- I was comfortably seated in the beauty parlor, having
my monthly argument with Father Time, when suddenly my cell phone
rang. The voice on the other end asked, "Is this
Jude the Holocaust Denier?" Having been caught off guard, I
had no pithy response. I neither denied the appellation nor did I
embark on a lengthy explanation of my readings about the event. I
merely laughed. Perhaps it was the nervous laugh of someone
who suddenly realized that the calls, which had begun on Tuesday, were
becoming habitual. Perhaps it was the laugh of someone who wondered
how far this creep would go to make my life uncomfortable. I suspected,
however, that a response would have fallen on deaf ears. Actually,
it would have fallen on no ears, since the caller immediately hung
up, and obviously, this man was already "hung
up" when he dialed my number. It had been but another hit
and run, though less mordacious than its predecessor.
Yes, friends, it was not the first call of this nature that had found my
ear.
-
- On Tuesday, I was driving to Nyack, an artsy little
village in Rockland County, en route to a wonderful independent bookstore
that has stocked my new book. I was "Jude the Joyous",
when suddenly, my cell phone interrupted the transcendent strains of Ralph
Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending, and replaced it with The
Jude Descending.
-
- The caller began "Are you proud to be on 'Holocaust
Denier' Jeff Rense's web site?" There it was again,
the H.D. accusation. But this time the "gentleman"
lurched into a fulmination of naughty words and phrases. He
called me an anti-Semite. He called me a bitch. And he
called me the C word. (Propriety prevents me from spelling
the word, but I will give you a clue: it does not stand for
"cute" or "cuddly") The crass comments were
followed by the customary cowardly "click".
-
- The Holocaust is a topic that I have neither written
about nor have I denied. I have, however, read and viewed videos
challenging the official story and I am well acquainted with the voices
of revision and do not call them "Holocaust Deniers".
To me, they are people who are questioning the details of what occurred
during World War 2. Why should questioning be a crime?
-
- I was born of Jewish parents but, fortunately, none of
my family had an experience of the Holocaust. And yet, I am
deeply aware of the sensitive nature of this event and I know people who
have lost entire families during that bloody period. However, nobody, to
my knowledge, is suggesting that the Jews were not rounded up and put in
camps and ghettos. Nobody is suggesting that they were not treated
in a horrific manner.
-
- World War 2 was a tragedy for many different peoples and
I have heard that over 50 million died. There were non Jewish
Polish people, Russians, Germans and Austrians. And, of course, lest
we not forget the Gypsies, who were also targets. So although
the details may be open (or not be open) to debate, nobody is saying the
event did not occur. Nobody is denying the event. Correct
me if I am wrong.
-
- I am a pacifist and feel that the death of one person
is one person too many. I also cringe at the possibility that
there could be manipulation and distortion in the details and that people
could be profiting on the death and despair of others. And
so, I welcome debate on all sides. Agree or disagree with the
revisionists, I do not believe that they are committing a crime by asking.
I do not believe that their questions merit the punishment which they are
receiving. I believe that the truth can stand on its own, and, at
the end of the day, it is only the truth that everyone is after.
-
- It is a frightening reality that in these troubled times,
asking questions has become a hate crime in many places. Questioners
have been silenced and several of their voices have been placed
behind bars.
-
- When I wrote the essay, Question Everything", I
meant EVERYTHING. Could that have been what had angered my caller?
Perhaps questions were anathema to this man. Perhaps he was hoping
to intimidate me into assuming the guise of "Jude the Obedient".
-
- I was reminded of my essay, Freedom of Speech, RIP. The
phone call was merely another shot being fired at the "remains"
of this once laudable constitutional right. And though it was
miniscule compared to what others were experiencing, it was
vicious in its own respect.(or lack thereof)
-
- Being the object of name-calling is not a new experience
for "Jude the Jaded". Peppered among my usually flattering
email is the occasional malicious missive. The insults have run
the gamut and spanned the spectrum. They have been hurled at me from all
sides. I have been called a "Jewish hypocrite",
an "Aryan bootlicker", an "N lover", an anti-Semite,
a self-hating Jew, and now, a Holocaust denier.
-
- And so, as I watch the first major snowfall blanket Suffern, I
find myself in the midst of an identity crisis. Who am I, if
not "Jude the Confused"? Aren't I greater than the labels
that are being flung in my direction? Aren't we all greater?
-
- Perhaps if my 'gentleman' caller had thoroughly read
Jeff Rense's site, he might have stumbled across the following quotation...
-
- "If we don't believe in freedom of expression
for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."
-
- Noam Chomsky
-
-
Copyright 2005: Judy Andreas
- www.judyandreas.com
- JUDE10901@AOL.com
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