Before he died, Ed Koch had this inscribed on his tombstone:
"My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish"Click to enlarge:
(Daniel Pearl, 2002, just before he was beheaded by a Muslim terrorist)
Just a week ago, at the Huffington Post, while discussing the inscription, Koch wrote:
On January 21, the New York Times, the newspaper of record, recalled the killing of Daniel Pearl... The Times reported, "More than a dozen of the militants [why not call them Islamist terrorists?] involved in his murder remain at large, a testament to the lack of will by Pakistani authorities to prosecute the cases, according to a report released Thursday."Yeah! As Koch said, why not call them Islamist terrorists?
Well, if you got to the Times, you can read the sentence Koch quoted in its entirety:
Nine years after the American reporter Daniel Pearl was captured and killed by operatives of Al Qaeda in Pakistan, more than a dozen of the militants involved in his murder remain at large, a testament to the lack of will by Pakistani authorities to prosecute the cases, according to a report released Thursday.Oh -- so the Times didn't call the militants "Islamist terrorists" because it had already identified them as members of Al Qaeda. Not good enough, apparently, for Ed Koch.
The next sentence in the Times story begins, "Some of the 14 men who are known to have played a role in the death of Mr. Pearl, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, committed other terrorist acts in Pakistan...." And Pearl is said to have been kidnapped "as he was pursuing a story about Islamic extremism." Still, apparently, not good enough for Koch.
Koch really should have spent his final years as a right-wing pundit.
(Tombstone link via Memeorandum.)
11 comments:
Yeah, at the end, he was a lot different than when he was a Congressman.
Or, even in early part of his tenure as Mayor.
But, remember, a lot, if not most, of the Neocons, were self-described Liberals, and Jewish, who found their way to the Dark Side of The Force.
I find that headstone sadder than irritating. I think sinking into a history of grief, rage, and dispossession that is, at this point, millenia old is no way to go out of this life.
Also, thinking about it a bit more, I think that its important to remember how very embattled Jewish identity was for that generation--people had to either reject it (and plenty did, preferring to pass out of it) or embrace it and when they embraced it there were just a few models available. That "My father...my mother...I" seems like a cri de coeur from a guy who as a closeted gay man chose one form of Jewishness while hiding from the world an equally important part of his life.
Yeah. He's dead now. Can we officially out him, finally? Most of the city, assumes he was gay, including many of his biggest fans.
But, but, but - BESS MYERSON!!!
Kinda like Bloomberg with...
Oh, never mind, who the feck cares?
I'd describe it as pathetic, really.
lets be clear Jew is neither a race nor a nationality, but a religion a dogmatic culture, the same as Muslim.
In and of it's self it has no real meaning.
it's a bit like describing both my mother and father as Christians.
Dad was an Catholic of sorts.
Mom is a now a fundie(7day Adventist.)
Neither denomination recognised the other ar valid. in fact her lot accuse the Catholics as trying to control all churches through the ecumenical congress. Where have we head that brand of manipulated fear/paranoia before? Yep you're correct it is standard operating procedure for the conservative mind set … people who want to feel important they have a divine inspired vision of the absolute truth(sic) . They want to circle the wagons of like minded and EXCLUDE those who aren't ...look at the Brethren and Scientology. Oh yes the hard core Republicans/Tea Bagers (truth in convenient disposable packages) .
The israeli's ( a national identity isn't uniformly ) devoutly Jewish they run the gambit. There are even 'secular” (sic?) Jews. Nor are they all like Licud and their rabid (apartheid inclined) bed fellows.
Likewise calling one bunch of Terrorists/ butchers, Muslim/ Islamic terrorists gives them what they want confirmation of their cause. Which by the way, is as far from the very much larger majority of Mainstream Muslims, as Koresh (Waco) was from mainstream Christians. Keep in mind the Oklahoma Bomber was nominally a Christian but was influenced by the white supremacy movement and Koresh.
Al Qaeda is a convenient brand in that it conjures up fear in the minds of the west. In truth the original Al Qaeda was tolerated under sufferance by the Taliban. In truth Al Qaeda are the equivalent to Koresh's motley lot. Brainwashed ignorant and emotionally vulnerable Muslims. But lets be clear a firearm or bomb doesn't need to be intelligent it is never the less dangerous.
My point is Terms like Jew, Muslim, and Al Qaeda are in and of themselves overly simplistic generalised created prejudice laden. This is a convenient way for the Wealthy (our de facto puppet masters) to duck having to explain their actions by invoking some of the strongest emotions ...Fear, patriotism (belonging) , importance etc.
But but but Ex, they're The Chosen People.
Reality: the vast majority of Jewry today are not descended of the biblical Hebrew but rather of Khazars, Russian Mongols who not necessarily converted but assumed the mantle of "Jew" in the sixth century Gregorian. Look it up, it makes for some interesting reading. Notably the tomes published by Israelii academics.
No fear...
TB
Sarcasm TB....naughty naughty you'll be labeled anti Semetic!
I didn't know about the C6th conversion but it makes sense.
Curse you now I've got more books to read :-(
my bedside table tas already been reinforced twice because of the reading list.
It does tend to prove my point about it being religious based culture rather than a race or Nationality.
I must admit I have a distaste for eclusitivity and yes exceptualism.
Personal note: I have a family that includes a technocrat, a union employee, An environmental engineer/ part time security guard who knows he right on everything , an council environmentalist, a Greenie who works for a coal mine, an ex Afghanistan vet who wants to go back into the forces because he doesn't like the lack of structure in civvy street ,A jewish hippy, a fundie (7 day), an aging nun, a gentle hearted consumer, and me . You can imagine some of the conversations at family get togethers ....
fuck is wrong with you people
spitting on a dead guy
spitting on his tombstone
lack of class doesn't even cover it
I'm jewish, and i understnad what he said, and if you antisemitic creeps don't like it, well, go screw yourselves
Sticks and stones make break my bones... glancing briefly at my handy-dandy pocket Mirriam & Webster dictionary I find semite: all peoples of Middle Eastern descent including Arab, Phoenician and Hebrew. On that you're probably right. If the bible, koran and torah are of any value at all it is as documentation of one group of people's - the semites - refusal to get along with each other and I am indeed agaist that, "anti" that.
All the moreso when their adolescent squabbles ore whose imaginary dog has the bigger dick threatens the survival of my grandchildren.
Specifically, from my desktop Merriam & Webster:
Main Entry: Sem·ite
Pronunciation: 'se-"mIt, esp British 'sE-"mIt
Function: noun
Etymology: French sémite, from Semitic Shem, from Late Latin, from Greek SEm, from Hebrew ShEm
Date: 1848
1 a : a member of any of a number of peoples of ancient southwestern Asia, including the Akkadians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs
b : a descendant of these peoples
Don't call me names, daughter-fucker.
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