What Edward Said Knows
Did you know that the Chmielnicki pogroms of
the 17th century that killed so many Jews were really very
"progressive" events ? No, you didn't know that ? Well, Edward Said
knows.
And did you know that the Talmud teaches
hatred toward Gentiles ? Edward Said knows.
Did you know that Jewish children are taught
to utter a ritual curse when passing a non-Jewish cemetery? Edward Said knows.
Or that when orthodox Jews wash two hands,
one is to worship Satan ? Or that Orthodox Jews frequently kill those with whom
they disagree, for instance liberal rabbis ? Or that the Jews, spurred on by
their religious traditions, oppress and kill the Palestinians ? You didn't even
know THAT ? Well, Edward Said knows all this, and more. The Arab-American
professor of literature at Columbia University not only knows all these things
but he also wishes to share them with you.
The outlandish assertions that I have listed,
and many more that are even more preposterous, are contained in a scurrilous
little anti-Semitic pamphlet by one Israel Shahak, entitled "Jewish
Religion, Jewish History." The French edition of Shahak was published in
1996 by La Vieille Taupe, a neo-Nazi sect in Paris that publishes books denying
the Holocaust. And the French edition (but not the English) contains a
remarkable eight-page introductory essay ("avant propos") by Edward
Said.
Shahak is an eccentric Israeli chemist who,
aged fifty-three in 1988, retired to devote himself full time to plagiarizing
Nazi and other anti-Semitic writers. I had occasion to review his "Jewish
History" when it appeared in English. This English edition (but not the
French) bore an urgent recommendation by Noam Chomsky ("Shahak is an
outstanding scholar, with remarkable insight and depth of knowledge. His work
is informed and penetrating, a contribution of great value"). Gore Vidal,
outdoing both Said and Chomsky, contributed his Foreword to both editions.
Said's essay in praise of Shahak, in the
French edition, runs into a little problem. While the Holocaust never happened
as far as La Vieille Taupe is concerned, Said has on more than one occasion
spoken out against Holocaust-denying in the Arab world. So what to do when Said
mentions, in passing, that Shahak is a survivor of the Holocaust ? La Vieille
Taupe inserts a little footnote there, showing that Said is mistaken on this
point (p. 12).
But for the rest, Said is right on board. He
praises Shahak for the latter's felicity in describing Israel as
"Judeo-Nazi" (p. 11). He appreciates Shahak's criticism of Arafat
whenever Arafat showed himself conciliatory toward Israel (p. 13). And Said
also approves of Shahak's opposition to Peace Now, since Peace Now, according
to Said, is "shameful" in demanding peaceful actions from
Palestinians (pp. 13-4). In short, Said finds in Shahak a kindred spirit in
demanding, in effect, the complete dismantlement of Israel.
But these political points are completely
overshadowed by what can only be considered the bad faith of Edward Said when
he praises Shahak's "scholarship." Said says that Shahak is the
greatest scholar he has ever known ("le plus grand érudit que j'aie jamais
connu" -- p. 15). The book at hand, says Said, is a powerful study of
Judaism, of its rabbinic and Talmudic traditions: "It is nothing less than
a concise history of classic and modern Judaism insofar as these are relevant
to the understanding of modern Israel" (p. 16).
So we see that Said of Columbia is at one
with Chomsky of MIT : endorsing "scholarship" in fields in which he
is not expert, in this case the "scholarship" of a shoddy,
disreputable propaganda tract. It seems that two of the most distinguished
American universities cannot guarantee the moral or indeed the intellectual
integrity of what goes on within their walls.
Finally, it is an interesting fact that
Said's praise of Shahak and his "scholarship" is effectively hidden
from the public. It is not mentioned in the comprehensive bibliography of
Said's writings, nor is Said's name mentioned in La Vieille Taupe's own
on-line catalog. The book cannot be bought from the American or French
amazon.com, it is not listed in the Library of Congress catalog nor in other
standard catalogs that are available to the public. I myself became aware of it
only when I visited the neo-Nazi Librairie du Savoir in Paris, which in fact is
the book's distributor. It requires a professional librarian to verify the very
existence of this item in the OCLC world catalog (not available to the public),
or in the catalogue of the Bibliothèque Nationale
de France (which, to be sure, is available to anyone). It is here, in this
official French source, that Said's dirty little secret -- his collaboration
with the Nazis -- is laid open for all to see. The item is duly listed, as is
Said's introduction to it.
Werner Cohn, April 2001
PS (June 2001): It appears that there is an
English edition of the Shahak book that also contains the Said introduction.
The edition of Shahak's book advertised by amazon.com says, on its cover, that
it has a forword by Said. WC
Some further reading
The classic study of Arab anti-Semitism,
published some thirty years ago, is, alas, as valid today as it was in the
1970's: Y. Harkabi, Arab Attitudes to Israel, Jerusalem, 1972
"'My Beautiful Old House' and Other
Fabrications by Edward Said," by Justus Reid Weiner, Commentary, September 1999; available for purchase on line
through the archives service of Commentary magazine.
This article examines Said's claims to be a "Palestinian."
"Said's Splash," Chapter Two of Ivory
Towers on Sand, by Martin Kramer,
Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2001. This chapter summarizes the
criticisms that scholars have made of Said's book Orientalism, and describes how, despite its intellectual
weakness, this work by Said has become a powerful influence on the American
academic establishment.
Other relevant pages on this website
Noam Chomsky's writings on Israel and Jews
Chomsky's Links to the neo-Nazis: Some documents
Israel Shahak's writings on the Jews
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Page updated May 5, 2005