Now in the last chapters of Hitchens' memoir I find his reflections on things and thoughts Jewish vis a vis his own existential questions. It has brought to mind an odd trip that I took as a teen with my father to the LA Convention Center.
It was the first time that I was introduced to the hagiographic depictions of Jews and the State of Israel. And so I learned something about the heroism of Golda Meir and David ben Gurion. They seemed, at the time, to be admirable enough and being able to speak highly of them did never get me anything but pleasant responses, but they never made much of an impression upon me. In fact there is only one stark memory that remains of the trip and the entire day boils down to that distinctive fact.
There was in my father's comment a sad sort of pride, and I must have recognized that odd sort of jealousy often expressed by black nationalists at the stereotypical Jew. The thing that occasioned this moment was a large scale model of a very modernistic housing project. It was stark white in that way that architectural models are, and it was of apartment buildings which lined and topped a terraced hill. The model itself impressed me in the same way the large train set did at the Museum of Science and Industry at Exposition Park. Wow. It must have taken somebody a long time to build this. He must have looked at me as if I understood nothing. The point is not the model, but that they got it built for their people. Well yes of course, I said, that must go without saying. It takes money to build buildings. But his frustration with my lack of understanding that they were Jews and like blacks people hated and feared them, and yet they have triumphed was the belittling lesson he passed on. I was not totally innocent, but we were long past 1968 and so I figured such things were inevitably yet to come.
It is rather ironic that the thing that has brought Israel more problems than anything is their record of building such new housing in disputed territories. So perhaps there is something about new housing construction for the poor or the emergent that strikes a deep chord in their ambitions.
Recent Comments