10 October 2012

Larry Derfner is a nincompoop, and this is final

It is the second time that week that I post on the subject, but this one will be the last for a long time, I hope. His display of terminal idiocy must be spread further than the limited confines of +972 allow, is the only reason why. Here is how elegantly Larry pushes the envelope of his own mother tongue, explaining how Mizrahi* Jews shouldn't count as refugees anymore:

They are not refugees. A refugee is somebody who flees his country and becomes stateless, homeless, because no country is willing to take him in. The Mizrahim, on the whole, fled their countries under duress in the post-’48 atmosphere in the Arab world, so they fled as refugees – but they were helped in and even pulled in immediately by Israel and made citizens of their new country, their own country.  The Mizrahim were refugees only for a brief, transitional period, and that period ended 60 years ago, more or less.
How do you like that definition of a refugee? Toot your horn if you do... meanwhile, for Larry's sake, I will copy a few dictionary definitions of  "refugee":
  1. One who flees in search of refuge, as in times of war, political oppression, or religious persecution.
  2. A person who has fled from some danger or problem, esp political persecution
  3. A person who, by reason of real or imagined danger, has left their home country or country of their nationality and is unwilling or unable to return.
  4. An exile who flees for safety
I hope the above is sufficient to notice that refugee is defined by leaving his home country, mostly under duress. And that one stops being refugee only upon return to that same country. I hope that the discerning reader will agree that this is not mere nitpicking.

I also hope that the same discerning reader will agree now that Larry Derfner is a... oh, I already said that.


(*) A Hebrew slang for the Jews of Middle Eastern extraction.

2 comments:

KatieNorcross said...

Using that logic the Arabs are not refugees. They have a nation to go to. It is called Jordan.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Logic? Derfner? He wouldn't recognize logic if it bit him on the ass.