Sign In
0 Items (
Search
Comments (63)
Like Tony Thomas I am a lover of classical music. That is my favourite but I Iike most genres, and jazz is right up there, although I’m no expert. My wife definitely prefers jazz. That is why Saturday night is America Night in our musical programme.
Last Saturday night, just before I pulled up stumps, a thought struck me about what I had just listened to. There was a thread running through it. I wonder if you can spot it.
We started with Benny Goodman – the king of swing. When we think of swing, we tend to think of Goodman and Glenn Miller. I like them both, but I prefer Goodman. I feel his music retains more of the traditional New Orleans style. It’s a little grittier than Miller’s very big band sound. For example, one of my favourites is He ain’t got rhythm. And I think his Perfidia is the best version (not gritty, I concede).
Goodman is regarded as one of the musicians influential in helping jazz evolve from being strictly dance music to music worthy of a discerning listening audience. It was the start of jazz being recognized as an art form on a par with classical music.
And from Wikipedia:
Goodman helped racial integration in America. In the early 1930s, black and white musicians could not play together in most clubs and concerts. In the Southern states, racial segregation was enforced by Jim Crow laws. Goodman hired Teddy Wilson for his trio and added vibraphonist Lionel Hampton for his quartet. In 1939 he hired guitarist Charlie Christian. This integration in music happened ten years before Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s six-decade-long color line. According to Jazz (Episode 5) by Ken Burns, Lionel Hampton states that when someone asked Goodman why he “played with that nigger” (referring to Teddy Wilson), Goodman replied, “If you say that again to me, I’ll take a clarinet and bust you across your head with it”.
Did I mention that Goodman was Jewish?
Next up last Saturday night was George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. This has to be one the greatest compositions of the Twentieth Century, which bridges the gap between classical and jazz. Along with An American in Paris and Cuban Overture.
The story I love most about Gershwin is that when he went to Paris seeking guidance from Maurie Ravel, Ravel told him ‘Why would you want to be a second-rate Ravel when you can be a first-rate Gershwin?’
BTW, did I mention that Gershwin was Jewish?
The performance of Rhapsody was conducted by Leonard Bernstein, himself the composer of West Side Story and Candide.
BTW, did I mention that Bernstein was Jewish?
We followed Gershwin with Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring. Copland is probably best known for his Fanfare for the Common Man, but other notable and popular works include Billy the Kid, Rodeo and El Salon de Mexico. You should check them out.
BTW, did I mention Copland was Jewish?
By then it was getting a bit late, so we concluded the evening’s entertainment with Phillip Glass – his 4th Symphony. Glass is still with us – he’s 87. According to Wikipedia he is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. He has written 15 operas, numerous chamber operas and musical theatre works, 14 symphonies, 12 concertos, nine string quartets, various other chamber music pieces, and many film scores.
I am not a musician, but I would describe his music – based on repetition and overlaying of melodic themes – as compelling yet contemplative. That’s why I always leave his stuff until just before bedtime. His 4th Symphony Heroes is based on David Bowie’s album of the same name.
BTW, did I mention that Glass is Jewish?
That got me thinking about other popular music of the early twentieth century and names such as Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein came immediately to mind. All of them, you guessed it, Jewish.
And I’ve no doubt you’ve also cottoned onto the thread that struck me. How these perfidious cosmopolitans and so-called artists have caballed to dominate and corrupt the musical world, in much the same way that the Rothschilds and their ilk have done to the financial world.
It’s no wonder all those aspiring Muslim composers can’t get a look in.
Of all the stellar violinists of the 20th C, it’s hard to think of one who wasn’t a Jew.
True.
Well there is Ann Sophie Mutter who has been stellar for almost fifty years.
Indeed. My point was simply that of the greatest violinists of the last 100 years, the overwhelming majority have been Jews.
With pianists it’s a much more even playing field. Jews are over-represented in the top tier: Gilels, Schnabel, Rubinstein, Solomon, Perahia, Horowitz, Barenboim, Schiff . . . but you’ve also got the likes of Arrau, Brendel, Richter, Lipatti, Kempff, Gould . . . .
