The truth about Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib that will shock Americans
Antisemitism is now a Pandemic, but it must not become the New Normal!
Each new year brings the hope of a new start including new resolutions–some that we will keep and some that will quickly fade away into oblivion. One such resolution that is well worth keeping is that of standing strong against this new tidal wave of antisemitism in America and most of the world. This renewed and re-invented brand of antisemitism is indeed a fast-spreading disease s. So, why is it that in many cases, people treat it as the new normal? What would happen if typhus, cholera or malaria would have been treated as the new way of life when they started to plague our planet? I wouldn’t be here to speak of it and neither would you to read me. What will it take for people to care enough and react to this exponential eroding of our Judeo-Christian values? During the 1930s and 1940s, many people removed themselves from the crisis by justifying that they were not Jewish or had no Jewish relatives or friends. Six million Jews later, the world woke -up…or did it?
If all the acts of antisemitism that have occurred globally in the last few months were to be reported properly, it is almost certain that we could document the hatred of the Jews as a daily occurrence. The last week of December 2019 in New York was an example of the momentum the beast has gained. Almost every single day during the celebration of the Feats of Hanukkah, the Jewish community was hit. We are not talking about graffiti or insult– bad enough in-and-of-themselves–we are talking about physical injuries and death if the perpetrators had had their ways. Jewish people were threatened, slapped, hit, pushed and even stabbed with a machete, and that is just one week in New York. Europe had its share as well, not to mention all the under-reported or not reported incidents. While I feel that it is necessary to focus on the Jewish people, I am very aware and greatly concerned about what is taking place against Christians as well.
When looking at the history of classic antisemitism, we can see a trend developing from the closing of the biblical record to the Middle Ages and the Reformation, culminating in the Holocaust. I believe that a similar trend can also be seen with the advent of the New antisemitism and End-Times antisemitism. While the original trend was following a growing chasm between Christians and Jews, the renewed trend follows a chasm between people in general (including Christians) and Jews.
First, what developed can be called theological anti-Judaism. Early Christians felt that the Jews were different and didn’t really fit theologically. Differences of opinion started to drive a wedge in a community where theological lines had been blurred for the first few hundred years during the infancy of Christianity. These differences were mostly verbal or written in some early works but not intended to lead to ostracism, demonization, violence or death, and yet, the wheel was already turning. Many Church Fathers took an allegorical approach to parts of the Scriptures that led to them seeing a transfer of God’s blessings and promises to the Church and away from ethnic Isreal. It was the little crack in biblical theology that created the seismic fault known to this day as Replacement Theology. But it could have remained a theological difference, so what made it go further?
During Christianity’s early years, only the spiritual leaders were educated and had access to manuscripts. The printing press wouldn’t come until 1450. The masses, if interested in spiritual matters, would have to fully rely on what they heard from the pulpits of their respective communities. They couldn’t check the veracity of the messages, they could only take what their leaders told them at face value. When they were told that the Church had replaced Israel and the Jews were “Christ-killers”, “lustful”, “rapacious”, “greedy” or even “possessed by the devil”, they believed it. The next move was obvious, if the Jews were so bad, we must protect our Christian communities from them, and so the crack went a bit deeper. Laws started to be passed to separate Christians from Jews, and then to further ostracize and eventually demonize the Jews. By now, we are in the Middle Ages (500-1500) and people continued to believe lies about the Jews and even started to fabricate some. The unwanted Jew was expelled from one European country after the other. Things progressively got worse for the Jews, but nobody really cared to check the facts. What started as a theological difference became a European epidemic that decimated six million Jews during the Nazi regime.
A similar process has been taking place for the last few decades. It started in the Middle East with the rise of Yasir Arafat (Chairman of the PLO from 1969 to 2004), the great defender of the Palestinian right for self-determination. The Palestinian narrative about victimization, oppression and occupation started as propaganda to reverse the tide, and make the perpetrators into the victims and vice-versa. It took a while to take root, and at first, it was challenged by some, but today, it is believed by many around the globe and the Jews are painted as the new Nazis of the Middle East. Arafat has been dead for sixteen years but his legacy of lies and hatred lives on, and it is pushed forward by uneducated people, not interested in checking the facts. Back in the days, the people were illiterate, today they are uneducated about the truth of the Middle East crisis. So they listen to whoever comes up with the most likely scenario faulting the Jews. The result is equally lethal, and with the advent of the Internet and the social networks, it has become far worse. It has now become a pandemic, but many are treating it as the new normal.
