Is Will the New Mel?
" I think he (Hitler).....set out to do what he thought was "good.'"
Actor Will Smith
The Jewish Defense League (JDL) condemned the young black star for this remark, and even urged theaters to refuse to show his new movie
"I Am Legend."
The furor recalls the reaction to the anti-Semitic tirade of fellow actor Mel Gibson when he was arrested for drunken driving last year. But did JDL go too far, or his Will Smith the new Mel Gibson?
The JDL was founded in Brooklyn in the early 1960's by the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, then a columnist for the Jewish Press. Unlike the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which fights anti-Semitism with speeches and press-releases, JDL was willing to use force to defend Jewish lives and property.
After Kahane moved to Israel, where he was elected to the Knesset representing the Kach Party, the JDL came under increasingly erratic and militant leadership.(1) After several leaders were sent to jail, the group declined in significance, and I thought it had folded until the attack on Will Smith got a lot of press and blog attention this week.
The quotation above is neither anti-Semitic nor false. Adolf Hitler, like the assassins, suicide-bombers, terrorists and tyrants of today, believed that his actions were for the ultimate good of mankind. In my opinion, the greatest evil done in the world is done for what the perpetrators sincerely believe to be the will of Allah, the interests of the working class, or the cause of an oppressed people. Sure, robberies, rapes and murders are committed all the time to satisfy the greed and lusts of the criminals, but these acts are seldom on the scale of those perpetrated for "noble causes."
Mr Smith could have phrased his sentiments better, but he should not be condemned for them. Unlike Mr Gibson, he has not made even one anti-Jewish film.
Maybe I will not see I Am Legend, but that will not be because JDL does not want me to.
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(1) The Knesset later banned Kach for being anti-Arab. If Arab parliaments would ban all anti-Semitic parties, they would never have a quorum.
Rabbi Kahane was subsequently murdered by an Arab while visiting New York City.
Actor Will Smith
The Jewish Defense League (JDL) condemned the young black star for this remark, and even urged theaters to refuse to show his new movie
"I Am Legend."
The furor recalls the reaction to the anti-Semitic tirade of fellow actor Mel Gibson when he was arrested for drunken driving last year. But did JDL go too far, or his Will Smith the new Mel Gibson?
The JDL was founded in Brooklyn in the early 1960's by the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, then a columnist for the Jewish Press. Unlike the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which fights anti-Semitism with speeches and press-releases, JDL was willing to use force to defend Jewish lives and property.
After Kahane moved to Israel, where he was elected to the Knesset representing the Kach Party, the JDL came under increasingly erratic and militant leadership.(1) After several leaders were sent to jail, the group declined in significance, and I thought it had folded until the attack on Will Smith got a lot of press and blog attention this week.
The quotation above is neither anti-Semitic nor false. Adolf Hitler, like the assassins, suicide-bombers, terrorists and tyrants of today, believed that his actions were for the ultimate good of mankind. In my opinion, the greatest evil done in the world is done for what the perpetrators sincerely believe to be the will of Allah, the interests of the working class, or the cause of an oppressed people. Sure, robberies, rapes and murders are committed all the time to satisfy the greed and lusts of the criminals, but these acts are seldom on the scale of those perpetrated for "noble causes."
Mr Smith could have phrased his sentiments better, but he should not be condemned for them. Unlike Mr Gibson, he has not made even one anti-Jewish film.
Maybe I will not see I Am Legend, but that will not be because JDL does not want me to.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) The Knesset later banned Kach for being anti-Arab. If Arab parliaments would ban all anti-Semitic parties, they would never have a quorum.
Rabbi Kahane was subsequently murdered by an Arab while visiting New York City.
Labels: Hitler, Jewish Defense League, Smith
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 10:45 AM
2 comments