The same outstanding Jewish contributions are found in science. It is incredible the number of Jewish Nobel Prize winners in science.
I have tried to research why the Jewish culture produces such incredible excellence, and one of the theories is that it is a culture based on reading.
Reading the Torah from a young age sets the scene for very receptive young minds. Also the practice of midrash encourages critical thinking.
I think there are many gems in Jewish culture that could assist education of all youth if applied intelligently.
Any other suggestions as to why Jewish culture yields such outstanding individuals in so many areas? As a person involved in science education I’ve often wondered about this.
“It is incredible the number of Jewish Nobel Prize winners in science.”
About 30%. Astonishing when compared to the worldwide percentage Jewish population. Why this is so is both intensely interesting and dangerous for current debate if one cares about “cancellation”.
I’m a lifelong jazz/blues tragic. While I agree entirely with the Goodman/Gershwin comments in Peter O’Briens’s article here, the contributions of Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson … (this list is very long). Incredible, intuitive swing genius (with lifelong effort). The common thread there is obvious.
And let’s not forget possibly the greatest band leader of them all, Duke Ellington.
Brought to prominance by Downbeat, the jazz magazine started by an insurance salesman named Albert Lipschultz.
https://downbeat.com/site/about
“Why is it so?”
Speaking of American Music & Nobel Prizes, the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to singer-songwriter Bob Dylan “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.
BTW, did I mention Dylan was Jewish?
Another theory I’ve come across is that it is the Jewish penchant for disputation about the Torah that is key to their intellectual dominance. The Scots are similar. A small nation like the Jews. They produced their own Enlightenment in the 18th century.. They revere education – or did, until recently. They have argued violently over biblical interpretation . They have a sense of self deprecatory humour Similar to the Jews.
That makes sense DougD. I would also argue that the penchant for disputation is extremely important for advancement of science. Only a democracy can give such scope for advancement.
Looking at the history of science in China, ( a culture that values education immensely) science has often made great strides only to be let down by its system of government.
Only democracies are successful preserving / transmitting knowledge: history shows us that.
I’m no expert in this, but from the educated, well-to-do Jewish families I’ve known, I’ve been very impressed by their emphasis not only on full and proper education, but also on encouragement of group participation, social contribution, and free and open discussion of just about any issue. This seems to have little to do with their religious commitments (seeing quite a few were atheists), although there must be some connection.
Yes I certainly agree with that. While Jews might say they’re atheists they will often modify that by saying they’re secular Jews. I take that to mean that culturally they hold Jewish traditions.
Douglas Murray does a similar thing when he says he’s a cultural Christian.
Both Judaism and Christianity extol the importance of community spirit, and therein lies the seed of success of the Judeo-Christian world view.
Going back to what started me posting in this topic- the history / success of science the impetus of science can be traced to community benefits it would give via serving G—.
Perhaps the Scots are one of those “Lost Tribes of Israel”?
All of this, why the Jews. The Jews are God’s chosen people that’s why, you Biblical dunces.
No disputation about the Torah with you then Peter Smith!! Oh the irony.
Chosen they may be, but there is a certain mode of cultural transmission that works very well in many areas for Jews that we are asking about.
According to you “chosen” means doing well in many areas. Why not in all areas then? Not so well in sport so that’s not a divinely chosen field?
The arts, science, music you’re comparing with what? high jumping?
I’m not comparing them. I’m simply asking to what attrtibute does the word “chosen” apply to.
The people, plebs and all, were chosen for the compact with the deity in the period when the chosen of a deity was always the single ruler. It has been compared to other Middle East compacts of the time – this one is different because the whole people, as individuals and in communion have a direct non-heirarchical relationship with the deity.
A conventional response in theological colleges is that they ceased to be The Chosen People two millennia ago.
Yes, I’m wondering what point Peter is trying to make here. God’s Covenant People are the descendants of Abraham through faith (the heart). It was always that way.
