Behind the Aegis
Behind the Aegis's Journal(Jewish Group) The New Post-Racial Spiderman Ignores His Jewish Superhero Roots
(THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!)
Is Peter Parker, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Jewish?
In the new film, “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” the answer is an emphatic “no.” Tom Holland, who plays Peter, is of Irish and English descent; in the film he and his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) are Italian. Spider-Man isn’t Jewish canonically in the comics either; when his religious or ethnic background comes up, he’s generally represented as loosely mainline Protestant.
Spider-Man’s first appearance in comics, however, is more ambiguous about his Jewishness. Hints of anti-Semitism help define the character’s traumatic and frankly grim origin story. “Spider-Man: Homecoming” is a much cheerier vision of the possibilities of assimilation. But it gets to that multi-cultural vision in part by simply erasing Jewish content altogether.
Many early superhero comics creators in the 1940s were Jewish, and it’s easy to read iconic early characters as fantasies of Jewish assimilation. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s Clark Kent is a nebbishy Jewish stereotype who puts on circus tights to become an Aryan=American archetype of manliness. Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s Steve Rogers is a nebbishy Jewish stereotype, unfit for combat, until he takes the super-soldier serum and becomes a fit, confident symbol of Americanness, decked out in red, white and blue.
Marvel creators were often Jewish as well, and again many of their heroes, like the (once again) nebbishy Bruce Banner, or the working-class ethnic Ben Grimm, can be read as Jewish stand-ins. By the 60s, though, the civil rights movement had raised questions for white creators about assimilation into American whiteness, and about American justice and tolerance in general. Scholar Martin Lund told me via email that, “the Civil Rights movement made some Jewish Americans leerier about whiteness, in a dual sense. On the one hand, there was a strong commitment among many Jewish Americans to the movement, at least up to a point, because it was just and because rights for one minority would also mean rights for another. On the other hand, too strong a commitment was problematic, because during the Cold War, activism of this kind was often claimed to be a communist front, which of course meant that the old anti-Semitic canards of “international Jewry” and “Judeo-Bolshevism” were never far from the surface.”
Read more: http://forward.com/culture/jewishness/375974/the-new-post-racial-spiderman-ignores-his-jewish-superhero-roots/
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I am big comic book fan, mostly DC, but the history of Jews in the comic business is VERY interesting.
(Jewish Group) NC Pride Excludes Jews By Scheduling Event On Yom Kippur
THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!
Like many in the Jewish community, I was deeply troubled to see that the Chicago Dyke March kicked out three women for carrying pride flags adorned with the Star of David. The star, a proud symbol of Judaism, reportedly made some marchers feel “unsafe.” One ejected marcher told the Chicagoist, “Being removed from this march because of my visible Jewish symbol actually makes me feel unsafe.” I will wonder aloud if marchers would ever be kicked out of a pride event for carrying pride flags that include a Christian cross or Islamic star and crescent.
At pride events across the country, Jewish organizations and congregations march with pride flags that include the Star of David to represent LGBTQ and Jewish pride. It should go without saying that Jews who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer deserve to be supported, valued and included in LGBTQ events.
In my home state of North Carolina, NC Pride chose to schedule their 33rd annual LGBT festival on September 30, 2017, which is Yom Kippur, the holiest day of Judaism. Carolina Jews for Justice responded to this grossly inappropriate scheduling choice with a statement which read in part, “No group of people, Jewish or otherwise, should have to choose between our LGBTQ identities and the other identities that are important to us and shape our lives.” Would NC Pride ever schedule the pride festival on another religious holiday, such as Easter, Christmas or Eid Al-Fitr?
As the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Durham-Chapel Hill, Jill Madsen, told me, “It is very upsetting that this was the date selected for this year. For the past few years the Durham-Chapel Hill Jewish community has had a large presence at the event – [We] hosted a booth and had a float in the parade. Last year alone we had over 100 people marching with us. We continue to encourage people to send letters [to NC Pride] as it is important they hear from the community. We are working with our community partners to host a separate Pride event in October connected to Sukkot, so there is still an opportunity for the Jewish community to join together and show our support.”
Read more: http://forward.com/opinion/376180/nc-pride-excludes-jews-by-scheduling-event-on-yom-kippur/
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And the hits keep coming. I used to live in NC and went to this festival many times. I hope they come to their senses, and if not, that they don't make the mistake the university I worked for did when they scheduled homecoming on Rosh Hashana. They wanted to "make up" to the Jews of campus (read, DONORS) by having a pig-pickin' on Yom Kippur. No, I am not even kidding. I was the sole Jew on staff and I put a stop to that bullshit. At first, I thought they were making a joke, when I realized they were serious, I got really pissed.
This is the reality of being a Jew now. We are a minority and we are still hated, but it isn't just the right-wing.
Hungarian Jews ask PM Orban to end 'bad dream' of anti-Semitism
Hungarian Jews said on Thursday Prime Minister Viktor Orban's billboard campaign against migration and foreign influence, using the image of U.S. financier George Soros, was a proxy for anti-Semitism.
