tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13433228.post115713850923896108..comments2023-12-29T15:17:14.941+01:00Comments on the human province: On criticizing Israelseanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692290924543236943noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13433228.post-1157155893420561202006-09-02T02:11:00.000+02:002006-09-02T02:11:00.000+02:00Answer: Identity Politics. A hard reality that's t...Answer: Identity Politics. A hard reality that's too often taken for granted. <BR/><BR/>However, I'm not so sure if Americans are incapable of understanding the distinction between "Israeli" and "Jewish" relative to other places in the world. In fact, many Jewish-Americans go to Europe and report very ambivalent feelings about who they really are; i.e. explaining the identity of "secular Jewish" to bewildered self-proclaimed secular Seculars. <BR/><BR/>Still, to be fair, we can't undermine the complexities of "identity" itself. The Western-historical treatment of Jews has been extremely unjust; Jews are thought to have more than they really do. The emphasis is *already* given, whether we like it or not. The Western world needs to take such criticisms seriously.<BR/><BR/>And yes, we should all start talking about the effects of discrimination against Muslims. However, in order to do this, the society must be courageous enough to talk about such things in the first place. It requires humility and the removal of denial. When such events as immigration riots occur, for example, such a society must be deeply ignorant when the debate is relegated to everything else except the society's own unelightened racism, ignorance, and intolerance. <BR/><BR/>The fact of the matter is that we must talk about the nature of prejudice, hatred, and intolerance before proceeding to make any sort of bombastic conclusions. Take it from me. <BR/> <BR/>-KMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com