Antisemitism like any other form of xenophobia, including racism against blacks, Arabs, Hispanics or any other ethnic community goes against everything the United States was founded upon. What happened to “Judeo/Christian” ethics? A few people pay lip service to the cause by denouncing the longest hatred, but they seem toothless. We need laws, they need to be enforced, and sentences need to be heavy. Antisemitism is akin to domestic terrorism, and terrorism affects all of us…Well at least it should.
If hitting Jews and trying to kill them almost daily has become the new normal, then we are not getting close to the atmosphere of the 1930s and 1940s…WE ARE THERE, and if we are not doing anything, we have become the new bystanders. Somebody, please prove me wrong and I will gladly and humbly stand corrected!
Anti-Semitism in 2019: A Year in Review – Part 1
When my first book on the topic came out in 2007, I received a lot of feedback from skeptics telling me that things couldn’t possibly get “that bad” for the Jewish people. I will resist the temptation to say “I told you so”, simply because I would much rather stand corrected and be wrong, but as most of the world has now seen, it is not the case. In fact, it could be argued that things are even worse than I predicted when I started my research in 1999. Part of me is irate, part of me is concerned and part of me is not surprised.
I am irate because, after 2,000 years of antisemitism culminating in the Holocaust, I didn’t think that men could be so cruel and evil to other men. I am concerned by the lack of interest and reaction from people who know better, including evangelicals, but I am not really surprised because biblically speaking, I know that at some point in the history of mankind, the whole world will go against the Jews. We are getting there faster than I thought possible and 2019 was a sad example of that.
January 2019: The Pervasiveness of BDS in American Politics!
BDS proponents are very inconsistent with what Israeli products they boycott. If a product or technology comes from Israel but doesn’t really create a huge inconvenience, BDS people will denounce and boycott with a lot of fanfare. On the other hand, if the technology is a big part of their life, like cell phones, computers, thumb drives, etc, hypocritically, there’s no boycott. Case in point, Mahmoud Abbas recent case of severe pneumonia successfully treated by an Israeli doctor.
Additionally, the very people who choose to boycott Israel will then turn a blind eye on a myriad of countries and/or entities that are blatant human rights abusers and violators such as China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Gaza, and others. BDS proponents are not interested in facts. If they were, they would actually support Israel. This in no means is an attempt at exonerating Israel from any responsibilities in the Middle East crisis, but a genuine desire for balance and fairness and an unbiased approach to the issue. Instead, we see how pervasive the BDS movement has become in the last few years, and how widespread it has developed across all segments of the population, and particularly, how it has started to infuse the fabric of the US government. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the UN has looked at Israel through the biased lens of the Palestinian narrative, fueled by a postmodern approach to truth and social justice. More resolutions have been passed against Israel than any other country combined that are UN members, and this by a long shot.
February 2019: Not Exactly “A Pope for All Seasons!”
The Pope just co-signed a document with Al Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb (once named “the most influential Muslim in the world”), titled “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together“. Ecumenically speaking, the document is a dream come true for mankind, and many have described it as a “historical breakthrough“. I would venture to say that it might be a “biblical breakthrough,” but not necessarily for the same reasons. The document says of God “He is the Creator who has formed us with His divine wisdom and has granted us the gift of life to protect it. It is a gift that no one has the right to take away, threaten or manipulate to suit oneself. Indeed, everyone must safeguard this gift of life from its beginning up to its natural end. We, therefore, condemn all those practices that are a threat to life such as genocide, acts of terrorism, forced displacement, human trafficking, abortion, and euthanasia.” The Pope might be thinking that because God created all men equally (a biblical view that I share with him), Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb shares his views, but just because the Grand Imam signed the document doesn’t mean that he will uphold it. Here we see that the Pope is taking a pluralistic position demanding that all men respect one another regardless of their beliefs since “The pluralism and the diversity of religions, color, sex, race, and language are willed by God in His wisdom, through which He created human beings. The proverbial roads that all lead to Rome are no longer sufficient, now they all need to also lead to God. The same god for Roman Catholics and Muslims, that is!
March 2019: The Greedy Jew is Alive and Well!
