Unselecting Le Select Bistro
I have been eating a Le Select Bistro since the 80’s when it was located on Queen Street West. Not only was it one of my favourite bistros but my favourite restaurant in the city. Apparently, serving some of the finest cuisine and wine is too small a venture for this bistro which has elected to enter into what I would call another very old French tradition… . The Jewish Tribune:
TORONTO – Frederic Geisweiller, owner of downtown restaurant Le Select Bistro, told the Jewish Tribune he didn’t believe his accusations against the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) regarding the current Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit would discourage visitors. Nor did he acknowledge that his comments about Israel were politically one-sided.
Geisweiller also claimed that due to pressure from Palestinian and other groups, the ROM has revised its information regarding ownership of the Scrolls. This was denied categorically by a ROM spokesperson. Until last week, the restaurant’s website, which publicizes local happenings and cultural events, included the following:
“Although we endeavour in this page to bring you the best this city offers, we wish – uncharacteristically – to warn against a show whose artifacts were obtained by force and looting, and which the ROM is – astonishingly – set on featuring. The so called Dead Sea Scrolls…showcases artifacts seized by Israel in its 1967 surprise war, which it waged against its neighbours. The war led to the seizure and the ongoing military occupation of many lands, including the West Bank, from where the scrolls were taken. They had been excavated in the early 50s’ (sic) by the Ecole Biblique Francaise, the Palestine Archaeological Museum, and the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. They represent a collection of nearly 900 ancient manuscripts, including portions of the Old Testament written in Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek. By showcasing these artefacts, the ROM is violating Canada’s responsibilities under the UNESCO Conventions and Protocols relating to cultural objects seized by arms and its own obligations as a principal member of the Canadian Museums Association (CMA).”
The site also connected readers to an anti-Israel petition by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME). “I don’t think I was taking any political side,” Geisweiller said. Rather, he was highlighting “the fact that there’s a controversy about it.”
Greisweiller, has since see fit to change the website’s original stance and justified it this way.
“We don’t bow to pressure,” Geisweiller said, insisting that the site was changed only because, according to his information, the ROM had agreed to include the “controversial” facts in its literature, although he had just returned from France and hadn’t yet looked at the changes. According to the ROM, no changes have been made regarding the Dead Sea Scrolls Project, which was “created in partnership with the Israel Antiquities Authority.”
This controversy, reminds me of the time (circa 2003) when an Egyptian legal scholar proposed a lawsuit should be launched against all the Jews in the world for reparations of Pharaoh’s loot which had been ‘stolen’ when the ancient Hebrews fled Egypt during the Exodus. He even went so far as to calculate the approximate value in modern day terms. Of course, this wasn’t the first time the Jews were sued over the Exodus and the Talmud even details the appropriate defense that carried the day the last time the “Jews” were sued.
The latest manufactured controversy by the Palestinians would be laughable if people like Geisweiller weren’t buying it hook, line and sinker – and actively promoting it. One can argue till the cows come home whether the preemptive action taken by the Israelis in June 1967 against its neighbours was primarily defensive or not but there are some facts which are indisputable. The Jordanians did not have to join in the war between the Egyptians and Israelis but Jordanian King made a conscience decision to enter into the dispute. Furthermore, the Jordanian occupation of East Jerusalem and the so called West Bank was illegal nor did these lands ever represent the original Palestine Mandate given to the formation of Trans Jordan on the East Bank. Consequently, the Dead Sea Scrolls were acquired by the Jordanians during an illegal occupation. And do note – the scrolls were acquired by the Jordanians and not the PLO or the Palestinian Authority.
To suggest the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were the writings of ancient Jews are now an integral part of the Palestinian national heritage, has to be one of the most absurd international positions I have ever heard being actively promoted by the Palestinian Authority. What’s next – Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek are ancient Palestinian languages or that the Tanach is now part of the Palestinian religious tradition? But perhaps Le Select Bristo can post a definitive answer to these questions on the next update of their website.
Next Thursday I had intended to dine with the Last Amazon at Le Select Bistro to celebrate my birthday but it will now be a dark day in hell before I will ever pass through the doors of Le Select Bistro. Geisweiller will have to find some other suckers to fiance his restaurant and promote his political agenda because it sure won’t be on my dime.
One more thing. I realize some will think I am quibbling but there are no such religious writings called the ‘Old Testament’ in Judaism.
