Review of Masters of Discourse by Israel
Shamir
by
Ingrid Rimland
For weeks and weeks, I
have had on my nightstand two titles by Israel Shamir, an
Israeli journalist and internet essayist par excellence. One is
“Cabbala of Power”, of which I will say little because it is,
essentially, an argument of sentiment by a converted Jew who has
found solace and relief in Christianity.
Here I speak only for
myself. I have been an entrenched agnostic since I was twelve
years old and argued with the preachers that God had certainly
no business casting Satan into outer darkness without granting
him a platform and an impartial ear. Little did I know in those
young years that here was a budding revisionist speaking!
“Well,” said the
preachers, launching a rigid imperative as they are wont to do
while missing the point of my protest, “he refused to love God,
didn't he?”
Sheesh! What a Jewish
argument, coming from a Christian preacher! What is “love”, I
wanted to know - still do! - without merit or respect? Why
anybody should be compelled to “love” without any rhyme or
reason if one's dogmatic counterpart arbitrarily cuts off a
two-way discourse?
That is one of many
worthy points in Shamir's second title, “Masters of Discourse” -
a collection of beautifully crafted essays discussing some of
the conflicts that plague us world-wide because otherwise
high-minded people don't exactly “love” the Jews - and, hence,
to their astonishment, find themselves cast into outer darkness
by self-righteous counterpart maxims. Jews expect to be “loved”
- please, on what merits?
Those were my thoughts
for weeks as I was eyeing those two titles with ambivalence.
Central to my reservations as a book reviewer was a barrier I am
a bit squeamish to admit - that Israel Shamir is a Jew. He is
also my friend and a man I abundantly admire and respect - and
have for many years. I know, I know - he is a Christian now, no
longer a “Jew” - but even there a pesky intrusion pops into my
head my Christian-Mennonite grandmother would often cite with
passion and zest:
“If a cat has kittens in
the oven, does that make the kittens cookies?”
If I become a Muslim,
does that make me an Arab?
As much as I like,
appreciate, and even admire Shamir for any number of good
reasons, primarily his breadth of understanding and his
amazingly precise yet literarily seductive pen, this is where we
part ways. I don't think one can renounce being a Jew, any more
than one can renounce being a Gentile. I am a German Gentile
from way back, even though my people lived in Russia for five or
six generations. I never saw myself as a Russian, much less did
I think of myself as a Slav. Who we are genetically is not
something one can discard any more than one can ditch the color
of one's eyes. It's our blueprint, for better or for worse. We
can't choose our snail house that comes with ancestry.
What we can choose,
however, is a moral outlook and a moral conduct, whether one is
Jewish or Gentile by background or not. That is where I give
credit to Shamir. He is, in my book, one of the noblest, most
genuine, caring and discerning human being on this planet, and
he lives his “Gentile” creed, his brand of Christianity against
his Jewish background, through his brave conduct and his
stunning writing every day.
In an ever more
polarizing Jewish-Gentile universe, this “identity politics”
argument is peeling itself out of a century of socially
laissez-faire gook. As I was pondering just what to write to be
fair to my friend's talents and insights, Ernst [Zundel] called
me from Mannheim Prison where Shamir's vengeful tribal brethren
have finally managed to manacle him because he asks, as I did as
a child: “Worship the Jews? Please. On what merits?”
”What are you doing?”
asked Ernst.
“I am trying to review
Shamir's books,” I told him. “And I am having a dickens of a
time. It used to be that one could never speak about a Jew
except in a cloyingly backslapping manner. These days, I get
clobbered if I say anything at all approving about Jews! The
hatred out there on the Net against Jews is alarming.”
Said Ernst with a small
chuckle, on the receiving end of global Jewish virulence for all
his adult years: “We'll be their last defenders!”
Of all the ironies!
So let me defend Israel
Shamir while I still can. Shamir digs in his heels and speaks
Wrath to Power with an almost suicidal courage, yet inside, I
believe, is still a suffering Jew who tries to get his tribal
brethren to head for the safety hatch while there's still time,
while they still can. Will he succeed? I cannot answer that. The
anger out there against “Jews” is ferocious and past the point
of reason - especially now with Gaza on everyone's mind.
I have no trouble
stating that anything that Shamir writes is beauty and
complexity, even if it deals with cruelty. Below, I will give
you a handful of examples what I mean when I say that the power
of his pen is equal to none:
“The Jewish leadership
never intended to give their captive goy a chance to lead a
normal life. Sooner will a cat turn vegetarian.”
“Saddam Hussein is
gone,” he writes, “but by now every leader in the world knows
what he should expect if Israel asks its American Golem for his
head.”
“Without Israel, US
forces would be quite content to hang around their bases in
Georgia and Texas instead of seeking out Jew-haters in the five
continents.”
About Jewish media
control: “The fearsome AIPAC is just the visible tip of the
iceberg, below which are miles and miles of solid ice: media
lords, chief editors, their pundits - in short, the Masters of
Discourse.”
About the double
standard: “As the gentile killer of Klinghoffer the Jew is
pursued around the world by the CIA, the Jewish killer of Rachel
Corrie goes free.”
“In space studies, there
is a phenomenon called the black hole. The collapse of an old,
heavy star warps the geometry of the surrounding space, and rays
of light can no longer escape the intense gravity. Such a black
hole star is invisible because its very size and power has
defeated gravity. Jewry is such a black hole. It is so powerful
that it is not seen. One is not allowed to see it. It is the
strongest taboo of our day.”
“Liberalism is as Jewish
as gefilte fish.”
“It befits beggars to
brag about sores and show off their deformities, not warriors
and philosophers. Demanding apologies and begging forgiveness is
sick.”
“The Jew and the goy are
like wolf and lamb; if you want the wolf to dwell with the lamb,
please provide a fresh lamb every day.”
“It is easy to object to
“Israeli tanks', 'Israeli snipers', 'Israeli killers'. Try
Jewish killers. Not so easy.”
“Playing word games does
not fool anyone - least of all 'the Jews'. If Raimondo were
slapped by Aaronovitch, he would probably claim that he was
slapped by Aaronovitch's hand 'which has nothing to do with
Comrade Aaronovitch'. In my view, if Aaronovitch's hand slaps
Raimondo, I'm guessing Aaronovitch is close by.”
And, finally, the apex
of insight for me:
“This is a war against
Spirit, and Spirit is not to be trifled with.”
I love that kind of
writing. It's near impossible to do justice to the many layers
of Shamir's book, “The Masters of Discourse”. If you want to
know what hard thinking is, wrapped in the most literarily
seductive prose you'll ever find in our intellectually and
morally warped century, read Israel Shamir - and see where you
come out.
=====
Israel Adam Shamir,
Masters of Discourse (Surge Books 2008) 695 pp. $23.99 ISBN
1-4196-9243-7 buy it from the Amazon,
http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Discourse-Israel-Shamir/dp/1419692437
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