Anti-Semite Watch #2
When anti-Semitism strikes, the world usually reacts with disgust. There are cries of "in this day and age" and "that can't possibly happen in this day and age," and so on and so forth. And while I do take comfort in the collective disapproval of hatred, there is another far more disturbing reality to the way the world reacts: they forget. It seems for all the disgust and shock the world expresses when anti-Semitism strikes, it is constantly looked at as an isolated innocent, to be deplored, and then sadly, ignored. And this is truly disgusting, for if it were not for the short term memory of the world at large, perhaps we could wipe out this scourge once and for all.
And so, it is both disturbing and hurtful I must enter another post in this series. I long hoped Anti-Semite Watch would be another one of my many dropped series, such as Biggie Week and America Week which never lasted a full week. This series of posts I would only write when confronted with the ugliness head on, and I prayed the incident at the Comet Cafe would be the last time this sickness of the mind reared its ugly head around me. I was wrong. But again, I should have known. 2000 years of hatred does not stop after you rally the world over the wrongs of a comment in a coffee shop.
Date: Feb 20, 2010 4:55 AM
Location: Travis Kiewel's Apartment Greepoint, Brooklyn
Description:
After attending a surprise birthday party for an old friend, I went across town to meet up with some other friends at a different party. On the way in, I spotted a few friends leaving. I stopped them, and Travis told me they were headed to a bar and I should meet them after leaving the party. I thought nothing of one of the girls in his group. She was in a group of my friends, her morality was never called into question.
My girlfriend and I spent a short time at the party and then headed to the bar to meet our friends. As it was close to closing time and they wouldn't let us in, Travis suggested we all have a beer at his apartment before calling it a night. Again, not knowing of the horrendous incident that would shortly occur, I immediately agreed. Travis' apartment was only a few short blocks away, and we stopped at a bodega to buy a few beers. We all pitched in a few dollars, but as these things usually are, some people wind up throwing down a dollar or two more. It is the way it is. The girl whose name shall not be mentioned did not contribute any money, but did at one point, while I handed over a five, shoot me a look. I did not know this at the time, but the look contained a judgement, a judgementt of the Jew and his frugality. I find this unacceptable for someone to call me cheap for paying for something they are going to consume when they have not paid anything for it. Perhaps I was mistaken by this look, or perhaps the look was an anti-Semitic trick, a trick to get me mad and make me think she's mad at me for paying so little when she's not paying anything thus only bringing the Jew and his cheapness to the surface. I never said anti-Semites were not intelligent. They have tricked the public and they can trick the Jews.
After arriving at Travis' apartment, we all had a very good time. Friends talking with friends. We enjoyed camaraderie and had meaningful, heartfelt conversations with one another. The girl whose name will not be mentioned was from Germany, and told us stories of Berlin. I for one love Berlin, and listened intently. When she left, she asked where she could find a cab, and I said we should call her one so she would not have to wait outside, or walk alone, as a woman, in a so so area. Again, I showed nothing but kindness to this woman.
She called the cab, and when she left, she grabbed her bag, put on her coat, and walked to the door, only one more second and this would have never happened, but she turned around. I still was not expecting it. But the anti-Semite can not resist! They must always spew their evil poison.
"You know who you look like?"
"No, who?" And at this point, I, the fool, am still not expecting filth from her mouth!
"Like the Jew we have on tv in Germany. A Rabbi Shmuley."
"WHAT? I LOOK NOTHING LIKE HIM?"
"You know this man?"
"Yes I know this man."
And she was out the fucking door. For one, I don't look like Rabbi Shmuley. We both have beards and eyes, but the similarities end there.
And I find it hard to believe, any person hailing from Berlin, a city with the fastest growing Jewish population anywhere in Europe, would see me as the second Jew they've ever seen, after Rabbi Shmuley.
Some interesting facts:
1. There was a laptop computer on the premise that was in use. While others were talking, Jeff and I showed each other both new Internet clips new rap songs, cause that's what we do. We are dorks for sure, and let a person make fun of us for that, for who we are, not what we are. But the point being, with a computer, Rabbi Shmuley's likeness can be looked up immediately, yet she choose to make this comment on the way out the door! If I were to tell someone they looked like someone questionable, and there was a computer on premise, I would point out the ease of looking up the person's face to see for yourself.
2. I mentioned I liked Berlin. Perhaps this was a motivating factor. In Berlin, many residents are concerned with the influx of Turkish immigrants, but their hostilities have also been focused on recent Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. In fact, one could argue, their new found, xenophobic hatred of the Jews SHOWS A VERY SHORT TERM MEMORY ON THEIR PART. Hearing my love for Berlin, she decided to let me know I was not welcome there.