One thing for sure then the Lost Tribes will have no problems getting into parliament with dual citizenship – they could even become prime minister.
You can not seriously believe that Jews are God’s chosen people? While the Torah may say so, and provide a great narrative describing amazingly miraculous events that God has done for the benefit of “His People”, we must ask the obvious question, “Who wrote that book?”
None of the miraculous events described in the Torah have any scientific support, and certainly in modern times the evidence leads us to agree with Nietzsche’s conclusion.
cbattle1 – I don’t think that being “chosen” means that you will be treated in a special way. As far I can remember “chosen’ is a responsibility to live and show example via the covenant that was established.
Arthur Schopenhauer said that all life is metaphor, and that is what Nietzsche meant in his famous quote when he spoke metaphorically.
How can anyone believe that Jews are the “chosen’ people you ask? It is very easy to believe it once the true meaning of that is known.
I’m certainly no religious expert, but one would rarely take all scripture literally: rather interpret it in terms of poetic metaphor as opposed to prose.
andoshakey – I agree with what you have said, which is why I respect the philosophy and practice of those Jews who acknowledge that Zionism is a purely human and politically based ideology which has no support from God, and, as Scripture reveals, can only end in tears!
Cbattle1. However, one cannot negate what their is evidence for.
That should be there
Probably about 65 per cent of the great American song writers of the Golden Age of American popular music, 1920-60, were Jews, but many weren’t: Cole Porter, Harry Warren, Jimmy McHugh, George M Cohan, the black songwriters, etc.
Cole Porter probably the best.
Let me say from the outset that I personally do not like “Jazz” or “Soul Music”, and surely that is allowable as a matter of taste and choice? And, when it comes to Classical Music, Wagner strikes a resonate chord, but does that mark me as an “anti-Semite”?
.
The overrepresentation (on a per-capita basis) of Jews in the professions has long been a subject of note, and I generally agree with the explanations in the comments above. Not only in sport are Jews underrepresented, but also in the labouring and manual arts. It was observed in the 1920’s Europe, that Jews were a nation without a state, and so for their survival and prosperity, it was in the Jew’s interests to attenuate trends towards nationalism within the host countries they were residing. In support of that strategy are the concepts of immigration, diversity, multiculturalism, etc, to inhibit any rise of a nationalism based on race, creed, religion, ethnicity, language, etc, which would threaten the survival and prosperity of the Jewish nation in “exile”. Seen from that perspective, it makes sense that the Jews in America were active in desegregation and equal rights for Black Americans.
.
However, now that the Jewish Nation has its own Nation-State, why do only a minority of Jews live on their purportedly God-given homeland of Eretz Israel? Why is the former Australian treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, leading a pro-Zionist campaign under the guise of combatting “anti-Semitism? Mr Frydenberg clearly has two national loyalties, one to the Commonwealth of Australia, and the other is to Eretz Israel, which is perceived as the modern State of Israel. As a Jew, he has the right to return to his “eternal national homeland”. Why then was he not included among those Federal Parliamentarians who were forced, under Constitutional review, to resign until they revoked any tenuous or previously unknown link to possible citizenship of a foreign country? Please explain!
This should apply across the board to Australian Jews that are lobbying and advocating the Zionist cause. If we allow Australians to hold dual or multiple citizenships and nationalities, we open the door for the old conflicts and strifes to be played out in our streets, as we are seeing now.
And while we’re at it, lets get rid of all the Arabic pro-Palestininan protestors.
Josh Frydenberg holds dual citizenship? i don’t think he does.
Unless a Jewish person has actively taken up Israeli citizenship, they do not hold and are therefore not entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or citizen of Israel.
Anti-semitism is often teamed with Islamophobia by Australian media, one TV news person claiming there had been an upsurge in both since October 7. Of course there hasn’t been an upsurge in Islamophobia but there has been an upsurge in concern over non-Arabs behaving badly towards Jews simply because they are Jews rather than anything they have done
.
