David Ben Gurion observed that where there are two Jews, there are three opinions.
One Jewish web site agrees:
Although Jews have excelled in many different sports, only one sport truly has a claim as being the Jewish national sport. Soccer? Dreidel? No. The Jewish national sport is…arguing!
Jonathan Kay in the National Post reports the opinions of a Moslem in Egypt:
Ever wonder how Jews took control of the U.S. government, the international banking system and the entire world economy? If so, please direct your attention to www.memritv.org, where you can watch footage of a televised interview with archeologist Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Segueing deftly from a discussion of the failed Jewish revolt against Rome, Dr. Hawass brings the discussion into the modern age: “For 18 centuries [the Jews] were dispersed throughout the world,” he declares. “[Then] they went to America and took control of its economy. They have a plan. Although they are few in number, they control the entire world … The reason is that they are always united over a single view. They always move together, even if in the wrong direction. We [Muslims], on the other hand, are divided. If even two Arab countries could be in agreement, our voice would be stronger.”
But truth be told, Dr. Hawass’s flattery is off the mark. As The New York Times’ David Brooks wrote last week, argument is Israel’s national sport. The same acrimonious spirit runs through the Diaspora. After all, what anti-Israel protest is complete without a bunch of left-wing middle-aged Jewish women wailing about the sins of Zionism?
The disagreements are intra-familial:
Dr. Hawass doesn’t seem like the type who goes in for inter-faith bread-breaking. Too bad, because I’d love to watch the man’s jaw drop when my Chomskyite cousin Melvin and I assail one another viciously from opposite ends of the Seder table. No doubt, Dr. Hawass imagines such family gatherings to be miniaturized versions of a Bilderberg Conference, at which we all pledge fealty to Zionism, neo-conservatism and who knows what else. The truth is that politics and foreign affairs are as divisive within the Jewish community as without — with endless bickering being the only constant.
But as is well known, the Elders of Zion have retired. Bernie Madoff (the anti-Semites poster boy) did them in. Now they argue about which restaurant in Miami has the best early-bird special.
Leon, if the whole point of this post was to show how ostensibly sophisticated Muslims (such as Dr. Hawass) readily believe anti-Semitic conspiracy theories — and that Muslims, as a whole, view themselves as victims who must be avenged — then you have succeeded.
Remember two things:
1. The Nazis viewed themselves as victims of Judaism, Communism, socialism, capitalism, democracy, “inferior” races, the Versailles Treaty, and anything else they could think of. Some people took their victimization seriously (Chamberlain, Deladier). The rest, as they say, is history.
2. As it says in the Book of Proverbs, “When a slave becomes a king, the whole Earth trembles.”
Islam is dangerous precisely because it encourages this sense of grievance, and subtle demands for retribution. Just look at the propaganda that the terrorists spew after one of their acts.