Out In the Open
The Washington Post has published a disgraceful piece by Arun Gandhi, the fifth grandson of Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi.
Jewish Identity Can’t Depend on Violence
Jewish identity in the past has been locked into the holocaust experience — a German burden that the Jews have not been able to shed. It is a very good example of a community can overplay a historic experience to the point that it begins to repulse friends. The holocaust was the result of the warped mind of an individual who was able to influence his followers into doing something dreadful. But, it seems to me the Jews today not only want the Germans to feel guilty but the whole world must regret what happened to the Jews. The world did feel sorry for the episode but when an individual or a nation refuses to forgive and move on the regret turns into anger.
The Jewish identity in the future appears bleak. Any nation that remains anchored to the past is unable to move ahead and, especially a nation that believes its survival can only be ensured by weapons and bombs. In Tel Aviv in 2004 I had the opportunity to speak to some Members of Parliament and Peace activists all of whom argued that the wall and the military build-up was necessary to protect the nation and the people. In other words, I asked, you believe that you can create a snake pit — with many deadly snakes in it — and expect to live in the pit secure and alive? What do you mean? they countered. Well, with your superior weapons and armaments and your attitude towards your neighbors would it not be right to say that you are creating a snake pit? How can anyone live peacefully in such an atmosphere? Would it not be better to befriend those who hate you? Can you not reach out and share your technological advancement with your neighbors and build a relationship?
Apparently, in the modern world, so determined to live by the bomb, this is an alien concept. You don’t befriend anyone, you dominate them. We have created a culture of violence (Israel and the Jews are the biggest players) and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity.
Accusing the Jews of wanting the world to feel guilty about the Holocaust. Stating that Jews “repulse” friends. Calling Israel and the Jews the “biggest players” in creating a culture of violence.
I’ve got two words for you: anti-Semitism.
You see, folks, overt anti-Semitism is back in fashion* since when justifiably accused of it, you can invoke the “I’m just criticizing Israel” defense, coupled with the “my critics are stifling criticism of Israel” counterattack.
But Gandhi Jr Jr over here has gotten sloppy, specifically singling out the Jews for these crimes. He’s probably confident that his surname affords him a high level of protection against such charges of anti-Semitism.
Not that gramps was all that.
* although in the Muslim world, it never went out of fashion
About the Author
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.Filed Under: Uncategorized
I have one word for Gandhi: moron.
I have several words for Gandhi but this is a family oriented site.
If we followed Gandhi’s pacifistic mantra of resisting genocidal despots through peaceful means alone, the world would be ruled by these dictators.
Time to play Mad Libs. Imagine if he wrote this about palestinians.
More Mad Libs. Why don’t these guys go to Miami, and ask everyone why they have bars on the windows, or have walled communities? And then attempt to convince people to get rid of both.
It’s ridiculous in general context. And in all cases, if something happened tomorrow due to someones suggestion. The suggester will go about their day, and forgot the people injured or killed 3 days later. Same with the people who talk about Iran. What if they lobbed the bomb tomorrow? “whoops” “oh well”. Will their day be any different or will they remember 7 years from now?? It’s easy to talk on an ivory tower with no vested interest.
Opinions are like….maybe you know the vulgar expression. But everyones got one. End rant, I’m tired of these people who pop up practically daily.
In a way I think that Arun Gandhi did a good thing – he spoke his mind and shows the world again what a bloody moron he is.
Yet, for someone who had a closer look at the political views of his grandfather this comes hardly as a surprise. In fact, he is really carrying on his grandfathers heritage and his words remind us of the true nature of his grandfather.
Contrary to common believe, Mohandas Gandhi was not just this soft-spoken half-naked asket. He admired Hitler and formed his political views of politicized religion after those of Amin Al Husseini who visitied India in 1927 to form a coalition with the Deobandi movement.
After the fallout from his failed political experiments hit India, not only thousands of Hindus were dead (the Moplah massacre), but also M.K. Gandhi himself. As a supporter of the Khalifat movement he became a political danger to his own political party, so some of his former followers decided to kill him. His heritage and his role remain highly questionable to the majority of Hindus today. Gandhi may be a hero in the west – in India he is seen as a less positive light. Something that usually surprises westeners is that many Indians regard Narayan Apte and Nathuram Godse as the real heros in this story, because they stopped Gandhi before he could to even bigger harm.
[...] the zillionth anti-Semite to come out of the Jew-hating closet, has followed up what he calls his “poorly worded post” …. with a poorly worded [...]
G’day Dave
As an Aussie-born Hindu, I agree with SH Varma’s comments to a point.
Gandhi is this touchstone of all that is good in the West, and particularly the left, without examining the nuances of the man. There are particular times in his life when his ego comes to the fore, for example, and we can’t forget that his relationship with his children suffered a great deal due to Gandhi’s work.
Thanks for linking to the article (I got here via pajamas media). I see that a lot of comments have been posted on the WaPo page.
My main comment is not so much about the validity of his criticisms of Jews or Israel (sometimes there is a tendency to confuse the two, right?) but that he does not EVER highlight the violence which has been deliberately utilised against Israeli women and children from the other side.
I could go on for ages but I’ll leave it there.
Cheers