The more I ponder this story the more it becomes an anti-semitic metaphor for our times
Reader comment on article: The Fatal Stabbing of Angelo Frammartino, Palestinian Apologist
in response to reader comment: ...or would he have

Submitted by rick (United States), Aug 29, 2006 at 17:03

If today we read of instances in the former Europe under Nazism of a Jew murdered in a street in Germany or France or Italy by others, particulary by other passerbys ,the immediate reaction of most would be disgust . At least , I would hope so.

If a young non-Jew were murdered by those who mistook him for a Jew during this same time and place, would the parents of that victim show compassion for the murderers when they apologized for the mistaken stabbing? Not unless they were Nazis themselves who felt the same hate for Jews and thus were able to accept the loss of their son as an unfortunate tradegy.

If they did not have hatred towards Jews themselves then upon what basis would they be able to forgive the murderer(s)? Unless a kind of Christian saintliness is the explanation, we have to inquire elsewhere. Especially as there have been comments by the Frammartinos more politcal than religious.

If killing a Jew is wrong, then killing their son as a Jew is equally a criminal and wrong act but if killing a Jew can be considered "reasonable" then killing their son as a Jew becomes more of a "mistaken identity" issue and the killer can be forgiven.

Thus, "Oh, we know if you knew that Angelo was not a Jew you would not have done what you did so we forgive you." As opposed to the more moral position of , "It is wrong to kill a Jew and it was wrong to kill Angelo thinking he was a Jew. Both are equally horrible acts and you are a murderer regardless."

What has changed? The parents of Frammartino may indeed be anti-Semitic but it is hard to imagine that their anti-semitism is such that they advocate the mass murder of Jews walking the streets.

But what they do accept, in a leftwing twisted rationalism, is that Jews can be murdered while walking the street and that act is somehow consented to and approved by them.

Their son just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and as a white European he too closely resembled a Jew. And that was his crime. Why didn't the Arab who stabbed him realize that their son was not a Jew and that in fact agreed with Arabs that killing Jews in the street is acceptable considering their predicament.

Leftists like to use terms like "resistance" and "insurgents" to differentiate from "terrorists" and "murderers". This time the "resistance" struck home. That becomes the tradegy for Frammartinos parents. Not the premediated murder of a perfectly innocent person because he is a Jew or a Jew-like person. The wrong person was killed. It should have been the young man walking 20 feet in front of Angelo. Bad break. But no ill feelings towards the murderer. Everyone can make a mistake. Especially in a nation full of them as well as many look-a-like foreigners.

It means "Jews deserve it" and that starts to get close to the 1930 mentality of hard core anti-semitic thought. The "rational", leftwing understanding is based on exactly the same fascist anti-semitism that the Frammartinos would clearly condemn. Ultimately the two come together. The fascists embrace anti-semitism as Jews are garbage. The left wing understand anti-semitism as a resonable response of the downtrodden. For Jews, it is of course, the same ending.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited, before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments.