I've stayed out of the argument over whether Sarah Palin's use of the term 'blood libel' was justified with respect to the accusations against her and other conservatives of being the cause of the mass murder and attempted assassination in Tucson last Saturday. It's not directly an Israel-related topic.
But I think that Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has got it right in Friday's Wall Street Journal (Hat Tip: Memeorandum) and that Sarah Palin was entitled to use the term.
Despite the strong association of the term with collective Jewish guilt and concomitant slaughter, Sarah Palin has every right to use it. The expression may be used whenever an amorphous mass is collectively accused of being murderers or accessories to murder.
The abominable element of the blood libel is not that it was used to accuse Jews, but that it was used to accuse innocent Jews—their innocence, rather than their Jewishness, being the operative point. Had the Jews been guilty of any of these heinous acts, the charge would not have been a libel.
Jews did not kill Jesus. As the Roman historian Tacitus makes clear, he was murdered by Pontius Pilate, whose reign of terror in ancient Judea was so excessive, even by Roman standards, that (according to the Roman-Jewish chronicler Josephus) Rome recalled him in the year 36 due to his sadistic practices. King Herod Agrippa I, writing to the Emperor Caligula, noted Pilate's "acts of violence, plunderings . . . and continual murder of persons untried and uncondemned, and his never-ending, endless, and unbelievable cruelties, gratuitous and most grievous inhumanity."
Murder is humanity's most severe sin, and it is trivialized when an innocent party is accused of the crime—especially when that party is a collective too numerous to be defended individually. If Jews have learned anything in their long history, it is that a false indictment of murder against any group threatens every group. As Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his Letter from Birmingham Jail, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Indeed, the belief that the concept of blood libel applies only to Jews is itself a form of reverse discrimination that should be dismissed.
Judaism rejects the idea of collective responsibility for murder, as the Hebrew Bible condemns accusations of collective guilt against Jew and non-Jew alike. "The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him" (Ezekiel 18).
How unfortunate that some have chosen to compound a national tragedy by politicizing the murder of six innocent lives and the attempted assassination of a congresswoman.
We Jews don't have a monopoly on being smeared with blood libels. But many of us can empathize with what Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives have gone through this past week.
Martin Peretz publishes Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-Az) description of her Jewish roots.
My grandfather, Akiba Hornstein, was the son of a Lithuanian rabbi. My grandfather changed his name to Giff Giffords for reasons of anti-Semitism and moved to Southern Arizona from New York more than a half century ago.
In the 1940s, he founded my family’s tire and automotive business, El Campo Tire, which grew into a successful and thriving business for 50 years, which I ran for several years before serving in the Arizona Legislature.
Growing up, my family’s Jewish roots and tradition played an important role in shaping my values. The women in my family served as strong role models for me as a girl. In my family, if you want to get something done, you take it to the women relatives! Like my grandmother, I am a lifetime member of Hadassah and now a member of Congregation Chaverim.
When I served in the State Senate in Arizona, I had the opportunity to visit Jerusalem. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I had the opportunity to meet with the then-mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert, and I got to see firsthand the sacrifices that Israelis make in the name of security because of the dangerous state of affairs there.
I will always be a strong supporter of Israel. As the only functioning democracy in the Middle East, Israel is a vital strategic ally of the United States. I believe the United States must do everything possible to secure Israel’s long-term security and achieve a lasting peace in the region. The failure of the current administration to continue the peace process has been a loss to America and Israel. That is why we need a new direction in Washington.
Peace between Israel and her neighbors can only be achieved by direct talks between the parties. Until the Palestinian leadership and other hostile regimes are willing to accept Israel’s right to exist, it will be impossible to achieve peace. I believe that the United States can help by providing a mediator who can be trusted by both sides, like former President Bill Clinton. It’s an approach that worked in achieving a peaceful settlement to the violence in Northern Ireland. People in the Middle East need to know that the U.S. is serious about the peace process.
We cannot forget our past. I have worked to protect the rights of Holocaust survivors in our state. In 2002, I sponsored legislation that was signed into law by Governor Jane Hull, and unanimously approved by the Senate, to allow victims of the Holocaust, or their heirs, to collect insurance claims (HB 2541). It re-opened the statute of limitations for these claims. My opponent, Randy Graf, was one of only 13 legislators to oppose this bill.
As a woman and as a Jew, I will always work to insure that the United States stands with Israel to jointly ensure our mutual safety, security, and prosperity.
In other words, like many Americans of that generation, her grandfather abandoned his Judaism (I know people here named Hornstein who may well be relatives). A pity. And unsurprisingly, her father married a non-Jewish woman as a result.
By the way, it seems that God willing, she will recover.
Homeland Security walking back Jewish claim on Giffords
You will recall that I posted yesterday that the attempt on Representative Gabrielle Giffords' life was because she is Jewish. That post was based on a memo from the Department of Homeland Security that was posted by Fox News' Greta van Sustern on her blog. Now, the Department of Homeland Security is walking back that memo.
Fox News's report yesterday initially claimed that a DHS memo had outlined the possible connection, and defined American Renaissance as a "pro-white racist organization" that Jared Loughner "mentioned in some of his internet postings." Fox later walked back the report a bit, sourcing the claim to "a law enforcement memo based on information provided by DHS."
