When Kesher Talk contributor Van Wallach isn't reporting serious local events like a Jewish Policy Forum panel on Iran, he's imagining an alternate universe in which Palestinians convert to Judaism en masse or this column appears in the NYTimes:
The Iranian government has announced the rules for its much-anticipated Holocaust Cartoon Festival, details here.
In a related development, the New York Times columnist and cutting-edge social critic Frank Rich has enthusiastically signed on as a judge of the festival.
"I'm excited by this tremendous opportunity to stand up for free speech and show the Iranians what the First Amendment is all about," said Rich. "It's about time that somebody paid attention to the terrible decline of quality in Holocaust and anti-semitic artwork. These genres have suffered greatly from the relentless assault on artistic expression by the Bush Administration."
In fact, argued Rich, anti-semitic art has been in an "alarming" freefall "since the classical era of the 1930s and 1940s."
Brushing donut crumbs off his tweed jacket during an interview at his sprawling New York co-op, Rich said German artists perfected the genre "during a time of great social ferment, you know, the New Deal, the WPA, energy-efficient Volkswagens, autobahns, those gorgeous black German uniforms, great Broadway musicals, lots of interest in stuff like nationalism and socialism."
"European Jews were isolating themselves in gated communities at the time, turning their back on the rich diversity of life in Europe," added Rich, "and many ignored this wonderful art around them, but Germans did their best to distribute anti-semitic art in these all-Jewish communities. That was the Germans' way of speaking truth to power."
Asked about his expectations of the Holocaust Cartoon Festival, Rich said he hoped to find works that would capture the "shock of the real" found in the best of what he called "avant-shoah" artwork.
"A viewer should see these works and recognize their wry truths about himself, or at least recognize his bubbe and zayde," explained Rich.
He will also write an introduction to an upscale coffee-table book of the collected submissions to the festival. It will be published in English, Farsi, and French editions. The Times will feature the book in its holiday gift-giving guide.
"Rich added that many of the most notable artists of the Anti-Semite School failed to receive their due at the time because of the 'transgressive' nature of their vision.
" 'The press of the era was dominated by Jews like Sulzberger and Jewsymps like Luce, who couldn't see beyond the surface meaning of these overclass works into the 'meta-tirade' of the demonized Germans and Austrians whose voices had been suppressed,' Rich continued. 'Today, however, a new generation of scholars in Iran and Palestine has laid the groundwork for a full appreciation of the masterracepieces of the uebermenschen sensibility, which has been under a cloud since Poland's lightning invasion of Germany in 1939 and the subsequent refusal of the Allied powers to honor the quest of the National Socialists for a homeland of their own.' "
WTF? Ive never much liked Frank Rich, but I cant quite tell what youre getting it. Warning - Heavy sarcasm based on an unexplained in joke tends to look sorta weird.
In a related events, Ann Coulter highjacked a cold war bomber, using her vast intellect to pilot the bomber over Tehran, and drop it's payload.
Her last comments were received by military radio just before her death.
"I can only hope that that Hillary is in the audience.... This is for 9/11!"
It is widely beleived that in her final moments she strapped herself to a bomb and fell the remaining 10,000 feet.
What do you want to bet the New York Times publishes these cartoon but they are too chicken$hit to publish Prophet Mo's...lol.
If this hogwash has a modicum of truth to it, then Frank Rich ought to be taken to task. It is quite true that the New York Times would never publish derogatory cartoons of the prophet Mohammed, but would have no qualms about showing cartoons that deride and poke fun at the Holocaust.
Attacking the Jews and the Holocaust does not foster and encourage free speech. It does not show the world how wonderful the First Amendment is. It only serves to hurt and villify. It only fosters hate and animosity. It plays into the hands of those who would do away with free speech.
Iranian President Ahmadinejad denies the veracity of the Holocaust. His vituperative will surely be embraced by many willing listeners. His vitriolic rhetoric against Jews, Israel and the Holocaust cannot be taken lightly.
Encouraging his macabre cartoon contest will not help the cause of free speech and democracy. It will only further fan the flames of hatred and bigotry, while distorting history and spewing forth pure lies. History cannot be revised under any circumstances.
It's a parody, but you would only know that if you read the intro in italics. I took a risk that people would get that with only a little help, but it isn't obvious.
Newsweek's Rabbi Marc Gellman checks in on the cartoon controversy here:
I think he's right on.