Monday, November 29, 2004
Humiliation of a Violinist
Israel is all in a tither over an incident in which a Palestinian music student was on his way to a music lesson through a checkpoint, and some Israeli soldiers apparently told him to play something.
Apparently that constitutes "humiliation."
No.
Well, if it were a banjo, that would be different. THAT would be humiliating. But this guy's a violinist.
To be sure, the incident is heavy with subtext for the Jewish people, who keenly remember the women's orchestra at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Nevertheless, to draw any kind of analogy between some bored idiots at a checkpoint and Auschwitz-Birkenau is patently absurd (no pun intended.)
I don't want to belittle what happened there, but but it's easy for us to sit in judgement. We weren't there.
Sure, what happened was evil. What happened was far beyond the pale.
But there are times when a musician noodles between tunes. Or play too fast. Or worst of all, -- and this seems to be a particularly virulent infection among the Gypsies and Ashkenazim -- use too much vibrato.
Yeah, you know the type.
I'm not saying what happened wasn't bad. I'm just saying, as one who's played in a variety of settings, that I can see how some people might want to take justice into their own hands.
Besides. We need to keep exposing the radical elements of Islamic society for what they are, until the Palestinians finally reject violins as a means of settling political disputes.
Splash, out
Jason
Apparently that constitutes "humiliation."
No.
Well, if it were a banjo, that would be different. THAT would be humiliating. But this guy's a violinist.
To be sure, the incident is heavy with subtext for the Jewish people, who keenly remember the women's orchestra at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Nevertheless, to draw any kind of analogy between some bored idiots at a checkpoint and Auschwitz-Birkenau is patently absurd (no pun intended.)
I don't want to belittle what happened there, but but it's easy for us to sit in judgement. We weren't there.
Sure, what happened was evil. What happened was far beyond the pale.
But there are times when a musician noodles between tunes. Or play too fast. Or worst of all, -- and this seems to be a particularly virulent infection among the Gypsies and Ashkenazim -- use too much vibrato.
Yeah, you know the type.
I'm not saying what happened wasn't bad. I'm just saying, as one who's played in a variety of settings, that I can see how some people might want to take justice into their own hands.
Besides. We need to keep exposing the radical elements of Islamic society for what they are, until the Palestinians finally reject violins as a means of settling political disputes.
Splash, out
Jason
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