As many of you know, the city created dedicated bike lanes in several parts of the city. One of the new bike lanes runs along Kent Street, in Williamsburg. Some of the local residents, fearful of the effects of untzniously-clad cyclists in their neighborhood, have asked the city to remove them.
The cyclists have decided to "fight back" in a rather unique and innovative way. They held a "protest" by dressing up as clowns. They arrived in their clown costumes (and bikes) and rode down to the lane.
Since the primary group fighting against the Kent Street bike lane is the hasidic community, YWN covered the story. As with most YWN stories, commentators are free to comment. Sure enough, it didn't take long for someone to throw out the dreaded "A" word. The very first comment (by Flatbush Bubby) read as follows:
They have to be anti-semites to want to do something like this.
Yes, that's right Flatbush Bubby. Anyone who wants to have a bike lane in Williamsburg must be an antisemite. After all, we all know that bicycling in Williamsburg is a terrible act of Jew-hatred. Heaven forfend that someone might have a disagreement with a Jew on whether or not bicyclists can or should ride through a Jewish neighborhood -- after all, anyone who doesn't go along with your groupthink must be an antisemite.
Seriously... sometimes I think we should require a "common sense" test before allowing people on the Internet.
The Wolf
14 comments:
YWN needs something like this.
That was *brilliant*!
Thanks for posting that!
The Wolf
That mea be THE funniest thing i've ever seen online.
Amazingly enough, Youtube really did implement that feature (as a joke, but really):
http://blag.xkcd.com/2008/10/08/youtube-audio-preview/
Sartre famously observed that if the Jew didn't exist, the anti-Semite would be forced to invent him.
I think that there is a large portion of the Jewish community that is invested in the idea that they are under active anti-semetic oppression, and therefore anything that in any way adversely impacts them must be based on anti-semetism; and in fact the existence of this anti-semetism reinforces that they are doing the right thing.
This is not unique to the Jewish world. There are parts of the Christian community (in America, no less) that are so invested in the notion that true believers will be persecuted that they go around searching for examples that prove that they are under active persecution. Not people being killed for being Christian in other parts of the world -- they want proof that they themselves are being actively persecuted.
I can't stand YWN, but to be fair, I think Flatbush Bubby is the most seriously deranged (and ignorant) commenter there (although there are several other contenders for that honor). That site must be a big moneymaker (from the sheitel ads?) because no one with any yiras shamayim would run such a site.
Dave,
I agree with what you wrote. The truly ironic aspect of this imaginary "war on the Jews" as it supposedly exists in this country is that B"H this is one of the best countries, and the best eras, to live in with respect to treatment of Jews. I don't mean to say that anti-Semitism doesn't exist in this country, but rather that it's definitely disapproved of by the authorities.
Wolf - That should be a post (the first comment).
I wonder how they'll feel about the bike lanes when gasoline is $10 or more a gallon (by 2015 according to CFR analysts) and they can't afford to drive their cars anymore.
What do you mean? Anti-Semitism is how I pay my bills. I sue everyone for being an anti-semite. If a McDonalds opens up near me, they get sued for trying to entice me to eat non kosher. Anti-Semitism is everywhere. :)
"sometimes I think we should require a "common sense" test before allowing people on the Internet"-
No way! That would take all the fun out of it. I like the crazies.
And of course this is not REAL news.
people, please...Flatbush Bubby is three bored guys sitting in a dorm room during seder - believe it!
i learned a long time ago to stop paying attention anytime a frum person starts talking about anti-semitism
the great jewish historian Salo Baron was very critical of traditional jewish historiography, which was influenced by what he termed the "lachrymose conception of jewish history" (i.e., it focussed to a great extent on chronicling jewish suffering). frum people today only know how to approach the external world in this context.
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