http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201403191756-0023572 High school students in Israel have ignited a heated online debate after dressing as Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members and African-Americans for the Jewish Purim holiday. The students from the Harel High School in a suburb of Jerusalem reportedly posted a photo of the costumes to Facebook and the Israeli creative agency Mizbala last week. They wore the outfits to mark the Purim holiday, which celebrates a story from the Book of Esther, where the Jews were saved from extermination in Persia. Many Jews celebrate by eating, drinking and wearing costumes in a carnival-like atmosphere. The photo generated a storm of comments online. One user reportedly wrote, “There is no doubt that this is a shameful provocation that indicates insensitivity". Others online echoed this sentiment:
Wow. I mean, just ignorance on crack. And er, don't they realize that the KKK hated/hates them also, and that would otherwise be them in the center there??
Damn. No excuse for that. Where the fuck were the adults in this equation?? We're Israel's ONLY true ally in the world, we got a Black POTUS and you come out the box with this bullshit??? Muthafuckas been in the desert too long. If it's newsworthy when one of the British royals wears an SS uniform for a costume party, I think this should have been on the news too here in the U.S. Israel has like only a handful of Blacks anyway, how the hell do you find inspiration in the KKK and Blacks in chains for a group costume??:smt017 If not for this board I literally never would have heard about this bullshit. No surprise Aljazeera posted this story which means I'll have to research this entire story independently to get the real dirt. Everybody has an agenda.:smt076
WTF???!!!!!! When Black young people did something Nazi there is a firestorm and this Israeli HS outfits of the KKK and them in blackface! There needs to be a apology.
I am a Jew and disgusted by this but to not believe the Holocaust ever happened because a bunch of ignorant asshole students committed a hateful act is just as disgusting.
It breaks mine as well. Israel was a country born out of the tragedies of WWII. You would think ethnic insensitivity and racial hatred would be the last thing they would be known for. But sadly, I have heard and read far to many stories of the extreme racism faced by Black people in Israel.
Responding to the criticism, one of the teenagers said: "I have no regrets." Harel principal Rina Even Tov said she saw no reason to reprimand the students. “The costume was designed to create interesting and important discussions,” Jerusalem Online quoted her as saying. “This act essentially created a platform where discussion can exist." Indicating that she would be permissive about even the most offensive costumes, Even Tov added: "There would be no difference if it was a Nazi costume.” (sure) Some said the costumes were a form of social protest, presumably regarding the treatment of African asylum seekers in Israel. "The group of young people shouted 'Stop with the racism,'" said an anonymous commenter on the Israeli website Mizbala, which reposted the picture. "It was done humorously and to protest the situation in Israel. I know this group of students, and this is a group of high-achieving students who decided to dress up creatively, while taking into account Israeli society." Another anonymous commenter who also claimed to know the students said the costumes were part of "a social protest by young people who care." One commenter, however, said she saw the teens walking with the cross and saw "no indication that it was a social protest." "It was shameful and embarrassing to the point to the point where I was crying," the commenter said. "I'm sorry, but they chose a terrible way that caused me personally to feel sad, and in terms of their parents, I recommend that you think twice before you support something like this." http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.581081
Whatever. If this was supposed to be socially conscious performance art, these 'high achieving' kids missed the mark. You can't go around speaks in code and tongues that no one understands and them blame your audience for not getting what you meant to say. All that BS that came out after the fact sounds like some weak bullshit cover-your-ass type maneuver. You don't have to offend me to have a meaningful conversation about a topic.
http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/week-palestine-interviews-max-blumenthal-author-goliath-life-and-loathing-greater-israel Great interview with Jewish American scholar Max Blumenthal on problematic nature of Israeli mass racial attitudes and difficulties of progressive idea formation on the Palestinian sovereign state question.
I would suggest you visit Israel sometime. You would see what you HEARD is the farthest thing from the truth. How sad it is that people believe hateful propaganda instead of seeking the truth for themselves. As a black man, I would imagine you may have struggled with racist attitudes based on hateful beliefs and not truths. Unfair, isn't it?????
The state of Israel was established on May 14th 1948, 3 years after WWII ended. Hey, I have no agenda against Israel. I know there are a lot of people who hold bias against Israel for one reason or another. I however, am not one of those people. I never implied that all Israel was racist. I'm sure there are plenty of open minded and good people there. Now having said that....... Everything I've learned about racism against blacks, comes from news blogs and this video.... [YOUTUBE]dPxv4Aff3IA[/YOUTUBE]
For an alternative view on Israeli society... http://www.blackagendareport.com/content/week-palestine-interviews-max-blumenthal-author-goliath-life-and-loathing-greater-israel Author Max Blumenthal discusses his new book and provides a progressive Jewish view on Israel, distinguishing a critique of its foreign policy and instances of domestic racism as an extension of European colonial thinking from anti-Semitism, which must be fought vigorously.
