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A review by lpm100
Catch the Jew! by Tuvia Tenenbom
funny
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Book Review
Catch The Jew
5/5 stars
Through the Looking Glass type inanity
*******
This gonzo journalist author is super smart.
Hebrew as a first language. And then: German, English, Yiddish, and Arabic.
So, he decides to come back to Israel decades after leaving and pass himself off as "Tobi the German" in order to be a fly on the wall and write his impressions from that experience.
And this book really is priceless because most people who take up these type of crusades take them up on behalf of people about which they know nothing.
Toby the German talks to them all, and in their language: Settlers. Prostitutes. NGO workers. Token Arabs. Jewish Weirdos like Shlomo Sand/ Gideon Levy. Professional activists/grievancemongers.
400 NGOs working just between Gaza and the West Bank. (As of 2013.) About one every 5.7 mi².
To sum up the book in one sentence, the author says (p.143) "For a moment I think I have just been dropped into a mental institution," and I whole-heartedly agree.
Who are the cast of characters?
1. Well fed and employed academic Arab professional grievance mongers.
2. Loopy White People from various parts of the world. ("Loopy," as used here, means people that go somewhere and get up in arms about some shit that has NOTHING to do with them. It could be straight people being concerned about gay marriage. It could be white people who never have abortions squawking about the right of black people to unalive their own children. It could be Europeans blabbering on about Tibet, in spite of never having been there.)
In this case, it is ones that work for non-governmental organizations whose job it is is to demonize the Israeli government and center themselves within a conflict that has nothing to do with them.
3. Loopy Jewish People. ("Loopy," as used here, means Jewish people that choose to see each other as enemies and their enemies as friends.)
-The author talks about his grandfather refusing to leave Hungary because he would rather die than liv wee with Zionists. And the Germans rewarded him with an immediate burial right there in Hungary.
-Anti-Zionist Haredim.
-Left wing pro-Palestinian anti-semitic Jews.
Other, second order thoughts:
1. Only a small number of American Jews go to live in Israel, and now that I see the complexity of the situation I don't wonder why.
2. It's very interesting the Arab fascination with Adolf Hitler. A lot of people like to imagine that these guys are hapless victims, but I really don't think that's the case.
Given their violent, destructive nature.... If there were no Jews there for them to fight against, they would just be fighting with each other.
It seems like it's one of those things that you would have to be there to understand.
3. It sure must be nice to be an Affluent White Person. These Fabulous White People that the author describes in the book don't speak any Arabic, don't know any Arabs, and have not read anything about the situation that they are protesting/teaching about.
Nonetheless, governments and donors give funds for Fabulous White People to turn the entire world into a self-actualization therapy exercise.
Idiots like Ibram X Kendi are whiter than what they realize, their names not withstanding.
4. There are ways to expand a country's territorial footprint, and I think that Israel should probably take some lessons from China. (They started out as 890K mi² and are now 3.7mln mi². 2.8mln mi² in 23 centuries. About 1200 mi² per year. Gaza and the West Bank are 2,314 mi² COMBINED--2 years worth of territorial acquisition at Chinese rates-- that has been fought over for the past 85 years.)
5. How is there even a state in Israel at all? If they are not able to keep that state, No one will ever have thought that it was a sustainable situation.
-A monstrous infestation of non-working, non taxpaying, politically destructive Haredim.
-Surrounded by a bunch of hostile neighbors.
-20% of the population are Arabs that call themselves Palestinians.
The author says as much in the epilogue: "If history is any guide, Israel will not survive. Besieged by hate from without and from within, no land can survive for very long.... [The Israelis] hate themselves, they belie themselves, they are full of fears and many of them rush to get another passport."
6. Lindy effect: something can be expected to last for as long as it is already lasted. One of the MKs in this book predicted Peace between Arabs and Jews within 10 years (p.377). That was in 2013.
Verdict: Recommend
Quotes:
(??)There are people who are alcoholics and there are people who are recovering alcoholics, meaning they've stopped drinking. I happen to be a recovering intellectual and I draw from my former self to understand this intellectual.
(98) He who cannot explain his thesis in simple words is he who has no thesis.
