Judging Jewish Historical Claims
When I was taking Jewish studies courses at Harvard, a group of us undergraduates realized that there were four basic principles that we had to apply to evaluate the truth of Jewish historiography about Jewish communities.
1. Everything almost invariably takes place later than claimed. The best example is the collapse of second Temple Judaism into many separate currents. From these "Judaisms," Constantinian Christianity crystallizes first, then Islam, and the last is Medieval Judaism, which crystallizes in the tenth century CE and later develops into Modern Judaism. In other words modern Judaism is the younger sister of Christianity and Islam.
2. From the sixteenth century onward important historical events almost invariably take place first in Poland at least from the standpoint of Judaism but often in general.
1. Everything almost invariably takes place later than claimed. The best example is the collapse of second Temple Judaism into many separate currents. From these "Judaisms," Constantinian Christianity crystallizes first, then Islam, and the last is Medieval Judaism, which crystallizes in the tenth century CE and later develops into Modern Judaism. In other words modern Judaism is the younger sister of Christianity and Islam.
2. From the sixteenth century onward important historical events almost invariably take place first in Poland at least from the standpoint of Judaism but often in general.
For example, Commonwealth Poland started its evolution into the first modern failed state in the seventeenth century even if the consequences of the Chmielnicki Rebellion of 1648 did not become fully clear until the eighteenth century.
A more recent example is the Auschwitz convent controversy, which proved to be the model for all later attempts of the organized American Jewish community to control discourse about the Holocaust and genocide. The nasty effort of Holocaust bigots to prevent the construction of a convent at Auschwitz to memorialize martyred Poles resulted in a predictable immense increase in Judeophobic feeling among ethnic Poles as well as in the transformation of Radio Maria into an important Jew-hostile phenomenon of Polish Catholicism.
Needless to say, the organized Jewish community has tried to use the Polish reaction to American Jewish arrogance, bigotry and prejudice as proof that anti-Semitism is an integral component of Polish identity and the gentile psyche in general. Similar subsequent behavior of the organized American Jewish community throughout Europe and the USA has almost invariably led to an increase in hostility to Jews wherever the organized Jewish community has cracked the whip on non-Jewish communities.
3. "Many the lie that Jews live by." Now that we have more information from Eastern Europe and Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and we better understand the role of ethnic Ashkenazim in overthrowing Czarist Russia, consolidating the Soviet Union, Soviet ethnic cleansing, Soviet mass murder and Soviet genocide, Jewish powerlessness must be considered a myth in Central and Eastern Europe. In point of fact, greater education and more liquid assets made it possible for Eastern European ethnic Ashkenazim to do a lot of damage to many countries.
4. Jewish perception of the amount of historical Jewish suffering doubles roughly every century. Careful analysis of the data indicates that approximately 10,000 Jews died as collateral damage during the Chmielnicki rebellion. By the end of the seventeenth century, the number was 20,000. By the end of the eighteenth century, the number was 40,000. By the end of the nineteenth century the number was 80,000. And by the end of the twentieth century, the number was 160,000. Nowadays Poles and Ukrainians are often described as combining forces to attack Jews.
Generalizations like the above are always subject to criticism and need to be applied judiciously unlike the common practice ethnic Ashkenazi Americans to generalize shamelessly about goyim (non-Jews), about Germans, about Russians, about Poles, about Arabs, and about Muslims. At least, I generally try to consult primary Jewish and non-Jewish sources, and when I extrapolate from sociological and demographic studies, I try to apply sound mathematical and scientific principles.
So far my research indicates that ethnic Ashkenazi Americans are the major fabricators and purveyors of Islamophobic propaganda (cast in the mold of classic anti-Semitism). Jewish-owned major media corporations and Zionist facilitators in their employ are working hard to spread anti-Islamic incitement throughout the world.
I discuss aspects of this issue in my article "The significance of the AJC attack on 'progressive' Jews." This essay can be read at: http://eaazi.blogspot.com/2007/07/updating-ajc-attacks.html .
Generalizations like the above are always subject to criticism and need to be applied judiciously unlike the common practice ethnic Ashkenazi Americans to generalize shamelessly about goyim (non-Jews), about Germans, about Russians, about Poles, about Arabs, and about Muslims. At least, I generally try to consult primary Jewish and non-Jewish sources, and when I extrapolate from sociological and demographic studies, I try to apply sound mathematical and scientific principles.
So far my research indicates that ethnic Ashkenazi Americans are the major fabricators and purveyors of Islamophobic propaganda (cast in the mold of classic anti-Semitism). Jewish-owned major media corporations and Zionist facilitators in their employ are working hard to spread anti-Islamic incitement throughout the world.
