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February 16, 2018 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Should Poland’s Recent Holocaust Law be Considered Historical Revisionism?

Poland is not exactly remembered for being friendly to the Jewish people during World War II. A country that was once the home of over three million Jews, now only has about 10,000, and even they, don’t feel very safe in Poland. The once vibrant Jewish community of pre-World War II has been drastically reduced by the Nazi war machine and the Death Camps–many of them erected in Poland. The most destructive being Auschwitz-Birkenau. There is no possible way to deny that millions of innocent Jewish victims were murdered in those places, not to mention other minorities.

It is also very difficult to completely separate the Death Camps destructive agenda from Polish involvement, and yet this is exactly what a new law passed in February 2018 is attempting to do. President Andrzej Duda of Poland signed a bill that became law, making it a crime (up to three years in prison, plus a fine) to call the German death Camps built on Polish soil, “Polish Death Camps.” He has made several public speeches stating that signing the bill into law was not meant to erase or diminish the fate of the victims of the Holocaust, but that is exactly what it could achieve!

Poland comprised all players found on the “Holocaust spectrum.” Many Poles were victims (most of them Jewish, but some of them not.) Some were even perpetrators and co-perpetrators with the Nazis. Another large group was made of the bystanders who looked the other way even when human ashes flew across Polish skies and landed in their front yards, sometimes up to a 10 miles radius. This makes it impossible to claim ignorance of the facts. Willful bystanders always facilitate driven perpetrators.

The new law states that anyone who “publicly and untruthfully assigns responsibility or co-responsibility to the Polish Nation or the Polish State for Nazi crimes” could be imprisoned. So now, it is illegal to assign any guilt to Poland for the “German Camps.” I understand that Poland was invaded by Germany and didn’t always have a choice, but by completely erasing Polish responsibility, or to a certain extent, blame shifting, we insult the last few Holocaust survivors, not to mention the memory of the six million.

Sure, the Polish government is “tired” of being remembered as the country were the Holocaust took place, and they are hoping to change that stigma. Do we change a stigma by re-writing history? It would be better to recognize and accept the truth that Poland was one of many pieces on the chess board of the Holocaust. It would also be helpful to recognize that Holocaust guilt, while partially shared with non-Jewish Poles, was not uniform across the board. Many Poles helped the Nazis but many also helped the Jews and were recognized as Righteous Gentiles by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Poles constitute the highest number of Righteous Gentiles over any other nations in the world, and that is something they could refocus their energy on, instead of trying to erase the negative aspect of their unavoidable history.

Some people have the gall to claim that the Holocaust never happened. This law doesn’t claim that, but it whitewashes Polish involvement and it is historical revisionism all the same. It is a shame that history has now become a slave of the legal system. Passing laws to force people into believing or at least accepting a flawed political decision regarding a period of history is simply wrong.

The Holocaust was and remained the epitome of human depravity and evil. Nobody wants to take ownership of that huge blood stain in human history, but it happened! Nazi Germany might have been the key player, but France had its hands in it through the Vichy Government, Italy was involved with Mussolini and his fascist cohorts, Pope Pius XII did very little in denouncing Hitler’s destructive and violent program, and even the United States had a role in the outcome as President Roosevelt missed several opportunities to save Jews out of Europe.

So come on Poland, Fess up! You are not alone in sharing some of the guilt for the Holocaust. Stop shifting the blame!

September 1, 2017 By Olivier Melnick 1 Comment

Can We Prevent Another Holocaust?

Jewish history is punctuated with important milestones –both negative and positive– such as the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70, The Crusades started in 1096, or even the re-birth of the modern State of Israel in 1948. One of these unavoidable milestone is the Holocaust. One cannot speak of or understand Jewish history outside of the events of this Jewish catastrophe. Historians even go as far as speaking of pre and post Holocaust Jewish history. Once we realize that the 6,000,000 Jewish victims represented about 2/3 of European Jewry, it becomes obvious. In light of all the acts of anti-Semitism that have occurred globally in the last decade and the many threats against Israel as a whole, one can ask “Is another Holocaust on the horizon, and if yes, can it be prevented?”

While the Bible promises us that God will never forsake Israel (Jeremiah 31:35-37) it also tells us that God is just and disobedience will be met with discipline. From a human perspective, despots from many authoritarian countries would love to see Israel completely eradicated from the face of the earth, but from a biblical standpoint, not only will they fail, but they will also pay a hefty price (Zechariah 12:9). This doesn’t mean that they will not try, and try they have and they continue to. So, even though there might never be another Holocaust, Jewish casualties can escalate in the near future, and yet, we can all do our part to alleviate some of it by learning from the past and adjusting for the future.

