Book review of Gilad Atzmon's The Wandering Who?

[matzoh1234]

I think Joe is spot on in his review of this garbage.

GA is a “proud, self hating Jew”,in his own words. I’d say useful idiot for antisemites is more apt

quote=JoeWallack post_id=81737 time=1516378165 user_id=83]
JW:
Let's also take a look at Amazon's list of other books purchased by those who chose The Wandering Who?:

Oprahser's book club (no, really, a club)

• The Invention of the Jewish People
  
  The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering
  
  Jewish Supremacism: My Awakening to the Jewish Question (David Duke)
  
  1-4: The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem: The Complete 4 Volumes (Henry Ford)
  
  The Jews and Their Lies (Martin Luthifer)
  
  Mein Side of the Story: Key World War 2 Addresses of Adolf Hitler (Gil Nudfree)
  
  The Art of the Deal

So in summary, regarding the cover page of Gilad Atzmon's The Wandering Who? at Amazon:

1) The color scheme is eerily similar to the colors of the antisemitic Nazis.

2) The title's combination of Jews, question and insult is remarkably similar to the traditional antisemitic The Jewish Question/Problem.

3) The reviews include condemnations from notorious antisemites disassociating themselves from the book and author for being too antisemitic.

4) Purchasers of this book are also likely to favor other books that everyone, except apparently Neal Godfree and iskander, would agree are highly antisemitic, written by a veritable Who's Jew? of antisemitic authors, Martin Luther, Henry Ford, Adolf Hitler and David Duke. One would be hard pressed to think of another author exceeding these in antisemitism (no doubt Louis Farrakhan would be on the list if only he was able to write).

My old wise (Jewish) boss used to say, "Joe (he said "Joe" because that was my name), sometimes if you wait long enough, a problem does go away." Likewise, sometimes you really can judge a book by its cover.


Joseph

The New Porphyry
[/quote]

[iskander]

Book review of Gilad Atzmon's The Wandering Who?:

"Gilad Atzmon has written an absorbing and moving account of his journey from a hard core Israeli nationalist to a de-Zionized patriot of humanity and a passionate advocate of justice for the Palestinian people.

It is a transforming story told with unflinching integrity that all (specially Jews) who care about real peace, as well as their own identity, should not only read, but reflect upon and discuss widely"


Professor Richard Falk. Professor of International Law Emeritus , Princeton University

I have tried so hard to get Joe the Willy to actually read the "book" and not just play games with its cover. He won't, of course.

So I gave up. I decided to play his game. Judge books attacking my views from his point of view from the color designs of their covers.

Thank you neilgodfrey,

Mr.Gilad Atzmon was born in Israel and served in the IDF.

Gilad is asking why the happiness of the State of Israel is made to appear to be incompatible with the happiness of the resident Palestinian population.

It is a very simple question born in the heart of every honest man.

Who was a Jew? see attachment

[neilgodfrey]

You really do have a reptilian tribalist mindset. You cannot possibly comprehend anything that fails to give unqualified ra-ra backing to Israel in every move she makes, every breath she takes.

And the converse for an Arab. Especially a Palestinian Arab.

There's a word for a person with that outlook, Joe.

JW:
Okay, so you're trying to Giload me into posting something like this:



Not going to do it. Not going there.


Joseph

The New Porphyry

You really should read the book, Joe, and actually set aside your hostile intent and try -- try -- to read with the fundamental comprehension expected of a high school student aspiring to be fluent in English.

Oh. You should also try to get to know some Palestinian Arabs. Talk to them. Get to understand them as real people. Not as cockroaches or vermin. You know, humanizing them --- is that possible for you? And even see your fellow Israelis as fallible humans with good and bad like anyone else, too.

Is that possible for you, Joe?

[neilgodfrey]

I think Joe is spot on in his review of this garbage.

GA is a “proud, self hating Jew”,in his own words. I’d say useful idiot for antisemites is more apt

Have you read Wandering Jew? Do you, also, define anyone who utters a word critical of Israel's policies as an anti-semite?

[neilgodfrey]

JW:
Unlike Chapter 2 where you could at least follow Atzmon's antisemitic thought Chapter 3 doesn't really have any arguments. Just random thoughts (like a game of Bingo):

You're a joke, Joe. Anyone who has read the book knows you're not even pretending to understand Atzmon's words. You're reading with a reptilian brain that sees monsters in every demonic association with every phrase and term.

