It's all About Me

Pajamas Media has an interesting article on a new study published in the UK (by the Lancet) on the origins and causes of mistreatment in Palestinian society. The problem is, of course, Israel. Their theory is:

1. Men are more violent towards their wives when they are in close proximity to wartime fighting.
2. Arab men in Palestine are in wartime fighting because of the Israeli occupation.

Hence, Israel is to blame. I won’t belabor the point that there’s a slip in their logic. It’s probably an intentional slip in their logic, in fact. The author blames their “feminist roots,” for their lack of understanding. I’ll be more explicit: I think it’s because the writers are anti-semitic, pure and simple. What I found more interesting, though,  is this quote discussing an older work in this area.

In 2002, in an updated version of her book The Price of Honor, British-American (and anti-Zionist) journalist Jan Goodwin claims that the Israeli military policies of self-defense have emasculated Palestinian men. Curfews keep grandiose, woman-hating, and honor- and shame-reared men at home for long hours. Based on anecdotal evidence, Goodwin believes that such men take their considerable frustrations out on women and children. Here, Goodwin quotes Suha Sabbagh, who says that the “Palestinian male, a father, the authority figure in the house, has lost all his authority.” Goodwin dwells on the systematic “humiliation” of the Palestinian man by the Israelis. She writes: “Much of this belittling has taken place in front of their children and womenfolk,” which in turn has “cut down” the image of the Palestinian man as the family’s “hero” figure. “For Arab men, this is the same as losing their masculinity.”

Why would I find this so interesting? Because I think this really cuts to the heart of the problem. The problem, you see, is it’s all about me. Palestinian anger towards women and British anger against Israel spring from the same source: it’s all about me. Yes, I know, it’s a bit hard to grasp, at first. But let’s consider the connection for a moment.

1. Why are these Arab men so mean to their wives? According to these people, it’s because these men are powerless in the face of Israeli occupation. They have no power, which is a snub to their self-esteem, and snubs to their self-esteem make them angry. And anger turns to violence.
2. Why is the Lancet so angry at Israel? Because Israel represents the Jews, and the Jews brought us the Scriptures. We all know the Scriptures are a misogynist collection of stuff written by dead white males who created a patriarchal God out of whole cloth to suppress women. So, why are women so poorly treated by men in Western societies? Because they are both enabled and left powerless by a made up patriarchal God.

You see, if you torture your thinking long enough, you can justify just about anything. You can say that people hate the Jews because they control too much, making the average man feel “powerless,” which then turns him against the women in his life. And you can say that men mistreat women because they are enabled by the Jewish Scriptures, which tell them that women are second class citizens.

And you can do it all without even once realizing the contradictions in your thoughts, nor even trying to find out what the reality is behind any of this. In reality, Jewish culture, and the Bible, places women in a much higher position than Arabic culture (and the Qu’ran). You won’t find a verse in the Bible anyplace that calls a wife a man’s possession to be used for sexual pleasure. Nor will you find a verse saying a man should beat his wife, lightly or otherwise, to keep her in line. Even in the area of slavery men and women were treated differently under the Levitical Law; male slavery was about labor, female about marriage. Women slaves were to be honored, even treated as daughters, not used as sex objects or for labor.

But here’s something I find truly frightening about all of this. In the process of publishing reports blaming Israel for damaging the self-esteem of Palestinian men, you are, in fact, enabling the it’s all about me culture. You’re saying it’s okay to beat your wife if someone is taking away your pride. You’re saying pride really is more important than anything else, that pride is what makes you, fundamentally, a man.

Now let’s compare this to another speaker you will all know.

But I want you — I want you to understand, this is not about me. (Applause.) This is not about me. This is about you. This is not about me; this is about you. I didn’t take this up to boost my poll numbers. You know the way to boost your poll numbers is not do anything. (Laughter.) That’s how you do it. You don’t offend anybody. I’d have real high poll numbers. All of Washington would be saying, “What a genius!” (Laughter.)

I didn’t take this on to score political points. I know there are some folks who think if Obama loses, we win. But you know what? I think that I win when you win. (Applause.) That’s how I think about it.

So if I was trying to take the path of least resistance, I would have done something a lot easier. But I’m trying to solve the problems that folks here in Ohio and across this country face every day. And I’m not going to walk away just because it’s hard. We are going to keep on working to get this done — with Democrats, I hope with Republicans — anybody who’s willing to step up. Because I’m not going to watch more people get crushed by costs or denied care they need by insurance company bureaucrats. I’m not going to have insurance companies click their heels and watch their stocks skyrocket because once again there’s no control on what they do.

So long as I have some breath in me, so long as I have the privilege of serving as your president, I will not stop fighting for you. I will take my lumps, but I won’t stop fighting to bring back jobs here. (Applause.) I won’t stop fighting for an economy where hard work is rewarded. I won’t stop fighting to make sure there’s accountability in our financial system. (Applause.) I’m not going to stop fighting until we have jobs for everybody.

-Pajamas Media

American leadership channeling those Palestinian men. It’s not all about me, but, really, it’s all about me. I’m going to, I’m going to, I’m going to…

When you don’t get your way, feel free to brutalize those who oppose you, or anyone who  just happens to come to hand. The Lancet, at least, will back you up—as long as you’re not Jewish.

Related posts:

1. Jesus is a Jew
2. Abandoning Israel
3. Myths About the Middle East