(124) It's mind-boggling to me how people who say they love Palestinians so much and dedicate their lives for preserving Palestinian identity and culture don't even entertain the thought of studying this culture. They know no Quran, no hadith, and no Arabic.
(130) I look at him and think: this is the biggest proof that God exists. Who else could create such an idiot as this Swiss? No Big Bang ever could.
(162) No wonder Silvio Berlusconi was the longest serving postwar prime minister of Italy. It takes the Italians ages before they figure out they make no sense.
(212) And then General Jibril has an idea, a brilliant one: "Your name, from now on, is Abu Ali. (The Brave. The Hero.)" What they don't tell me, and maybe they assume I already know, is which other white man the Palestinians have honored with this very name. Adolf Hitler.
(237) Being a human rights activist in our time is to be a persona, not a philosophy; it's a fad, it's a fashion. Human rights activist does not look for facts or logic; it's all about a certain dress code, "cool" clothing, about language, diction, expressions, and certain manners.
(244) Like Nadia, eternity gets higher education for free. And like her, she studies with the Jews and she spits on them. These two women, I think, are smarter than the Jews who pay for their education.
(346) If you deduct from the total population of Israel those who believe in dead men or flying horses or camels, the people you will have left are the NGO activists and the editor-in-chief of Haaretz.
(329) A Mercedes and an iPhone, coupled with a law degree from an Israeli University, are the truest trademarks of the poor. This is the theater of the absurd, and we're only in scene 1.
(328) The man drives a Mercedes and thinks he is an Auschwitz.
(289-interview with a hooker) "I live with my man, my mate." (Does he mind what you're doing?) "He is a Haredi Jew." (Does he know what you are doing?) " That's how we met! Outside, he puts on those black clothes of the Haredi. But inside the house, he is normal. Really normal."
(284) There are so many anti-Israel [NGO] groups within Israel that is not simple to choose the best one. I go by the alphabet.
(386) You can pause your hatred [of Jews] because of an uncomfortable Auschwitz moment, as the Europeans did a few decades ago, but to completely erase the habit of hatred is a much harder task.
Vocab
zekel beiner (Yiddish? German?). Sack of bones
Yekke Potz. Internal Jewish epithet. "German Jewish idiot."
Catch The Jew
5/5 stars
Through the Looking Glass type inanity
*******
This gonzo journalist author is super smart.
Hebrew as a first language. And then: German, English, Yiddish, and Arabic.
So, he decides to come back to Israel decades after leaving and pass himself off as "Tobi the German" in order to be a fly on the wall and write his impressions from that experience.
And this book really is priceless because most people who take up these type of crusades take them up on behalf of people about which they know nothing.
Toby the German talks to them all, and in their language: Settlers. Prostitutes. NGO workers. Token Arabs. Jewish Weirdos like Shlomo Sand/ Gideon Levy. Professional activists/grievancemongers.
400 NGOs working just between Gaza and the West Bank. (As of 2013.) About one every 5.7 mi².
To sum up the book in one sentence, the author says (p.143) "For a moment I think I have just been dropped into a mental institution," and I whole-heartedly agree.
Who are the cast of characters?
1. Well fed and employed academic Arab professional grievance mongers.
2. Loopy White People from various parts of the world. ("Loopy," as used here, means people that go somewhere and get up in arms about some shit that has NOTHING to do with them. It could be straight people being concerned about gay marriage. It could be white people who never have abortions squawking about the right of black people to unalive their own children. It could be Europeans blabbering on about Tibet, in spite of never having been there.)
In this case, it is ones that work for non-governmental organizations whose job it is is to demonize the Israeli government and center themselves within a conflict that has nothing to do with them.
3. Loopy Jewish People. ("Loopy," as used here, means Jewish people that choose to see each other as enemies and their enemies as friends.)
-The author talks about his grandfather refusing to leave Hungary because he would rather die than liv wee with Zionists. And the Germans rewarded him with an immediate burial right there in Hungary.
-Anti-Zionist Haredim.
-Left wing pro-Palestinian anti-semitic Jews.
Other, second order thoughts:
1. Only a small number of American Jews go to live in Israel, and now that I see the complexity of the situation I don't wonder why.
2. It's very interesting the Arab fascination with Adolf Hitler. A lot of people like to imagine that these guys are hapless victims, but I really don't think that's the case.
