I like Blumenthal’s book already because he dedicates the very first chapters to the Russian-speaking post-Soviet immigrants to Israel. He even demonstrates a pretty good understanding of this group, which is extremely rare for Americans writing about Israel. See the following, for instance:
As the home of the world’s largest population of racist skinheads, Russia exported its neo-Nazi plague to the Jewish state. Starting in 2007, mobs of Russian teens who received automatic citizenship under Israel’s Law of Return began spray-painting swastikas on synagogue walls and attacking Holocaust survivors, reportedly screaming, “Heil Hitler!” during several attacks.
Crowds upon crowds of people with no Jewish origins whatsoever bought fake paperwork in the FSU countries to gain Israeli citizenship. Obviously, nothing prevented them from bringing their anti-Semitism with them, and being surrounded by huge numbers of Jews exacerbated these feelings of hatred.
I also like it that Blumenthal keeps referring to the population of Israel as “deeply traumatized people.” Every analysis of Israel needs to begin and end with this because otherwise you are not saying anything meaningful about the country.
Clarissa's Blog 
Traumatized by what?
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I really need to tell you what traumatized Jews?
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Without a Jewish nation state, which some people here see as completely unnecessary, all other nation states had other priorities than, let’s say, bombing Auschwitz.
Btw, Clarissa, I still can’t understand why you see a nation state as bad in the world we live in, not in fantasy. Should Ukrainians join Russia again? Hasn’t Europe numerous examples of peoples demanding independence and century old bloody conflicts? I am sure you have more knowledge, but f.e. Czechoslovakia had “its peaceful dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 1 January 1993” [wiki]. I see what happens in Syria near us, when several national groups began fighting for control.
Has Messiah / Christ / whoever come and we are in the Golden Age of no future wars or persecutions? Even now in USA, if you aren’t a “right” kind of Christian, you will never rise higher than a certain level. F.e., never be a president. I understand that most people don’t have so high ambitions, but I am sure most feel better living in a country, in which they know that their nationality wouldn’t be the thing to prevent them from anything.
Knowing they aren’t the “first sort” has influenced my relatives and numerous other Jews. When you are a minority, you pay a certain price, which differs from place & time to another, but always exists, imo.
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“Btw, Clarissa, I still can’t understand why you see a nation state as bad in the world we live in, not in fantasy. Should Ukrainians join Russia again? Hasn’t Europe numerous examples of peoples demanding independence and century old bloody conflicts? ”
– Yes, a nation-state is inescapable at this moment. It is here to stay for the foreseeable future. It’s the ethnic state that I will never be able to accept for obvious reasons, let alone a religious nation state. If Ukraine tried to limit the Russian population or tried to segregate it in certain areas / schools, etc., I would say, to hell with that Ukraine. Again, I don’t think I need to explain the reasons why I personally find this unacceptable.
“Even now in USA, if you aren’t a “right” kind of Christian, you will never rise higher than a certain level. F.e., never be a president. ”
– Obama is an agnostic. Yes, there has been one fundamentalist Christian (Bush) but one person doesn’t make a trend. Kennedy, a hugely beloved president, was a Catholic, I believe.
“I understand that most people don’t have so high ambitions, but I am sure most feel better living in a country, in which they know that their nationality wouldn’t be the thing to prevent them from anything.”
– Which is precisely what is so problematic with ethnic / religious states.
“Knowing they aren’t the “first sort” has influenced my relatives and numerous other Jews. When you are a minority, you pay a certain price, which differs from place & time to another, but always exists, imo.”
– I believe that the way to fight against that is not to create a separate country for each ethnic group, though. This would be an impossible goal because where do I go, with my multi-ethnic identity? Where does my niece Klubnikis go, with her Peruvian, Ukrainian, and Jewish ethnicity? And there are people with even more complex ethnic mixes.
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Okay, so you recognize that this could not be just caused by the so-called “Holocaust”. That’s a beginning.
