This Week in the Self-Hating Sephardim (8/16)
David Shasha
The Coast is Clear for Rabbi Marc Angel: Albert Memmi and the Zionists
I had asked someone to write a piece on Albert Memmi that has yet to materialize.
And to be honest I was trying to avoid the issue, given that Memmi appeared to be all things to all people.
There was the Islamophobic “tribute” from Lyn Julius:
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/dont-force-jews-into-facile-categories/
http://jewishrefugees.blogspot.com/2020/06/tablet-tribute-to-mmmi-complex.html
As was the case in the Fathom Journal
https://fathomjournal.org/why-memmi-matters/
Memmi was both an Anti-Colonialist and a Zionist. He spoke often of Anti-Semitism and Israel in a way that made the Self-Hating Sephardim very comfortable, as we can see in this article by Rabbi Angel:
https://www.jewishideas.org/article/albert-memmi-anti-semitism-colonialism-racism
Angel’s article is in line with the previous articles, as it avoids Memmi’s Arab orientation and his Third Worldism.
For those who do not know Memmi, it is best to read his two novels on Arab Jewish identity, Pillar of Salt and The Scorpion:
https://www.amazon.com/Pillar-Salt-Albert-Memmi/dp/0807083275
https://www.amazon.com/Scorpion-Orion-Press-book/dp/0670622710
The Scorpion is the better of the two, as its opaque impressionism delves deeper into the core of Memmi’s understanding of himself and his Arab identity.
The book is currently out of print.
Pillar of Salt is the one that Angel quotes from, as he avoids any possible links to the Arab culture.
There has not been much on Memmi from the Left Wing White Jewish press, but there was this excellent article by Susan Gilson Miller which is fairly balanced:
https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/41487
Memmi’s books on Colonialism and Racism are not as important as those of Edward Said and Frantz Fanon, and his place in the current Post-Colonial hierarchy has become confused, largely because his legacy, in Biton Committee style, has been almost fully hijacked by the HASBARAH crowd.
Indeed, this is not something of their making, as Memmi himself, though not at the debased level of Bernard-Henri Levy, felt comfortable with his own HASBARAH tendencies.
It is in the end unclear what any of it means, as Memmi’s North African French Jewish community has forgotten its cultural past and allied itself fully with the White Jewish Supremacy.
Hen Mazzig and Shmuel Trigano: Neo-Con HASBARAH and Self-Hatred
Lyn Julius once again shows us the way:
She links to yet another article by her go-to Self-Hater BFF Hen Mazzig:
https://www.jns.org/opinion/the-real-reason-that-mizrahi-jews-support-israel/
Mazzig is very concerned with those who call out “Mizrahi Washing”:
A recent article in +972 Magazine claimed that Mizrahi activists, including myself, “exploit the oppression of Mizrahi Jews in order to justify the subjugation of Palestinians.” A new term has surfaced to describe advocates like myself who champion our underrepresented family heritage as part of the Israeli experience: “Mizrahi-washing.”
The term “Mizrahi-washing” is a spin on “pinkwashing,” a term used to point out the hypocrisy of those who use LGBTQ-friendly verbiage in order to cover up other problems and depict a place or company as inclusive, modern and tolerant. At its core, “Mizrahi-washing” is the claim that activists like me who advocate for better representation of the Mizrahi experience and support Israel because our families found refuge there—while acknowledging the systemic discrimination we face—are nothing more than a smokescreen to distract from Israel’s alleged wrongs.
Mazzig is consistently on the HASBARAH case, and here he refers to Shmuel Trigano, who has become a constant presence in the Neo-Con Tikvah world:
The leading sociologist on the Middle East and North African Jewish history, an Algerian Jew himself, professor Shmuel Trigano, explained to me that “the Jews of the Arab countries suffered from persecution and pogroms for many generations, hundreds of years prior to the emergence of Zionism.” He said “their situation deteriorated in modern times with the appearance of Arab nationalism in the 20th century. The narrative that describes their immigration to Israel as colonialism is the opposite of the truth. These were fleeing refugees who found home and shelter in the State of Israel.”
Tribano long ago abandoned Arab Jewish activism for the safe haven of Straussian Tikvah Neo-Conservatism:
Mazzig, as always, begins with the Lyn Julius version of the Farhud, as he then launches into the usual Netanyahu propaganda.
Another victory for Sephardic Self-Hatred!
How Far Do the Ashkenazim Have to Dig to Get “Boureakas and Haminados” Sephardischkeit?
It appears to be pretty deep:
https://mailchi.mp/asf/announcing-sephardic-culinary-history?e=9f39c396e1
All the way to France:
ASF Broome & Allen Fellow Hélène Jawhara-Piñer earned her Ph.D
in History, Medieval History, and the History of Food from the University of
Tours, France.
Chef Hélène’s primary research interest is the medieval culinary
history of Spain through interculturality with a special focus on the Sephardic
culinary heritage written in Arabic. A member of the IEHCA (Institute of
European History and Cultures of Food), the CESR (Centre for Advanced Studies in
the Renaissance), and the CoReMa Project (Cooking Recipes of the Middle Ages), Chef Hélène has lectured at Bar-Ilan University (in collaboration with
the Stali Institute and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC): “El
patrimonio culinario judío de la Península Ibérica a través de un manuscrito
del siglo XIII. Ejemplos de la pervivencia de recetas en la cocina de los
sefardíes de España y de Marruecos,” 2018), as well as at conference of the
Association Diwan (“Reflections on the Jewish heritage according to the Kitāb
al-ṭabīẖ,” 2015), IEHCA of Tours (“Jews and Muslims at the Table: Between
coexistence and differentiation: state of affairs and reflections on the
culinary practices of Jews and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula and in Sicily
from the 12th to the 15th century,” 2017), and Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies
(“The hidden Jewish culinary heritage of the Iberian Peninsula through a
manuscript of the 13th century. Examples of the provenance of some recipes in
Venezuelan and Colombian cuisine,” 2017).
In May, Chef Hélène hosted “Shavuot in the Sephardic Kitchen: Bread of the Seven Heavens,” one
of the most popular sessions of the Great Big Jewish Food Fest. Her recipes
have appeared in the Sephardi World Weekly, Tablet Magazine, The Forward, and S&P Central’s Newsletter. Chef Hélène is
currently writing a scholarly book and accompanying cookbook on the Jewish
culinary history of Spain.
To be honest, I must not be very attentive, because Helene Jawhara-Piner is indeed all over the White Jewish world:
https://www.tabletmag.com/contributors/helene-jawhara-pier
https://forward.com/author/helene-jawhara-piner/
There is nothing like keeping Sephardim in the kitchen, where they belong!
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/Davidshasha/mimouna/davidshasha/X1BJSxbbO54/OyPcLX0vAAAJ
She is all in with the Tikvah Ashkenazim at the ASF:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og5fVPx0sNc
MIMOUNA is indeed the locus classicus of Sephardic Orientalist exotica:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/Davidshasha/mimouna/davidshasha/byd5-B4h0uk/KhuXYU7eAQAJ
We are not good enough to sit at the Adult Jewish Table, but we can definitely serve the food.
Olé !
David Shasha