Given their violent, destructive nature.... If there were no Jews there for them to fight against, they would just be fighting with each other.
It seems like it's one of those things that you would have to be there to understand.
3. It sure must be nice to be an Affluent White Person. These Fabulous White People that the author describes in the book don't speak any Arabic, don't know any Arabs, and have not read anything about the situation that they are protesting/teaching about.
Nonetheless, governments and donors give funds for Fabulous White People to turn the entire world into a self-actualization therapy exercise.
Idiots like Ibram X Kendi are whiter than what they realize, their names not withstanding.
4. There are ways to expand a country's territorial footprint, and I think that Israel should probably take some lessons from China. (They started out as 890K mi² and are now 3.7mln mi². 2.8mln mi² in 23 centuries. About 1200 mi² per year. Gaza and the West Bank are 2,314 mi² COMBINED--2 years worth of territorial acquisition at Chinese rates-- that has been fought over for the past 85 years.)
5. How is there even a state in Israel at all? If they are not able to keep that state, No one will ever have thought that it was a sustainable situation.
-A monstrous infestation of non-working, non taxpaying, politically destructive Haredim.
-Surrounded by a bunch of hostile neighbors.
-20% of the population are Arabs that call themselves Palestinians.
The author says as much in the epilogue: "If history is any guide, Israel will not survive. Besieged by hate from without and from within, no land can survive for very long.... [The Israelis] hate themselves, they belie themselves, they are full of fears and many of them rush to get another passport."
6. Lindy effect: something can be expected to last for as long as it is already lasted. One of the MKs in this book predicted Peace between Arabs and Jews within 10 years (p.377). That was in 2013.
Verdict: Recommend
Quotes:
(??)There are people who are alcoholics and there are people who are recovering alcoholics, meaning they've stopped drinking. I happen to be a recovering intellectual and I draw from my former self to understand this intellectual.
(98) He who cannot explain his thesis in simple words is he who has no thesis.
(124) It's mind-boggling to me how people who say they love Palestinians so much and dedicate their lives for preserving Palestinian identity and culture don't even entertain the thought of studying this culture. They know no Quran, no hadith, and no Arabic.
(130) I look at him and think: this is the biggest proof that God exists. Who else could create such an idiot as this Swiss? No Big Bang ever could.
(162) No wonder Silvio Berlusconi was the longest serving postwar prime minister of Italy. It takes the Italians ages before they figure out they make no sense.
(212) And then General Jibril has an idea, a brilliant one: "Your name, from now on, is Abu Ali. (The Brave. The Hero.)" What they don't tell me, and maybe they assume I already know, is which other white man the Palestinians have honored with this very name. Adolf Hitler.
(237) Being a human rights activist in our time is to be a persona, not a philosophy; it's a fad, it's a fashion. Human rights activist does not look for facts or logic; it's all about a certain dress code, "cool" clothing, about language, diction, expressions, and certain manners.
(244) Like Nadia, eternity gets higher education for free. And like her, she studies with the Jews and she spits on them. These two women, I think, are smarter than the Jews who pay for their education.
(346) If you deduct from the total population of Israel those who believe in dead men or flying horses or camels, the people you will have left are the NGO activists and the editor-in-chief of Haaretz.
(329) A Mercedes and an iPhone, coupled with a law degree from an Israeli University, are the truest trademarks of the poor. This is the theater of the absurd, and we're only in scene 1.
(328) The man drives a Mercedes and thinks he is an Auschwitz.
(289-interview with a hooker) "I live with my man, my mate." (Does he mind what you're doing?) "He is a Haredi Jew." (Does he know what you are doing?) " That's how we met! Outside, he puts on those black clothes of the Haredi. But inside the house, he is normal. Really normal."
(284) There are so many anti-Israel [NGO] groups within Israel that is not simple to choose the best one. I go by the alphabet.
(386) You can pause your hatred [of Jews] because of an uncomfortable Auschwitz moment, as the Europeans did a few decades ago, but to completely erase the habit of hatred is a much harder task.
Vocab
zekel beiner (Yiddish? German?). Sack of bones
Yekke Potz. Internal Jewish epithet. "German Jewish idiot."