Howard Jacobson: Whatever the faith, someone somewhere has felt the cold edge of its contempt teachers should have been put on a sex offenders list?

It's like watching two schoolyard bullies, suddenly forgetting you are there and belting each other

Published: 23 September 2006

At last, something that's not the Jews' fault. For the first time in more years than I can remember the world has reverberated to the violence of interfaith rhetoric and no one's mentioned Jewish control of the media, blamed Jewish manipulation of American foreign policy, or burned the Israeli flag. I'm not saying it won't happen, but so far, as the Pope squares up to Islam and Islam squares up to the Pope, there hasn't been a squeak about Zionism. So completely has the Jewish question been sidelined I am starting to feel resentful. A bit anti-Semitic, wouldn't you say, ignoring us to this extent?

In truth, I've been high on it for days. It's like watching two schoolyard bullies, who normally never give you a minute's peace, suddenly forgetting you are there and belting the living daylights out of each other. Schadenfreude isn't quite the word for it. Schadenfreude is for people with no conception of reversal of fortune. You revel in others' adversity only when you are confident your own turn isn't just around the corner. And no Jew of my acquaintance enjoys that sort of confidence. This is why we support football teams who never win. We know that only by tasting defeat every week will we avoid falling into the trap of imagining victory.

Article Length: 910 words (approx.)