We need compassion:
Not everybody bought the lies of the Nazi Regime that painted the Jewish people as vermin or a sub-race to be eradicated. Those who did, simply felt like they were doing Europe a great service by killing the unwanted, and they justified it by looking at the Jews as not being human beings. But many had compassion as they simply looked at the misfortunes of the Jewish people and felt compelled to reach out, and in many cases provide safe haven and/or safe passage to other countries. Pastor Henri Trocmé and the villagers of Le Chambon in central France had compassion for their fellow human beings. To them, humanity came first and Jewishness second. They simply cared for their fellow men. When asked why she did it, one of the villagers–a key player in this conspiracy of goodness– answered “It was the most natural thing to do!” It is estimated that 5,000 Jews were saved from the nazi claws in that little French village alone.

We need creativity:
Beyond compassion, we also need creativity such as was displayed by the people of Chambon who when they received new jewish refugees, simply heard their pastor saying that a “new shipment of Old Testaments had arrived.” Then people would decide who would take them in.
Creativity was key to fool the Nazi war machine and it came in many different ways. How about the story of Vittorio Sacerdoti, the Jewish medical doctor who worked in a small hospital near Rome during World War Two? He is credited for having invented the false disease known then as Syndrome K. The hospital received Jewish people (sick or not) and he told the “patients” to start coughing uncontrollably when Nazi officials showed up. Dr. Sacerdoti presented the coughing as the highly contagious AND lethal “Syndrome K.” His creativity allowed for 45 Jewish people to be saved. Before you ask me if it is biblically OK to lie to save a life, consider the story of Rahab the Canaanite prostitute who lied to the King of Jericho to save the Jewish spies (Joshua 2:1-8.) She received faith in the God of Israel in the process. You draw your own conclusions!

We need courage:
Compassion and creativity will not avail to much if they are not strengthened with courage. Fighting for the truth is never easy. It was not easy in the days when people fought for different truths, even though common sense has always dictated that there cannot be multiple truth co-existing. But today, truth isn’t even in the picture anymore. People don’t seek truth anywhere, anymore, they just want social justice. Whatever brand of “social justice” THEY declare is the right one, is worth fighting for. People who seek truth today about the Middle East narrative will discover an Israel that the media, Hollywood and academia refuse to accept. Insults and abuse will abound against those who dare support Israel.

We need commitment:
Modern Christian Zionists have a long road ahead as they strive to support Israel and help the Jewish people. They have compassion given to them by God and can be creative to various degrees. They also have the courage that only they can get from God reassuring them from His Word that if He promised to never forsake Israel, whatever else He promised them is a sure thing. But even when we know that God is on our side, it can remain difficult to commit to the cause. Intimidation runs rampant against those who try to fight BDS, anti-Semitism or any of the anti-Israel agendas. If God is committed to the preservation of and provision for Israel, who are we not to be committed the same?

I often wonder what would the outcome of World War Two have been in regards to Jewish casualties if more people had had compassion, creativity, courage and commitment? Not everyone could have been instrumental in saving 5,000 Jews or even 45 Jews. But what if more citizens of Europe had chosen to do something for the Jews as opposed to remain by-standers at best? I know from God’s Word that the future includes Israel, even though there will be casualties (Zechariah 13:9.) I also believe that we can all do more for the Jewish people this time around. The current hatred against my people will not stop anytime soon. In a sense, much of the world’s agenda is like an on-going Holocaust of the 21st century. But this time around, nobody can claim that they were unaware of what was being perpetrated against the Jews. All of us can do something when our heart is in the right place!

October 19, 2016 By Olivier Melnick 2 Comments

Don’t ban the kippah, but let’s think twice before wearing it!

It was an outrage but not much of a surprise when French extreme right Front National leader Marine Le Pen announced this week that France should pass a law to ban the wearing of the kippah (Jewish skullcap.) In her defense, her position on the wearing of religious symbols doesn’t only include the kippah. She is also in favor of banning the hijab and veils. France did pass a law in 2011 to ban the burqua and hijab in public. It is also unlawful to wear a kippah or burqua on public school property. Additionally, the recent attempt by some French mayors at banning the wearing “burkinis” on French beaches was also very controversial.

Miss Le Pen says that she speaks in the name of equality. She claims that to be fair, if the Muslim covering is banned, the Jewish covering must be banned as well. She also says that she has no issue with kippot but that we must be “fair” by banning both. One can appreciate Miss Le Pen’s apparent desire to be balanced, but I don’t think that her comparison between Muslim and Jewish religious symbol is a fair assessment of the problem at hand. Marine Le Pen still carries with her some of her father’s racist and antisemitic baggage. It has been rebranded in a postmodern, social justice infused package, but it is still racism. Additionally, there are valid reasons to ban some of the most extreme Muslim garb.

