Arrogant twit

Yesterday, The Times of Johannesburg reported that the South African Jewish Board of Deputies has stated that:

It was confirmed that Judge Goldstone would attend his grandson’s bar mitzvah and that there would be no protests associated with the bar mitzvah,” said SAJBD director Wendy Kahn… The SAJBD respectfully requests, in light of the agreement reached, that all parties immediately desist all public activities on this matter so that the young man’s bar mitzvah celebration can be returned to the privacy and dignity that it deserves.

It seems cooler heads prevailed, especially after the scathing attack from the self-styled eminence grise of the Jewish blogosphere, Richard Silverstein, and his little gang. After noting that he was ashamed to be a Jew, Silverstein joyously followed up with a declaration of victory for the Jewish blogosphere! Apparently thanks to his post, a letter written by Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb signed by 37 other Rabbis and supported by Taanit Tzedek- Jewish Fast for Gaza , Shomer Shalom Institute for Jewish Nonviolence, Tikkun and the Shalom Center, an article in the New York Times and commentary on a South African pro-Palestinian Web site, the “bullies” backed down and decided that Goldstone could attend his grandson’s Bar Mitzvah. Silverstein added a warning to the bullies of the world:

So I want this leadership to know that if they do something like this again in the future (you see, bullies usually do revert to form unless they understand there will be a consequence for their behavior), there will be others watching them and ready to call their behavior what it is.

Silverstein concluded:

…I’ve been deeply impressed by the power of progressive online media to break through the secrecy and hate and lay a marker down for decency and human respect. We truly can at times circumvent the barriers that these forces erect to maintain their power and we can pose an alternative that is reasonable. And when that happens, we can win the day. Amazing to think that this is possible.

How awesome is that? One decrepit old man in Seattle and his online pals won the day! Huzzah! Ok, ok, so never mind that the situation was prima facie absurd. Never mind that even those critical of the Goldstone Report opposed his exclusion from the Bar Mitzvah – Harvard law Professor Alan Dershowitz wrote “I am opposed to Richard Goldstone being barred from attending his own grandson’s bar mitzvah” – U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House of Representatives Middle East subcommittee and a fierce critic of the Goldstone Report, wrote that he was “appalled and utterly disgusted by reports that Judge Goldstone will not be able to attend the bar mitzvah of his grandson due to protest threats by Jewish groups in South Africa.” – Chief Rabbi of South Africa, another harsh critic of the Goldstone Report, stated that “It is simply a question of decency and compassion to the bar mitzvah boy not to ruin his day.”

And never mind that I contacted a senior member of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, and when I asked him “So how soon after you all read Richard Silverstein’s blog post did you change your minds?” and he answered “Richard who?”

And never mind that TM wrote a post here critical of the decision to bar Goldstone from the Bar Mitzvah (before Silverstein wrote his!).

Nope. Never mind any of that. The credit for this decision belongs to Silverstein alone. Goldstone should totally fly Silverstein to South Africa so that the man who saved the day can join in the simcha!

God, what an arrogant douche.

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ck

Founder and Publisher of Jewlicious, David Abitbol lives in Jerusalem with his wife, newborn daughter and toddler son. Blogging as "ck" he's been blocked on twitter by the right and the left, so he's doing something right.

23 Comments

  • And don’t forget that he took credit for forcing Israel to lift the gag on the publication of Anat Kamm’s house arrest! He really thinks he is very influential. He has this harem of pro-Palestinians females and a few people from Mondo who trickle in once in a while.
    The poblem here is the internationalization of every trivial matter that takes place in Israel. Anti-Zionists feel that there is no such thing as an internal Israeli matter because of the occupation or because the US gives 3 billion a year, or because of AIPAC,etc. new rationales are invented every day.

  • The South African Chief Rabbi *opposed* Goldstone’s visit. When he wrote, “It is simply a question of decency and compassion to the bar mitzvah boy not to ruin his day” he meant that that the decent and compassionate thing to do would be for Goldstone to stay away. Fortunately, the combined pressure of a lot of people, like Silverstein and others, worked to get this lifted. That’s why Judge Goldstone has thanked all his supporters.

