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Last update - 16:59 22/07/2007
What self-hating Jews can teach Muslims
By Bradley Burston

Self-hate, in the Jewish context, is assailed by traditionalists, quantified by sociologists, catalogued by hobbyists, ribbed by comedians, feared by parents.

It is also underrated.

Simply put, we have much to learn from the self-hating Jew. Like the paranoid who is under actual surveillance, the Jew who is viciously critical of matters Jewish - or for whom Jewishness and Israel are sources of shame - may shed light on issues we may wrongly choose to ignore or accept.

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In fact, for some of the same reasons, the contemporary Muslim could do with some self-hate of his or her own, a theme to which we will return later on.

What possible good can self-hating do for the Jewish people at large?

As a hypersensitive critic, the Jew lambasted and shunned as a self-hater - who may be novelist or playwright, radical rabbi or post-bar mitzvah deserter - may have much of value to say about the failings of the Israeli or Diaspora Jewish communities.

In Israel, it is all too easy to believe that excesses and atrocities of Muslim extremists somehow legitimize a lack of initiative toward peace overtures, a free hand to settlement expansion, and the continued, corrosive occupation of millions of Palestinians.

We are plagued with leaders who think too highly of themselves, untroubled by an unjustified sense of entitlement, an exaggerated sense which too many of us in the Jewish public share.

At the core of it, one suspects, is the goes-without-saying superiority complex embedded in the teachings of many Jewish religious figures and deeply ingrained in much of the Jewish public at large, the assumption that the Jewish mind is of higher quality, the Jewish heart of broader tenderness, the Jewish soul of more profound morality, and the Jewish belief system of greater legitimacy.

It's time we got over it.

Perhaps we need our self-haters to help.

Even extreme cases of self-hate, like the pre-caliphate court Jews leading British boycott campaigns, or the suburban-exile kaffiyeh kinderlach of Berkeley, more Palestinian by far than the Palestinians, can play a positive role. If nothing else, they serve a unifying purpose, putting internal squabbles in perspective and bringing Jews of many stripes together in disgust.

At least the Jews cannot be faulted for ignoring the phenomenon. One Web site, favoring quantity over scruples, bears a list of what it says are more than 7,000 of what it calls self-hating Jews.

Self-hate, after all, has been a staple of Jewish life since Jewish life began. Moses had to face the Children of Israel's dissent, discomfort, discontent and distaste, much more often than he would have liked (witness Korach, Datan and Aviram, Numbers 16:1-33 or the episode of the golden calf, Exodus 32: 1-35).

It may be argued that an element of self-hate could benefit the contemporary Muslim world no less.

The sense of moral superiority and ultimate entitlement is strong within Islam as well. This has proven no healthier for Muslims than it has for Jews. It has reached its most extreme form in jihadism, and an explicit goal of eventual domination of all areas once ruled by Muslims. But in making war on the West, Al-Qaida has effectively touched off a war against Islam. For quite some time, the vast majority of victims of worldwide Islamic terror have been Muslims.

Recently, perhaps as a result, there are signs that Muslims in growing numbers are questioning the sheikhs, mullahs and ayatollahs who preach Muslim superiority and Islamic entitlement. The same Internet and satellite television that drove jihadist terror forward are serving as platforms for Muslims who question, critique and counter the extremists.

May we, Muslim and Jew, have the wisdom to address our own failings with the vigor with which we attack each others'.

Let's hear it for healthy self-hate. It may just be what the world needs now.


_________________



Recent blogs:
Why Israel was created, why it still exists

Back the boycott, kill the symphony

Why can't Jews and Palestinians make peace?

Is terrorism on the way out?



