Natan Sharansky: Defending Identity

Financial Times:

The thorny question of who you are
Review by Michael Skapinker

Published: June 15 2008 17:34 | Last updated: June 15 2008 17:34
Defending Identity: Its Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy
By Natan Sharansky with Shira Wolosky Weiss
PublicAffairs $26.95 (£15.99)

When Natan Sharansky was in a Soviet prison his wife, Avital, who had left for Israel, sent him a message saying she had decided to cover her hair. It was a difficult moment. Sharansky had previously told Avital he was uncomfortable about her assuming the garb of a Jewish Orthodox married woman. This time, he decided that if this was her new religious identity he would have to respect it.
Freed after nine years, and permitted to follow Avital to Israel, he stood up for other women covering their hair, opposing France’s ban on headscarves in schools. Muslim girls were expressing their identity and he had learnt during his gulag years how much identity mattered. The prisoners who stood up to the KGB were those with the surest sense of who they were, whether Latvian nationalists, Orthodox Christians or Pentecostals.
Many democracies are deeply confused about identity, making dangerous mistakes over how much citizens owe to the state and how much to their ethnic or religious groups, Sharansky argues in this thought-provoking book.
Like those on the American right, Sharansky directs his greatest ire at the Europeans, whom he accuses of lacking a sense of purpose to match that of their Islamist enemies, both internal and external.
But, unlike the other critics, Sharansky’s allegation is not that Europe simply caves in to Islamist demands. As shown by his support for headscarves, his argument is more complex. Sharansky says that postwar democratic Europe dedicated itself to universal notions of human rights, assuming that colour, religion and culture would cease to matter. Faced with an influx of immigrants, this post-identity Europe struggled to integrate the newcomers. Britain and the Netherlands opted for multiculturalism: all ways of life should be respected. What really happened, he argues, was that both countries, infused with post-colonial guilt, res­pected all but their own. When Dutch film-maker Theo Van Gogh was murdered and London suffered a murderous attack on its Underground, the establishments struggled to respond.
France adopted a different strategy, insisting all citizens become resolutely French. In state schools, any sign of dif- ference – headscarf, crucifix or skullcap –was to be abandoned at the gate. Shar- ansky is as little taken with the French approach as with the British or Dutch.
The French road leads to hypocrisy, he says. “French Muslims are coerced to act one way while thinking and feeling another.” In any case, identity is vital, giving people ties to their past. Casting it aside is seldom healthy. Arriving in Israel, he criticised the prevailing idea of citizenship there too. Theodor Herzl, modern Zionism’s founder, imagined a country where pioneers would hang on to their old cultures while creating something new. David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, had other ideas, insisting Jews ditch their diaspora baggage: Poles, Moroccans, Germans and Iraqis would simply become Israelis.
The arrival of the Soviet Jews challenged this. The newcomers were determined to hang on to their Russian heritage, forming their own political party with Sharansky as chairman. The right way to tackle identity, Sharansky says, is American. In the US, you can become American without forgetting what you were. You can be Irish-American, Italian-American or Jewish-American. A central culture of democracy demands your loyalty, but outside that you can be who you like. [link]

posted by: jrtelegraph

Comments

[Svetlana]

Read here(www.julinudelmann.com) truth and nothing but the truth
Justice for all!

www.julinudelmann.com

[E. Maidanik]

To.: Natasha et al.
Maybe you would like some humor for a change? Here's my quatrain first published in the original Russian (in a /now former/ weekly paper "Novaya Panorama" /New Panorama/):
We pulled him from his prison mat.
He knows a lot about 'schnorr.'
But to appoint him just for that
To ANY job? - NOT ANYMORE!
More jokes on request.
Natasha, you are brave - which is good. However, by ignoring so many opinions of the FSU Jews (and non-Jews) you just show why Sharansky can influence so many people even now, after many publications about him (including those in English). Which reminds me of an old anecdote published in a Russian-language paper in Odessa sometime in 1918.
-You know, everyone says that the end of Rasputin was bad. However, poor Mademoiselle so-and-so still cannot believe it!
On the other hand, the old adage tells, "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot force it to drink."
The day might come when you open your mouth to ask a good question.
I wish you success in inquiring.
All the best in the year 5769.
E. Maidanik
PS. All the best to all who write and read the column, first of all the BOSSES. EM

[E. Maidanik]