    • Jerry, with all due respect, the pressure may have worked, but this post appears to be about the hubris of some people who think they are the reason it worked. I would venture a small guess here, that it’s not because of his “supporters” that the situation changed, but rather because his “opponents” denounced this atrocious decision to harm the bar mitzvah that those in the community who needed to handle the issue made the changes that were necessary.

      The post also mentions the unnecessary hubris that relates to a similar boasting that came with the release of the Anat Kamm story. Well, now we all know that the censorship was legitimate and Kamm wasn’t a reporter when she decided to steal classified documents, the majority of which had nothing to do with supposed Israeli war crimes as Mazuz himself decided. It sure did give Israel a black eye, though. Unnecessarily. In that arena, certain people can boast all day long.

  • I can’t go to a single Israeli related event, and Isreaeli figures can’t give speeches/attend events, without having Goldstone types protesting, shouting, shoving, and threatenting…………a result of many Goldstone “type” people (both jewish/non-jewish).

    I’m glad for the majority of posters on this site who got what they were hoping for….Goldstone can attend the bar mitzvah and not a single word of protest should be uttered….

    For the rationally minded posters (which I would like to think I am one of) I am sorely dissapointed but not at all surprised……..it seems these days that sympathy and free speech is only deserving to aggressors, hatemongers and the misguided…

  • Look at it another way, Truth Hurts, you can’t ask others to let you speak openly and without protest unless you extend the same courtesy to them.

    Anyway, this is a bar mitzvah and there is no justification for interfering with a 13 year old’s special day and the pride and joy the parents might feel because of a grandfather’s actions.

  • themiddle …….you are telling me I can’t have it both ways. Fair enough. But then you go on to say I can’t have it ANY way i.e. Goldy can do as he pleases, but G_d forbid anyone mention a problem with/too him.

    If he was a caring grandfather, he would not have ever contemplated attending the Bar – Mitzvah. By attending, he is doing what he does best: focussing attention on himself without regard for anyone eslse’s interest except his own selfish, narrow minded, and misguided interests……..

  • Well, OK, but for any other Shabbos, it’s on. As far as I’m concerned, Goldstone shouldn’t count as part of any minyan (well, except the Neturei Karta, but they’re already in cherem, so they don’t matter).

  • So Joshua, cherem is a religious issue. Do you place non-sabbath observers in cherem too? I mean violating the sabbath is a capital offense after all. What about eaters of shrimp? Or dishonest businessmen? The South African Jewish community has invited Goldstone to address them and talk about the report. Goldstone himself has said that none of the allegations in his report are actionable, is he to blame if his judicious work has been kidnapped by others with a base agenda? I suggest we wait and see how this plays out before we jump all over the guy.

  • Nah, we should jump all over the guy. He really caused indescribable harm to Israel. It’s impossible to have a discussion or debate with somebody these days without them referring to Israeli war crimes in Gaza as described in the UN’s report. The more knowledgeable ones just use the shorthand of “Goldstone’s report.”

    Not only that, but this report is actionable and it hovers over Israel’s head. At the same time, the Palestinians are laughing. The PA is chortling because the report doesn’t have anything to do with them, and Hamas is short of breath from the heavy laughter because they not only manipulated the outcome of the report, they launched thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians and the report only cagily mentions their crimes while going all out on Israel.

    He should not have accepted the original mandate, or moved forward after the press conference by the UNHRC’s president where he equivocated on the changes Goldstone thought he had in his pocket. The make-up of the committee was a joke, with two of its 4 members now having shown their open bias against Israel in media interviews. Their anger at Israel’s non-participation obviously colored their conclusions. They permitted testimony from witnesses whom they knew might be under duress and accepted the testimony. For resources, they used Israeli NGOs who often advocate against Israel and the IDF, while ignoring plentiful information provided by other Israeli sources whose viewpoints challenged the general approach of what would be the report’s conclusions. They took at face value claims that could easily be refuted with some internet news or video searches.