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Many Zionists are not Jewish.
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Wanted to add that saying “traumatised by Holocaust” is too easy answer. It doesn’t include thrown out Jews from Muslim countries around Israel. Most importantly, it also ignores centuries of pogroms and persecutions, centuries of living while knowing you are not “the 1st sort” from mainstream of your (birth) country’s point of view. And, yes, today “1st sort” exists too: in Germany and France, in Israel, everywhere. Democratic countries are (often much) nicer about it though.
Regarding nazis in Israel (and Russia), the information is on Internet. Seems like an actually good article, after I glanced at it:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israels-nightmare-homegrown-neonazis-in-the-holy-land-396392.html
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Yes, exactly, it is not just the Holocaust. Before the Holocaust, there were millennia of persecution, pogroms, ghettos, pales of settlement. There can be no discussion of Israel without keeping this history in the forefront of the debate. This is why I immediately lose all interest in any books on Israel that don’t begin, continue and end with acknowledging this.
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Can you define Holocaust, please?
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It’s not only the Holocaust (if this has been a real event), but for Zionists, this is their sole thing.
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David, please just stop. This is disgusting and you know it.
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Zionists are not “all Jewish people”.
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Many Zionists are not Jewish.
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Last comment for now: I googled and found only old articles (like the one linked above) about neo-nazism in Israel. So I checked wiki:
Neo-Nazism activity is not common or widespread in Israel, and the few activities reported have all been the work of extremists, who were punished severely. One notable case is that of Patrol 36, a cell in Petah Tikva made up of eight teenage immigrants from the former Soviet Union who had been attacking foreign workers and homosexuals, and vandalizing synagogues with Nazi images. These neo-Nazis were reported to have operated in cities across Israel, and have been described as being influenced by the rise of neo-Nazism in Europe. Widely publicized arrests have led to a call to reform the Law of Return to permit the revocation of Israeli citizenship for – and the subsequent deportation of – neo-Nazis.
I remember the articles about those teens in Israeli newspapers. In Israel it was obviously a huge event, but since then I don’t remember *any* articles about the topic in Israeli media. I am sure, in a country like Israel, I would’ve heard about other Nazis too, had they been found. So I tend to believe that in Israel, except extremely few extremists, Soviet Nazis aren’t a problem, despite providing a topic for a post and supporting previously held ideas. 🙂
Israel does try to do something about the younger generation, who aren’t seen as Jews by Halaha (only father is a Jew, or no Jewish relatives at all). Even if it does so in an Israeli way: people, who serve in the army, can very easily officially convert to Judaism, which is a very difficult process outside army. I knew several people, who did that, and they wanted their future children have zero problems. It’s less important for men, but for women it’s crucial, if they want continue living and giving birth to children in Israel, imo. You convert and all future children are seen by laws as Jews, no matter who their father is. Or, don’t convert, and it’s very likely that the children, who see Israel as their home and themselves as Jewish, will want to “convert” in the army themselves. (I am for separation between religion and state, but meanwhile I live here and now, and don’t expect some things – like Middle East peace – to happen during my life.)
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” Even if it does so in an Israeli way: people, who serve in the army, can very easily officially convert to Judaism, which is a very difficult process outside army. ”
– But what if they don’t want to convert because they are not believers?
“It’s less important for men, but for women it’s crucial, if they want continue living and giving birth to children in Israel, imo. You convert and all future children are seen by laws as Jews, no matter who their father is.”
– Oy vey. And then you ask what my problem with this arrangement is. Coerced conversions bring back many dark memories of 1492 and 1892. Did I share that story about my great=uncle Aaron who had to convert to Christianity to be able to have a research career?
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People who converted weren’t believers. Everybody, including rabbis, understands that. The real idea is declaring that you see yourself as belonging to Jewish people, and if not, why come to Israel with help of Law of Return? No state accepts everybody, who wants to come. And in every nation state there is practical discrimination of Others, whether we like it or not.
