Part of the problem is that the universalism is selective. Goldberg would be offended if someone said, "Slavery in the American South wasn't about race, it was about man's inhumanity to man." It's an erasure of the specific *Jewish* experience by enclosing it in a generalised platitude about human existence.
That said, the pernicious "antisemitism, and also Islamophobia" trend in the West is more nakedly political and is about presenting radical Islam as oppressed and not an oppressor.
I think you are reading far too much into her comment, and I don't really see what you object to. This was a tragedy. I think she's saying that it is one of many tragedies. I imagine she means that for a Palestinian mother or father who lost their own children, the tragedy is no less keen. If you need to write three-thousand words to explain that away, maybe you are working too hard.
As others have pointed out, she was "All lives matter"ing a very specific Jewish/Israeli tragedy - and it's not the first time. What you said is correct: she was saying that it's one of many tragedies. That's exactly the problem. There is a time and a place for that kind of universalism; this wasn't it, and in this context it was a minimization.
The minimization of tragedy has *already* occured when greater attention is paid to a certain class of victims over another class of victims. Let me ask you a question: Let's say, God forbid, there was a school bus accident and many children perished, let's say Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. And some commentator said, "This is such a tragedy for those Christian parents to lose their precious children." Wouldn't you feel the need to make a correction and say, "You know, this is absolutely tragic, but we have to recognize the full extent of the tragedy that involves all the other families?" I think you would. That is not minimizing, because you detected what is a clear double standard.
This strikes me as similar to the "missing white girl" phenomenon. It used to be the case, perhaps still is, that periodically the national media would be swept by a story of "missing white girl." They would report nothing else except "missing white girl" for a period of days or weeks. But never-ever would there be a story of "missing black girl", no matter how many black girls might be missing. When people pointed this out, they were accused of minimizing the tragedy. "Why are you bringing this up now? You are minimizing the tragedy!" But really, who is minimizing a tragedy? The people who are pointing out the double standard, or the people who are making the double standard?
I think your scenario of the bus would be more like this one if one child took a while to have their body recovered, let's say, six months, and somebody devoted something explicitly to the parents of that child when the body was recovered, and then somebody else said "well, we can't forget the tragedy that happened to the other families." Of course that's the case, but there's a time and a place, and when somebody's body is recovered, that's their family's time and place.
I imagine she means that for a Palestinian mother or father who lost their own children, the tragedy is no less keen. - debatable. There are clips of Gazan mothers wishing their kids will become a shahid. Don't be naive.
Part of the problem is that the universalism is selective. Goldberg would be offended if someone said, "Slavery in the American South wasn't about race, it was about man's inhumanity to man." It's an erasure of the specific *Jewish* experience by enclosing it in a generalised platitude about human existence.
That said, the pernicious "antisemitism, and also Islamophobia" trend in the West is more nakedly political and is about presenting radical Islam as oppressed and not an oppressor.
Two Rights make 180 degrees.
Thank you
I think you are reading far too much into her comment, and I don't really see what you object to. This was a tragedy. I think she's saying that it is one of many tragedies. I imagine she means that for a Palestinian mother or father who lost their own children, the tragedy is no less keen. If you need to write three-thousand words to explain that away, maybe you are working too hard.
As others have pointed out, she was "All lives matter"ing a very specific Jewish/Israeli tragedy - and it's not the first time. What you said is correct: she was saying that it's one of many tragedies. That's exactly the problem. There is a time and a place for that kind of universalism; this wasn't it, and in this context it was a minimization.
The minimization of tragedy has *already* occured when greater attention is paid to a certain class of victims over another class of victims. Let me ask you a question: Let's say, God forbid, there was a school bus accident and many children perished, let's say Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. And some commentator said, "This is such a tragedy for those Christian parents to lose their precious children." Wouldn't you feel the need to make a correction and say, "You know, this is absolutely tragic, but we have to recognize the full extent of the tragedy that involves all the other families?" I think you would. That is not minimizing, because you detected what is a clear double standard.
This strikes me as similar to the "missing white girl" phenomenon. It used to be the case, perhaps still is, that periodically the national media would be swept by a story of "missing white girl." They would report nothing else except "missing white girl" for a period of days or weeks. But never-ever would there be a story of "missing black girl", no matter how many black girls might be missing. When people pointed this out, they were accused of minimizing the tragedy. "Why are you bringing this up now? You are minimizing the tragedy!" But really, who is minimizing a tragedy? The people who are pointing out the double standard, or the people who are making the double standard?
I think your scenario of the bus would be more like this one if one child took a while to have their body recovered, let's say, six months, and somebody devoted something explicitly to the parents of that child when the body was recovered, and then somebody else said "well, we can't forget the tragedy that happened to the other families." Of course that's the case, but there's a time and a place, and when somebody's body is recovered, that's their family's time and place.
I imagine she means that for a Palestinian mother or father who lost their own children, the tragedy is no less keen. - debatable. There are clips of Gazan mothers wishing their kids will become a shahid. Don't be naive.
You can find clips of lots of strange things. But you don't have to look very hard to find clips of people grieving over their lost families.