when people try to frame Zionism as a racist ideology. And when you tell them that's not it, they argue, as if they have the right to tell you what it is.
Anywho, I'm back in town and would love to see you and discuss some ideas! :)
Hi Chen, I appreciate this comment and I just wanted to state that Zionism in its actual definition and implementation is what the world is in opposition to. We may very well all have our own ideas about what it ought to be but must operate against what it actually is on the ground. And in its current form it is indeed a highly racist, supremacist ideology that oppresses those around them. In its current form we are seeing war crimes and atrocities not seen since WW2.
The real question must be how do can we support a homeland and safe haven for Jewish people without supporting the political ideology that is Zionism as it was invented and the policies that follow from it.
Hi Ruth. Quick suggestion for your reading group: Ghassan Kanafani's short story "Returning to Haifa," in the collection Palestine's Children. It's an extraordinary story (considered a classic of Palestinian literature), a quick read, and would make for a great discussion.
Quoting Wikipedia's "The Holocaust in the Netherlands": During the late nineteenth century and into the 1930s, Dutch Jews had increasingly secularized and integrated into large Dutch society. Many were no longer observant religiously or followed Jewish cultural practices. As Dutch society formed segments or "pillars" in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Jews were not a separate pillar, but rather affiliated with existing pillars. Many Jews no longer lived in the informal "Jewish Quarter".
----
As a secular Jew of the very secular Jewish community of the Netherlands, she would have recognized how anti-Zionism is masqueraded anti-Jewish racism. She would have known immediately that the "allies" of token Jews have only one purpose for them, to Jew-wash their anti-Jewish racism, and wouldn't care one bit if their alleged Jewish allies were murdered.
It didn't matter how secular the Jews of the Netherlands were, they had a higher percent of people exterminated of any Jewish community in Europe. Anne Frank would have recognized the desire of anti-Zionists to support a genocide and ethnic cleansing of 7 million Israeli Jews by so-called "pro Palestinians".
I am very much enjoying Grossman's book but I am a slow reader (stealing moments to read between teaching and being obsessed about the current events) and am still reading it.
I, too, was struck by the novel's recursive character: when I reached the end, I realized that I needed to reread the first hundred or so pages in order to make sense of the opening. This recursiveness makes perfect sense in light of Grossman's preoccupation with the representational status of memory. The novel is a hall of mirrors.
Anne Frank mentions in her diary attending a few Zionist meetings with her boyfriend Hello, but chose to stop when she experienced the contention between factions. And Anne grew increasingly more political while in hiding, coming to understand the forces at work within The Netherlands that were supporting the Germans and those which Resistance represented. But above all of this, Anne saw Antisemitism as an age-old hatred that Jews were once again experiencing in the extreme. She had little illusion that it would be ended with the war's end. Instead, she spoke of the likelihood that this Jew-hatred would not end with the Germans and their collaborators' defeat. If she spoke of people as having good hearts, she spoke more often, and in that same paragraph, of the truly nasty aspect of human nature which got in the way of this being fully and often expressed. She was under no illusions, though so many who have clung to this out of context quote appear to still be. As for those who misuse Anne for their own politics, and especially those who would steal her legacy as a proud and conscious and expressive Jew who thought well of her sister's Zionist aspiration for emigration and service to the Jewish community in Palestine, I only ask: Have they no shame at all in feeding off the death of the Holocaust's most well known murder victim?
I think the question of - what would Anne say today were she alive (a question that, as you know, I had on my mind in different capacities) would also depend on whether or not she grew up in this era, or are we talking about an older Anne who survived to see what the world is coming to. Because there's also a generational aspect no doubt. And the immigrant and refugee aspect.
A LOT of Jews in the diaspora who haven't previously felt a connection to Israel now do, and rightfully so. I saw Jerry Seinfeld talked to the NY Times (I didn't read it) but my understanding is that he's sort of breaking his silence. It's just now, that so many people are starting to wear their Judaism proudly, that you realize how, even if someone was very culturally Jewish externally, we've been hiding. Sort of low-key assimilation where you try to be a good Jew and not rock the boat.
But the biggest issue, and that is really the core of the issue imo, is that you can be leftist, AND a zionist. Whatever the movement was in the past, today it's the belief of the Jewish right for self-determination in our homeland. That does not at all contradict Palestinian rights. You can support the one AND protest the lack of the other. I hate it when people try to frame Zionism as a racist ideology. And when you tell them that's not it, they argue, as if they have the right to tell you what it is.
Anywho, I'm back in town and would love to see you and discuss some ideas! :)
Hi Chen, I appreciate this comment and I just wanted to state that Zionism in its actual definition and implementation is what the world is in opposition to. We may very well all have our own ideas about what it ought to be but must operate against what it actually is on the ground. And in its current form it is indeed a highly racist, supremacist ideology that oppresses those around them. In its current form we are seeing war crimes and atrocities not seen since WW2.
The real question must be how do can we support a homeland and safe haven for Jewish people without supporting the political ideology that is Zionism as it was invented and the policies that follow from it.
Hi Ruth. Quick suggestion for your reading group: Ghassan Kanafani's short story "Returning to Haifa," in the collection Palestine's Children. It's an extraordinary story (considered a classic of Palestinian literature), a quick read, and would make for a great discussion.
Quoting Wikipedia's "The Holocaust in the Netherlands": During the late nineteenth century and into the 1930s, Dutch Jews had increasingly secularized and integrated into large Dutch society. Many were no longer observant religiously or followed Jewish cultural practices. As Dutch society formed segments or "pillars" in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Jews were not a separate pillar, but rather affiliated with existing pillars. Many Jews no longer lived in the informal "Jewish Quarter".
----
As a secular Jew of the very secular Jewish community of the Netherlands, she would have recognized how anti-Zionism is masqueraded anti-Jewish racism. She would have known immediately that the "allies" of token Jews have only one purpose for them, to Jew-wash their anti-Jewish racism, and wouldn't care one bit if their alleged Jewish allies were murdered.
It didn't matter how secular the Jews of the Netherlands were, they had a higher percent of people exterminated of any Jewish community in Europe. Anne Frank would have recognized the desire of anti-Zionists to support a genocide and ethnic cleansing of 7 million Israeli Jews by so-called "pro Palestinians".
https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/go-in-depth/netherlands-greatest-number-jewish-victims-western-europe/
I am very much enjoying Grossman's book but I am a slow reader (stealing moments to read between teaching and being obsessed about the current events) and am still reading it.
I loved the Grossman novel and I can't seem to locate your comment on it, Professor Franklin. sincerely, Sheila
Hi Sheila - the thread is here! https://ruthfranklin.substack.com/p/israelipalestinian-reading-group-d1d/comments
I, too, was struck by the novel's recursive character: when I reached the end, I realized that I needed to reread the first hundred or so pages in order to make sense of the opening. This recursiveness makes perfect sense in light of Grossman's preoccupation with the representational status of memory. The novel is a hall of mirrors.
https://open.substack.com/pub/christophermessina/p/with-friends-like-these?r=2vnoe2&utm_medium=ios
Disgusting
It’s so disgusting I can’t bear this question.