No One’s Fault But Their Own (UPDATED)

I was flabbergasted earlier today to look at the “On Faith” section of the Washington Post’s Web site, and be confronted with one of the most extraordinary things I’ve ever seen connected to a major American newspaper. It comes courtesy of Mohandas Gandhi’s grandson Arun Gandhi, and must be read in its entirety to be believed:

Jewish identity in the past has been locked into the holocaust experience–a German burden that the Jews have not been able to shed.

You know, if half the Hindu population of India had been killed in the course of a decade, I suspect it would have had a serious impact on Hindu identity, and would still be doing so, even 60 years later. But that’s just a guess.

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.

Actually, the Hitler as mass hypnotist theory bears no relationship to reality–he had a lot of very willing followers who joyfully indulged their bloodlust at the expense of Jews (as well as Catholic Poles, Russians, Roma, homosexuals, and a host of others. But Gandhi is just warming up to his “they bring it on themselves” theme.

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 whole world must regret what happened to the Jews”: in what moral universe does the world not regret what happened to the Jews, in the same way that we regret what happened to the Cambodians, the Rwandans, and every other people victimized by the forces of mass hatred and insanity?

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.

Israel puts its faith in its military for an obvious reason: having been invaded by its neighbors on several occasions, been the object of almost daily bombardment for decades, been told by Hamas and others that there is no place in the Holy Land for Jews, seen Israel and Jews demonized on a virtually round-the-clock basis by its enemies, threatened with annihilation repeatedly, and condemned on a regular basis by the United Nations simply for defending itself, Israel knows what fools like Gandhi refuse to recognize, that it can depend only on itself and its own strength if it is to survive.

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?

Israel doesn’t live in the pit. That’s precisely the point of the security fence: to keep the vipers on the other side, while Israelis are able to dwell securely.

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?

Presumably the Palestinians have received this same lecture from their moral superior. Riiiiiight.

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.

And this is where Gandhi falls over the edge and simply indulges his inner anti-Semite. “Israel and the Jews” (meaning who? Mr. and Mrs. Moskowitz from Brooklyn? Iranian Jews trying to be inconspicuous in the Islamic Republic? the two Jews in Baghdad who are all that left of a once-thriving community?) are the “biggest players” in the “culture of violence.” Not:

*The totalitarians in China, North Korea, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Iran, and other garden spots who are responsible for the execution, enslavement, deliberate starvation, financing of terrorism, religious persecution, etc., of millions of people each year.

*The Islamists terrorists who kill, bomb, kidnap, and maim civilians from Britain to Spain to Bali to Iraq to Afghanistan to Pakistan to Israel to Gaza to India to Russia to Germany to….

*The rogue regimes facilitating the proliferation of nuclear weapons to unstable or homicidal countries.

*The fanatics who make life miserable for others in countries around the world, from Hindu fundamentalists killing Muslims and Christians in India to Buddhists (!) persecuting Christians in Burma, from anti-Semites and Neo-Nazis terrorizing Jews in Europe to Orthodox Christians trying to rub out religious freedom in Russia, from Serbian nationalists killing Albanian nationalists and vice versa in Kosovo to Muslims and Christians going at one another in Nigeria.

Not enough for you? Let’s compare some numbers. Do you know what percentage of those killed in conflicts since 1950 died as part of the Arab-Israeli struggle? Here’s the answer:

The answer is, about .06% or 1 in 1700 deaths. Whereas 11 million Muslims have been killed in these conflicts, only .3% died in the Arab-Israeli conflict and over 90% were killed by fellow Muslims. The Arab Israeli conflict ranks 49th in the number of dead since 1950. [Emphasis added.]

Over one million alone were killed in the Iran-Iraq war. Even today, far more people are being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan by the fellow Muslims than by anything Israel is doing. Yet the “biggest player” in the “culture of violence” is “Israel and the Jews.” All I can do is shake my head and wonder what person was asleep at the switch at the Post to allow such drivel to appear under its name.

UPDATE: Believe it or not, this piece was worse in its original form. Damian Penny has the original of that last paragraph:

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 (and Israel and the Jews are the prime instigators) and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity. [emphasis added]

(Via LGF.)

UPDATE: Gandhi has now apologized:

I am writing to correct some regrettable mis-impressions I have given in my comments on my blog this week. While I stand behind my criticisms of the use of violence by recent Israeli governments–and I have criticized the governments of the U.S., India and China in much the same way–I want to correct statements that I made with insufficient care, and that have inflicted unnecessary hurt and caused anger.

I do not believe and should not have implied that the policies of the Israeli government are reflective of the views of all Jewish people. Indeed, many are as concerned as I am by the use of violence for state purposes, by Israel and many other governments. [Emphasis in original.]

I do believe that when a people hold on to historic grievances too firmly it can lead to bitterness and the loss of support from those who would be friends. But as I have noted in previous writings, the suffering of the Jewish people, particularly in the Holocaust, was historic in its proportions. While we must strive for a future of peace that rejects violence, it is also important not to forget the past, lest we fail to learn from it. Having learned from it, we can then find the path to peace and rejection of violence through forgiveness.

He still doesn’t think Israel has any business defending itself, and still thinks that Jews repel people when they “hold on to historic grievances” about genocide. (I wonder if he realizes that there are Muslims who still hold the loss of Spain against the West?) But this is a small improvement, I suppose. Still, one wonders how much it says about someone that they would commit a view such as the first one published to public view.

UPDATE: Gandhi’s apology has elicited some interesting responses (if you really want to go dumpster-diving, you can find comments to the original piece here):

“So, another honest and forthright commentator is forced to consume feces because he’s offended the Chosen People, who’ve created and finagled the US into financing and defending an apartheid state. Someday the real Americans will wake up and extricate these alien parasites from our midst.”

“The poor guy just got a taste of what happens when someone mentions a peep about the brutal actions of the Israeli military. Thanks jews [sic] for proving the point of his original article so well.”

“Arun Gandhi has apologized, even though he had every right to speak his mind. I think you jews [sic] now need to apologize to him for all the unfair mean things you said to him. Are you people never satisfied?”

“People have raised points indicating the hatred of Jews goes back to Roman times and maybe even beyond. Perhaps then it is time to step back and ask oneself – why do they hate us so much?”

“So we must censure anything that the Jews might not like? Recall this came form [sic] the post [sic] trying to talk all day every day about Jews and get them to watch some Jewish propoganda [sic] on PBS (saw it last night, it was sheer propoganda) [sic].”

“You don’t need to apologize, Mr. Gandhi. I, too, used to feel sorry for Jews watching those never ending WWII and Holocaust movies. But what Israel has been doing in Palestine with the tacit support of MOST of Jews is more or less the same (Nazi tactics). ADL and other Jewish organizations are here in this country not to help America, but to defend Israel against any legitimate criticism. As far as I am concerned, supporters of Israeli policies are the war criminals as most of the Israelis themselves.”

This ain’t Stormfront, folks, or even My Left Wing. It’s the Washington Post.