On 5/7/06, Joel Schalit <managingeditor at tikkun.org> wrote:
> I grew up with undue warnings about anti-Semitism too. When the Likud
> came to power in Israel in '77, its pretty much all they talked
> about, and it was clearly more about their leadership's historical
> experiences in Europe than it was real. It was very clear to many of
> us that the Arabs weren't a reincarnation of the Nazis, and a second
> Holocaust wasn't right around the corner. It was just a generalized
> discourse of nationalist self-victimization to advance other
> concerns,...
it seems that the Bushites have been pushing an ideology of US national victimization, too. (you do mean "victimization," not self-victimization, don't you?) Though it's based partly on 911, suddenly the biggest and most powerful guy on the block is a victim, as are men and whites.
> When I moved to Oregon at the age of 16, I experienced recurring
> bouts of discrimination that was a lot different than anything I ever
> heard about racism from right-wing Jews. I got turned down for jobs
> during the summer (both in high school, and in college) based on my
> ethnicity, and frequently got ruled out as boyfriend material by the
> parents of folks I would try and date....
Alas, in high school in Illinois, I was ruled out as boyfriend material by the parents of the girl I had a crush on because I _wasn't_ Jewish. Her parents (or was it grandparents?) were going to sit shiva for her if she dated me. (This was in a North Chicago suburbs area where most or much of the population was Jewish.) No hard feelings, though. -- Jim Devine / "Sanity is a madness put to good use." -- George Santayana.