My initial response was instinctual (and rather negative) so I wanted to mull over what I read rather than, as some, react.
At base Ms. Peto's thesis seems to be this:
Jews, at least in Canada, are successful and face no significant prejudice. Accordingly, Jews ought not to see themselves as being oppressed but rather as being part of the oppressive structure of society. The Holocaust is merely history and its remembrance is generally propaganda designed to allow Jews to pretend to be oppressed rather than oppressive.
I think that's a fair summary of the thesis -- it is, of course, a lengthy document.
There are factual errors (some quite basic - for example who runs the March of the Living?) in Peto's thesis and the literature cited is not as broad based as it might be -- but these are relatively small points.
The real question is, what about her underlying position?
I disagree (and strongly) with Ms Peto but see the problem as being more subtle than many commentators suggest.
First, the Holocaust is recent. It is far from ancient history -- and its remembrance is remembering that which was done by and to our parents and grandparents.
Second, and more important, the Jews who died in the Holocaust were, in many cases, just as Canadian Jews today, successful and faced no significant prejudice prior to the rise of Hitler. Yes, anti-Semitism was more common in Europe a hundred years ago than today in North America but French Jews, German Jews and Dutch Jews (for example) were doctors, lawyers, judges and successful politicians. The Holocaust reminds Jews (like the apocryphal rider with a Roman getting a triumph) that "you are mortal too".
The lesson of the Holocaust is real and tells us that racial/ethnic/religious differences can rapidly move from being interesting attributes of fellow citizens to being marks worthy of annihilation. The Holocaust raises the question of the immediate dangers of bigotry; this is not something limited to Jews.
Put otherwise, the current status of Jews in Canada is simply unrelated to remembrance of the Holocaust.
There is much else in Peto's thesis that one could take issue with -- she discusses, for example, Baruch Goldstein and her understanding of what religious Jews think of him is simply incredible -- but these are side issues.
11 comments:
I don't think the position of Jews in Canada (or elsewhere) today can ever really be divorced from the Holocaust. As you say, it isn't ancient history - it happened in living memory, carried out by next door neighbours. I don't think it should ever be forgotten, if only for the reason that if it happened once, it can happen again, and so it's necessary to be vigilant. The Holocaust showed what seemingly ordinary people are capable of. That should never be forgotten.
You've completely missed the mark. Peto isn't arguing that the Holocaust isn't worth remembering, she's arguing that the Holocaust is being misused to create a whole generation of victims who aren't victims.
I am still reading Ms. Peto's thesis. Her concept of being Jewish and being recognized as white reminds me of reading John Porter's The Vertical Mosaic/ who described Canada's ethnic mosaic as a vertical hierarchy. The British were at the top, Germanic Canadians were near the top. Eastern European Canadians were a little lower. French Canadians were also lower. Jews were fairly high on the ladder. Blacks and Aboriginals were near the bottom.
On the issue of Israel, I do think that because Jewish and white/European Canadians share cultural values, Jews who support Israel may be better adept to exploiting these similarities in getting Canadians to support the state of Israel. Olive and brown-skinned Arabs and Muslims may have a more difficult time sharing values different from white/European Canadians who may have a more difficult time supporting the Palestinian struggle. Jewish Canadians probably rank high on the current vertical mosaic whereas Arab and Muslim Canadians rank lower.
Where I may differ from James Morton about the rise of the Jewish Holocaust is that by he makes the assumption that everything was well for the Jewish communities before the rise of Hitler and Naziism. Conflicts between Christians and Jews have taken place in Europe for many centuries although not on the same scale as the Holocaust.
Ms. Peto makes the case that certain Jewish groups are using the the Jewish victimization in Holocaust to promote the state of Israel while ignoring the Palestinian victims in today's conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. She asserts that the Jews can be villains while claiming to be victims. Part of the reason for the success of this claim is because white Christian North Americans accept Jews as being white. This rise of acceptance took place after WWII when Jewish American soldiers received the similar benefits as other white Americans from the GI bill whereas African American soldiers did not.