I discuss aspects of this issue in my article "The significance of the AJC attack on 'progressive' Jews." This essay can be read at: http://eaazi.blogspot.com/2007/07/updat
8 comments:
Excellent piece especially in pointing out that what is largely allowing this to take place is the Zionist facilitators of the major media. Nothing in the media is so shameful as the extent that truth-telling is punished when it makes Zionists uncomfortable.
Must Jews Always See Themselves as Victims?
YEAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PLACE
250 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Carthage
415 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Alexandria
554 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Diocese of Clement (France)
561 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Diocese of Uzzes (France)
612 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Visigoth Spain
642 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Visigoth Empire
855 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Italy
876 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sens
1012 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mainz
1182 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - France
1182 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Germany
1276 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Upper Bavaria
1290 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - England
1306 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - France
1322 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - France (again)
1348 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Switzerland
1349 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hielbronn (Germany)
1349 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Saxony
1349 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hungary
1360 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hungary
1370 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Belgium
1380 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Slovakia
1388 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Strasbourg
1394 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Germany
1394 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - France
1420 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Lyons
1421 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Austria
1424 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Fribourg
1424 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Zurich
1424 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Cologne
1432 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Savoy
1438 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mainz
1439 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Augsburg
1442 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Netherlands
1444 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Netherlands
1446 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bavaria
1453 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - France
1453 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Breslau
1454 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Wurzburg
1462 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mainz
1483 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mainz
1484 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Warsaw
1485 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Vincenza (Italy)
1492 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Spain
1492 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Italy
1495 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Lithuania
1496 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Naples
1496 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Portugal
1498 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Nuremberg
1498 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Navarre
1510 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Brandenberg
1510 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Prussia
1514 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Strasbourg
1515 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Genoa
1519 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Regensburg
1533 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Naples
1541 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Naples
1542 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Prague & Bohemia
1550 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Genoa
1551 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bavaria
1555 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pesaro
1557 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Prague
1559 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Austria
1561 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Prague
1567 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Wurzburg
1569 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Papal States
1571 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Brandenburg
1582 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Netherlands
1582 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hungary
1593 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Brandenburg, Austria
1597 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Cremona, Pavia & Lodi
1614 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Frankfort
1615 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Worms
1619 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Kiev
1648 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ukraine
1648 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Poland
1649 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hamburg
1654 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Little Russia (Beylorus)
1656 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Lithuania
1669 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Oran (North Africa)
1669 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Vienna
1670 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Vienna
1712 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sandomir
1727 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Russia
1738 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Wurtemburg
1740 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Little Russia (Beylorus)
1744 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Prague, Bohemia
1744 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Slovakia
1744 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Livonia
1745 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Moravia
1753 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Kovad (Lithuania)
1761 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bordeaux
1772 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Deported to the Pale of Settlement (Poland/Russia)
1775 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Warsaw
1789 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Alsace
1804 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Villages in Russia
1808 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Villages & Countrysides (Russia)
1815 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Lbeck & Bremen
1815 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Franconia, Swabia & Bavaria
1820 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bremen
1843 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Russian Border Austria & Prussia
1862 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Areas in the U.S. under General Grant's Jurisdiction[1]
1866 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Galatz, Romania
1880s - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Russia
1891 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Moscow
1919 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bavaria (foreign born Jews)
1938-45 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Nazi Controlled Areas
1948 -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Arab Countries
--> Methinks you've wasted tens of thousands of dollars on your "Harvard education" of Jewish history. But now at least you think you know what you are talking about, so you have something to do with all your free time that you obviously have too much of - namely posting your nonsense online.
It hardly takes a Harvard education to recognize a specious argument.
A bunch of unfortunate incidents, whose context is absent and which are widely separated in time and space, is nothing but propaganda to distract from the crimes that racist Jewish Zionists are commiting right now
1. in Palestine in brutalizing the native population and
2. in undermining the political and economic system of the USA via corruption, conspiracy and manipulation.
In addition, if I am willing to ignore context as well as separation in space and time, I could come up with an even more impressive list of sufferings of Christians.
After studying Judaica for over 40 years, I can safely say that there simply is no unified phenomenon of anti-Semitism extending back in time for thousands of years.
Anyone peddling such intellectual snake-oil probably has a sinister agenda.
I am a little startled by this. Would I be correct in summarising your view as follows?
Jews have been subject to episodic attack and discrimination over an extended period, but not to a single coherent campaign of anti-Semitism.