Needless to say that the reaction from the French government was quite negative, across the whole political spectrum. The Jewish community also reacted very strongly. Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt (head of the Conference of European Rabbis) said that Le Pen’s proposal, “takes us straight back to the times of state-sponsored anti-Semitism under the Vichy regime.” I couldn’t agree more!

Yet, Le Pen is experiencing a bittersweet relationship with some of the French Jewish community. Some Jewish people are actually considering voting for her in the next presidential elections. The wave of migrants into France and much of Europe as well as France’s Muslim community–the largest in Europe with between 6 and 7 million–are making French Jews feeling increasingly insecure. Charlie Hebdo, the Kosher Market and the Bataclan Club are just a few examples of the frailty of France when it comes to protect her citizens, let alone her Jewish community. But Le Pen is a political time bomb that could detonate onto the Jewish community in ways that nobody would have expected prior to the elections. French Jews have no business even considering Le Pen in the next presidential elections.

Her desire to pas a law to ban the kippah is in line with her party’s xenophobic tendencies and should be denounced. This being said, and the kippah remaining a choice for each and every Jew to wear in public, we should exercise caution. The French government has recently advised religious Jews not to wear a kippah in public or to cover it with another hat, and that is very wise. It is sad to have to hide religious symbols, but there are areas of Paris and other large French cities like Marseille where wearing a kippah is simply dangerous.

In the current France of 2016, the reality is that the Jewish community is shrinking. Aliyah to Israel was the highest in 30 years in 2014 and 2015. French Jews are scared to go out in some areas, or even to walk to synagogue or Jewish schools. Their fears are very justified. France lost about 50,000 Jews to Israel in the last 16 years. That is about 10% of the total 500,000 Jews of France (still the third largest Jewish community after Israel and the USA.) At this rate, France will lose its Jewish community and its third place in world Jewry within less than 20 years.

The banning of the Muslim head garb never was as result of Islamophobia. While there might be some people who hate Muslims and/or Arabs (and I am not one of them), the honest reason behind the banning of Muslim religious symbols was and continues to be security. Proper identification cannot be performed if one’s head is entirely covered. If the Muslim community feels unjustifiably targeted, maybe they should bring their grievances to the imams and radical Islamic leaders who support and promote radical apocalyptic Islam. Islam’s reputation has definitely been stained by Islamic terrorism and the Islamic State. But please do not put the veils and the kippot on equal footing!

If Miss Le Pen was truly a proponent of the French “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” motto, she would leave the kippah alone and allow Jews to use common sense in wearing it in public. I am afraid that the France she seeks is a France without Arabs, without blacks and without Jews. This would indeed look like “Vichy Regime 2.0” Even if the current government strongly rebuked Miss Le Pen, it remains to be seen if the rest of more liberal and humanistic France will brush her off as a xenophobic fringe politician or if they will carry her further in a position of power. French Jews have enough on their plate as it stands!

October 1, 2016 By Olivier Melnick 5 Comments

When fighting antisemitism, it is never too little or too late!

While they have the same source, roots and much of the same history, Christianity and Judaism have been at odds for as long as man can remember. To say that the two religions are at odds really is an understatement. The early Christian Church comprised mostly Jewish men and women who had found in Yeshua (Jesus) the long awaited Messiah of Israel. For over three centuries until the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE, the Jewish roots of the Christian faith were very much a part of early Christianity. To run the risk of oversimplification, it is around that time that life became difficult for Jewish people. Over a long period of time, being Jewish progressively went from challenging to complicated to dangerous to lethal.

What started as simple theological anti-Judaism, slowly morphed into antisemitism. From early Christianity, the Jews were told “You have no right to leave among us as Jews”, forcing conversions on us. This went further when we were eventually told “You have no right to live among us”, forcing expulsion on us. Eventually, it became “You have no right to live”, culminating in annihilation.

Many of the Church Fathers such as Justin Martyr, Chrysostom, Augustine and others set the stage for Christianity to alienate Judaism by reinterpreting the Bible. Slowly, laws were passed and enforced. Jewish life became hard and often near impossible, but against all odds and because of God’s grace, the Jewish people are still here today. In spite of the Middle Ages Blood Libel, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Pogroms and the Holocaust, we are still standing.

Christianity–in any of its denominations– has had a difficult relationship with the Jewish people, so much so that the default mechanism for most Jewish people today is to believe that all Christians are antisemitic. That is why, whenever a Christian figure makes a repentant statement in favor of the Jewish people, it should be noted.