You cannot listen to anyone trying to express a different point of view. To you, if the view is so confronting to your values and beliefs, you are incapable of hearing or comprehending it. You filter every word through your demonizing filter and interpret it as something monstrous.

You simply cannot hear or comprehend the other side. That's called tribalism. The very problem Atzmon is addressing. You shut down communication by jamming the words of the other side with all sorts of distortions and noise.

You cannot even read my own posts on Jewish history documented from the Jewish archives and my own posts addressing terrorists, including Palestinian terrorists, without lying about what I say. You don't even know you're lying. You really cannot read or comprehend words that cast the slightest negativity of anything Israeli.

[neilgodfrey]

Antisemitism means dehumanizing Jews, essentialising and hating Jews as a race through such demonization. Visually it is recognized by demonic caricatures -- the evil hooked nose and thick lips and leery eyes and the greedily hidden pot of gold. No sensible or humane person can take such caricatures seriously -- not even their dehumanizing equivalents in verbal narratives or descriptions.

Nor can anyone take the same sort of dehumanizing, absurd demonization, of Atzmon or anyone who is critical of Israel, seriously. The roles have been reversed, Joe.

[JoeWallack]

JW:
In Chapter 4 Atzmon wanders even farther from any argument and just throws out negative stereotypes:

the ‘speculative capitalist’ Diaspora[Jewish] character appears soft on the outside but is extremely shrewd where business is concerned.

The Sabra is ‘tough and tender’, he can kill like a real ‘man’ when he ‘has to’ but this doesn’t stop him from weeping at the ‘Wailing Wall’ as soon as he has completed an invasion of the Old City of Jerusalem (1967)32. He can ethnically cleanse the entire Palestinian nation on Friday and then attend a ‘Peace Now’ demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening.

From those familiar with real history this is exactly what Jordan did to the Jews in East Jerusalem. Except for the peace demonstration part.

the Sabra[Jewish] is tough – he is ‘a head taller than his father’. Like a German soldier he is ‘often blond … often blue eyed … He is cocky, robustly built.’ But then unlike a German soldier he is loose, he likes to walk in Biblical sandals in a ‘free-swinging, lazy slouch …’. Basically, he is a kind of a bizarre mixture of an SS commander and a biblical Moses. As interesting as this caricature may be, there is nothing authentic about this construction.

Not authentic but "interesting". Reminds me of the 1955 Heavyweight championship fight between Muhammad Ali and Rocky. Of course Ali wasn't even born yet and Rocky is a fictional boxer but it would have been an interesting matchup nonetheless.

The birth of the West Bank Settler Jew (following the 1967 war), a radical messianic militant who plans to confiscate the entire ‘land of biblical Israel’ in the name of God,

Or someone who wants their own place in a very small overcrowded country that is mostly desert.

The Settler is fuelled by coherent meanings. Even when he confiscates land or murders a Palestinian family he knows exactly what for.

It's exponentially more likely that a Palestinian would murder or try to murder a "Settler" but I wouldn't describe Palestinians in general as "murdering a Settler family". The relative number would be very small compared to the total Palestinian population.

Also, considering the racist, expansionist Judeo-centric nature of the Jewish State, the Diaspora Jew finds himself or herself intrinsically associated with a bigoted, ethnocentric ideology and an endless list of crimes against humanity.

Doesn't sound like he is just describing some Jews.

As we can see, the Jewish political discourse is always set as a form of negation. The political Jew is always against something, or set apart from something else. This is far from being an ideal recipe for a peaceful, ethical life, driven by reconciliation and harmony.

See comment above. Atzmon stumbles onto the observation that the creation of Israel was a Secular effort and his caricature of West Bank Jews is they are all orthodox. Since even though they are both Jews and fit (according to him) his Jews first profiling, he can't help but notice that they have different motivations. The Seculars want world domination while the orthodox are Judaism motivated (all per Atzmon). So what's an antisemite to do. He claims that miraculously the two have merged (mutated?) into a New Jewish World Zionist Order consisting of all related evil traits (he hates Secular and Religious Jews - again, doesn't leave him much room for any other type).

