Letter to Manuel Talens

 

[Manuel Talens, a Spanish writer and a translator of some Shamir’s essays, broke his contact with Shamir and called for a boycott as Shamir’s books were published by “Pedro Varela, a Spanish Nazi editor and a staunch defender of Hitler’s heritage.”]

 

Manuel, Your obsession with Hitler leads you astray. He is dead, don’t you know it? Who could possibly care whether Senor Varela is fascinated by his memory, or by memory of Genghis Khan, or Napoleon? What is more important to you, a live Palestinian child or a dead German ruler? Gilad Atzmon, whom you rightly admire, called for unity; you bring strife.

I do not enjoy being in the same trench (as you put it) with a Christ-denier like you, but political activity is not Thai massage, and enjoyment is not the main point of it. For me, our struggle is not a social activity, it is a battle for life and death. In this battle, you became a liability because you block my message from reaching people.

Why Hitler is so important to you? How do you survive in Spain among people who supported Franco, a staunch ally of Hitler? Why don’t you object if an author of ours is being published by a Jewish publisher, say by the New York Times which is on record of publishing favorable to Sharon texts?

I really could not care less about Hitler. I support a present Hitler (according to the Chief Rabbi of Israel), Ahmadinejad; I feel no qualms about yesterday’s hitlers, be it Saddam Hussein, Nasser (according to MacMillan) or Yasser Arafat (according to Begin). I was published in Russia by Stalinists, and you were told by President Bush that Stalin is worse than Hitler. “Hitler” is a generic name of an enemy of Jews, like “Amalek”. Your deadly fear of Hitler makes you a weak link for it (together with your denial of Christ) indicates your submission to the Jewish ordered universe.

I care little about Hitler and Nazis, but I have a profound distrust of anti-nazis, of these guys who walk around with Israeli flag and demand kaffiyes to be taken off. Indeed a man who is scared by the name of Hitler should stay out of Palestine debate, for he will have to spend much of his and our time by repeating that he is not an antisemite. I admire my Spanish publisher Senor Pedro Varela for his noble stand against Nato, against Judeo-American aggression in the Middle East, for his courage, for his readiness to deliver my message to the people of Spain despite police persecutions, for his love of Spanish history, Spanish people, Spanish church. Though my uncles fought for the Republic, though I did not hide my Communist sympathies, Varela did not run away like you do.

My reference to Christ is not in vain: He who befriended whores, fishermen and tax-collectors is my guiding light; His enemies the Pharisees who were careful whose company they keep are yours.