I had an Arab university professor, and don’t think it’s your uncle’s situation. Or 1492. Nobody forces immigrants to convert, but I do know there is practical discrimination, even if you are a Jew, according to Halaha, but don’t want to change a very Russian 1st name. 🙂
// – Which is precisely what is so problematic with ethnic / religious states.
I was referring to nation states there, not ethnic ones.
// Kennedy, a hugely beloved president, was a Catholic, I believe.
His being a Catholic being a possible issue actually supports my point. And Obama did mention belonging to church, people even discussed his too radical minister. Has he explicitely said he was agnostic? Haven’t heard that, but have read about people discussing his (made up) belonging to Islam as The Evil.
// – I believe that the way to fight against that is not to create a separate country for each ethnic group, though.
Recently I read an idea that today with technology and world economy smaller states become more viable than before, and we could be moving in that direction.
// This would be an impossible goal because where do I go, with my multi-ethnic identity?
According to Israeli laws, you aren’t a Jew. I don’t say it’s right, but it is a fact. There is a problematic confusion in the definition of Jew: a religion or a nationality? I think either of them should be enough, but state of Israel disagrees. If you have a Jewish father, you can come by Law of Return, if you are either Jewish or without religion. If you say you are Christian or Muslim, the Law of Return doesn’t apply.
// Where does my niece Klubnikis go, with her Peruvian, Ukrainian, and Jewish ethnicity?
She is an American, right? In USA it’s different from Europian and Israeli view of nationality, I suppose.
Historically, being 1/8 Jewish just meant you assimilated and weren’t Jewish. After a certain point, a few relatives of a different nationality from your main one were usually forgotten.
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“People who converted weren’t believers. Everybody, including rabbis, understands that. The real idea is declaring that you see yourself as belonging to Jewish people, and if not, why come to Israel with help of Law of Return?”
– My father most definitely belongs to the Jewish people. I mean, you should just see him and no doubts will remain. 🙂 But he is a practicing Orthodox Christian. We can’t begin to equate Jewishness with religion because that would mean that all of the Soviet Jews were not really Jews.
“Recently I read an idea that today with technology and world economy smaller states become more viable than before, and we could be moving in that direction.”
– In the direction of a tiny state for each tiny ethnic group? OK, I can get behind that. Let’s you and I form a small state of our own and invite other half Ukrainian half Jewish folks. Of course, there will be a problem of what to do with my husband. And your mother, I guess. 🙂 🙂
“According to Israeli laws, you aren’t a Jew. I don’t say it’s right, but it is a fact. There is a problematic confusion in the definition of Jew: a religion or a nationality? I think either of them should be enough, but state of Israel disagrees.”
– And according to me, it’s not up to them to decide. 🙂 It is sad that a country that claims to be the Jewish state discriminates against Jews in this manner. 😦 I guess, Jews still have to demonstrate actively that they are the right kind of acceptable Jews to have a space for themselves.
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// There is intense racism in the US. So what should be done? Deporting all black people someplace else?
I am not calling for deporting any black people or Jews anywhere. Would be the last person to do that. 🙂 I am saying that discrimination won’t disappear even in our age, it may become much milder and subtler, but will still be there.
// Yes, a nation-state is inescapable at this moment. It is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
Great to see we agree abut it!
// It’s the ethnic state that I will never be able to accept for obvious reasons, let alone a religious nation state.
In Israel, because of historical reasons and a certain difficulty to define who is a Jew at all, it’s complicated. But, I am sure, we will achieve separation between religion and state in the future. The problem is that it’s a slow process, and human life is too short to wait so long. 😦
// If Ukraine tried to limit the Russian population or tried to segregate it in certain areas / schools, etc., I would say, to hell with that Ukraine.
Israel doesn’t segregate its Arab citizens in certain areas. As for schools, I know about one Jewish-Arab school (in Jerusalem?). That there is a segregation in practice in the educational system – (even though 99% of both Jews and Arabs would hate to go to the same school at present, and Arab schools get state funding, of course) – is another symptom of the ongoing conflict. I believe, after real peace comes, there will be more and more together schools.