To understand the extent of the “Greedy Jew” canard, we must look at a recent incident that took place in Aalst, Belgium during a yearly street carnival dating back to the Middle Ages. It includes parading floats with music on various themes. This year’s float from the group Vismooi’ln was titled “Sabbath Year 2019”, which according to the builders of the float was decided based on the fact that they might have to take a break from the Carnival in 2020 because of its rising cost. What followed was outrageously anti-Semitic. The front of the float included two giant caricatures of orthodox Jews with streimels (Jewish fur hats) on their heads, side curls and long beards. The facial features included mean looks and large crooked noses (another anti-Semitic stereotype.) Adding insult to injury, the two giant puppets were standing, surrounded by bags of money at their feet and money coming out of their coat pockets (yet another anti-Semitic stereotype.) There were also over a dozen people dressed up as Orthodox Jews, gyrating on the second float with a very apparent lack of respect. Once again, and this time around the world, the bystanders are quickly becoming co-perpetrators in a myriad of anti-Semitic acts because, in 2019, anti-Semitism has become the new normal.
April 2019: The fire at Notre-Dame didn’t have to be a terrorist attack!
First, they came for the Jews… Then they came for the Christians!
Many French Catholic churches have been desecrated and even set on fire in the last year. In some cases, people even get in to defecate on the premises. Both Germany and France have reported that crimes against Christian churches have increased since Muslim migrants became part of the demographics. France alone saw over 1,300 attacks against Christian churches and facilities in 2018 (almost 900 of them being fires.) These attacks, outside of a few coming from deranged citizens of France, didn’t come from the French people, they didn’t come from the Jewish community (as anti-Jesus as a Jewish person might be), but they mostly came from people who ideologically hate Christianity, the indoctrinated radical Muslims. They are the first victims of the hate that has been injected in their DNA for decades. We might never really know the source of the Notre-Dame fire, but the situation is such in France and much of Western Europe, that at least, it makes it possible for one to speculate and leave the door open for a terrorist attack. The soil is fertile to allow more hatred to grow and choke Christianity and Western Civilization. As a matter of fact, ISIS, who didn’t claim responsibility for the fire, threatened to start another one to finish the job. They were not involved, but they were quick to rejoice and post photos of the burning structure on social media with the caption: “It’s time to say goodbye to your oratory polytheism.” Notre-Dame’s fire didn’t have to be a terrorist attack to draw the attention of those who promote Christianity and Western values. There is a track record of the destruction of Christianity in Europe that has existed for a while now. Lovers of freedom and democracy ought to be really concerned.
May 2019: Who Cares about the Holocaust Anymore?
This year more than ever we need to remember what took place in Nazi Germany almost 80 years ago:
• At a time when Israel is falsely accused of ethnic cleansing in their very own land, we must remember the days when Jews were almost eradicated from the face of the earth.
• At a time when it is becoming more and more dangerous to be Jewish anywhere in the world (except Israel), we must remember those who died simply because they were Jewish.
• At a time when worshipping in a synagogue could end in a lethal terror attack, we must remember the victims of Pittsburgh and San Diego and all other houses of worship around the globe.
• At a time when the world is pushing for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel, we must remember that it already took place during the November 1938 Kristallnacht and that there is nothing new under the sun.
• At a time when the US Congress has been infiltrated with a new generation of anti-Semitic representatives, we must remember when Jewish people didn’t have a voice in government.
• At a time when a mainstream US newspaper publishes yet another virulently anti-Semitic cartoon, we must remember 2,000 years of anti-Jewish caricatures leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths.
• At a time when two-thirds of millennials do not know what Auschwitz is, we must remember the motto “NEVER AGAIN.”
• At a time when anti-Semitism is becoming the new normal around the world, we must remember that according to Edmund Burke, “all that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing.”
June 2019: The US Senate Antisemitism Resolution: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!
On June 13, 2019, a joint resolution was introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, and on June 14, it passed unanimously! The resolution is a short document that unequivocally denounces antisemitism. It comes less than three months after the House brought another resolution of the sort, but changed the wording at the last minute to speak of “bigotry of all kinds” instead of clearly denouncing antisemitism. This is a bold and necessary move in the right direction at a time in our history when global antisemitism is increasing exponentially on a daily basis. That resolution is definitely a move in the right direction. It uses words that cannot be misconstrued. The opening statement says ” Antisemitism is a unique form of prejudice stretching back millennia that attacks the equal humanity of the Jewish people.” It is indeed very unique and history’s longest-lasting hatred against one specific group of people. We need to take a close look at that bi-partisan resolution that was just passed unanimously. Indeed, we need to look at the good, the bad and the ugly! Let’s start with the ugly. What I think is very ugly, is the fact that we even have to pen such a resolution in 2019. How long will the Jewish people have to suffer unmerited persecution before the world wakes up to the reality of antisemitism? It is so despicable to have to come up with a resolution condemning antisemitism in all its forms, just a few months after a similar attempt was made, but watered down in its verbiage. It is pathetic that Senator Cruz would even have to list some of the myths that have been believed about the Jewish people. To be sure, I do not criticize Senator Cruz’ initiative, but rather the fact that he would even have to delineate what antisemitism has done over the last two millennia.