Islamophobia doesn’t exist nor does Zionism but equally not does-Antisemitism. The Jewish nation is one of a diaspora of ‘minority middlemen’ much like Chinese in SE Asia (or SW Pacific) and Indians in Fiji and East Africa. Koreans in Nth America too. All have suffered the same resentment of their success in this role as envy, jealousy and fear and resentment have expressed themselves over the decades and centuries, Jews and bon Jews. Any minority middleman nation is going to be so considered.
.
OTOH in the Middle East we have Arabs, Caanites and Hellenised Amalekites etc all at each other and all being Semitic peoples. The label anti-Semitic is meaningless here as well.
.
Just as waving the ‘Islamophobia’ flag is designed to shut down discussion of the motives of those acting to advance the agenda to which Muslims adhere so too does the term ‘anti-Semitism’. If people of the Jewish diaspora start acting to pursue their nation’s interest to the detriment of the state in which they live and have citizenship then one should be able to question their agendas. So far Josh Frydenberg has not but one should be able to raise the issue without being accused on anti-semitism however I believe in the US their recent anti-semitism legislation does make it a criminal offence to do so
.
One reason seems to be that when one does question individuals then one can note the same pattern as in this article i.e. a preponderance of Jews far above their proportional numbers. For example there are huge numbers of Jews in the US from East European countries brutalised by Czarist and then Soviet regimes many of whom are in the administration corruptly using their official positions to achieve private benefit ie advocate policies regarding breaking up of Russia. Likewise Lesley Wexner and Ghislane Maxwell were/are high profile Jews in the US who together with Jeffrey Epstein, also Jewish, ran a Mossad kompromat operation to obtain leverage over people of influence in the US so as to buttress the security of Israel. It is a small country surrounded by enemies so has to do whatever it can to secure its people. Is it anti-Semitic to say that people will put the interests of their own people first? Remember Ghislane dismissed the cost born by the gentile female adolescents by describing them as trash. Remember it was Jewish commentator Eric Weinstein who first pointed out that this ring was an intelligence operation and that Epstein was a ‘construct’ (much as Eli Cohen had also played a Mossad script and whose modus-operandi was a prototype for Epstein).
“kompromat” – that’s a new one for me! Having looked up the definition, I feel motivated to share an amusing anecdote relevant to that topic, but which I have no evidence of veracity : The story is that when the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno, paid a visit to Moscow, he answered a knock on his hotel room door, and was delighted to see two young Russian/Soviet ladies standing there. Needless to say, they had a “party” in his room, much to Sukarno’s satisfaction. Some time later he was informed by Soviet agents that they had recorded the event on film or video. On hearing this, Sukarno became excited, and asked if he could please have a copy of the film to show his friends! If there be any truth to the story, it illustrates the Soviet ignorance of patriarchal “Asian Values”, where the virility of the leader or “Father of the Nation” was expected and admired!
ANTIsemitism is hatred.
IslamoPHOBIA is fear.
SemitoPHOBIA doesn’t exist.
Dr Peter Arnold OAM, Sydney ✡️
Josh Frydenberg could not have had Israeli citizenship, otherwise he could not have sat in Parliament. No doubt he is entitled to Israeli citizenship. Your nonsense about split loyalties applies equally to anyone who has an entitlement to another citizenship (I’m guessing, from his indignant posts about what a raw deal modern Germany gets, also to your friend “David Issac”). But of course, it’s only Jews who are devious fifth columnists.
“Your nonsense about split loyalties applies equally to anyone who has an entitlement to another citizenship”. It is true that split loyalties applies equally to anyone who has an entitlement to another citizenship, and that is what the whole kafuffle over Section 44 of the Australian Constitution was all about. “nonsense”?
.
You have written in regard to Josh Frydenberg: “No doubt he is entitled to Israeli citizenship.” Well, according to the information on the Australian Parliament website which attempts to explain Section 44 and to whom it may apply, it says:
.
“Section 44 disqualifications
Any person who:
(i) is under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power;”
.
