There's a beautiful piece in today's Haaretz http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1083 563.html
by Aziz Abu Sarah regarding Yom HaShoah (the Holocaust) his internal conflict, as a Palestinian, to recognize this day every year in Israel.  He acknowledges that he knew little or nothing about the Holocaust and had little desire to even peak into it's history.  

There was a stigma attached to it, an understanding that Israel would use the Holocaust to lobby for sympathy, then turn and use the sympathy as a terrible weapon against the Palestinian people.

So when I was asked about the Holocaust, I always felt that defensive urge to say "It was not my fault! I suffered for it too." Deep down, I think I felt that by acknowledging their pain, I would betray or marginalize my own suffering.

Also, some part of me feared that if I sympathized with "the enemy," my right to struggle for justice might be taken away. Now I know this is nonsense: you are stronger when you let humanity overcome enmity. However, it took me time to learn this lesson.

I'll add, this also goes for those who refuse to acknowledge Palestinian suffering.

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Here in New England, people look forward to April as the days turn longer, and warmer and the first signs of Spring emerge. The young, and young at heart, often recite the old standard, "April showers bring May flowers." Unfortunately, in far too many parts of world, April is not a month to look forward to, as April is well on its way to becoming known as a month of tragedy; one with a strange and deadly history.

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In the news, anti-Semitism has come up once again, from people stereotyping Bernie Madoff as a "typical Jew banker" to Venezuela's wave of anti-Semitism partly inspired by Hugo Chavez's rhetoric (direct link to Chavez's comments [http://www.gobiernoenlinea.gob.ve/docMgr/sharedfiles/Chavez_visita_Centro_Manantial_de_los_suenos24122005.pdf here page 18]) and the furor about Richard Williams's Holocaust denial who was just dismissed from an Argentine seminary. America is also currently having to deal with Ahmadinejad, who is like Williamson, a fellow Holocaust denier.

No doubt anti-Semitism did not begin yesterday, in the 20th Century, or in the last few centuries. It has been around since Christianity has, when the Jews were being blamed for the death of Christ, illegal business practices despite the fact they were only allowed to deal in money because Christians weren't allowed to in Medieval Europe. This allowed the Jews, who spread around Europe not by will, but because of the DIASPORA and pogroms, to become a powerful group which contributed to society wherever they went, which in turn brought about jealousy and resentment. We all know about the Inquisition, the Dreyfuss Incident, more pogroms, etc. One of the most infamous pieces of hate was "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," a late 19th century diatribe and one massive forgery aimed at claiming the Jews, in collusion with the Masons, wanted world domination. However, the discovery of its fraud wasn't discovered until 1921, and even then, the book continued to be widely sold and distributed by the purveyors of hate and evil.

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The Progressive Democrat, as well as Culture Kitchen and Daily Gotham, the other blogs I write for, were featured in the left-wing Finnish magazine Kulttuurivihkot. For any Finnish readers out there, hyvä päivä.

This week I discuss the Georgia Senate race, alternative energy (particularly biodiesel), Mormon desecration of the victims of the Holocaust, marriage equality, and my usual state-by-state coverage (which is pared down to about 16 states rather than the 20 states I used to cover...I'd pare it down more but I know I have readers in those 16 states!) More below.

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