I write as an adamant Zionist. The Japanese have a country of their own. The French have a country of their own. The Chinese have a country of their own. The English have a country of their own. The Mexicans have a country of their own. The Italians have a country of their own. The Koreans have a country of their own. The Nigerians have a country of their own. The Argentinians have a country of their own. The Iranians have a country of their own. The Poles have a country of their own. Why should the Jews not be able to have one of their own as well?
In my view, the incompatible land claims between the Israelis and the Arabs should all be adjudicated in favor of the former. The Al Aqsa Mosque lies above the Jewish Second Temple. The Jews were there first, homesteading busily about some 3,500 years ago. The Arabs are Johnny-come-latelys. They have only been in contested terrain for a few scant centuries.
I write, however, to congratulate Parviz Mukhamadkulov, an Uzbek immigrant who owns Poetica Coffee in New York City, a Brooklyn-based café. To say that he has been in the news of late would be a vast understatement. Read what he has had to say, recently, to a Jewish politician:
“Hey Congressman Dan Goldman, we see that you stopped by our shop today for a coffee. Do you see how it doesn’t taste like genocide juice? Or are you still having a hard time telling the difference? See, here at Poetica, we don’t serve racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers, or anyone in between. Too bad we didn’t recognize you right away, or we would have turned you away. We issued you a refund—we don’t need your money (it’s probably coming from AIPAC anyways). Enjoy your loss on Tuesday. Don’t ever come to Poetica.”
Why am I congratulating him, even though I bitterly oppose pretty much everything he stands for, at least in the Middle East? There are two reasons. First, I admire courage. This man had to realize that this statement of his was incompatible with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination against protected groups, among which are those based on religion, such as Judaism. This was magnificent chutzpah on his part.
Second and far more important (murderers, after all, are courageous), he is upholding a crucial right: free association. No one should be compelled to associate with anyone else against his will. If he does not wish to associate with Jews, Israelis, Zionists, that is his right to do exactly that. In writing this note, he is standing up for the rights of all of us to pick and choose with whom we associate. Civilized values owe a debt to this antisemite. We should also be grateful to him.
What are the arguments against the position I have just offered?
First is the thought that people against whom discrimination is aimed will suffer economically. They will have to pay more for food, clothing, and shelter. Their wages will decrease. This is economic illiteracy gone amok. Economists such as Gary Becker, Thomas Sowell, and Walter E. Williams have done sterling work to demonstrate the fallacy of this contention. If the targets of discrimination have to pay more, others will be led, by Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand,” to take advantage of the additional profits thereby created. If their wages are reduced by discrimination in the labor market, others will step into the breach and bid for their services, earning additional profits. Discrimination is costly, and those who engage in it will lose out in the competitive process.
Second, is that this coffee shop is “open to the public.” No. It is not. Rather, it is open to the non-Jewish, non-Israeli, non-Zionist pubic. Mr. Mukhamadkulov has been crystal clear on this matter.
ONE CAPPUCCINO, HOLD THE ANTISEMITISM, PLEASE
Third, anti-discrimination law is illogical. If Mukhamadkulov had publicly announced that in his personal life, he would not date Jews, would not befriend them, and they are not allowed in his living room, he would be fully compatible with the civil rights law. But if this behavior is so illicit, why prohibit it only in the commercial realm? Why not all throughout? Why not ban marriages if the couple is of the same religion, ethnicity, nationality, etc., and thus are obviously discriminating against outsiders?
“Homophobes,” Mr. Mukhamadkulov? Israel welcomes gay pride parades. Its enemies in the Middle East slaughter homosexuals. Are you a secret Zionist?
Walter E. Block is the Harold E. Wirth eminent scholar endowed chairman and professor of economics at Loyola University New Orleans.