Turnabout Satire or Self Hate?
Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 3:44 amOpposition mounts against lower Manhattan JCC
Stop the Zionization of America, a grassroots organization representing hundreds of citizens concerned with the encroachment of Zionist ideology and Talmudic law on American life, is calling on its supporters to oppose the establishment of a new Jewish community center (JCC) in lower Manhattan. The JCC would be located only two blocks from the New York Stock Exchange, widely seen as ground zero for the 2008 housing market meltdown that gutted the U.S. economy.
“These people have no respect for our way of life,” said movement spokesman Martin Frank, referring to the Jewish bankers, traders and hedge fund managers who oversaw and even profited from the financial collapse. “Millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes, and their financial security. And these bastards are building themselves a synagogue with an indoor racket club and olympic-size swimming pool right next to the scene of the crime? I don’t think so.”
Allan Finkelstein, President of the Jewish Community Center Association, called Frank “a bigot” and expressed shock at what he said was an attitude of “collective punishment for the actions of a few people who happen to be Jewish.”
“First of all,” said Finkelstein, “it’s not a synagogue. Second of all, just because a few Jews happen to do something bad that doesn’t mean that that kind of behavior is endemic or essential to the character of all Jewish people.”
But Frank disagrees. He pointed to several instances within the Talmud, the book of Jewish ritual law, of rabbis commenting on the permissibility of Jews stealing from non-Jews. “This is part of their culture,” he said. “Unless the JCC vocally and publicly denounces this ideology and distances themselves from their crisis-profiteering donors — including returning the money pilfered from the public — there’s no reason we should trust their motivations.”
Frank then exhibited a graph linking dozens of individuals alleged to have profited from securities fraud during the meltdown to the Jewish community center project, including former Bear Stearns chairman Alan ‘Ace’ Greenberg who received over $60 million in executive compensation annually during his tenure at Stearns. Before the firm’s notorious collapse in 2008, Greenberg was the top fundraiser for the UJA Federation of New York, which also financially supports the new JCC.
“This is anti-Semitism, pure and simple,” said Abraham Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League. “The idea that any time a Jew builds a building they have to be vetted for their motivations and funding sources is absurd and noxious.”
On Friday, Sara Najjar-Wilson, President of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, expressed her organization’s concern about the new Jewish community center, stating that, “While we do not believe there is any place in our public discourse for bigoted allegations, we are nonetheless concerned about the message sent by building this new Jewish community center at our economic ground zero. Building so close to the scene of this tragedy would just be so painful for so many people. While it’s completely within their rights, it just isn’t the right thing to do.”
Asked whether she felt that concerns about Jewish motivations raised by the likes of Frank were legitimate, Najjar-Wilson said, “Look, people have lost everything they own at the hands of Jewish bankers and are pretty angry. I think their anguish entitles them to bigotry.”
The lower Manhattan community board votes later this week on whether or not to approve the new building.
DANIEL SIERADSKI
Jewish New Media Activist
http://danielsieradski.com/#155/tumblr
Stop the Zionization of America, a grassroots organization representing hundreds of citizens concerned with the encroachment of Zionist ideology and Talmudic law on American life, is calling on its supporters to oppose the establishment of a new Jewish community center (JCC) in lower Manhattan. The JCC would be located only two blocks from the New York Stock Exchange, widely seen as ground zero for the 2008 housing market meltdown that gutted the U.S. economy.
“These people have no respect for our way of life,” said movement spokesman Martin Frank, referring to the Jewish bankers, traders and hedge fund managers who oversaw and even profited from the financial collapse. “Millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes, and their financial security. And these bastards are building themselves a synagogue with an indoor racket club and olympic-size swimming pool right next to the scene of the crime? I don’t think so.”
Allan Finkelstein, President of the Jewish Community Center Association, called Frank “a bigot” and expressed shock at what he said was an attitude of “collective punishment for the actions of a few people who happen to be Jewish.”
“First of all,” said Finkelstein, “it’s not a synagogue. Second of all, just because a few Jews happen to do something bad that doesn’t mean that that kind of behavior is endemic or essential to the character of all Jewish people.”
But Frank disagrees. He pointed to several instances within the Talmud, the book of Jewish ritual law, of rabbis commenting on the permissibility of Jews stealing from non-Jews. “This is part of their culture,” he said. “Unless the JCC vocally and publicly denounces this ideology and distances themselves from their crisis-profiteering donors — including returning the money pilfered from the public — there’s no reason we should trust their motivations.”
Frank then exhibited a graph linking dozens of individuals alleged to have profited from securities fraud during the meltdown to the Jewish community center project, including former Bear Stearns chairman Alan ‘Ace’ Greenberg who received over $60 million in executive compensation annually during his tenure at Stearns. Before the firm’s notorious collapse in 2008, Greenberg was the top fundraiser for the UJA Federation of New York, which also financially supports the new JCC.
“This is anti-Semitism, pure and simple,” said Abraham Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League. “The idea that any time a Jew builds a building they have to be vetted for their motivations and funding sources is absurd and noxious.”
On Friday, Sara Najjar-Wilson, President of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, expressed her organization’s concern about the new Jewish community center, stating that, “While we do not believe there is any place in our public discourse for bigoted allegations, we are nonetheless concerned about the message sent by building this new Jewish community center at our economic ground zero. Building so close to the scene of this tragedy would just be so painful for so many people. While it’s completely within their rights, it just isn’t the right thing to do.”
Asked whether she felt that concerns about Jewish motivations raised by the likes of Frank were legitimate, Najjar-Wilson said, “Look, people have lost everything they own at the hands of Jewish bankers and are pretty angry. I think their anguish entitles them to bigotry.”
The lower Manhattan community board votes later this week on whether or not to approve the new building.
DANIEL SIERADSKI
Jewish New Media Activist
http://danielsieradski.com/#155/tumblr