__________________


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  1.   Self-Hate and Self-Knowledge 10:55  |  Hannah 20/07/07
  2.   BRING ON THE DAY BRADLEY WHEN 11:18  |  paul harris 20/07/07
  3.   Hamasistation of Jewish right-wingers 11:27  |  ScotGuy 20/07/07
  4.   Hate yourselves, Israelis 11:39  |  Non-Israeli Jew 20/07/07
  5.   An unfortunate choice of words by Bradley 11:45  |  Natallie Durson 20/07/07
  6.   Hannah 11:49  |  Hannah 20/07/07
  7.   No parallel 12:01  |  Alan 20/07/07
  8.   "self -hating" jews 12:07  |  hipolito dormal 20/07/07
  9.   #5 Ignorance 12:09  |  Alan 20/07/07
  10.   A JEW-MUSLIM: THE BEST MUSLIM 12:13  |  indrajaya 20/07/07
  11.   this is common sense, but 12:20  |  Khalid 20/07/07
  12.   Self-hatred is a disease 12:22  |  A proud Jew frm Oman 20/07/07
  13.   Clumsy Bradley 12:22  |  Josh Goldman 20/07/07
  14.   A hater of Israel 12:24  |  Jack 20/07/07
  15.   To Natalie Durson and her ilk... 12:39  |  Ishai 20/07/07
  16.   not can... but could... 12:48  |  ravi 20/07/07
  17.   #4 Non-Israeli Jew 12:52  |  Sarah 20/07/07
  18.   BB Self Hate 12:55  |  Tim R 20/07/07
  19.   Centuries of Conditioning 13:02  |  Dyinglikeflies 20/07/07
  20.   #13 Josh Goldman 13:25  |  Sarah 20/07/07
  21.   The only way to prevent another crusade is soul searching 13:29  |  kia 20/07/07
  22.   Introspection and the 7th Century People 13:32  |  Ronnie Wolman 20/07/07
  23.   funny Josh Goldman 13:32  |  Hannah 20/07/07
  24.   Bradley, a self hating Jew 13:34  |  Shelley N 20/07/07
  25.   Indonesian #10 13:56  |  Zorik B 20/07/07
  26.   Self-hating Jews 13:56  |  OJB 20/07/07
  27.   or be hired by haaretz 14:01  |  peter 20/07/07
  28.   Jihad is not terror 14:10  |  KA 20/07/07
  29.   paul harris 2 14:11  |  accuracy 20/07/07
  30.   weakling that have fears bigger than pride and pure traitors. 14:16  |  CM 20/07/07
  31.   indrajaya 14:20  |  Rani Habelgi 20/07/07
  32.   When the next disaster comes 14:26  |  Terminator 20/07/07
  33.   # 23, RANI HABELGI 14:38  |  indrajaya 20/07/07
  34.   The best thing about Zionism 14:45  |  Benny R. 20/07/07
  35.   To the hater of Israel,who still lives in Israel 14:47  |  Hastaroth 20/07/07
  36.   Let`s redirect the hate to what should be hated. 14:58  |  Virginia 20/07/07
  37.   SELF-HATING JEWS 14:59  |  Brant 20/07/07
  38.   21 - accuracy - duh 15:01  |  ScotGuy 20/07/07
  39.   What of Allam, Hirzi, Ajami, AbuKhalil? 15:07  |  Hank N Tennessee 20/07/07
  40.   Indrajaya#10 - thank you, I`ll pass 15:13  |  William 20/07/07
  41.   For Indrajaya on conversion to solve the problem 15:14  |  Ed 20/07/07
  42.   #10, It`s just the law of averages, 15:14  |  Shlomo T 20/07/07
  43.   Buying into the enemy`s BS 15:15  |  Dhimmi Hendrix 20/07/07
  44.   Rani Habelgi #23 - response to Indrajaya 15:15  |  William 20/07/07
  45.   #22 AND HOW DO THEY ALL DRESS?? 15:21  |  paul harris 20/07/07
  46.   Self-hatred is bad but constructive 15:21  |  William 20/07/07
  47.   indrajaya 15:23  |  Rani Habelgi 20/07/07
  48.   Benny R #27 - a common mis-conception 15:28  |  William 20/07/07
  49.   KA#21 - playful semantics 15:40  |  William 20/07/07
  50.   Benny R 15:49  |  wakashaka 20/07/07
  51.   William, some of the best scientists and psychologists were Nazi. 15:57  |  KA 20/07/07
  52.   Indrajaya on Conversion 15:58  |  Greg 20/07/07
  53.   Thank you Haaretz for not censoring Indrajaya!! 16:00  |  ScotGuy 20/07/07
  54.   # 30, ED 16:01  |  indrajaya 20/07/07
  55.   Ravi: what are your criteria for 16:01  |  Star of David 20/07/07
  56.   Khalid,KA & Proud jew from Oman have a good perspective;Khalid 16:06  |  lakshmi 20/07/07
  57.   SELF HATING JEW WILL NOT ESCAPE 16:10  |  TOBIA 20/07/07
  58.   despicable 16:17  |  Alain 20/07/07
  59.   peter 16:17  |  Hannah 20/07/07
  60.   KA WHAT DO YOU CALL 16:21  |  TOBIA 20/07/07
  61.   And what do we learn from self hating rape victims? 16:22  |  A proud Israeli/Jew 20/07/07
  62.   Hannah#6 16:31  |  Danite 20/07/07
  63.   I am not so sure 16:33  |  Danite 20/07/07
  64.   Atheist Who Disagrees With Benny R 16:36  |  Dyinglikeflies 20/07/07
  65.   This is a GREAT article 16:41  |  Hooray! 20/07/07
  66.   Brad, Again, Revealing His Beserkeley Roots 16:47  |  Tod Zuckerman 20/07/07
  67.   Put this term to rest 16:51  |  Tim 20/07/07
  68.   Self- criticism, Self- hatred. Justified and not 16:57  |  Shalom Freedman 20/07/07
  69.   Danite & Tosefta 17:09  |  Hannah 20/07/07
  70.   scotguy 38 17:10  |  accuracy 20/07/07
  71.   #61 Very good observation 17:11  |  ScotGuy 20/07/07
  72.   indrajaya post #10 says it all 17:13  |  Michael Korn 20/07/07
  73.   tobia 60 17:17  |  accuracy 20/07/07
  74.   False distinction between Jews and Muslims on "self-hatred" 17:22  |  Tosefta 20/07/07
  75.   A Diaspora Jew Testimony !!!!!!!!! 17:33  |  Alberto Cohen 20/07/07
  76.   Do not feel sorry for them 17:33  |  Ilan K 20/07/07
  77.   Burston (as usual) has it all backwards 17:35  |  pace306 20/07/07
  78.   Hannah ! 17:43  |  Danite 20/07/07
  79.   Indrajaya`s nonsense 17:44  |  Polybios 20/07/07