VS veiligheidsadviseur James Jones vertelt mop over handige Joodse handelaren

 

Zo'n mop vertel je als je je 'onder ons' voelt, als je er zeker van bent dat je als 'one of the guys' wordt gezien, en bevestigt dit gevoel op zijn beurt ook. Als een buitenlander in Nederlands gezelschap een mop over gierige Nederlanders vertelt zou ik dat zo opvatten, en niet als een belediging. Maar met de Joden ligt het logischerwijze allemaal extra gevoelig, en dat had Jones moeten weten. Daarbij vinden niet alle Joden de huidige VS regering fair naar Israel toe. Het is geen gelopen race, het is zelfs geen thuiswedstrijd, maar een opgave het vertrouwen terug te winnen en te laten zien dat men niet vooral oog heeft voor Arabische belangen, en Israel niet aan goede contacten in de Arabische wereld ondergeschikt heeft gemaakt.

Maar hé, mag er dan helemaal niet meer worden gelachen? Jawel, maar Jones had misschien beter deze variant kunnen vertellen.

 

Hij heeft inmiddels zijn verontschuldigingen aangeboden.

 

RP

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Last update - 17:52 25/04/2010       
James Jones' Jewish joke - funny or inappropriate?
By Nathan Guttman, The Forward
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1165212.html
 

 

National Security Adviser James L. Jones doesn't necessarily come across as the amusing guy at policy events. Rather, the veteran general is known for his measured and careful wording, and his somewhat monotonic delivery.

 

Maybe that is why some were surprised when Jones decided to open his remarks at the 25-year anniversary gala of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy with a joke. Not just any joke - a Jewish joke that some say was in poor taste.

 

And here is how it goes:
 
A Taliban militant gets lost and is wandering around the desert looking for water. He finally arrives at a store run by a Jew and asks for water.

 

The Jewish vendor tells him he doesn't have any water but can gladly sell him a tie. The Taliban begins to curse and yell at the Jewish storeowner. The Jew, unmoved, offers the rude militant an idea: Beyond the hill, there is a restaurant; they can sell you water.

 

The Taliban keeps cursing and finally leaves toward the hill. An hour later he's back at the tie store. He walks in and tells the merchant: "Your brother tells me I need a tie to get into the restaurant."

 

The joke drew a wave of laughs and applause from participants, many of whom are Jewish. The Washington Institute, an independent think tank widely seen as being pro-Israel, was founded by Jewish donors who are now on the institute's board.

 

After the speech, two participants suggested, in private conversations with the Forward, that Jones' joke might have been inappropriate. After all, making jokes about greedy Jewish merchants can be seen at times as insensitive.

 

A prominent think-tank source who attended the event said the joke was "wrong in so many levels" and that it "demonstrated a lack of sensitivity." The source also asked: "Can you imagine him telling a black joke at an event of African Americans?"

 

Was the joke out of place?

 

That is probably a matter of taste. One thing is for sure: Some people must have felt a little uncomfortable with it. The White House transcript sent to reporters after the event did not include the joke and conveniently began a couple of minutes into the speech. The video of the event posted on the Washington Institute Web site also did not include this portion of the speech.

 

Luckily, the event was filmed by C-SPAN and several Israeli TV networks, so everything is on record. Just in case anyone feels a need to keep on digging into Jones' sense of humor.