So, if we both agree that we have no doubts that Josh Frydenberg is entitled to Israeli citizenship, how is he not excluded from being an Australian Parliamentarian, considering the disqualification in Section 44 (i) set out above?
.
I note Frydenberg’s very vocal participation in the current seemingly paranoid campaign against the supposed rise of “anti-Semitism” and “Nazism” in Australia, and as I write this, Frydenberg is about to be presenting a Sky News TV special on “anti-Semitism”. It is so obvious that this recent beat-up about “anti-Semitism” is really about drumming up support for Zionist Israel. The Zionist conception of Israel, is defined by Netanyahu’s Likud Party as having the right to extend its borders to the limits of the ancient Hebrew kingdoms, which of course includes Gaza and the West Bank.
.
Is there a recent rise in anti-Zionism? Yes indeed that is true, and the enthusiasm for the Zionist vision of Israel, after 70 years, is clearly on the wane. (Remember the great acclaim over Israel’s victories in the “Six Day War”?) This is coming as a shock to Zionists, but times have changed, and so have the demographics in the countries that once unequivocally supported the State of Israel. The conflating of the protests against Zionism with “anti-Semitism” is a deliberate ploy to garner support for the Israeli State and its current government’s territorial ambitions. What would be the outcome of a UN vote today regarding the creation of the State of Israel?
.
OBTW, Quadrant Online published my article, some while ago, about how Section 44 of the Constitution applies to disqualify those Aboriginal Parliamentarians who fly the Aboriginal National Flag, hold Aboriginal Passports and/or proclaim their Aboriginal Nationality (Lydia Thorpe, etc).
You are misreading s. 44(i). Subs. (i) refers to “a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power”, not a subject or citizen entitled to acquire citizenship of a foreign power. s. 44(i) is intended to catch persons who are citizens a foreign power, or who are actually entitled to the rights or privileges of citizenship. Josh Frydenberg is not a citizen of Israel as far as I know, or at least wasn’t when he was in Parliament. He is therefore not entitled to the rights and privileges of a citizen of Israel. He is entitled to claim Israeli citizenship I believe because he is a Jew.
There is no case that supports your misreading of s. 44. It is plainly wrong. It would disqualify any person who had an entitlement merely to claim a foreign citizenship. It would, for example, disqualify *every* Australian citizen who had an Irish grandparent from sitting in Parliament, because they are all entitled to claim Irish citizenship. That is perhaps the most glaring example, but there are many others. Does any Australian who merely has Irish grandparent, but who has not taken up citizenship of Ireland, have “split loyalties”? No, of course not. Only Jews, apparently.
I haven’t read your article in Quadrant, but there exists no aboriginal nation for aborigines to be citizens of, so there is no “foreign power”. It is difficult to see how s. 41 has any application, no matter what flags they fly or what bogus passports they wave around.
OK, with a bit of searching I found your article, and don’t change my view. An imaginary power is not a “foreign power”, or any kind of power for that matter.
Sindri: I respect your interpretation of Section 44 (I), and hold that we can all come up with equally valid interpretations, as per the nature of our individuality. Our ultimate interpretation of the Constitution is of course made by the High Court, voting as individuals. The makeup of the High Court at any time depends on the political process by which the Judges are selected. If we look at the cases of “Love” and “Thoms” in 2018, the majority of the High Court found that each of the two Plaintiffs were Australian citizens (Love born in PNG and Thoms in NZ), by virtue of their “Aboriginality”. That ruling means that anyone in the world is an Australian citizen if they can establish (according to flexible standards) a link to Australian Aboriginality. The point here is that the Court found that the Plaintiffs were Australian Citizens by heredity or simply an acceptance by an Aboriginal group. In other words, they were Australian citizens by “entitlement” based on their race or identity. The same principle can be applied to Josh Frydenberg, who is entitled to Israeli citizenship by his race or religious identity, and, like what the Court found in the cases of “Love” and “Thoms”, that entitlement is hereditary and eternal.
.