They urged the nationalist Orban to halt the campaign. "Please make sure this bad dream ends as soon as possible," Andras Heisler, chairman of the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Federations (Mazsihisz), said in an emailed statement.
Orban's spokesman said the campaign had nothing to do with anti-Semitism but rather sought only to counter what he called Soros's attempts to unduly change immigration policies in Hungary.
Orban has locked horns with fellow European Union members in the west of the bloc over his opposition to immigration and liberal values and has criticized Soros - a major supporter of democracy and human rights causes - in increasingly sharp tones.
Orban, who faces elections next year, long proclaimed zero tolerance for anti-Semitism though has more recently risked angering Israel and Jews with remarks apparently meant to court far right voters.
His government has conducted a "national consultation" on issues of foreign influence and mass immigration, asking people if they were open to allowing either. Voters who responded rejected both and Orban launched a massive follow-up campaign.
more...
Former U.S. anti-Semitism Envoy Warns of European Governments Trying to Distort Holocaust History
Source: Ha'aretz (Jul 07, 2017 2:45 AM)
This week, two events which made headlines in Israel and among the U.S. Jewish community turned attention to attempts by Eastern European governments to downplay and distort their countries' histories with regards to the Holocaust.
The first event was a diplomatic skirmish between Israel and Hungary over the Hungarian prime minister's speech praising Miklos Horthy, Hungary's leader during World War II who was complicit in the mass extermination of the country's Jewish population. The second event was Donald Trump's speech in Warsaw on Thursday, in which the U.S. president praised the Polish people for the 1944 anti-Nazi uprising, but in accordance with the line of the current government in Poland didn't mention any Polish involvement in the Holocaust.
The current governments of Poland and Hungary share a somewhat similar approach to their countries' dark history with regards to the Holocaust. Over the last years, both governments have been trying to downplay that history, and present the events that took place during the German occupation of the two countries as if they were entirely the fault of the Germans, with little to no responsibility falling on the local governments and populations.
Viktor Orban, Hungary's far-right prime minister, was accused last week by the U.S. Holocaust Museum of trying to rewrite history and of insulting the victims of the Holocaust. Poland, meanwhile, passed a bill last year which criminalizes the use of phrases pointing at Polish responsibility to the mass murder of the country's Jewish population.
Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-1.800094
Anti-Semitism, other hate must be confronted
This past weekend, someone draped a sign over a Holocaust memorial at a synagogue in Lakewood saying: “Heebs will not divide us.” Fliers with other messages attacking Jews were distributed on cars.
This was presumably in response to recent news coverage of welfare fraud and arrests within the Lakewood Jewish community.
I knew that New Jersey had the fourth-highest number of hate groups in the country — not bad for such a small state — so I wasn’t terribly surprised by this turn of events, especially when I recall several other recent anti-Semitic events in our area.
However, as I looked back over these and other recent news articles concerning the Jewish community, I was shocked at the number of blatantly anti-Semitic and hateful comments posted online and on Facebook — often without any response or rebuttal. As someone who grew up in New Jersey and is a proud resident, I didn’t realize how much fertile ground for hate and anti-Semitism existed in our own backyards.
For example:
•“Jews usually trick you through knowledge of how to trick you…a regular criminal will just rob you straight away – Jews have finesse about doing it…like doctors and lawyers”
more...
Top Democrat urges Trump to appoint anti-Semitism envoy, Jewish liaison
Source: The Times of Israel
WASHINGTON — A top Senate Democrat urged US President Donald Trump on Wednesday to appoint a White House liaison to the Jewish community and special envoy to combat and monitor anti-Semitism (SEAS), roles that have been vacant since he took office.
Maryland Senator Ben Cardin, who serves as the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called those two positions “critical to the global and domestic fight against anti-Semitism” and said they were needed amidst an uptick in anti-Semitic episodes worldwide.
“With the recent increase in incidents of anti-Semitism in the United States and in some other countries, as well as a rise in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, I am concerned that the Administration has failed to designate points of contact for Jewish international and domestic communities,” Cardin wrote in a letter to the president.
Last month, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested to a House of Representatives panel that hiring an anti-Semitism envoy wasn’t necessary and that the overall effort to combat anti-Semitism would be more efficacious without one.
--snip---
While not congressionally mandated, every US president since Jimmy Carter has appointed and maintained a White House Jewish liaison.
Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/top-democrat-urges-trump-to-appoint-anti-semitism-envoy-jewish-liaison/
While not a favorite source, it is factual and noteworthy.
(Jewish Group) New study reveals Europes rising anti-Semitism forces Jews to leave or hide
THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!
Why do half of French Jews want to leave France? The rise of violent anti-Semitism beginning around the turn of the century has made French Jews justifiably concerned about their personal safety.
A University of Oslo study published in June is one of the most methodologically sophisticated and comprehensive reports in dissecting the growth of Europe’s anti-Semitism problem.
