Smoking Socks Award

The Smoking Socks award is awarded to a letter writer in a South African paper whose funky smelling socks have induced him/her into a bout of prejudiced stupidity.

The smoking socks award goes to a writer from Newlands for his letter in this week’s Mail and Guardian in support of the horrendous McGreal article on the parallels between Israel and Apartheid South Africa.

The writer once again uses the conflict in the Middle East as a stick to beat South African Jews. He calls on South African Jews to recognise that ‘Palestinians are indeed the victims of the victims.’ (A phrase he borrowed from the much discredited professor Edward Said). Most South African Jews, he claims, have never met a Palestinian and thus advises them to see Paradise Now which brings home how ‘the daily humiliation of Palestinians under occupation reproduce the cycle of violence.’

Chris McGreal’s comparison of Israel and apartheid South Africa (March 3) raised numerous issues for South African and Israeli Jews, including the role of histories of victimhood in reproducing repressive political ideologies. Israel and apartheid South Africa share histories of victimhood and collective suffering that resulted in the former victims establishing repressive political regimes. Both the Holocaust and the British concentration camps contributed towards exclusivist ethno-nationalism, which made Palestinians and black South Africans become “victims of the victims”, to borrow from the late Edward Said. The challenge McGreal’s article presents for South African Jews is to see that Palestinians are indeed the “victims of the victims”. Since most South African Jews have never met a Palestinian, I advise them to see Paradise Now, which brings home how the daily humiliations of Palestinians under occupation reproduce the cycle of violence.

Why is it that only South African Jews are forced to condemn the activities of their co-religionists? Why are Muslim South African’s not forced to condemn Palestinian suicide bombings or members of the Russian orthodox church in South Africa not called on to denounce the actions of the Russian army in Chechnya? This hypocrisy is infuriating.

Furthermore his monolithic view of South African Jews and (Palestinians for that matter) is extremely naïve. South African Jews hold diverse opinions on all issues including Israel. Many Jews even bad Zionist ones like myself chose to see Paradise Now long before the writer's letter. The letter writer will perhaps also be shocked to know that I have met numerous Palestinians as well. I wonder how many Palestinians the letter writer has in fact met? I would not be surprised if Edward Said’s book is his only source for information on the conflict. And he was not even Palestinian.

My discussions with them and my viewing of the film have led me to believe that yes Palestinians are victims. But not of Israel and Jews but of their own leaders. Palestinian rejectionism is the cause of their plight. 1947 … 1967… 2000 how many times could they have had an independent state. Add to that the treatment of Palestinian refugees in Arab states. But what would the letter writer know of that.

The letter writer would perhaps also be shocked to learn that during the years of direct Israeli military administration of the territories (what he calls the ‘occupation’), the standard of living of ordinary Palestinians was far better than under Ottoman, British, Jordan, Egyptian and even Palestinian rule. More schools, hospitals and university for Palestinians were built during 1967 to 1993 (Israeli) than any other time in history.

To the letter writer: your prejudice, ignorance and socks make for a horrible cocktail of Middle East commentary. Congratulations on our award. It's quite a feat considering the hostility of the South African media.

View previous Smoking Socks Award winners here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. 

Comments

[so sad]

another loony letter. so patronising.

[Susy]

One gets so weary of the same platitudes being trotted out regularly by the same boring ignorant venomous despicable anti-Israel pundits.

Do they know that Israel, as the only true democracy in the Middle East, is also the country in the Middle East that PRACTISES human rights? Do they know that women in Israel are given equal rights with men, while in the neighbouring Arab states women are chattels and slaves and abused and downtrodden?
This rubbish that they spout is so boring - don't they know that??

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