Frydenberg’s special pleading and campaigning for a foreign state, which happens to be his “eternal homeland” by right, does raise issues of conflict of interest. The present “anti-Semitic”/”pro-Zionist” campaign of which he is a prominent member, does raise issues of divided loyalties, in my mind at least. Of course, the same can be said of an Aboriginal or Muslim Member of Parliament that denounces the legitimacy of the Commonwealth of Australia, and champion for the cause of foreign states that may be still in an emerging process, such as Palestine or the Aboriginal Nation/s here on this Continent.
.
Ultimately, we should strive for an Australian Nationality that is non-aligned to any foreign power or power-bloc, and the obvious step towards that would be to develop our own Nuclear Weapon/s. I’m sure the USA and its “Coalition of the Willing” knew that Saddam Hussein did not have “Weapons of Mass Destruction” prior to their invasion, but it is a different story with North Korea! I think we could develop our own “Bomb” right here in Australia for less money than buying a number of global-roaming nuclear-powered attack submarines. The big cost benefit would be to develop our own nuclear-power stations to provide abundant reliable electrical energy to the grid, while also generating fissionable material for our defense industry. Possibly we could collaborate with Iran, like Israel did with the “odious” Apartheid regime of South Africa?
“Irish grandparent….split loyalties” – this was the story of Australia when we considered ourselves both British and Australian. Whether or not a passport from another country is on offer, ties of blood must be considered, especially when Australia’s interests may be.markedly at odds with countries which have well developed diaspora communities that ensure significant cultural continuity and identification with an international race. Diversity is strength. Four legs good, two legs baaa.
My issue is that I fail to see why the loyalty of Josh Frydenberg, born here as his father was, to an immigrant mother, should be suspect while presumably the loyalty of the offspring of an Irish, German, Norwegian or some other European immigrant is not in question. The only difference, as I see it, is that Frydenberg is a Jew, and on that account his loyalties are suspect. Presumably also you would contend that he is not, and can never be, Australian. These views derive from your, forgive me, idiotic and pathological conspiracy theories about Jews with which you have favoured the readership here, and which I am not asking to be repeated.
The idea that Frydenberg is not a good Australian citizen is absurd. I might add that his defeat at the hands of a so-called “teal” was appalling.
I should have added that you engage in strident advocacy here about what a raw deal modern Germany gets because of what you call “the holocaust industry” (which you think is a hoax) and how Germany should be free of what you consider to be the contrived guilt heaped upon it. If Frydenberg is advocating for Israel, the details of which I am unaware of but accept, why are you in any different position?
If I may be allowed to speak to the Ireland/Israel dual citizenship situation cited above, I would say that there is a fundamental difference between the two nations as far as nationality goes, and how that nationality issue affects Australian citizenship and potential loyalties. Ireland is now a secular, multicultural, and multiethnic nation under the bureaucratic hegemony of the EU, and I’d be surprised if the EU lets its constituent states decide who can be a citizen of the EU. As such, if you had a Muslim Somali grandparent with Irish citizenship, you would be entitled to become an Irish citizen. But that is not the situation regarding Israeli citizenship, because Israel is essentially a theocracy, and you are a de facto Israeli by virtue of religious identity or heredity, and become a de jure Israeli by virtue of the rubber-stamp. Millions of Palestinians would like to return home, but they are not recognised as having any right to residency of citizenship by the Judaic State of Israel, which now claims the land as its own.
.
There may be a technical difference between the case of Barnaby Joyce and Josh Frydenberg, but in terms loyalties, Barnaby was never known (to my knowledge) to have ever advocated on behalf of or sought preferential treatment for NZ, in fact, he claims he was unaware of such entitlement to NZ citizenship. With Josh, OTOH, he has been aware from early childhood who he was and his all-important relationship with his “eternal homeland”. Clearly we now see JF advocating and campaigning in support of his people (Jews) and his land (Israel), including the old trope of wheeling out the Holocaust Survivors in order to justify the existence and political actions of the State of Israel. If the State of Israel is necessary for the “Never Again” Diktat to work, then why are there Holocaust Survivors living in Australia, and complaining about the supposedly terrible rise of Nazism here? Why aren’t they living in Israel?