From wiki:
The national school system has two major branches – a Hebrew-speaking branch and an Arabic-speaking branch. The curricula for the two systems are almost identical in mathematics, sciences, and English. It is different in humanities (history, literature, etc.). While Hebrew is taught as a second language in Arab schools since the third grade and obligatory for Arabic-speaking school’s matriculation exams, […] Arabic is not obligatory for Hebrew speaking school’s matriculation exams. The schooling language split operates from preschool, up to the end of high school. At the university level, they merge into a single system, which operates mostly in Hebrew and in English.
So both the language of teaching and most of what’s being taught are different between the systems. Merging would have been extremely difficult.
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// We can’t begin to equate Jewishness with religion because that would mean that all of the Soviet Jews were not really Jews.
It’s not exactly equating with religion. If you are not religious, it’s OK. If you belong to a different religion – it isn’t, according to Israeli laws.
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We can’t begin to equate Jewishness with religion because that would mean that all of the Soviet Jews were not really Jews(Clarissa)
There you go again, missing the fact that if there wasnt a religion(Judaism) there would not have been any Jews.
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I can only repeat that the millions of Soviet Jews didn’t suddenly turn into Russians or Uzbeks just because none of them (or their parents or grandparents or greatgrandparents) had the slightest idea if what Judaism even is.
This is an ethnic origin that shows up on all genetically tests, that has genetic illnesses associated with it, etc. And genes care very little what God you worship.
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It doesn’t matter that there is now an ethnicity, without Judaism in the beginning, there are no Jews. How you keep denying that fact is very puzzling to say the least.
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It doesn’t matter to whom exactly? We are discussing today’s policies of Israel in what concerns today’s Jews.
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We are discussing today’s policies of Israel in what concerns today’s Jews.(Clarissa)
And if you don’t think the religion part affects all Jews, even the ethnic ones, then you are even more in denial than I thought.
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Religious fanatics of all religions affect everybody in many negative ways.
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// Many Zionists are not Jewish.
Who are they, then? Even a state of Israel recognizes atheist Jews as Jews. Most Jewish people, who founded Israel, were secular.
// the Holocaust (if this has been a real event)
David, are you insane? Seriously. Watch some documental movies with Nazi made photos and videos, and/or read some Nazi documents that survived. I suppose you wouldn’t believe Jews, who survived, since they must all be lying.
That’s one of the faces of modern antisemitism, btw. Begins with Zionist vs Jews, and ends with f.e. Holocaust denial. That’s the usual progression, and the usual rhetoric 😦
Criticizing Israeli politics, it’s fine. I do it too. But putting its right to exist under question or denying Jewish history is something different.
To end with something positive, I want to mention a book, which I haven’t read myself yet, but it sounds very interesting.
The Pity of It All: A Portrait of the German-Jewish Epoch, 1743-1933 by Amos Elon
In this important work of historical restoration, Amos Elon shows how a persecuted clan of cattle dealers and wandering peddlers was transformed into a stunningly successful community of writers, philosophers, scientists, tycoons, and activists. In engaging, brilliantly etched portraits of Moses Mendelssohn, Heinrich Heine, Karl Marx, Hannah Arendt, and many others, Elon traces how a small minority came to be perceived as a deadly threat to German national integrity.
I could never understand how German people could believe in anti-Jewish hysteria. May be, this book would shed light on something new.
Btw, I hope you’ll review the American manhood book too! I ended reading it, it’s only ~ 330 pages in big font, and it’s worthwhile.
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I never said that Israel should not exist. (although Israel doesn’t want Palestine to exist)
“Who are they, then?”
Obama, Hollande, Merkel, Cameron, Harper, Marois, almost all christians…do you want other names?
