William Shakespeare.
As a teacher of the English language, it is almost mandatory for me to have a fondness for the old Bard, aka William Shakespeare.
Over the years, I have delighted in teaching several of his most famous dramas to reluctant pupils. His works can be described as magical, vaguely prophetic even as they have stood the test of time in terms of their universality and relevance to the human condition despite having being written and performed aeons ago.
In fact, as I ponder and frustrate myself over the situation in Gaza, one such play comes to mind: The Merchant of Venice and the misunderstood character of its central antagonist, the Jew Shylock.
As the plot goes, Shylock is a persecuted Jewish money lender who enters into a contract with a Christian merchant by the name of Antonio. By and by, Antonio is unable to fulfil the terms of the agreement, and the matter goes to the Venetian court where Shylock demands his dues in the form of a pound of Antonio’s flesh.
There has always been robust debate around whether Shakespeare’s portrayal of Shylock is anti-Semitic, but that is not what this article is about. What strikes a deep chord is Shylock’s famed soliloquy in Act 3, scene 1, where he laments the treatment of his nation at the hands of the Christians. With all the talk of Muslims being Jew-haters in chief, it is easy for most to forget that historically, much of the early persecution of Jewish people was at the hands of Christians.
Shylock explains the rationale behind the gruesome conditions of his contract with Antonio, arguing for his dignity and against Semitic discrimination. He makes the case that Jews are the same as everyone else, physically and emotionally. Jews have eyes, ears, organs and hands, just like everyone else. And just like everyone else, they experience the same emotions, passions and desires. Most famous is the line, “If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?”
He correctly calls out the double standards in society where he proclaims, “ If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.”
Did you feel the hairs on your arms stand up? Because I did, every single time I read that line.
Israel, sorry, Shylock hit the nail right on the head with that one, and his words resonate alarmingly with what is going on in Gaza. It appears that the persecution that the Jews suffered at the hands of their oppressors over the years is being recycled, re-purposed, manipulated and contorted – evil and wickedness has been honed and refined to reach horror of unthinkable proportions in Gaza by the Zionist architects of apartheid in Israel.
On Monday, more than 40 displaced Palestinian civilians were murdered and more than 60 injured in a deadly Israeli massacre in al-Mawasi, an area designated as a “humanitarian zone” by the Israeli army.
The news coming out of Gaza is like a filthy black river. Every day, the news supersedes the previous days in horror and dreadfulness. If you prick a Palestinian, will he not bleed? If you tickle him, will he not laugh, if you bomb him with 2000-pound bombs, will he not die? If you wrong a Palestinian, what will his sufferance be, why? Resistance! The villainy you teach us, we will defeat, we will destroy and it shall go hard, but we will better the Resistance and the fight for liberation. Amen.
Z KHAN | Durban
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