Thanks, but you still haven’t explained why JF “advocating and campaigning in support of his people (Jews) and his land (Israel)” somehow makes him disloyal and/or disqualifies him for Australian citizenship. You haven’t because you can’t. It’s the vibe, it seems.
Much is made about Jewish “under-representation . . . in the labouring and manual arts”, usually by folk ignorant of history. Back in mediaeval times, European craft guilds specifically excluded Jews (and women, naturally), depriving them of lucrative livelihoods at the time, and forcing them into less-desirable managerial and accounting roles. How times then changed! But in places with predominant Jewish populations, such as the Pale of Settlement (and later Israel), all labouring and dirty work was done by Jews, many of whom were impoverished — in other words, just another normal human population.
Well, I’m certainly not one of those folks “ignorant of history”, and I’m sure you’re also aware that most Jews in medieval Europe would not want to join a guild and so fraternise with those unclean Goyim! Jews were not just forced to live separately in “Ghettos”, it was a central tenet of Judaism not to pollute oneself by association with those people who were “unclean”.
You have spent the last 6 months publicalky bathing in the faeces of your ignorance of history. Arrogance and ignorance go hand in hand.
Of course I publically bathe in the faeces of my ignorance of history; that’s what we unclean Goyim do! Tell us something we don’t know!
Given I’m not Jewish and Goyim is a Jewish phrase to describe non-Jewish people, that is yet another ignorant comment to add to the litany you have provided thus far – keep up the good work!
Just 3 days ago you endorsed the claim that Hamas was a creation of Netanyahu as historical ‘fact’. You are the dictionary definition of a ignoramus – ignorant and obnoxious.
In those more self-confident times I’m sure guilds would not have accepted non-believers, although they did allow women in certain circumstances when there were no men left in a family which required support. Jewish proclivities for trade meant that this or piecework was their usual occupation even in the pale where there were plenty of goyim to do the menial work.
From the classical music world (composers and performers, in no particular order): Menuhin, Klemperer, Mendelssohn, Barenboim, Schonberg, Andreas Schiff, Bruno Walter … it’s a long list.
Of course, these are people of Jewish descent, not converts to Judaism, and in most cases probably not adherents of Judaism or believers in God. According to the Bible, the Jewish people were/are the chosen race. But all the Jews I knew in my university days were atheists. Even so, one has to wonder whether the evident excess of artistic talent and intellectual gifts in people of Jewish descent is due to ‘nature’ or ‘nurture’. If the latter, then presumably the ancient cultural heritage of the people, and especially their religion, is a relevant factor.
Certainly, in the case of music, their talents have been nurtured in the context of worship since time immemorial. The psalms of David, works of great beauty, covering every aspect of human life and experience, are still sung today in Jewish and Christian worship services. It is sobering to consider that these creations are, on average over 3,000 years old.
All of the individuals referred to were, or are Ashkenazi Jews. When you start getting into the nature or nurture debate you then begin to look closely at the genetic heritage of a given group. Were the Ashkenazi Jews ever from the Levant or ancient Israel, ie are they a semitic people at all?
.
The nurture argument of course is a different story, certainly there is something in their circumstances that encouraged out-performance. There is also no significant out-performance by Maghrebi Jews whose semitic provenance is unimpeachable.
Occidental: You’ve brought up some relevant and salient points regarding the “Arab” or Mizrahi Jews, and I noticed a class or “race” distinction in Israel from back in the early 70’s. I lived up on the lofty heights of Haifa’s Mt. Carmel, which was predominately or near exclusively an enclave of Ashkenazi middle class Israeli’s, and my friends referred to themselves as “Freaks”, though the older generation would call them the “Beatnikim”. When venturing down from the hill, I remember passing two young men of the Mizrahi “type”, they were of course of a swarthy Arab appearance, but they were completely decked out in “Disco” regalia; body shirts, gold chains, flared trousers, etc, and uttered a derogatory Arabic phrase at me, which had to do with my mother’s anatomy. The crime statistics also delineated the boundary between the “European” and the “Arabic” Jews.