Part II will be published in the first week of January 2020.
Kristallnacht: Yesterday and Today!
During the night of November 9-10, 1938, a critical event took place in Germany that would seal the fate of six million European Jews. That was 81 years ago. The event is known as Kristallnacht or “The Night of Broken Glass.” The reason given by the Nazis was the assassination of German official Ernst vom Rath, shot two days prior by Herschel Grynszpan, a Polish teenager reacting to his parents’ deportation. In reality, the boycott/pogrom of Jewish synagogues, schools, businesses and homes resulting in the death of almost 100 Jewish people and the destruction of 7,500 properties were well planned, and anything but a reaction to the death of a German official. Additionally, 30,000 Jewish people were sent to concentration camps. Historians agree that Kristallnacht was the onset of the Holocaust, shifting nazi antisemitism from mere rhetoric to pure violence.
So, it is very important to remember Kristallnacht and tell our children about it, especially in light of current world events. We have seen an increase in acts of antisemitism worldwide, in several cases leading to the death of people in Europe and the United-States. Antisemitism is now becoming a reality almost on a daily basis. It can no longer be ignored, and yet in the eyes of many, it is not really that important of an issue. Too many people seem to suffer from the “I am not Jewish” syndrome!
In his book, Every Day Remembrance Day: A Chronicle of Jewish Martyrdom, the late Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal listed six major causes that could lead to another Holocaust:
1. Hatred (prejudice, racism, xenophobia or antisemitism).
2. A dictatorship or totalitarian regime.
3. A bureaucracy.
4. Technology.
5. A crisis, becoming an opportunity to blame people.
6. A scapegoat people such as a minority to demonize.
It should become very clear to us that in 2019 all the elements are in place again:
1. Antisemitism is at its worse since the end of World War Two with Jewish people being killed again.
2. Radical Islam is plaguing Western civilization and is now clearly starting to infiltrate various governments and hold key positions in Europe and the United States
3. Many people, especially on the left are relying on big government taking over and controlling more and more.
4. The internet and social media have rendered communication global and instantaneous.
5. Various economic hardships, demographics migrations and other crises are looming over the planet.
6. The Jewish people continue to hold first place as the “Scapegoats of humanity.”
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is becoming mainstream. So mainstream that people don’t bother checking if any of its accusations are based on facts or fiction. People in Hollywood, in government and even in several Christian denominations are doing their best to cripple Israel and the Jewish people. They are not trying to bring justice to the middle east as they would want us to believe but rather, they want to completely eradicate Israel from “Palestine”.
This is why it is of utmost importance to remember Kristallnacht, year after year because the further we move away from 1938, the easier it becomes for deniers and historical revisionists to push their anti-Jewish propaganda onto an uneducated crowd, too often willing to blame the Jews. We are not immune to another Kristallnacht. In fact, I believe that we have been seeing a series of micro-Kristallnachts for the last several years. Every time we see a Jewish cemetery defaced, a synagogue covered with swastikas or other graffiti, or a Jewish storefront destroyed, we witness Kristallnacht all over again, and yet, people move on and forget.
The Kristallnacht of yesterday is anchored in history, but the Krystallnachts of today are being repeated in front of our very eyes with very little reactions from what seems to be an apathetic community. It is all in place for the Jews to pay the price again, except that in 2019 as opposed to 1938, we have Israel and we still have friends, especially within the evangelical community. I just wish they would be more vocal and more committed.
What unites the Left more than its disdain for Trump?
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that America’s political landscape is suffering from the worst case of polarization in its history. The amount of hatred for President Trump currently displayed by his opponents is mind-boggling. Republicans and Democrats used to be somewhat cordial even when disagreeing. They even found ways to advance and promote the United States in a bi-partisan way. Everything seems to indicate that these days are gone. Yet, there is something else that unites the Left even more than their disdain for Trump, it is their hatred for Israel and the Jewish people. It doesn’t always appear to be that bad, but under a thin veneer of social justice and multiculturalism, antisemitism is quickly identified.