This is not Holocaust denial, this is Holocaust revisionism. The official version of the Holocaust is a great piece of propaganda.
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// Obama, Hollande, Merkel, Cameron, Harper, Marois, almost all christians…do you want other names?
They are not Zionists. They may in some situations support Israel because of their and their countries’ (meaning, yours too) own goals.
Amos Elon wrote several other books, including:
“A Blood-dimmed Tide- Dispatches from the Middle East”
“Jerusalem, Battleground of Memory”
“The Israelis, Founders and Sons”
“Journey Through a Haunted Land – the new Germany”
Some of books may be old already, but you can check his other books too.
I checked and he worked in Haarez, the most Left newspaper.
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My analyst told me that his analyst had a client in the 1950s who tried to conceal his past for a few sessions. Then he finally confessed that he had been a guard at Treblinka. After this, there was nothing left to discuss in the sessions because there is no dialogue possible about this. What is there to discuss? So the analyst and the patient sat in silence for the next several sessions. The analyst said it cost him at least a decade of his own life to keep sitting in the same room with this animal. But he felt he had to do it to give the former guard an opportunity to face the horror that he was and that he had done in silence.
Human beings do not debate the Holocaust. And those who think there is room for discussion here should sit in silence and face the monster inside.
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For some reason, my comment is awaiting moderation.
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Did it have lots of links in it? That apparently get comments stuck in moderation since it looks like a spam post.
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Sorry, there is an ongoing spam attack on the blog, so good comments get held up, too.
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“Crowds upon crowds of people with no Jewish origins whatsoever bought fake paperwork in the FSU countries to gain Israeli citizenship. Obviously, nothing prevented them from bringing their anti-Semitism with them, and being surrounded by huge numbers of Jews exacerbated these feelings of hatred.”
Do you have any evidence for this statement of yours? I’m aware that fake Jewish documentation mills did exist in the former USSR, but also aware that the authorities there cracked down on this and that faking Jewish status can have very negative effects for oneself and even one’s descendants if one uses fake claims of Jewish ancestry to immigrate to Israel when one would have otherwise been ineligible.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/russian-firm-caught-selling-fake-jewish-identities/BN2RCEXRYERWP222XGDNXPR34E/
https://www.jpost.com/israel/now-oz-unit-cracks-down-on-fake-olim
https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6a7fd8.html
“There are reports that non-Jews from the former Soviet Union have obtained forged documents that state they are Jewish (Monitor 2 Oct. 1992; Eran 13 Nov. 1992, 10). One report quotes a community leader of Jerusalem’s Armenian quarter who says he knows of several cases in which men have paid for marriages of convenience with Jewish women in order to be able to emigrate more easily (Chicago Tribune 19 May 1991). Oded Eran has stated recently, however, that the Israeli authorities “have developed an expertise in terms of identifying falsifications . . .” (13 Nov. 1992, 10). According to a representative of the Consulate General of Israel in Toronto, those who emigrate to Israel on illegally obtained documents can theoretically have their citizenship “downgraded” by the Minister of the Interior. The representative adds that he is not aware of any case where this had occurred due to “deceit or simply non-qualification” (Consulate General of Israel 11 Mar. 1992). Those whose citizenship is “downgraded” face one of two possible consequences. Either the Minister of the Interior could, after a court hearing, deport them, or they could be allowed to stay in Israel but be deprived of the assistance granted other immigrants (Embassy of Israel 20 Jan. 1993).”
Anyway, I’m skeptical that 99.9% of ex-USSR immigrants to Israel actually forged their documentation, but if you actually believe that a sizable percentage of them did, what’s your proposed solution if you could go back in time to 1989 or whenever? Do mandatory DNA testing for everyone before they would be allowed to immigrate to Israel?
As for neo-Nazism in Israel, it’s an extremely fringe problem. A couple cases do not result in a general trend. Black crime in the US is a much more severe problem, and yet quite obviously people here are not talking about bringing back racially restrictive housing covenants.
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