UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL
Assailing Christmas
The San Diego Union-Tribune: Christian holiday is not anti-Semitic
March 5, 2005. It is a sad moment indeed when the mere mention of the word Christmas is assailed as an expression of anti-Semitism. Yet that is precisely what a very small group of La Jollans is doing to advance their misguided bid to strike the word Christmas from the town council's traditional Christmas parade. "The name does not lend itself to diversity," huffs Howard Singer. "This is the only bastion of anti-Semitism that remains."
What utter claptrap. The word Christmas is no more a bastion of anti-Semitism than the word Ramadan is a bastion of terrorism or the word Hanukkah is a bastion of anti-Christianity. In fact, to equate the word Christmas with anti-Semitism is itself a shockingly narrow-minded and bigoted view of Christianity. The purpose of the La Jolla Christmas parade – beyond of course spurring retail sales during the Christmas season – is to celebrate the birth of Jesus, himself a Jew whose followers established Christianity. When Christians celebrate Christmas – with parades and gifts and decorated trees and festive dinners – they are in no way engaging in anti-Semitism.
The president of the La Jolla Town Council, Bob Collins, has made it very clear that the annual parade is open to groups of all faiths, including Muslims and Jews. If Singer believes the parade "does not lend itself to diversity," perhaps he should enter a float honoring Hanukkah or Ramadan or Kwanzaa. He won't be turned away.
Christmas' parade vs. 'holiday' parade. SDU-T, March 13, 2005 .
I want to thank you for the beautifully written March 5 editorial "Assailing Christmas" about the traditional Christmas parade in La Jolla. The few people who want to erase the word Christmas from all events are not at all concerned about the feelings of the Christians who live in the community. I am Christian and have no objection to other religions celebrating their holidays. Why is Christmas such a threat to them? SYDNEY JONES , La Jolla
I am having a difficult time understanding this "controversy." I can't imagine anyone believing that Christmas is anti-Semitic. I don't understand why the benevolent merchants of La Jolla wouldn't want to promote inclusiveness and have a "holiday" parade. This would no longer be exclusionary for those who don't celebrate Christmas. I see no change in the parade's purpose and everyone wins. STEVE DROSMAN , San Diego
Regarding Howard G. Singer's March 8 letter, "La Jolla's 'dark side' re-emerges in parade": In the 1940s and '50s, Jews and blacks were not welcome in La Jolla; therefore, according to Singer, today we should eliminate all references to Christmas. Was Christmas the impetus for the anti-Semitic attitude? Louis Farrakhan, a black man who does not celebrate Christmas, has uttered some rather strong, anti-Semitic language. What was the role of Christmas in the hatred toward Jews exhibited by the Nation of Islam? Am I to believe that if only La Jolla had prohibited reference to Christmas from 1940 to 1960, things would have been different? I have read the story of Christmas. I have celebrated the holiday for nearly 50 years. Until now, not one of my family members, friends, clergy or fellow celebrants has said, "Oh, by the way, when you celebrate Christ's birth, make sure you hate Jews and blacks." I'm sorry the world has dealt so many such cruel treatment. I'm even more sorry that the response of those who identify with such poor treatment believe the answer is to merely eliminate the solemn beliefs and celebrations of those who are different from them. Singer exhibits the same narrow-minded, "it's all about me" attitude of those he castigates. Shame on anyone who suppresses the celebrations of the many portions of our society. Long live Christmas. And, yes, long live Kwanzaa, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah and Ramadan. La Jolla is not the final "holdout"; it is the final bastion of society that recognizes we are different, but united. BOB BEST, San Diego
Why is it that the word Christian offends the liberals, yet we are allowed to have a gay-rights parade? Is it only liberals who have rights? I thought this was the land of the free, founded on the principle of free speech. BRENDA BRIDGETT, San Diego
The editorial "Assailing Christmas" reminds that each year in La Jolla the Jews jubilantly celebrate their jolliest holiday, PURIM. Thus, for 2,500 years they continue hatred toward non-Jews, while Jesus Christ, the Jew, taught "love your neighbor as yourself." (Read book of Esther in the Holy Bible. Also Adolf Hitler Founder of Israel by Hennecke Kardel, available at each Search Engine.) WIESLAW CZAJKOWSKI, La Jolla
Jesus was a great philosopher. He embraced all humanity – including lepers and prostitutes. He certainly did not exclude anyone from his teachings. Indeed, the growth and success of Christianity were dependent upon the ability of his followers to proselytize millions of people and to convert them to the "Christian" point of view. The latest debate about the La Jolla Christmas Parade appears to be contrary to the historic spirit of Christianity. Rather than argue about semantics and misconceptions of anti-Semitism, perhaps the La Jolla Town Council could celebrate the birth of Christ with a gift to the entire community: a holiday parade. I think that this would be an appropriate gift to the memory of Jesus. LEE BRUKMAN , Rancho Santa Fe
Even Hennecke Kardel in his book Adolf Hitler Founder of Israel could not predict, that burial of Arafat at the Ramallah will be a triumph for Palestinians. If Israel's Jews could, they would never ever allow this to happen, for the Ram-Allah means a Hill of Allah (or Battering Ram of Allah), since the time of Prophet Muhammad facing the Jahve's Temple in Jerusalem in the quest for the reign over the entire world. And much worse, his would be successor Abbas demands to lock up Israelites in the GHETTO by a WALL along the GREEN LINE of 1949. Are Palestinians not hitlerites? Do the judgment by yourself!!