    This report and Goldstone’s actions are a disgrace. That he is Jewish is definitely a factor in the way this is playing out, as was expected by the UNHRC, despite Goldstone’s protestations to the contrary. All he needs to do is see that Falk, another Jew, is the special rapporteur to the UNHRC to understand that he’s a fig leaf.

  • I think it’s a giant plot of a different kind: since the whole planet seems to know about this kid’s bar mitzvah, he stands to make a killing in gifts. So in order to help out my son, I’ve just banned Obama from his bar mitzvah next month. And the Queen too. And Jesus for good measure.

    You, CK, are still on the top of our guest list, no matter how many line up in protest.

    I cannot imagine the pressure that all of this is putting on the bar mitzvah boy.

  • Yeah, what Middle said (I’m agreeing with Middle? That’s unpossible (sic)!). There’s a reason why mosers were given the death penalty, even without a Sanhedrin to sentence them.

  • ck,

    goldstone was never placed in cherem, and if he were, it would be up to the gedolim to do so, as they did to the neturai karta.

    btw, dickie has taken great offense to this article…he is very upset that he was called old and decrepit

    you hurt his poor little feelings

    never mind what the disgusting pig says about other jews

    • When did I say Goldstone was placed in cherem? Or even that he should be placed in cherem? Like I said, based on some of his comments thus far, I don’t believe we’ve heard Goldstone’s final word on the report that bears his name. As for Richard Silverstein, he fails to understand the subtle nuances of the English language. Decrepitude can be both a physical state as well as a state of mind. He seemed pretty spry at the J Street conference when he pranced across the room and kicked out one of his opponents. However his ideas and attitudes suffer from the same kind of moral decrepitude one used to find amongst Jewish Stalinists.

  • if they would all have minded there own buisness and let a grandfather attend his grandsons event, nothing would have been said. But his opponents made a mountain out of a mole hill. And now everyone is crying about it. focuss on real issues and this wouldnt happen. I read the goldstone report. I appreciate his honesty. Every war has war crimes, that is why they should never happen in the first place. No army is immune.

  • “There’s a reason why mosers were given the death penalty, even without a Sanhedrin to sentence them”.
    Not all: Yoshua and most of the other vicious jewlicious here were let go. Because we respect G_ds commandment and let His bad choice people go. why not? They’ll need anyway around 40 years to enter THE Israel G_d promised us…

    Shabbat shalom!
    Adevar

  • The Little Dickie Silverstein Marching Song

    I am a little kapo,
    It makes my mommy mad,
    Cause when I am a kapo,
    Those Zionists get sad!
    I celebrate the jihad,
    and terror all the while,
    I fill my blog and web page,
    With loud salutes of Sieg Heil!
    I want to see them Zraelis,
    All dumped out in the sea,
    My swastika a waving,
    Cause everything’s bout me!!

    • Ya know JR, I dislike Richard Silverstein about as much as any reasonable person. But this kapo meme you people are on… well, first of all it’s historically inaccurate. I don’t think anyone that was a kapo was a rabid Nazi. They were just people trying to survive. Furthermore, some kapos used their position to resist the Nazis and save lives – like when they blew up the crematoria in Auschwitz in October, 1944. In any event, using Nazi imagery the way you do is distasteful and disrespectful to the memory of those victimized by actual Nazis. Think about that for a minute. Silversteim might be a member in good standing of the doucheoisie, but he’s no Nazi. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Making that analogy serves only to lessen the impact and diminish the evil of actual Nazis. So please, cut it out.

  • To Big Dickie JR

    BS”D : You are just behaving like and doing what Julius Streicher (JS) and his Nazis did in “Der Stuermer”.

    Are JS and you JR relatives? Of course, at least in regard to their views, character and political homeland: for JS it was nazism for JR nazionism.

    This is the ultimate demonstration that there are either no different human races or that they have all in common except some insignificant details: a nazi could have been a good nazionist and a nazionist could just be a perfect nazi. And you couldn’t tell who’s who …

    JC (not related in any way to JR or JS, except as homo sapiens)