Miriam Itzkowitz – Year 12

Dressing up and costume sensitivity

A couple of weeks ago, I was deeply affected by the events in the Aalst Carnival in Belgium where Jewish caricatures were depicted on floats and as costumes, accompanied by people dressed as Nazis and floats “decorated” as gas chambers. Upon mentioning this to my French teacher, she encouraged me to write a letter of complaint in French to the mayor, as well as other Belgian political figures (Belgium being a French speaking country, despite this town being Flemish speaking), and I have consequently, received some replies.

Despite my anger at this situation, I also reflected on our holiday of Purim, a festival we celebrate to commemorate the fact that we weren’t massacred in Persia. We are encouraged to dress up and parade around joyously – seemingly what this carnival is trying to achieve. We often have people dress up in sombreros, or kimonos, and even this year, we had people come in thawbs (traditional Arab garment), keffiyehs and taqiyahs (Muslim religious skullcap). How is this any different? While I am not typically one who calls out the way one dresses, I felt highly offended at seeing Jews stereotyped with big, fake noses, traditional orthodox garb and money bags. This, to me, felt like anti-Semitism. While a lot of this issue is based on intent, another, perhaps larger, issue is the way in which the groups who are depicted, perceive it. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t dress up how we usually do on Purim. However, I think it would be wise for us to be mindful and open to hearing how other groups feel when dressing like them, and how to do it sensitively, and hopefully this level of respect and maturity will be reciprocated.

Below is the letter I wrote, in French, as well as its translation:

Monsieur le Maire,

Récemment, j’ai vu des photos et vidéos du festival Aalst 2020. Après avoir vu les chars où les juifs sont représentés en masques grotesques et offensifs, je me sens inquiète, offensée et blessée.

Je crois que les évènements comme ceci sont loin d’être inoffensifs. Ils encouragent la haine, l’intolérance, le racisme et l’antisémitisme. Bien que je comprenne que le festival est prévu d’être satirique et marrant, la réalité est que pour la communauté juive ces stéréotypes sont tellement dangereux.

S’amuser est important, certes, mais quand c’est basé sur les stéréotypes négatifs tels que nos cheveux, nos aspects de visage et nos vêtements évoquent tous, l’époque nazie. Les grands nez, les nazis, les sac d’argent, les diamants et les costumes hassidiques sont les stéréotypes nuisibles qui ne représentent pas tous les juifs et pire encore, confirment ceux qui veulent faire du mal à la communauté juive.

Étant une jeune Juive en Australie, nous devons faire tout possible, à mon avis, pour encourager la gentillesse, le respect et la tolérance envers les autres cultures et les ethnies si on veut éviter une autre Holocauste.

Je vous prie d’agréer, Madame, l’expression de mes sentiments distingués.

Recently I saw videos and photos of the Aalst carnival 2020. After having seen the floats where Jews were represented wearing grotesque and offensive masks, I feel concerned, offended and upset.

I believe that events such as this are far from harmless. They encourage hatred, intolerance, racism and anti-Semitism. Even though I understand that the festival is intended to be satirical and fun, the reality for the Jewish community of these stereotypes is quite dangerous.

Having fun is important, of course, but when that fun is based on negative stereotypes such as our hair, our facial features and our clothes, these are all reminiscent of the Nazi era. The large noses, the Nazis, the bags of money, the diamonds and the Chassidic outfits are all harmful and do not represent all Jews. Worse still, they provide validation to those who wish to do harm to the Jewish communities.

Being a young Jewish woman in Australia, in my view, we must do everything possible to encourage kindness, respect and tolerance towards other cultures and ethnicities if we want to avoid another Holocaust.