One of the most asked questions, when I speak around the United States, has to do with the American Jewish community’s apparent support of the Leftist agenda. With a puzzled look on their faces, people often ask me to explain why so many Jewish people vote Democrat. I must say that as a Jew, I don’t categorize myself as either a Democrat or a Republican. Yet, I would tend to be very conservative. This being said, I could have voted for a Democrat like JFK back in the days, but Democrats of yesteryear are a far cry from today’s Left.
So what makes Jewish people in America vote Democrat? First, the Republican party often appears to be the party of “Right-wing bigots” or “white supremacists.” It is often thought to be a party that aligns itself with the political agenda of Nazi Germany, and we all know how that played out for 6,000,000 Jews. Incidentally, the Nazi Party or “The National Socialist German Workers’ Party” had “Socialist” in its name. To this day, its adherence to a Socialist agenda is widely debated. Hitler might have used the word “Socialist” to attract people to a movement that would end-up becoming a totalitarian, genocidal party closer to Fascism than Socialism. Instead of looking at what we call a political spectrum with moderate in the center of Left and Right, we need to consider a full circle with Left and Right getting closer together the further they move away from the moderate center. Eventually, they meet on the other end of that circle. Let’s face it, extreme Right and extreme Left promote a lot of the same agendas.
Another reason why Jews vote Democrat is that the more liberal agenda of the Democrats appeals to the Jewish community at large–at the very least to the 85%+ who are not religious. The issue is that to the non-religious Jews, social justice is more important than Israel, Jewish identity or even Jewish survival. Jewish identity used to be connected to a feeling of belonging to Israel one way or another. Support for Israel was much stronger from American Jews a couple of decades ago. It appears that the non-religious Jewish community finds more solace in supporting any sort of social justice agenda rather than supporting Israel. In the process, they seem to ignore–willfully or not–that the Left is anti-Israel, period! Consider the following:
• Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren recently said she will “reverse President Trump’s policy decisions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to restore aid to the Palestinians, resuming support for the U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees and inviting a Palestinian envoy back to Washington.” She completely ignored the way that the Palestinian leadership goes about things ie: Rocket launching out of Gaza and other acts of terrorism.
• The liberal Jewish organization J Street met recently for its eighth annual conference where they clearly pushed the idea that the USA should withhold aid to Israel to promote peace in the Middle East. Many of the current Democratic candidates for 2020 were present and in support of that move. As JTA reported J Street president Ben-Ami said “assistance to Israel could be checked against, for instance, the Arms Export Control Act, which requires U.S. arms sales to be used strictly for self-defense.” Well, is there still any doubt–at least in the minds of people of goodwill– that Israel is always acting in self-defense, only retaliating because of acts of terrorism, but never initiating acts of terror?
• Bernie Sanders (a Jew) declared that he would rather have some of the money the USA gives to Israel be re-routed to Gaza. He said, “My solution is, to Israel, if you want military aid you’re going to have to fundamentally change your relationship to the people of Gaza,” he said. “I would say that some of the $3.8 billion should go right now to humanitarian aid in Gaza.” What for, Mr. Sanders? More rockets, more tunnels or more money to reward the families of homicide bombers? Incidentally, for reasons that totally escape me, Muslim feminist activist Linda Sarsour has become Sanders’ campaign surrogate. Somebody needs to explain to her that the words “Muslim” and “Feminist” are oxymoronic at best unless she is a trojan horse slowly making her way into the American political landscape. Consider the concept of taqiyya where it is OK for a Muslim to lie to “gain the upper-hand over an enemy.” This obviously does not mean that all Muslims are deceivers, but rather, that some in powerful positions have agendas that are unethical and as a result, make a bad name for the rest of the Muslim community.
A lot more could be said to make a case against the Left’s antisemitic agenda. Overwhelming growing support for BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) against Israel for “occupation” and “colonization” of “Palestine” is a recurring problem based on hearsay. Campus indoctrination of our youth against Israel, known as “Campus Intifada” is also going rampant. Are we becoming responsible for raising a new generation of Jew-haters?
At the end of the day, the Leftist antisemitic agenda–albeit not always physically violent–encourages those on the fringe of society to act against Jewish people in America and the rest of the world. Physical harm resulting in death is now a recurring very alarming theme for the Jewish global community. America has long been the friend of Israel, based on our Judeo/Christian common heritage. Biblically speaking, Israel remains in God’s program and will never be destroyed (Jeremiah 31:35-37), but too many on the Left have little regard for God or His Word. While it is not always a black and white proposition, I still think that it is time for American Jews to consider moving away from the party that wants them dead and join the party that understands Israel’s right to exist in her ancestral biblical land.
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