About Jewishness

Convivium as a condition to a one-state solution

Convivium means “living together”, wining and dining together. To be able to explain the full context of the sociological expression of “convivium”, I need to go into the sociological terms of “Gemeinschaft” and “Gesellschaft”.

This is what Wikipedia has to say about these terms:
“Gemeinschaft
Gemeinschaft (often translated as community) is an association in which individuals are oriented to the large association as much if not more than to their own self interest. Furthermore, individuals in Gemeinschaft are regulated by common mores, or beliefs about the appropriate behavior and responsibility of members of the association, to each other and to the association at large; associations marked by "unity of will".
German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies saw the family as the most perfect expression of Gemeinschaft; however, he expected that Gemeinschaft could be based on shared place and shared belief as well as kinship, and he included globally dispersed religious communities as possible examples of Gemeinschaft.”

Gemeinschaften are broadly characterized by a moderate division of labour, strong personal relationships, strong families, and relatively simple social institutions. In such societies there is seldom a need to enforce social control externally, due to a collective sense of loyalty individuals feel for society.”"

Gesellschaft
In contrast, Gesellschaft (often translated as society or civil society or 'association') describes associations in which, for the individual, the larger association never takes on more importance than the individual's self interest, and lack the same level of shared mores. Gesellschaft is maintained through individuals acting in their own self interest. A modern business is a good example of Gesellschaft, the workers, managers, and owners may have very little in terms of shared orientations or beliefs, they may not care deeply for the product they are making, but it is in all their self interest to come to work to make money, and thus the business continues.”

Unlike Gemeinschaften, Gesellschaften emphasize secondary relationships rather than familial or community ties, and there is generally less individual loyalty to society. Social cohesion in Gesellschaften typically derives from a more elaborate division of labor. Such societies are considered more susceptible to class conflict as well as racial and ethnic conflicts. The sociological upheavals during the Reconstruction era of the United States complicated the sociological category of Gemeinschaft, as former slaves, whose kinship ties were complicated under slavery, forged new communities that shared aspects of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft.”

Since, for Tönnies, Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft are normal types, he considered them a matter of Pure Sociology, whereas in Applied Sociology, on doing empirical research, he expected to find nothing else than a mix of them. Nevertheless, following Tönnies, without normal types one might not be able to analyze this mix.”

Okay, now we know what Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft are, we can return to convivium. In a Gesellschaft convivium is confided to family and friends. In a Gemeinschaft it is much broader, including whole villages or even small towns. In a Gesellschaft the only thing that controls people is the law. In a Gemeinschaft the keyword is cooperation. In a Gemeinschaft people don’t need a written law to know what’s right or wrong. They know, because they were raised in the community.

In ancient times, at one point some Canaanites stopped eating pork, while others continued to do so. I won’t go into religious details, but this was probably the start of the Jewish people. The only thing that distinguished them from other Canaanites was their belief, and apart from that they were still the same and part of the Gemeinschaft.

Archeology tells us that Jewish communities and non-Jewish communities were quite close, and that there was no hostility between them. It’s amazing what you can tell from the presence or absence of pig’s bones in ancient communities.

Genealogy tells us that the descendants of these Jewish Canaanites and non-Jewish Canaanites have a lot of DNA in common, if not all. Now let’s return to modern times, and what happened to the Levant in the mean time. I think it’s safe to say that the only terrorists the Levant has ever known were the Christian cruisaders and the Zionists. The others were liberating forces in their own way, and apart from the Romans, who still are very powerful in the form of the Mafia, these occupying or liberating empires (depends on who’s side you’re on) do not exist any longer.

New empires arose, and for 75 years there was some balance between the Soviet Union and the U.S.A., which was good for the working class, because there was a balance that could be tipped, but then the world was confronted with the horrible truth that the working class doesn’t want liberty, equality, and brotherhood, but Honda Civics, flat screen TVs and Visa Cards. Bread and games. For reasons well known to most of the world, most Jews lived elsewhere before 1881, and even before 1947, and horrible world events, like the assassination of Alexander II for which the Jews were blamed, and, most of all, the Holocaust, lead to the fact that a lot of Jews rather lived elsewhere than in Europe.

Zionism would never have had a real chance if some countries, like the U.S.A., wouldn’t have limited immigration. But they did, and the Zionist organizations were most grateful for that, because most Jews didn’t have anywhere else to go. So Palestinians were driven from their homes, massacred, because the Jews needed Lebensraum. There were wars, and more wars, and the Cold War ended, and the U.S.A. was the only empire left, and this empire supported the artificial state of Israel with money and weapons. But then, because of all of Israel’s war crimes, world opinion changed, the U.S.A. was under pressure, more and more Jews in the U.S.A. and the rest of the world opposed Israeli/U.S.A. politics. It became clear that Israel can’t go on like this, that the Palestinians are entitled to Wiedergutmachung.

Under pressure of the international community there are now talks of one-state solutions, two-state solutions, and even three-state solutions. There are Jews who say to the Jewish Israeli people, “Go back to where you came from – Poland, Germany, America, whatever. This is not your land!”

Okay, so when the shit hits the fan, when after the umptieth fuck-up of this Israeli government, the world says, “Israel, you’re on your own,” then this is what’s going to happen: the original Israeli elite (the German Ashkenazim) will transfer their money to the U.S.A., if they haven’t already done so, and the American government will receive them with open arms. (We’re talking about 300,000 - 500,000 people here, including the Netanyahus.)

What about the other 4.5 million Jews in Israel?
As they’ve got nothing to offer, nothing to give, and brought up with a deep hatred concerning the Palestinians, they will return to their homelands. Most of them will go to Russia, others to Poland and Germany, as some people suggested they should do. And then we’re back to our subject: convivium (see above).To be able to live together, you must be able to wine and dine together, to be part of a community. True Israeli’s can do that, because they love their country and all that comes with it, including their Palestinian neighbors. Convivium leads to conubium (sleep together), so who knows what a lovely country Palestine will be within a couple of decades, in the post-Zionist era of the Levant.

Jack Vanderwyk