I have other theories on what inspired this terrible outburst, perhaps she was upset my girlfriend is not Jewish and feared race mixing on our part, or perhaps she had read so much Nazi propaganda on the sexual deviance of the Jewish male and on seeing I had a girlfriend, especially one far more beautiful than her, realized she would only read about these things.
The theories are countless but of course, none of them justify the action. There are many reasons why people do unreasonable things, but there are no excuses.
And so, it is both disturbing and hurtful I must enter another post in this series. I long hoped Anti-Semite Watch would be another one of my many dropped series, such as Biggie Week and America Week which never lasted a full week. This series of posts I would only write when confronted with the ugliness head on, and I prayed the incident at the Comet Cafe would be the last time this sickness of the mind reared its ugly head around me. I was wrong. But again, I should have known. 2000 years of hatred does not stop after you rally the world over the wrongs of a comment in a coffee shop.
Date: Feb 20, 2010 4:55 AM
Location: Travis Kiewel's Apartment Greepoint, Brooklyn
Description:
After attending a surprise birthday party for an old friend, I went across town to meet up with some other friends at a different party. On the way in, I spotted a few friends leaving. I stopped them, and Travis told me they were headed to a bar and I should meet them after leaving the party. I thought nothing of one of the girls in his group. She was in a group of my friends, her morality was never called into question.
My girlfriend and I spent a short time at the party and then headed to the bar to meet our friends. As it was close to closing time and they wouldn't let us in, Travis suggested we all have a beer at his apartment before calling it a night. Again, not knowing of the horrendous incident that would shortly occur, I immediately agreed. Travis' apartment was only a few short blocks away, and we stopped at a bodega to buy a few beers. We all pitched in a few dollars, but as these things usually are, some people wind up throwing down a dollar or two more. It is the way it is. The girl whose name shall not be mentioned did not contribute any money, but did at one point, while I handed over a five, shoot me a look. I did not know this at the time, but the look contained a judgement, a judgementt of the Jew and his frugality. I find this unacceptable for someone to call me cheap for paying for something they are going to consume when they have not paid anything for it. Perhaps I was mistaken by this look, or perhaps the look was an anti-Semitic trick, a trick to get me mad and make me think she's mad at me for paying so little when she's not paying anything thus only bringing the Jew and his cheapness to the surface. I never said anti-Semites were not intelligent. They have tricked the public and they can trick the Jews.
After arriving at Travis' apartment, we all had a very good time. Friends talking with friends. We enjoyed camaraderie and had meaningful, heartfelt conversations with one another. The girl whose name will not be mentioned was from Germany, and told us stories of Berlin. I for one love Berlin, and listened intently. When she left, she asked where she could find a cab, and I said we should call her one so she would not have to wait outside, or walk alone, as a woman, in a so so area. Again, I showed nothing but kindness to this woman.
She called the cab, and when she left, she grabbed her bag, put on her coat, and walked to the door, only one more second and this would have never happened, but she turned around. I still was not expecting it. But the anti-Semite can not resist! They must always spew their evil poison.
"You know who you look like?"
"No, who?" And at this point, I, the fool, am still not expecting filth from her mouth!
"Like the Jew we have on tv in Germany. A Rabbi Shmuley."
"WHAT? I LOOK NOTHING LIKE HIM?"
"You know this man?"
"Yes I know this man."
And she was out the fucking door. For one, I don't look like Rabbi Shmuley. We both have beards and eyes, but the similarities end there.
And I find it hard to believe, any person hailing from Berlin, a city with the fastest growing Jewish population anywhere in Europe, would see me as the second Jew they've ever seen, after Rabbi Shmuley.
Some interesting facts:
1. There was a laptop computer on the premise that was in use. While others were talking, Jeff and I showed each other both new Internet clips new rap songs, cause that's what we do. We are dorks for sure, and let a person make fun of us for that, for who we are, not what we are. But the point being, with a computer, Rabbi Shmuley's likeness can be looked up immediately, yet she choose to make this comment on the way out the door! If I were to tell someone they looked like someone questionable, and there was a computer on premise, I would point out the ease of looking up the person's face to see for yourself.
2. I mentioned I liked Berlin. Perhaps this was a motivating factor. In Berlin, many residents are concerned with the influx of Turkish immigrants, but their hostilities have also been focused on recent Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. In fact, one could argue, their new found, xenophobic hatred of the Jews SHOWS A VERY SHORT TERM MEMORY ON THEIR PART. Hearing my love for Berlin, she decided to let me know I was not welcome there.
I have other theories on what inspired this terrible outburst, perhaps she was upset my girlfriend is not Jewish and feared race mixing on our part, or perhaps she had read so much Nazi propaganda on the sexual deviance of the Jewish male and on seeing I had a girlfriend, especially one far more beautiful than her, realized she would only read about these things.
The theories are countless but of course, none of them justify the action. There are many reasons why people do unreasonable things, but there are no excuses.
posted by mayor at
9:19 AM
1 Comments
