Holy War in the Holy Land

When we think of a holy war in the Middle East, we usually think of Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims, but there is another controversy going on that many outsiders are unaware of. That is the conflict between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews living within the state of Israel. The conflict is this: the more conservative Orthodox are clashing with the more secular, liberal government of Israel, over issues such as Orthodox Jews putting up signs demanding gender separation in all of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The government ordered that these signs be removed. Another controversy in Israel is the issue of gay rights. Israel has the fourth largest gay pride parade in the world, which has taken place in Tel Aviv since 1999. In response, some Orthodox Jews have resorted to attacking some of the gay demonstrators, and have even been charged with hate crimes. If that were not enough, some members of the Orthodox community are upset with a popular new television show in Israel which they claim misrepresents their culture. It depicts scenes of lack of intimacy, spousal abuse and homophobia. One Orthodox rabbi even compared the government of Israel to the government of Nazi Germany. 

So, the question is, which form of Judaism will win out? Right now, it seems like the secularists have the power, but like many fundamentalists, the Orthodox community has large numbers of children, and many people are afraid that they could turn Israel in a much more right-wing direction in the future. I guess only time will tell in this sectarian struggle.

Whoopi Goldberg's Hypocrisy

Recently, on an episode of "The View," the panel was discussing Nikki Minaj's controversial video, "Only," because of complaints from some viewers that it had Nazi-like imagery. The video showed Minaj speaking in front of a crowd, of which I can only assume are her fans, with a red and white flag with the letter "M" on it. Understandably, this makes some people cringe. But the most surprising aspect of this is Whoopi Goldberg's response on "The View." Whoopi accused Minaj of being ignorant and not even knowing what the Holocaust was. She then went on to accuse not only Minaj, but her entire generation, of being ignorant of what the Holocaust was. This is odd coming from Goldberg, who in 2006 and 2010 relentlessly defended Mel Gibson when he was caught in antisemitic, homophobic and racist rants, in addition to violently threatening his wife. Goldberg said, "I know Mel, and I know he's not racist. I can't say that he's a racist, having spent time with him, in my house, with my kid, I can't say it." Newsflash, Ms. Goldberg: just because someone is nice to you personally does not mean that they don't have any internalized bias towards certain groups of people as a whole. Yes, the imagery in Nikki Minaj's video is decidedly problematic. But I think it's hypocritical, coming from Whoopi Goldberg, who seems to only say something when it's somebody she does not consider to be a personal friend.