Want to understand Peter Beinart? Its a generational thing:- My grandmother never lived in France. Her family hailed from Greece, Turkey and before that, Spain. She was born in Alexandria, Egypt, moved to what is now Lubumbashi in the Congo and then onto Cape Town, South Africa, where she lived out her days. But, culturally, she was French. French was her first language and her second identity. Her first, of course, was being a Jew. I can imagine what she would have said about the murders in Paris. She would have said she was not surprised. She would have said that this is what they do and why Israel is our only real home. And if I had asked whom she meant by “they,” she would have shot me an annoyed look and said, “the Arabs, the Muslims, you know.” And then she would have reminded me – as she reminded me all my life – that she grew up with “them” and I did not. I don’t see the world the way my grandmother does. I don’t like vague and menacing talk about “them.”
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 15:03:39 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015