Dear Miles Stuart, The literature on anti-Semitism is so incoherent that I could write a fairly large book criticizing the associated scholarship.
Peter Schäfer argues in Judeophobia, Attitudes toward the Jews in the Ancient World, that abstract concepts of anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism can be defined.
He finds abstract anti-Semitism in Alexandria in 38 CE and suggests that the roots may go back to a riot in Elephantine in 410 BCE. He also proposes that many Romans harbored a sort of abstract Judeophobia.
Yet does any of this analysis really have any application over the next two millenia?
Not only would both Harvard Professof Shaye Cohen and eminent Jewish studies scholar Jacob Neusner argue that Judaism and Jews in the modern sense did not exist in 38 CE or before, but it is hard to connect any of Schäfer's analysis
1. to the decision of the Spanish government to expel Jews and Muslims in the aftermath of the long and hard-fought Reconquista,
2. to the killing of exploitive Polish Magnates and Jewish economic agents during the Chmielnicki Rebellion or
3. to pogroms in Russia after decades of Jewish sabotage, radical violence, and targeted assassinations culminating in the murder of Czar Alexander II.
The situation becomes even murkier with the Crusades. We cannot even verify some Jewish accounts of Crusader atrocities against Jews, and it is always important to remember that Jewish communities survived the Crusaders while Christian schismatics like the Cathars did not.
One can certainly discuss a phenomenon of Christian intolerance that might express itself against Jews, Cathars, Muslims and dissenting Christians, but does this phenomenon connect to the riots in Alexandria?
The hypothsis of 2,000 to 2,500 years of anti-Semitism simply does not stand up to scrutiny.
Joachim, thanks for the discussion and your link above to the Independent article by Antony Lerman.
I agree with the thrust of your arguments. However …
It may be that Jewish history is being distorted to suit political needs of the moment. but historical distortion is far from a uniquely Jewish phenomenon.
Antony Lerman refers to a paper by Daniel Bar Tal and others 'Ethos of Conflict'. The paper "concentrates on the influence of the ethos of conflict on the Israeli Jewish society". It is enlightening but again the issues are not peculiar to Jews.
He also makes the point that there is much to be celebrated as well as lamented in Jewish history. (In fact there is a great deal to be admired and celebrated that I think is increasingly obscured by Israeli egregiousness. Judaism is more likely to be connected today with Ariel Sharon than Spinoza, Einstien or Freud.)
We are living in the 21st century. The standards of decency and respect for universal human rights we have, or should have, should not be predicated on the sins of or against Jews or anyone else in the past; although these norms are obviously informed by past failures. Even if we learnt tomorrow that the Holocaust and other pogroms had been complete fabrications it shouldn't change the importance we attach to those norms. Likewise, Israeli policy is not validated by past sins, real or imagined, committed against Jews. Support for the policies might be undermined by exposing historical distortion but such exposure would make no difference to the immorality of the policies.
I'm not trying to argue that we should accept historiographical sloppiness or mendacity and I welcome your rigour and vigour in countering it. I accept that the historical distortions you are attempting to correct are used for immoral political purposes. However, in my opinion, the immorality lies in the deeds so justified rather more than in the mendacity used to justify them. The dispossession and oppression of Palestinians is unconditionally immoral. Any historical argument put forward as a justification is spurious whether it is true or not. In a similar vein the reasonable expectation of Israelis' future personal security should not be predicated on past events, or for that matter on what I regard as an absurd justification that the land was "given by God". That justification, surely, is a recipe for conflict without end and is certainly not a precedent any rational person would want to establish. We are happy to dismiss similar religiously inspired claims to a Caliphate. The distinction between the two is purely subjective.
Having said the above, the reason I devote the energy I do to Palestine is because I am angry at having been deliberately deceived into supporting the dispossession and oppression of a completely innocent people. When I was at school there was an occasion on which the entire school was assembled to watch a film centred around life on a kibbutz. I now see it as sheer propaganda. That is the only occasion I can recall such an unusual assembly. In hindsight I think it was an outrageous abuse of the authority of the person responsible.
There is another important aspect to the mendacity.
There seems to be an ongoing effort to make sure that only Zionist memes survive in struggle between memes.
The Zionist international shyster lawyering has the goal of making Zionist ethnic cleansing and genocide irreversible under international law.
The shyster historiography seems to have the goal of controlling the baseline terminology and perspective on the conflict over Palestine.
Thus to overcome Zionism both the Zionist lawyering and the Zionist historiography must be defeated.
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