RT by @HelgaTruepel: As the author of ‘Jews and Words’, a book that celebrates the Jewish culture of debate and textuality, I must spell out something that the book didn’t mention, a negative aspect of our talkative legacy.
You may not like it, but here it is.
This morning’s proceedings in The Hague focus on genocidical talk in the Israeli public sphere. There are dozens of examples: ministers, Knesset members, influencers. Even the manipulative Netanyahu mentioned Amalek, the ancient people that the Bible singled out for eradication. Never mind that great rabbis have determined long ago that Amalek is obsolete, and the biblical verdict does not apply to any existing nation.
What stands on trial today is the ancient Jewish habit of speaking to each other as if no one else is listening. The Jewish habit of making extreme statements irresponsibly, unthoughtfully, without expecting any payback.
For so many centuries we have exercised a wild freedom of speech among ourselves, in our own languages, relying on our own argumentative balance mechanism: extremism and moderation may clash, and moderation usually triumphs. The House of Shammai is legitimate, but the House of Hillel, the moderates, usually wins.
Israeli verbal culture inherited this freedom. But Israel is also a liberal democracy and member of the global community. Most of the loudmouths crying Genocide and Amalek are not aware of the profound dissonance, the huge damage, the justified outrage. Some don’t care.
Only a small minority wants actual genocide in Gaza and are morally crippled enough to carry it through: the extreme national-religious right.
The fact that Netanyahu allowed these thugs into his government and echoes their discourse is an eternal blot on Jewish history.
Our disputative, wordy culture deserves to be celebrated, but it must denounce its dangerous outcrop of inciters to blind violence. Their Amalekite spe…

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[2024-01-11 11:08 UTC]