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March 10, 2007
John Derbyshire and Dangerous Women
After being AWOL yesterday, Daphne Merkin re-emerges for the last round of the Jewcy snipefest, pissed off at John Derbyshire's stiff upper British lip. First she rubs his face in some bluesy singer-songwriters (including one of my faves Lucinda Williams):
They're always caterwauling about the man that got away, the desolation of the passing scenery, the difficulty of telling the emotional truth in a strait-jacketed world: that kind of essentially adolescent angst, which I imagine leaves you unmoved. I envision you listening to Schubert or someone equally upstanding.
(Speaking of which, Daphne and John may think we are all about Torah and Zionism and Washington scuttlebutt, but according to SiteMeter this has consistently been the most popular post at this blog. Hubba hubba.)
Then - emboldened by Benjamin's latest rumination on Zionism and its discontents - Daphne declares "I am feeling particularly Jabotinskyesque tonight," and tackles John's veddy British discomfort with, um, those of the Hebraic persuasion, delivering a classy smackdown which manages to mention in passing Leftist anti-Israel Jews, WASPy "I have Jewish heritage" Jews, and Christopher Hitchens' genuine and charming politesse while refusing to grant Israel the same re-evaluation he has accorded his other previous beliefs:
I don't think there is a thinking Jewish person—other than those who are compulsive denigrators of their own tribe or who have moved to Greenwich and have managed to pass themselves off as faintly Hebraic of origin a long, long time ago— who doesn't feel the threat of anti-Semitism as something very much alive. And, finally, at least on this subject, I'm glad you consider yourself a philosemite and that you have a trail, both paper and pixel to prove it, but I often get the feeling that non-Jews declare themselves philosemites the better to mutter darkly about Jews without feeling guilty, as though the whole bunch of us were nothing more than troublesome and somewhat gauche relatives.I am referring to your defense of Britain's atmosphere of "mild and genteel anti-Semitism" but essentially accommodating attitude toward their own Jews. What's so great about that? And why are Jews always supposed to be happy with crumbs? All in our insane wish to appease the feeling of envy we arouse in others, which you vaguely admit to suffering from yourself. . . . Since when has appeasement ever worked?
You go, girl.
Some of our readers might think that a densely intellectual post about Zionist arcana would have no effect on the real world, but they would be wrong.
Judith | 03/10/07 at 07:58 PM | Categories: - Around the blogosphere
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Comments
"...that kind of essentially adolescent angst, which I imagine leaves you unmoved. I envision you listening to Schubert or someone equally upstanding."
Leaves me unmoved too.
I also listen to Schubert (I assume that Schubert is a metonym for classical music).
I am also pro-Zionist and see no connection between women's musical complaints and zionism.
shriber | March 11, 2007 08:24 AM
