Legal Activists of Color: [cafeintifada] The Smokescreen of "Anti-Semitism" and the Destruction of a Community Farm

From: Emma Rosenthal <emmarosenthal@earthlink.net>
Date: Jun 17, 2006 10:28 AM
Subject: [cafeintifada] The Smokescreen of "Anti-Semitism" and the Destruction of a Community Farm
To: undisclosed-recipients

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The Smokescreen of "Anti-Semitism" and the Destruction of a Community Farm
By Emma Rosenthal

Ralph Horowitz credits alleged anti-Semitic remarks directed at him as
his unique reason for refusing to sell the South Central farm to the
farmers. It is important to note that there has been considerable
support for the farm from members of the Jewish community, including a
number of Rabbis, and the web page of the South Central Farmers, in
response to these allegations, has an uncompromising condemnation of
anti-Semitism. Additionally, none of the statements, or speeches by the
leaders and spokespeople for the farm, nor the banners and posters that
lined the fence around the farm contained any of the vitriol Horowitz
ascribes to the movement as a whole. It would be impossible for the
leaders of this movement to control or to be responsible for every
statement, letter, email and web page of those who claim to support the
farm. Perhaps a few errant individuals may have made such hateful,
disparaging and unacceptable statements, but to associate the actions of
a few with the farmers themselves or their appointed spokespeople would
be to replicate the exact same bigotry such alleged statements embody.

Additionally, to believe Horowitz, that these remarks were what changed
his mind, contradicts the intractable position he maintained throughout
the entire campaign to save the farm, not withstanding, what he himself
claimed was a weak moment when he briefly offered to consider a sale
that would have amounted to a multi million dollar profit for him.

Equally preposterous is the claim that he was personally insulted or
victimized by these alleged accusations and insults. Nothing in
Horowitz' behavior during this entire episode indicates that he was at
all concerned with what anyone thought of him: not as a businessman,
community member nor as a member of any particular ethnic group. It is
also improbable that these racist insults offended Mr. Horowitz' sense
of moral outrage, as it would appear from his behavior that he has
little concern for social justice or human rights. As for being a
victim; Mr. Horowitz saw to profit considerably from the sale of the
farm. (Through back room deals in 2003 the city sold the farm to
Horowitz for the same 5 million dollars it cost them to purchase it
under eminent domain in the late 1980's.) His original request for 16.3
million dollars from poor subsistence farmers was an obscenity. His
refusal to sell it after weeks of fundraising displayed a flagrant lack
of good faith.

The cry of "anti-Semitism" from someone so wealthy and powerful as Mr.
Horowitz is nothing more than one more political strategy, one sly
attempt to save face, the false play of the race card, the distortion of
the real body politic and in the end, a desensitization to real acts of
racism and bigotry against Jews, especially those Jews not protected by
wealth and power. While crying about social and personal
responsibility; disregarding the hard work, sweat and financial equity
put into the farm by the farmers: the profound relationship of farmer
to soil, the infrastructure of trees and perennials, the value of the
crops in time and sustenance; Mr. Horowitz seems to take no
responsibility for his own behavior. For while Mr. Horowitz is entitled
to all the greed and selfishness of his wealthy Anglo-Saxon
counterparts; free from racist attacks on his character, or his ethnic
group, it seems ironic that while he has embodied many negative Jewish
stereotypes, it doesn't occur to him that it is not he who is a victim

of these generalizations, as the stereotypes so clearly do apply to him
individually. Racists and bigots are uniquely responsible for their
bigotry and as such, Mr. Horowitz is not responsible for the bigotry of
these alleged messengers. But his misuse of this most grievous
accusation within this specific social construct does little to
discourage such conclusions and only serves as a meager justification
for Horowitz' lust for power and money. If anyone is to be offended by
anti-Jewish comments directed at Mr. Horowitz, it is the world's 14
million Jews who have cause to feel slighted by association with Mr.
Horowitz and his un-neighborly behavior, in the unfortunate event that
his individual traits of greed and wealth be applied to us all.

_______________________
Emma Rosenthal is a disabled human rights activist, artist, writer and
educator living in the San Gabriel Valley. She can be reached at
emmarosenthal@earthlink.net For this and other writings by Emma
Rosenthal, visit: http://emmarosenthal.blogsource.com/

©2006 Emma Rosenthal All Rights Reserved Permission to forward in it's
entirety along with bio and contact information.

--

"I must fight with all my strength so that the little positive things that my health allows me to do might be pointed toward helping the revolution. The only real reason for living."
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emma rosenthal is a disabled artist, writer, educator, reiki practitioner, activist and consultant, living in southern california.

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