I found it intriguing to read the first part of the thesis in which Ms. Peto described her early life as a narrative. Her conflicts with her Jewish private school were not from accepting different facts from her teachers, but having different opinions. Baruch Goldstein, the man who killed several Palestinians was viewed as a saviour by her teachers whereas she thought the opposite.
It is nice to debate the content of Ms. Peto's thesis rather than condemn before reading it.
Second, and more important, the Jews who died in the Holocaust were, in many cases, just as Canadian Jews today, successful and faced no significant prejudice prior to the rise of Hitler.
I guess you forget about "None is Too Many" or simply prefer to gloss over.
I agree with Skinny Dipper.
So what next Morton, a few quotes from Peter Shurman?
I see a lot of problems with Peto's article. Its just sloppy C-grade piece. Her sole example of systemic discrimination against arabs in Israel is that they have to swear allegiance to Israel as a Jewish state (not to mention that the oath says nothing of a jewish only state). She asserts as fact that Israel "ethnically cleansed" 750,000 Palestinians in 1948 which is a gross oversimplification of what happened and undoubtedly leaves the impression in some minds that those Palestinians were killed.
It is written based on the same leftist assumptions and rhetoric that a lot of us have considered and rejected(i.e. "Israeli apartheid", global Jewish power, "white privilege", the assertion that an explicitly Jewish state is "racist" despite the fact that most of its neighbours are explicitly Islamic, etc.) so in that sense it is an immediate fail.
She, like so many other leftists, reduces all power to economic power. The statistics still show that jews are the largest targets of hate crimes in Canada after black people; and jews are still one of the most prominent targets of hate propaganda. The holocaust occured despite the fact that "white jews" living in Germany and the occupied countries during the world war II era were relatively well off. Economic power is not a guarantee against genocide.
On an unrelated note, while I think its fair to say that some people try to conflate criticism of Israel with anti-semitism, others, like the author here come dangerously close to conflating the holocaust with Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. I certainly don't agree with a lot of what Israel does (settlement building, etc.), but any comparison between what they are doing and what Nazi Germany did is a false and offensive comparison in terms of scope, motivation, and intensity of poor treatment visited upon the victim.
More jews were intentionally killed in single weeks of the holocaust than all the Palestinians who have been killed since 1948 of all violent causes. About 2/3s of Europe's Jews were killed by the nazis in WWII. Violent deaths at the hands of the Israelis account for less than 1% of all violent deaths suffered by Muslims since 1948.
More importantly, European jews were intentionally killed for explicitly racist reasons with the express intention of wiping them out. Whatever expansionist ambitions Israel might have I've seen no evidence of the intensity of racism and desire for genocide that you saw in Nazi Germany. The two situations are not even remotely comparable, and really shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence.
All that said I think she should be able to write whatever she wants to write about. Frankly I don't find myself agreeing with half the nonsense that arts graduate students write (isnt grad school for arts students just a fall back for for unsucessful law school applicants anyway? j.k.).
And while you have to expect this kind of reaction when you write a fairly inflamatory thesis, I dont think its something the major newsmedia or the Ontario government should be concerning itself with.
Hi KC,
I would give Ms. Peto a C+ on her thesis--not because of any "leftist assumptions," but because she made weak connections between people who are belong to some white Jewish culture and their ability to take advantage of their sociological status in combining Holocaust education and the need to support Israel. (Yes, I can be hard people who may be left-wingers as those who are to the right or centrists.)
While Ms. Peto wrote about her early days learning at a Jewish school, I could not see the connection between her experience and white Jews or Jewish whites influencing other white people in North America. I felt that her school years were unnecessary to her thesis. It doesn't mean that white Jews/Jewish whites do not influence the US and Canadian governments and their citizens. They do. She just didn't convince me that their power of persuasion was abusive. Personally, when I have had overseas friends visit Canada, I have never recommended that they visit an Aboriginal reserve. I usually suggested that they visit Toronto, Niagara Falls, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City in central Canada.