At this point it's understandable why a reasonable person would stop reading his book as he has hit on almost every type of antisemitism like he had a related checklist:

Cultural antisemitism - Check
Religious antisemitism - Check
Economic antisemitism - Check
Racial antisemitism - Check
Political antisemitism - Check
Conspiracy theories - Check
New antisemitism - Check
Indology - Check


Joseph

The New Porphyry

[neilgodfrey]

JW:
In Chapter 4 Atzmon wanders even farther from any argument and just throws out negative stereotypes:

Joe, no one is reading. You are a joke. Your comments are not offensive because they are simply laughable to anyone who has actually read Atzmon with fundamental late primary/early secondary school level of comprehension.

You are not only making a grotesque dehumanized caricature of Atzmon but you are even choosing to ignore my own comments. Presumably you cannot bring yourself to read even those.

When someone like you chooses to make such a nonsense, bizarre, unrealistic and dehumanized and demonized caricature of anyone who dares, dares, to see the light about tribalist mentality and racism when it applies to minds like yours, you simply become a joke that no-one can take seriously. Unless, of course, they are predisposed to do so because they have a prior tribalist mentality like yours.

Have you ever visited the West Bank or Gaza? Tell us about your experiences there.

[iskander]

Were the Samaritans 'anti-Semitic'?
attachment:

[JoeWallack]

JW:
Atzmon's Hitler Rap

Chapter 5:

Jews are often proud to define themselves as Jews. Some Jews may, for instance, proudly carry the Jewish banner (Jews for Peace, Jews for Justice, Jews for Jesus and so on) as if they believe that the ‘J’ word contains special righteous attributions. However, they will also be gravely offended if they are called a ‘Jew’ by others. Suggesting to a Jew that ‘he is a Jew’ or ‘behaves like a Jew’ can be regarded as a serious ‘racist’ offence
...
For instance, a feminist who proudly carries the feminist flag may also accept that being called ‘a feminist’ also assigns particular characteristics and ideological beliefs. Crucially, we also accept that being a feminist, a socialist or a Nazi are matters of political choice. People are not born feminists or socialists. They adopt those ideologies or identities later in life.

Atzmon makes a point that "The Jews" like positive Jewish stereotypes but don't like negative Jewish stereotypes. Captain atzminous. He fails to explain how this is different from any other group. Again with the comparative examples of feminists and Nazis. Was his mother a lesbian? I wonder what he thinks of Jewish Zionist Lesbians? The JayZ-L. Does he prefer lesbian bashing to gay bashing because Arafat was gay?

It doesn’t take a genius to gather why Julius and others are concerned with Fagin or Shylock. Fagin is the ultimate plunderer, a child exploiter and usurer. Shylock is the blood-thirsty merchant. With Fagin and Shylock in mind, the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians seems to be just a further event in an endless hellish continuum.

Verses:

Yet, Anne Frank wasn’t exactly a literary genius. Her diary is not a valuable piece of literature. She wasn’t exceptionally clever either. She was in fact a very ordinary girl and this is exactly her power within the post WWII Western cultural discourse. She was just an innocent, average girl. In fact, the attempt to make Anne Frank into a cultural hero may be a genuine reflection of the Jewish ideological inclination towards sameness. Frank mirrors the desperate attempt to prove to the world that ‘we, the Jews’ are people like other people.

So Atzmon personally really likes negative stereotypes of The Jews but doesn't like positive ones. I could have guessed that. And what he hates is using the Holocaust as any type of support for The Jews. What he loves is using it as condemnation of The Jews.

It's been the same crap for 5 chapters now. He makes a few correct general observations which just show that "The Jews" are more similar than different compared to other minorities. Than without any logical argument supported by surveys, research and studies (evidence) he concludes that The Jews are a unique minority, but only in negative ways that control/harm/threaten the majority and all other minorities. The Jewish Problem = what to do about some group of Jews that are in between Israelis + Jews who support Israel + Jews who control the world + plus Jews who support Jews who support the world and all Jews? Well, since you can't tell exactly where this group ends, just to be safe it's best to...

I have figured out what Atzmon's problem is. He made the mistake of choosing a psychiatrist with a goyisher kopf.


Joseph

The New Porphyry