B"H
Many thanks for placing my comment.
I really appreciate it.
Many years ago a Jewish scientist
was awarded a Novel Prize for an important contribution to the mankind wellbeing (details are not important here and I only add that this story is well known to many people). When asked what or who helped him to gain such success he
replied, "It was my mother. When as
a schoolboy I returned home from school she never asked me about what I had learned that day. She would say, "Have you asked a good question today?"
As a patent officer in the USSR many years ago and an admirer of science fiction, I can only add that many problems that exist today are due to the fact that too few people EVER ASK QUESTIONS. So please try and understand that if you really want to know something or learn more about Jews (and non-Jews) from the FSU (including Sharansky, former Shcharansky) you are most welcome to ASK US, FORMER SOVIET JEWS. Or you can try and learn Russian (a difficult language, especially for the "Anglos" /my work in the RRB Russian Service in 1977-82 gave me some experience in this field/). In this case, best luck!
Yours sincerely,
E. MAIDANIK

[E. Maidanik]

B"H
THINK RUSSIAN THINK ISRAEL and
VISIT RUSSIA BEFORE RUSSIA VISITS YOU.
If someone wants to know something about, say, Japan (s)he would normally ask a Japanese not a Finn or a Georgian.
What prevents "Anglos" and "Russians" understanding each other is the language barrier. When Dr. Yuli Nudelman published his book about Sharansky (Shcharansky was his surname before he desided to change it) he had it translated into Hebrew but not English.
Ask the RUSSIAN Jews and you will learn a lot about Sharansky and the book written by Dr. Yuli Nudelman. I am one of those you can ask. As a professional translator/interpreter and journalist who has been following the trial and translated some material from Russian into English for Dr. Nudelman, I am willing and ready to answer reasonable questions.
I can be reached at maidanik77@gmail.com
or by phone (972-2) 5856873 or (972-52) 3048078 NS
Yours sincerely,
E. Maidanik

[E. Maidanik]

B"H
THINK RUSSIAN THINK ISRAEL and
VISIT RUSSIA BEFORE RUSSIA VISITS YOU.
If someone wants to know something about, say, Japan (s)he would normally ask a Japanese not a Finn or a Georgian.
What prevents "Anglos" and "Russians" understanding each other is the language barrier. When Dr. Yuli Nudelman published his book about Sharansky (Shcharansky was his surname before he desided to change it) he had it translated into Hebrew but not English.
Ask the RUSSIAN Jews and you will learn a lot about Sharansky and the book written by Dr. Yuli Nudelman. I am one of those you can ask. As a professional translator/interpreter and journalist who has been following the trial and translated some material from Russian into English for Dr. Nudelman, I am willing and ready to answer reasonable questions.
I can be reached at maidanik77@gmail.com
or by phone (972-2) 5856873 or (972-52) 3048078 NS
Yours sincerely,
E. Maidanik

[Anna]

It is impossible to read all of Tatiana's comments, but one sentence jumped out at me: Sharansky family, who came from suburbs, now can travel around the world and live a nice, comfortable life.
Is this a major source of Tatiana's irritation?

[jrtelegraph]

To make it absolutely clear:
Tatiana's views on Natan Sharansky DO NOT RELFECT the position of the Jewish Russian Telegraph in any form.
Tatiana you made your point. We do understand that you care about Mr. Sharansky's background. This said, in the interest of our readers, we will not allow you to use this site for venting your grievances. Your comments will stay for now, but we will not accept any more comments from you on this topic.
Of course, you are welcome to share your views with our readers on any other topic of interest to Russian Jews.

Warning: if you violate our rule -- you will see all your comments deleted.

-- jrtelegraph

[Tatiana]

Open Letter to respected Mrs. Heather Reisman.
Dear Mrs. Heather Reisman
Before you are going to meet Mr. Sharansky 23/06/08 I and more of Israeli citizens would kindly recommend to make the acquaintance with all documents about Mr. Sharansky in JRT:
I think this material could help you understand, who Mr.Sharansky is really.
Yours sincerely,
Tatiana

[Natasha Broudy]

Dear Tatiana,
Ahmadinejad, Bin Laden and Sharansky!? Modest exaggeration.
Give me a break!
Sabbat Shalom and
Best Wishes.

[Public Affairs]

Natan Sharansky will be in Toronto Monday June 23. He will take part in an on-stage conversation with Heather Reisman at the Indigo Bayview Village at 7:00 PM. www.chapters.indigo.ca