Knowledge and Understanding: C
Thinking: C
Communication: B- (Her grammar raises her mark.)
Application: B- (She made connections, but they were weak.)
Overall: C+
I did not discover anything new in Ms. Leto's thesis paper. I do want an element of surprise. I was not surprised.
Skinny - I didnt mean to assert that her use of "leftist assumptions" should have anything to do with her grade. As a marker I think you sometimes have to accept certain theories as proven (even if you dismiss them) to allow for a succinct paper. I wouldnt except Ms. Peto to have to prove the existence of "white privilege" in this paper anymore than you would expect a biology students whose paper relies on evolution to go back to re-argue for evolution. I meant to say that her thesis wont be accepted by those who reject those underlying theories. It shouldnt effect how the thesis is marked.
I think her personal anecdotal story was a bit of an appeal to authority that might be inappropriate in an academic paper. At the very least it played to large a part.
I'd say maybe a C. I'd give her significantly lower marks than you for application but slightly higher marks for communication.
Well kudos to James for actually reading the thing.
A re-read may be in order as Robert McClelland makes a good succinct critique of your weak rebuttal.
To Robert's comments, I would add: "a whole generation of victims who aren't victims" who have in fact joined the ranks of the oppressors.
sad
I, too, congratulate James for reading the thesis paper. I'm enjoying this discussion with everyone because we can present our points without resorting to name-calling.
To KC, thanks for your comments. I will add that I want to read things and listen to discussions that will challenge my own thinking. I do not want predictability either on the left or right (or centre). I did find this paper to be predictable because I know that supporters of Israel sponsor trips for MP's, senators, bloggers, and other influential people. The fact that groups disseminate information and sponsor trips dealing with the Holocaust and its effects on Israel is nothing new.
Thanks all for this -- C WTF I wasnt suggesting there was no anti-semitism before the War -- indeed, not, but only that life was reasonably good for many European Jews especially before the First War.
If anyone wants the thesis itself just email me and I will scan it to you.
It's not the first time people have exploited a traumatic event for self-aggrandizement. It's a classic tactic to do so--even a person with an elementary grasp of basic human power relations and dynamics will comprehend that.
That certain individuals within the Jewish community have managed to leverage the Holocaust into a money-making and cultural capital-garnering event to their own benefit is only a testament to the cynicism of human beings socialized to western ways of thinking. The birth of a nation (puns fully intended) as represented by the creation of Israel was a tactical move orchestrated by men who excelled in opportunism and manipulation; who would dare object to the poor homeless victims of that monster Hitler finding a stronghold nation of their own? Why, only anti-semites would!!!! The anti-semitism card is an ace in the hole. Entire regimes have been taken down by mere accusations of it. And in all the hoopla, in the colonialism and ethnic cleansing of the Holy Land of Arabs who have as much and more of a claim to that land, the Jews come out smelling like cedar (yes, pun intended again) because the Holocaust calibrates public perception toward every Jew, no matter how corrupt, criminal, unorthodox, unsavory, unethical and inhuman. Ariel Sharon and Bun Gurion are two shining examples of the third reich's persistent reach beyond 1945.
But, shhh, we must not speak of the crimes against humanity so reminiscent of Hitler's Germany being perpetrated on the West Bank against Arabs by Israelis, oh no. And the Arabs who fight back, as every sane individual must against tyranny, as many Jews did in WWII as the Americans did against the British and who constructed an entire national identity and constitution upon the ideals of resistance against tyranny...the Arabs who also do so, they are branded terrorists in their own homelands for resisting Israeli colonialism with stones, rocks, bare hands and their own mortal bodies.
There is a horrific profundity to the fact that Israel can commit such acts in bold light of day and never fear condemnation on the global stage. That says more about the character and nature of the global stage than it does about anything else.
Kudos to Peto for attempting to peel away some of the shameful lies and hypocrisies that gild the notion of victimhood of the powerful. Being a victim is by no means legitimation for then becoming the offender. Israel and uncouth Jews need to learn that lesson.
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