Well there are a number of reasons why Frydenberg and other Jewish Australians have not had their participation in federal parliament challenged. Firstly neither major political party wants to go there. They both have Jewish membership, so don’t see rocking the boat as beneficial.
.
Secondly the High Court through its tortuous reasoning is probably anticipating such a challenge (which it dreads).Its convoluted reasoning basically goes like this, it doesn’t matter if you didn’t know you were entitled to citizenship of a foreign country, but once aware you should take reasonable steps to renounce it if you can. If you can’t, oh well atleast you ticked the box.
.
This is the absurdity of the courts reasoning. If the court had entertained a conscious element as suggested by Deane J in Sykes case, then the fact that you didn’t know of a foreign countries law, or your entitlements, would not have disqualified you. Now presently any Jew in parliament knows of their right of return under Israeli legislation, moreover as evident on these pages and in demonstrations there is a real attachment or duty being shown by Australian Jews to a foreign power. But because it is not a “right to citizenship”, lets not look any closer.
.
For the high court they only wanted to go to the issue of citizenship in its narrow meaning, which bearing in mind only became a concept as we know it, in the late 19th century, was of little interest to the authors of the constitution.
.
Of course the section is much broader and is all about allegiance. But again the Court did not want to go there, because many individuals have convoluted loyalties. The reality is someone, a Jew most probably, but it may be a Chinese, will be shown to act for the benefit of a foreign power whilst in office, and that will probably open the flood gates to all sorts of challenges. But this high court or at least the one in Canavan’s case want that dealt with by another court.
.
The reality is that Frydenberg, and many Jews in Australia, are probably far more concerned about the travails of Israel than about the country in which they hold citizenship. Does that mean he or they are “under an acknowledgement of allegiance … to a foreign power”? We all have our own views on that issue.
The above post was meant as a reply to cbattle1 above, but lobbed here.
I have previously posted a comment on QoL, can’t recall where or when, about the nature of Jewish influence within the USA. Having spent my teenage years in California, back in the sixties, I can confirm that Jews were disproportionally portrayed positively in the media, which should come as no surprise considering that Jews were disproportionally represented in the media. Arabs or Muslims were of little demographic consequence in America in those days, and they certainly had no voice. As a result, Arabs and Muslims were often portrayed to the American public in a derogatory light. Combined with lobbying groups, Jewish Defence organisations and support from the Christian Evangelicals, it comes as no surprise that the Zionist cause was supported all the way by the USA. I even recall Jewish comedians making jokes about Arabs on the TV! Thus was the bias towards Israel and Jews created.
Yes, Occidental, we must understand the context of the Australian Constitution, which was written up by loyal British Subjects who would put their life on the line to fight for the Crown and the Empire! In those days an Australian could just walk down a gang-plank on to the soil of old “Blighty” with little more than a “g’day”. Even 40 years later Robert Menzies sat as a member of Churchill’s War Cabinet. The point being that section 44 (i) was written with the idea that no one could sit in the Australian Parliament who had allegiances to a state or power that may cause a conflict of interest. Your number 1 interest in those days was to be in support of the Commonwealth of Australia and it’s links to the “Mother Country”. What would the “founding fathers” of the CoA think if they looked out the window and saw groups of non-Anglo/Celtic people marching under the flags of foreign nations, and proclaiming their loyalties to their various respective nations of identity? Would they welcome them to come in and sit in the new Parliament?
One of the reasons people of Jewish descent are overrepresented in music and science is that, for much of the last two thousand years, Jews were persecuted and hounded from one country to another. Denied a homeland, Jews tended to pursue occupations that allowed mobility, so that they could rapidly relocate in an emergency, taking their skills with them and begin earning an income in their new domicile.
Brains are easier to transport than houses, factories and farms. So are precious gems, which explains why Jewish people have also been traditionally prolific in the jewellery industry.