Tony Soprano, Israel, and Jewish Power

Well, the boss is dead, and there are those of us who now grieve, kidding ourselves into believing that we actually knew him. Such is the power of Hollywood: the ability to manipulate emotions, often to promote political agendas. Anyone see Exodus lately? Sophie’s Choice? Try typing “Holocaust Films” into Wikipedia to learn about true manipulation.

There seem to be at least two concepts worth considering here. First, if one understands the gangster mentality of The Soprano’s (simply put: you have what I want, now gimme it) then, by extension, one understands Israel’s behavior. The United Nations issues at least sixty five resolutions condemning this Israeli atrocity or that; the International Court of Justice condemns, with near-unanimity, the Apartheid Wall, and Israel’s response is the same as Tony’s:

Then there’s the Jewish Power aspect of The Soprano’s, identified and highlighted by Guiseppe Furioso in his 2002 letter to Jonathan Alter of Newsweek. “Joe” points out:

Ethnic disparagement that masquerades as humor is easiest when it is at someone else’s expense. The fact that Italians act in the program and are among its creators does not get you or the program off the hook any more than the fact that the actors in the old “Amos and Andy” series were black. And why did you not mention the ethnic background of the producers of the series or of the ownership of HBO? They are certainly not Italians.

He suggests to the Jewish Alter to use his tribal connections to promote Guiseppe’s idea to create a show based on another “crime family”:

It could be called, ”The Shapiros” and the following could be its leading characters: The patriarch of the family Morris Shapiro, a slumlord whose tenants are mostly minority and who is also suspected of being the nation’s largest launderer of Colombian drug money; Uncle Yitsak who runs a chain of sub standard nursing homes and is currently out on bail for dealing in child pornography; eldest son Dr. Mortimer Shapiro who runs a Medicare mill and several dozen “bingo” parlors in poor neighborhoods, the profits of which are used to finance illegal settlements on the West Bank…

“Joe’s” letter is published in Persecution, Privilege and Power edited by Mark Green, and reprinted without permission below signature. To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize (Voltaire).

The Israeli Dog and US Tail, Part Deux

Alison Weir tossed out a supportive comment in response to last week’s report’s mention of Jewish influence in US foreign policy. She is writing a book to be titled Against Our Better Judgment: The hidden history of how the United States was used to create Israel. She begins the book by writing:

While many people are led to believe that U.S. support for Israel is driven by the American establishment and U.S. national interests, the facts don’t support this theory. The reality is that for decades U.S. foreign policy and defense experts opposed supporting the creation of Israel. They then similarly opposed the massive American funding and diplomatic support that sustained the forcibly established state and that provided a blank check for its aggressive expansion. They were simply outmaneuvered and eventually replaced.

We anticipate reading this new book soon. View the uncorrected proof at http://ifamericansknew.org/us_ints/history.html

Comments?

8 Vigilers
This report again dedicated to the memory of Sol Metz, who died one year ago
Henry Herskovitz
Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends

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The Sopranos and the Shapiros

This was sent to Jonathan Alter of Newsweek.

Nov. 5, 2002

Dear Mr. Alter:

Please forgive me for taking so long to respond to your reply to my letter of Oct. 10 in which I was critical of your essay in which you compared New Jersey Senator, Robert Torachelli with the fictitious crime boss, Tony Soprano. Regarding the comparison, you said you were merely, “trying to be funny”. As for the question of whether the show demeans Italians, you took the position that this is “much debated” and then gratuitously stated that, “the Italians who created the program and act in it obviously don’t think so”.

Ethnic disparagement that masquerades as humor is easiest when it is at someone else’s expense. The fact that Italians act in the program and are
among its creators does not get you or the program off the hook any more than the fact that the actors in the old “Amos and Andy” series were black. And why did you not mention the ethnic background of the producers of the series or of
the ownership of HBO? They are certainly not Italians.

At any rate, since you obviously do not find the “Sopranos” offensive, perhaps you could use your tribal connections to the media to promote my idea for another series about an ethnically defined “crime Family”.

It could be called, ”The Shapiros” and the following could be its leading characters: The patriarch of the family Morris Shapiro, a slumlord whose tenants are mostly minority and who is also suspected of being the nation’s largest launderer of Colombian drug money; Uncle Yitsak who runs a chain of sub standard nursing homes and is currently out on bail for dealing in child
pornography; eldest son Dr. Mortimer Shapiro who runs a Medicare mill and several dozen “bingo” parlors in poor neighborhoods, the profits of
which are used to finance illegal settlements on the West Bank; cousin Irving Shapiro, a convicted insider trader who recently purchased a pardon from outgoing president Bill Clinton; Zviv Shapiro who languishes in a federal prison because he spied for Israel and his brother Lev, an Israeli General, who in addition to siphoning off millions from the six billion in aid the US gives Israel
each year, was recently indicted for war crimes by a Belgian court for his role in the murder of 1600 Egyptian POW’s during the Six Day War; nephew Aaron who runs a “Tolerance” institute that has destroyed the careers and ruined financially
numerous public figures who were critical of Israel and her American supporters; family attorney, Seth Ginzburg, who, when he is not providing the family with legal loopholes for their nefarious activities, is bringing class action lawsuits on behalf of Holocaust survivors with contingency fees that have netted him tens of
millions, whereas the actual individual plaintiff awards have usually amounted to a few thousand dollars at most; Rabbi Joshua Goldstein spiritual councilor to the family who is currently under indictment for having hired a hitman to kill his wife.

Then of course there are the Shapiro women: Bertha, the sister of Morris who wrote the new course of study for multiculturalism and diversity mandated for use in New York City public schools and who has also been linked to the world’s
largest white slavery network that traffics primarily in poor young women from the former Soviet Union; Tiffany her younger sister, who with her lesbian lover were the first same sex couple to adopt a child in New York; daughter Beth and her Israeli husband, Yossi who are the leading importers and distributors of the drug ecstasy into the United States; the voluptuous Cohen twins, Becky and Rachel who allowed themselves to be taped by the Mossad during sexual trysts with the president and various congressional leaders for the purposes of political blackmail; niece Sharon and her husband Herb Hymawitz, who as officers of the ACLU are actively lobbying for the passage of a federal hate crimes which would make, among other things, a series like “Shapiros” illegal.

And no episode would be complete without a visit by one of the principle characters to family therapist and frequent “Oprah” guest, Dr. Sarah Sokoloff whose standard pattern of treatment calls for her to have sex with her patients.

Joe