Adolf Hitler - Found of Israel: Israel in War With Jews by Kardel, Hennecke KardelEdition: Paperback
Price: $14.95
Availability: This item is currently available at NEW CENTURY PRESS; BARNES & NOBLE; AMAZON; HIDDEN MYSTERIES and elsewhere.
This book is a difficult read and a bit hard to follow. I suspect this is because it has been translated from German by someone who doesn't quite understand all the nuances of the English language. It doesn't help that amazon.com has a typo in the title. It is Adolf Hitler - FOUNDER of Israel: Israel in War with Jews. That said, it is also a difficult read because of what it has to say. For this reason, it also becomes an essential read, especially today. This book was copyrighted in 1974. Here we are, in 2004, and Israel is as disruptive as ever. I do not, in this statement, equate Israel with Jews (which would render me anti-Semitic, which I am so not), although the confusion is understandable. It only becomes more confusing the more one tries to understand it. All Jews are not Zionists. All Zionists are not Jews. And some ZIonists were NaZIs. The important point being, most of us have had the history of Israel taught to us in simplified fashion, a basic "run through" that supposedly suffices to tell us that we know "enough" about it to get through the day. Black and white, good and evil, perpetrators and victims. Until, that is, we start having to send American (and other) sons and daughters to the Middle East to intervene in a long-standing and ongoing, historical battle that the history of Israel plays a significant part in. While this book can not address current times, it does address the roots in a way that allows us to understand better how history is unfolding as we speak. We cannot afford to limit our understanding of these issues to what the mass media chooses to tell us, or what we learn in the brief time that we are in school. Far too much is at stake. Other books make the case about how involved Israel is in American politics. That alone makes this book essential reading.
Assailing Christmas
The San Diego Union-Tribune: Christian holiday is not anti-Semitic
March 5, 2005. It is a sad moment indeed when the mere mention of the word Christmas is assailed as an expression of anti-Semitism. Yet that is precisely what a very small group of La Jollans is doing to advance their misguided bid to strike the word Christmas from the town council's traditional Christmas parade. "The name does not lend itself to diversity," huffs Howard Singer. "This is the only bastion of anti-Semitism that remains."
What utter claptrap. The word Christmas is no more a bastion of anti-Semitism than the word Ramadan is a bastion of terrorism or the word Hanukkah is a bastion of anti-Christianity. In fact, to equate the word Christmas with anti-Semitism is itself a shockingly narrow-minded and bigoted view of Christianity. The purpose of the La Jolla Christmas parade – beyond of course spurring retail sales during the Christmas season – is to celebrate the birth of Jesus, himself a Jew whose followers established Christianity. When Christians celebrate Christmas – with parades and gifts and decorated trees and festive dinners – they are in no way engaging in anti-Semitism.
The president of the La Jolla Town Council, Bob Collins, has made it very clear that the annual parade is open to groups of all faiths, including Muslims and Jews. If Singer believes the parade "does not lend itself to diversity," perhaps he should enter a float honoring Hanukkah or Ramadan or Kwanzaa. He won't be turned away.
Christmas' parade vs. 'holiday' parade. SDU-T, March 13, 2005 .
