The season of Hanukkah which is now drawing to a close is occasion for Jews to reflect on our place in the world. As Jews we ask ourselves many soul-searching questions: What kind of people do we wish to be? What kind of people will the world allow us to be? And not least important, Will the world allow us to exist at all?
We are not the masters of fate, but we are the masters of our own actions. Every important decision, every major choice in life is a calculated risk - a gamble. Every decision worth making is made because of some things, and in spite of other things. And so it is that, however much we would like to live saintly lives of tolerance and peace, we are compelled to respond to a world that sometimes offers us violence and coercion.
Judith at Kesher Talk has seen the Steven Spielberg film "Munich" and is your first stop for all information about the film, critical reaction to it, and the actual, historical event it claims to portray - the massacre of the Israeli olympic team by Palestinian terrorists in the 1972 Munich olympics. Judith's latest entry on the topic is here.
I haven't seen "Munich" so I won't comment directly on the film, but I do think it's important to discuss the issues raised here. We have to examine the confluence of Jewish identity with liberalism/leftism - each of which is replete with its own set of paradoxes - to understand the attitudes of liberals, Jews, and Jewish anti-Semites.
There's a lot to say about this, but for now I'll just point you to Judith's page, and also direct your attention to LaShawn Barber's post in which LaShawn was kind enough to quote my e-mail on Jews and liberals. Also, via Judith, this post from anti-Chomskyite deconstructs a certain well-known Jewish anti-Semite.
I'll write more on this when I can.
