Rabbi Dow Marmur starts his encomium to Peter Beinart and other left-leaning Jewish critics of Israel with a bit of a pout (“Canadian Jewry needs a Peter Beinart” The CJN, Sept. 4). Even the Harper government’s strongly pro-Israel stance is seen as an unkind blow to the “Israel is the obstacle to peace” crowd.
Beinart, though he may keep kosher (according to Rabbi Marmur), has some pretty unkosher suggestions when it comes to Israel. Beinart calls for a boycott of Israeli products made on the other side of the 1948 armistice line. But Rabbi Marmur refers to Beinart as a Zionist. It is a strange kind of Zionist who does nothing but criticize Israel, never comes to its defence, and makes common cause with its enemies.
Rabbi Marmur also pleads that “those currently on the fringe” should “be on the inside and not be shut out by ‘community discipline.’” Contrast these idealistic words with Rabbi Marmur’s support for trying to shut down Pamela Geller, the well-known critic of political Islam. When you contrast his attitudes toward Beinart and Geller, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that for Rabbi Marmur, criticizing Israel is good and criticizing political Islam, the fundamental cause of Arab/Muslim anti-Israel aggression, is bad.
He laments the fact that they aren’t more Beinarts. I say what Israel and the world needs is fewer Beinarts and more Gellers.
Jack Micay
Toronto
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Shakespeare was not a bigot
Shakespeare’s masterpiece, The Merchant of Venice, is a “bigoted piece of trash,” according to your very ill-informed letter writer Philip Goldig (“Play should be tossed away” The CJN, Sept. 11).
Shakespeare was no bigoted, virulent anti-Semite as Goldig claims. There is not an iota of evidence to support such a claim. Actually, very little is known of Shakespeare’s life. No manuscripts of any of his plays, in his own hand are extant, which, importantly, would include his stage directions, which means that how he wished Shylock to be portrayed is completely unknown today. And Shakespeare never met a Jew, since there were none, except perhaps Jews who had converted to Christianity, in his London.
Stratford director Antoni Cimolino is not the first stage director to have his actor portray Shylock as “a whimpering degraded character,” nor will he, unfortunately, be the last.
Goldig should perhaps question why the director set the play in Mussolini’s Italy. Shakespeare didn’t – that’s for sure.
Richard Samuelson
Montreal
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Production was best I’ve ever seen
After reading Philip Goldig’s review of The Merchant of Venice (“Play should be tossed away” Letters, The CJN, Sept. 11) I think we must have seen two different plays.
This was the best production of Merchant that I have ever seen.
I hate to disagree with Goldig’s absolute certainty that Shakespeare was a “bigoted, virulent anti-Semite.” In fact, I do remember Shylock’s famous speech “Hath not a Jew eyes…” – the first time a Jew is portrayed as a three-dimensional, attacked human being.
Shylock is wronged, suffers, and demands extreme revenge. He is a bad person who happens to be a Jew, not the other way around. He is hurt by the rejection of his daughter and goes to the extreme. People do that all the time, but we don’t blame it on their religion… or do we?
David Sklar
Montreal
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Arabs and Jews are both Israelis
I’m writing to object to the caption “Israelis and Arabs carry gas mask boxes outside a gas mask distribution centre in Haifa on Sept. 1” (The CJN, Sept. 11). What the caption should have said is: “Jews and Arabs carry gas mask boxes…” or, arguably even better (especially given that the photo was taken in Haifa): “Israelis carry gas mask boxes…” and let the photo speak for itself.
In response to any readers who might object to my objection, imagine a caption under an analogous photo in the Toronto Star that read “Jews and Canadians line up for [whatever].”
Paul Milgram
Toronto