I want to thank you for the beautifully written March 5 editorial "Assailing Christmas" about the traditional Christmas parade in La Jolla. The few people who want to erase the word Christmas from all events are not at all concerned about the feelings of the Christians who live in the community. I am Christian and have no objection to other religions celebrating their holidays. Why is Christmas such a threat to them? SYDNEY JONES , La Jolla
I am having a difficult time understanding this "controversy." I can't imagine anyone believing that Christmas is anti-Semitic. I don't understand why the benevolent merchants of La Jolla wouldn't want to promote inclusiveness and have a "holiday" parade. This would no longer be exclusionary for those who don't celebrate Christmas. I see no change in the parade's purpose and everyone wins. STEVE DROSMAN , San Diego
Regarding Howard G. Singer's March 8 letter, "La Jolla's 'dark side' re-emerges in parade": In the 1940s and '50s, Jews and blacks were not welcome in La Jolla; therefore, according to Singer, today we should eliminate all references to Christmas. Was Christmas the impetus for the anti-Semitic attitude? Louis Farrakhan, a black man who does not celebrate Christmas, has uttered some rather strong, anti-Semitic language. What was the role of Christmas in the hatred toward Jews exhibited by the Nation of Islam? Am I to believe that if only La Jolla had prohibited reference to Christmas from 1940 to 1960, things would have been different? I have read the story of Christmas. I have celebrated the holiday for nearly 50 years. Until now, not one of my family members, friends, clergy or fellow celebrants has said, "Oh, by the way, when you celebrate Christ's birth, make sure you hate Jews and blacks." I'm sorry the world has dealt so many such cruel treatment. I'm even more sorry that the response of those who identify with such poor treatment believe the answer is to merely eliminate the solemn beliefs and celebrations of those who are different from them. Singer exhibits the same narrow-minded, "it's all about me" attitude of those he castigates. Shame on anyone who suppresses the celebrations of the many portions of our society. Long live Christmas. And, yes, long live Kwanzaa, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah and Ramadan. La Jolla is not the final "holdout"; it is the final bastion of society that recognizes we are different, but united. BOB BEST, San Diego
Why is it that the word Christian offends the liberals, yet we are allowed to have a gay-rights parade? Is it only liberals who have rights? I thought this was the land of the free, founded on the principle of free speech. BRENDA BRIDGETT, San Diego
The editorial "Assailing Christmas" reminds that each year in La Jolla the Jews jubilantly celebrate their jolliest holiday, PURIM. Thus, for 2,500 years they continue hatred toward non-Jews, while Jesus Christ, the Jew, taught "love your neighbor as yourself." (Read book of Esther in the Holy Bible. Also Adolf Hitler Founder of Israel by Hennecke Kardel, available at each Search Engine.) WIESLAW CZAJKOWSKI, La Jolla
Jesus was a great philosopher. He embraced all humanity – including lepers and prostitutes. He certainly did not exclude anyone from his teachings. Indeed, the growth and success of Christianity were dependent upon the ability of his followers to proselytize millions of people and to convert them to the "Christian" point of view. The latest debate about the La Jolla Christmas Parade appears to be contrary to the historic spirit of Christianity. Rather than argue about semantics and misconceptions of anti-Semitism, perhaps the La Jolla Town Council could celebrate the birth of Christ with a gift to the entire community: a holiday parade. I think that this would be an appropriate gift to the memory of Jesus. LEE BRUKMAN , Rancho Santa Fe
Even Hennecke Kardel in his book Adolf Hitler Founder of Israel could not predict, that burial of Arafat at the Ramallah will be a triumph for Palestinians. If Israel's Jews could, they would never ever allow this to happen, for the Ram-Allah means a Hill of Allah (or Battering Ram of Allah), since the time of Prophet Muhammad facing the Jahve's Temple in Jerusalem in the quest for the reign over the entire world. And much worse, his would be successor Abbas demands to lock up Israelites in the GHETTO by a WALL along the GREEN LINE of 1949. Are Palestinians not hitlerites? Do the judgment by yourself!!
Adolf Hitler - Found of Israel: Israel in War With Jews by Kardel, Hennecke KardelEdition: Paperback
Price: $14.95
Availability: This item is currently available at NEW CENTURY PRESS; BARNES & NOBLE; AMAZON; HIDDEN MYSTERIES and elsewhere.
This book is a difficult read and a bit hard to follow. I suspect this is because it has been translated from German by someone who doesn't quite understand all the nuances of the English language. It doesn't help that amazon.com has a typo in the title. It is Adolf Hitler - FOUNDER of Israel: Israel in War with Jews. That said, it is also a difficult read because of what it has to say. For this reason, it also becomes an essential read, especially today. This book was copyrighted in 1974. Here we are, in 2004, and Israel is as disruptive as ever. I do not, in this statement, equate Israel with Jews (which would render me anti-Semitic, which I am so not), although the confusion is understandable. It only becomes more confusing the more one tries to understand it. All Jews are not Zionists. All Zionists are not Jews. And some ZIonists were NaZIs. The important point being, most of us have had the history of Israel taught to us in simplified fashion, a basic "run through" that supposedly suffices to tell us that we know "enough" about it to get through the day. Black and white, good and evil, perpetrators and victims. Until, that is, we start having to send American (and other) sons and daughters to the Middle East to intervene in a long-standing and ongoing, historical battle that the history of Israel plays a significant part in. While this book can not address current times, it does address the roots in a way that allows us to understand better how history is unfolding as we speak. We cannot afford to limit our understanding of these issues to what the mass media chooses to tell us, or what we learn in the brief time that we are in school. Far too much is at stake. Other books make the case about how involved Israel is in American politics. That alone makes this book essential reading.
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