Sometimes it’s easier to say it in verse.
What follows was inspired by reactions to my last two blogs after they were posted on Facebook. The first post was a deconstruction of a pro-Israel rally poster, the second was in the form of a Letter to Anne Frank. The words in italics are all verbatim quotes from Facebook comments, all from fellow Jews.
You might recommend I just stay clear of Facebook. But to have a digital presence on the Israel/Palestine front that’s not really an option.
So here’s my poetic Jewish response.
Other ways of Being Jewish are available
1.
You should be ashamed!
You are a disgrace!
But if you only knew me you wouldn’t say that
You are a fool!
But this is what I thought Being Jewish looked like
Most groups have an extremist self loathing fringe…
It’s true I made a mistake
Just ignore him
A big mistake
Just ignore him
I dragged values, ethics, human rights and obligations
Just ignore him
…into a place where they have no right to be
I thought this is what Being Jewish looked like
Big mistake
2.
I should have known better
Because other ways of Being Jewish are available
Robert Cohen you are a fool of the worst kind
Yes, it’s true
Other ways of Being Jewish are available
All equally valid
In fact
On the whole
Based on the Comments and the Likes
The other ways of Being Jewish
Are more valid than mine
3.
Such is the (un)civil Jewish War
Mate, you need to take your head out of your tuchas
I’ve no idea how it ends
Badly I suspect
I hear the IDF is harvesting brains
Really?
Unfortunately they could not find one inside Robert Cohen
If you only knew me you wouldn’t say that
4.
Robert, we both want the same thing
We do?
Peace
But is that peace and justice
Or merely peace and quiet
(for you)?
Do you seriously think your pals…
I dragged values, ethics, human rights and obligations
…Are going to give a flying f**k that you’re not like the other Jews??
It’s true
Other ways of Being Jewish are available
5.
I wrote a letter to Anne Frank
It seems he has been brainwashed…
I wasn’t expecting a reply
… by the culture of the sickest people
To ask what she thought of it all
But I did get a reply
This letter is shameful
In fact several
But none from Anne
6.
It must be true
I have read the wrong books
And met the wrong people
The people who
kill their own children
rather than part with their hatred of the Jews
But this response was better than some
The Holocaust deniers
The diary deniers
The Anne Frank deniers
I don’t think they are Jews
But I clearly have a talent
For bringing out
The very best in people.
7.
Robert Cohen you are a disgrace to the Jewish people
Values, ethics, human rights and obligations
I can’t understand the mental disorder kapos like you suffer
If you only knew me you wouldn’t say such things
I dragged values, ethics, human rights…
But it is quite clear
That other ways of Being Jewish are available
Just
Ignore
Him
8.
And now I’ve hit the big time
I have arrived on the scene
The first bonafide call for my death
I hope you die at the hand of your beloved Muslims
It’s the Jewish(un)civil war
With my values, ethics, human rights and obligations
I have brought
Incitement
Hatred
Terror
It’s true
Other ways of Being Jewish are available
But if you only knew me you wouldn’t say these things
Actually, maybe you would.
Copyright Robert A.H. Cohen February 2016
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