Authored by Dr. Johannes Due Enstad of the Center for Research on Extremism, the study documents violent anti-Semitism from 2005-2015, analyzing seven countries based on comparable data for France, the U.K., Germany and Sweden, with additional non-comparable data for Norway, Denmark and Russia.
Since they feel unsafe as a direct consequence of violent anti-Semitism, one in five Jews in Sweden and the U.K., one in four in Germany, and as mentioned previously, half of the Jews in France have considered emigrating. But it is not just something that Jews think about. In 2015, 10,000 Western European Jews departed for a new life in Israel, the largest number leaving Europe since 1948.
There is no upward or downward trend in the period measured. There is a consistently elevated level of anti-Semitism compared to the 1990s.
French Jews are more likely than German, Swedish and British Jews to have personally experienced a violent attack in the final five years covered by the study. Although the incidence of anti-Semitism for France is the highest, responses about personal attacks during the study’s final five years from Swedish and German Jews is not far behind. The largest gap in anti-Semitism is between British Jews and Jews living in Norway, Denmark and Russia.
more...
Sickening displays of anti-Semitism after welfare fraud arrests in Lakewood
LAKEWOOD — Vandals posted a banner containing an anti-Jewish slur on a Holocaust memorial in front of a local synagogue less than a week after several residents of Lakewood’s Orthodox Jewish community were charged with welfare fraud.
Photos posted online Sunday by the state chapter of the Anti-Defamation League show the banner covering the memorial in Lakewood. A message on the covering included an ethnic slur for Jewish people and they “will not divide us.” Underneath that is bloodandsoil.org, the website for a white nationalist group.
Also this week, Anti-Semetic fliers have been seen around town, referencing the same group, complaining of “thieving Jews”” — an apparent reference to the welfare fraud arrests.
Detective Lt. Gregory Staffordsmith of the Lakewood Police Department said authorities were alerted to the issue just before noon on Sunday after a call from a rabbi at Congregation Son of Israel.
more...
https://twitter.com/ADL_NJ/status/881567799742693378
https://twitter.com/ADL_NJ/status/881567556041138176
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Sounds about right.
A Brief History of 'Lugenpresse,' the Nazi-era Predecessor to Trump's 'Fake News'
(This article was originally published on February 21, 2017 and re-upped after President Trump tweeted a spoof video of himself "beating up" CNN, which the network denounced as incitement to violence against reporters.)
President Donald Trump’s go-to argument that unwelcome reports are “fake news” spread over the weekend to key figures in the Republican establishment, and as the vitriol ramped up, major media outlets hit back. On Friday, CNN anchor Don Lemon cut off pro-Trump guest Paris Dennard live on air, and not long after Trump tweeted, “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” Come Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus got into a heated debate with Chris Wallace on Fox News, of all venues.
The sense of panic and anger in the mainstream media, the conservative Fox News included, is reasonable. The accusation of “fake news” or “lying press” has an ominous precedent, tracing back to the history of the German phrase “Lügenpresse.” (At a campaign rally in October 2016, in Cleveland, Ohio, the Atlantic’s Rosie Grey even caught two Trump supporters on tape using the original German word. “Lügenpresse! That’s what you are,” one white man shouts, coaching another on how to say the term, and elaborates: “You’re all in bed with the Clintons. You’re all bought and paid for, every one of you.”)
Originally coined by the German author Reinhold Anton in 1914, the term Lügenpresse was used during World War I to refer to “enemy propaganda.” Some 30 years later Hitler and the Nazis appropriated the term to weaken opposition to the regime, primarily “accusing” Jewish, communist, and later the foreign press of disseminating fake news.
The phrase made a comeback in Germany in 2014, when the anti-immigrant PEGIDA movement accused the media of “not telling the truth” about crimes committed by refugees and immigrants, primarily those displaced by ISIS in Syria and Iraq. In January 2015, some 25,000 protesters attended a PEGIDA march in Dresden, chanting “Luegenpresse, halt die Fresse" (“shut up, lying press”).
"Luegenpresse" subsequently earned the notorious "Unwort des Jahres" (Non-Word of the Year) dishonor given out annually by a German linguists' panel of experts.
more...
Reddit User Behind Trump's anti-CNN Video Has History of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia
Source: Ha'aretz (Jul 03, 2017 1:25 AM)
The Reddit user who posted a spoof video showing President Donald Trump beating up CNN has a history of racist posts.
The user, who goes by HanAssholeSolo, posted the video on a pro-Trump subreddit, The_Donald, before Trump tweeted it with slight alternations on Saturday.
A review of HanAssholeSolo's Reddit feed turns up many an offensive post. The user often uses slurs to refer to African-Americans, Muslims and gay people.
---snip---
But he apparently didn't deem the anti-Semitic meme and comments such as "fuck Islam" as offensive enough to delete.
Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/us-news/1.799112
Of course the anti-Semitism isn't problematic enough to delete...for many people!
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