Umm Kulthum, Theodicy And The Mutual Demonization Between Israelis and Arabs

Dear Fred, 

Thanks for sending Umm Kulthum's clip and your commentary. 

Since boyhood, "the sound" of Jewish and Arabic music has always impressed me as essentially plaintive and aggrieved. 

Might McLuhan's dictum -- "The medium is the message" -- have any applicability?

In light of McLuhan, I wonder if Jews and Arabs see themselves as trans-millennial "victims."

Thus convinced that they deserve restitution from "the other," they are completely unable to see "the other's" side.

I realize this view is inflammatory and stress it is only hypothesis.

At bedrock, there is always enough guilt to go around. (It is also true that, in nearly every "conflict," "one side" has been fucked over more than the other.) 

The "thing" with Arabs and Jews (and I think American conservatives inherit "the Jewish position" in this regard) is that neither party feels any need to sit down to discuss the other party's grievances, or to acknowledge that there is some measure of merit on both sides.

Instead, Arabs, Jews (and American conservatives) pride themselves on their refusal to sit down with "the enemy." 

Before there can be any conversation, both parties require implementation of shaming pre-conditions.

Consider.

In the first chapter of "Job," Yahweh not only sits down with Satan -- at Satan's request! -- but agrees with Satan's suggestion that it would be a good idea to torment (torture?) Job, who, notably, is a righteous man. A thoroughly righteous man.

Did you know Father David Belyea at St. Mike's? If I remember correctly, he wrote a book about Job...  (Jung also wrote about Job, a profoundly theodicean inquiry. http://www.amazon.com/Answer-Job-Jung-Extracts-ebook/dp/B0073X0HA0/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt  ///  http://www.amazon.com/Answer-Job-Collected-Works-Bollingen/dp/0691150478)

I never read David's book, and just now discovered his 2008 obituary. http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/main/governance/arts-science-council/arts-science-council-2008-2009/Belyea.pdf

What do you think? 

Pax on both houses,

Alan

PS I encourage you to see "The House I Live In." The first half is solid; the second half a jaw-dropping exploration of how demonizing "the other" can become so socially-and-politically saturating that "everyone" is ensorcelled.  http://viooz.eu/movies/15458-the-house-i-live-in-2012.html

On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 12:46 PM, Fred Owens <froghospital911@gmail.com> wrote:

umm kulthum

she's like Elvis Presley the Beatles, and Bob Dylan all rolled up into one.

The un-matched queen of music in the Middle East, the star of Islam

Umm mean mother, Umm Kulthum means "mother of kulthum" because a traditional woman keeps her real name private.

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