The first step is to end the cowardice of our national Jewish organizations and begin to rally against Jewish hate. The Evangelical Christian community probably would join us. Peaceful demonstrations is our first step. Where are our leaders? They’re cowering. Very pathetic.
Just so. You are exactly right. Because right now the only alternative American Jews see to Kahanism is the reckless ADL and the like which write reports and strongly condemn anti-semitism and do literally nothing to stop it. I have long thought that Western Europe is headed towards a violent fascistic reckoning against its open immigration because the governments do nothing. Its going to be the same with the Jew hatred. Leftist governments like New York City declare that violent riots are free speech. Make no arrests even though the police had to fight for hours to hold a barricade and protect a Synagogue. But major press conferences are held to condemn anti-Semitic graffiti while nothing is done to the perpetrators. This surely cannot continue without an extreme counter-reaction.
In America, each state has different laws regarding self-defense, and adherence to them is the legal part. The moral part is more difficult, but things like not attacking innocent people, ensuring that self-defense is commensurate to the attack, and refraining from ideological extremism are important aspects of it. It's also essential not to do what Kahane did, which is to hate other Jews who disagree with you, even when they agree on basic principles like the Jews' right to defend themselves.
I’m not sure your depiction of Kahane is accurate. I knew him. He didn’t hate other Jews who disagreed with him although many Jews hated him. His policies may well have been extremist and unworkable but they were not based on racism. They were based on his prioritization of Jewish safety.
I think after he went to Israel, he did become racist against Arabs. His obsession with intermarriage between Jews and Arabs, for example, is very telling, given its extraordinary rarity in Israel. And I think he definitely hated other Jews. You can see it in his book "Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews," among others. This is all after his Aliyah, however. I think he became far more extreme in Israel.
Obviously, I never knew him, so I can only go by what he said and did, but he said and did those things, so I think we have to hold him accountable for them.
It seems impossible for Jews to organize and counter rally against our enemies. Therefore an other approach should be added to the mix. These new antisemitic gutter snipes must be discouraged from their up to now efforts that leave them unmolested. That is the lesson of Kahane.
The first step is to end the cowardice of our national Jewish organizations and begin to rally against Jewish hate. The Evangelical Christian community probably would join us. Peaceful demonstrations is our first step. Where are our leaders? They’re cowering. Very pathetic.
Agree 100%.
Just so. You are exactly right. Because right now the only alternative American Jews see to Kahanism is the reckless ADL and the like which write reports and strongly condemn anti-semitism and do literally nothing to stop it. I have long thought that Western Europe is headed towards a violent fascistic reckoning against its open immigration because the governments do nothing. Its going to be the same with the Jew hatred. Leftist governments like New York City declare that violent riots are free speech. Make no arrests even though the police had to fight for hours to hold a barricade and protect a Synagogue. But major press conferences are held to condemn anti-Semitic graffiti while nothing is done to the perpetrators. This surely cannot continue without an extreme counter-reaction.
I fear that you're almost certainly right.
I hate being right about things like this.
Don't we all...
What in your opinion does legal and moral self defense look like?
In America, each state has different laws regarding self-defense, and adherence to them is the legal part. The moral part is more difficult, but things like not attacking innocent people, ensuring that self-defense is commensurate to the attack, and refraining from ideological extremism are important aspects of it. It's also essential not to do what Kahane did, which is to hate other Jews who disagree with you, even when they agree on basic principles like the Jews' right to defend themselves.
I’m not sure your depiction of Kahane is accurate. I knew him. He didn’t hate other Jews who disagreed with him although many Jews hated him. His policies may well have been extremist and unworkable but they were not based on racism. They were based on his prioritization of Jewish safety.
I think after he went to Israel, he did become racist against Arabs. His obsession with intermarriage between Jews and Arabs, for example, is very telling, given its extraordinary rarity in Israel. And I think he definitely hated other Jews. You can see it in his book "Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews," among others. This is all after his Aliyah, however. I think he became far more extreme in Israel.
Obviously, I never knew him, so I can only go by what he said and did, but he said and did those things, so I think we have to hold him accountable for them.
Could be. I only knew him in the 80s.
It seems impossible for Jews to organize and counter rally against our enemies. Therefore an other approach should be added to the mix. These new antisemitic gutter snipes must be discouraged from their up to now efforts that leave them unmolested. That is the lesson of Kahane.