The Fox report caused a splash, with some news orgs reporting that anonymous officials had confirmed such possible ties. Some conservatives railed at DHS for supposedly trying to tie the shooter to the right for political reasons, and others disputed the suggestion that this displayed the shooter's ideological leanings.
But DHS has not officially provided any such information to any law enforcement officials, the DHS official says.
"We have not established any such possible link," the official says.
The official cautions it's conceivable that a law enforcement official got unofficial info from a DHS official somewhere along the lines of what Fox reported. But he emphasizes that DHS has not even concluded in any official way that even the possibility of such ties exists. The official adds that it wouldn't be DHS's place to reach any such conclusion in the first place, since the FBI is leading the investigation.
Spokespeople for Fox didn't immediately return an email for comment. For now, however, it looks like this could further complicate efforts to pin down the shooter's beliefs.
Let's go to the videotape.
Yes, that was Gilda Radner as Roseann Rosannadanna.
If the shooting in Tucson on Saturday of 20 people, including Ms. Giffords, shook the entire nation, it hit this city’s Jewish community especially hard, most of all those who belonged to Ms. Gifford’s small reform temple , hidden among tall cactuses on a quiet suburban street.
Ms. Giffords was the first Jewish congresswoman from Arizona, a point of pride for many at Congregation Chaverim
She did not attend services every week, and she only rediscovered her Jewish faith about a decade ago. But she is described as a dedicated member of the temple whose work and compassion embodied the best of Jewish practice.
“My Jewish heritage has really instilled in me the importance of education and caring for the community,” she said in a 2006 interview with The Jewish News of Greater Phoenix. “I consider myself Jewish without any equivocation.”
She called a 2001 visit to Israel a turning point in her life that sparked a fresh interest in Judaism. Her faith never became a major issue in her political campaigns, which, most recently, focused more on her opposition of Arizona’s hard-line immigration law and her support of President Obama’s health care overhaul.
She strongly backed Israel, writing in 2006 that “the United States must do everything possible to secure Israel’s long-term security.”
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Az) wasn't shot because she was pro or anti-immigration. She wasn't shot because she voted against Nancy Pelosi for Speaker of the House. She wasn't shot because Sarah Palin targeted her seat in last fall's elections. And she wasn't shot because she voted for Obamacare. Gabrielle Giffords was shot because of a much more baseless hatred. Gabrielle Giffords was shot because she is a Jew.
This is an internal memo obtained by Fox News put out by DHS compiling facts known so far about the case - new - shooter's mother worked for Pima board of supervisers and the suspected anti-Semitic motivation of the shooter.
MEMO: "The investigation has been taken over by the FBI, and is being run through the Tucson Command Post. Here's what can be confirmed at this time (1800 hrs)... * Gabrielle Giffords Is in ICU.* Federal judge John Roll is deceased. He did rule on a 32 million dollar civil rights lawsuit in February, 2010. That ruling brought death threats to Roll and his family, and for a time he was given a protection detail.* 6 deaths attributed to the shooting. 19 total people hit by gunfire.* suspect’s mother works for the Pima County Board of Supervisors* the suspect has multiple arrests ... But no criminal record? Intervention by someone?* no direct connection - but strong suspicion is being directed at AmRen / American Renaissance. Suspect is possibly linked to this group. (through videos posted on his myspace and YouTube account.). The group’s ideology is anti government, anti immigration, anti ZOG (Zionist Occupational Government), anti Semitic. Gabrielle Gifford is the first Jewish female elected to such a high position in the US government. She was also opposite this group’s ideology when it came to immigration debate.* DHS have a list of names and dates of birth of all victims.* the ACTIC is still playing a major role in the investigation... Computer forensics is cleaning up the surveillance videos, and images from around the scene, and involved in the investigation - working together, was MCSO, DPS, Phoenix PD, ICE, and of course the FBI. It did just come in from the command post, that the federal judge was Not originally scheduled to attend the meeting, according to wife. She stated that he received a phone call about an hour before and was invited to attend. Wrong place - wrong time. For the planning side, there are impromptu memorials popping up all over the state, but the largest one is downtown phoenix, at the capital."
Somehow, I feel even worse about this than I felt last night. And yes, I know that people have posted comments questioning whether she is Jewish according to strict Jewish law, but that's not the point. The anti-Semites don't know the difference. Giffords declared openly that she is Jewish. That declaration may yet cost her life.
I'm sure that those of you who are currently online have already heard about the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-Az) in Tucson about an hour and a half ago.
Although Giffords is the first Jew to be elected to Congress from Arizona, as far as we are currently aware, her positions on Israel had nothing to do with this.
I write instead to caution that I have seen a lot of tweets on Twitter that claim that all assassinations are political and that therefore seek to blame Giffords' political opponents regarding [pick your issue] for the attempt on her life. Not necessarily. There are enough violent maniacs out there who don't need any excuse to attempt to murder someone, especially someone who is comparatively well-known.
My prayers go out for Ms. Giffords' speedy and complete recovery among all ill Jewish people.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
I've stayed out of the argument over whether Sarah Palin's use of the term 'blood libel' was justified with respect to the accusations against her and other conservatives of being the cause of the mass murder and attempted assassination in Tucson last Saturday. It's not directly an Israel-related topic.