It just so happened that the105th Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby made such a statement. He recently stated “The fact that antisemitism has infected the body of the Church is something of which we as Christians must be deeply repentant.” This would appear to be a simple statement, but it isn’t. Welby contributed to a series of essays on what we can learn from the Holocaust. He wrote a powerful piece titled “Vigilance and resolution: Living antidotes to an ancient virus.” in which he says “It is a shameful truth that, through its theological teachings, the church, which should have offered an antidote, compounded the spread of this virus.” Welby appears to be trying to bridge the gap between Christians and Jews. This gap really is more like a great divide, a chasm , a canyon of hatred. Welby also wrote “All humans are made in the image of God. Antisemitism undermines and distorts this truth: it is the negation of God’s plan for his creation and is therefore a denial of God himself. There is no justification for the debasing and scapegoating of other people. Antisemitism is the antithesis of all that our scriptures call us to be and do, to work together for the common good and to seek the flourishing of all.

It wasn’t until 1965 that the Catholic Church officially announced that the Jewish people were exonerated of deicide (killing God.) This doesn’t prevent many people today from calling Jewish people “Christ Killers.” The Church of England–as a part of Christendom– also has an antisemitic reputation. Welby’s contribution to the new booklet for the Holocaust Educational Trust comes at the right time simply because when it comes to educate about and fight against the Holocaust and antisemitism, it is never too little and never too late. Let’s hope that his words of wisdom in favor of the Jewish people would truly lead many Christians around the world to repentance over their views of and actions against them and Israel.

The simplest antidote to antisemitism can be found on the pages of the entire Bible. Many of its readers have re-interpreted it to exclude and even damn the Jews and Israel. Many more chose to not even read it and buy into fabricated stories with no foundation on factual and/or biblical truth. Justin Welby’s statement was bold, necessary and hopefully will lead to more of the sort by other Christian figures around the world. The baggage that the Christian Church has carried for over 2,000 years is impossible to ignore. Like Justin Welby recently did, it must be acknowledged. Maybe I am hopelessly optimistic, but this could help in preventing further damage in Judeo/Christian relations. We certainly could use a little respite, and this is a good way to start the New Year… Shanah Tovah to everyone!

September 11, 2016 By Olivier Melnick 2 Comments

Get University Credits for being Antisemitic!

The sick American university system has just gotten a little bit sicker. Some will remember the glory days when places like Duke, Notre-Dame, UCLA, Yale, NYU were sought after institutions. They were so because they had a reputation for quality higher learning, an ethical academic staff and for being a fair platform for a balanced exchange of ideas without threats, criticism or xenophobia. Gone are those days!

It is a known fact that much moulding of the mind occurs at the College and University level. Students come in their freshman year with opinions somewhat formed even in their infancy stage and by the time they graduate, their opinions are solidly formed. American universities are more liberal than conservative and as such, their influence might appear to some as unfair, or biased at the very least. But this is America, “Land of the Free.” Free speech, free thinking and free press are very present on US campuses, and that is a good thing…at least in essence.

Unfortunately, all of this has been challenged lately by the rise of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanction) movement against Israel as well as the increase in what we can call Campus Intifada. Universities like UCI (University of California Irvine), USC or even UC Berkeley have hosted many conferences and events promoting the Palestinian narrative. The Muslim Student Association (a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood) and Students for Justice in Palestine (first established at UC Berkeley in 1993) are at he helm of this movement.

One would expect that a university campus would be a platform where a civilized exchange of ideas could take place. After all, it would be acceptable to promote the Palestinian narrative if Zionism was given equal air time. But it is almost always never the case. Pro-Palestinian speakers and lecturers are invited to spread their antisemitic poison, unchecked and unbridled, while the pro-Israel side is ignored, repressed, insulted and even abused. So much so that the Board of Regents of the University of California had to finally adopt a policy earlier in 2016 that links anti-Zionism to antisemitism. While we cannot honestly claim that anti-Zionism is always antisemitism cloaked in social justice, it is often the case. A healthy criticism of Zionism has the right to exist in any democracy, but not at the expense of the Jewish people or the Jewish students opposing it. But when it comes to Israel and Palestine, most of the world is guilty of using their own set of double standards.

I applaud the Board of Regents new policy. It was needed and will hopefully encourage other US campuses to follow suit. That is of course if it is properly enforced and judging by the latest class offered at UC Berkeley in the Fall of 2016, it seems to be hardly the case. Dr. Hatem Bazian (affiliated with American Muslims for Palestine) is sponsoring the class titled: Palestine: A Settler Colonial Analysis. The course description remains vague, yet its foundation will undoubtedly be a shaky mix of historical revisionism and antisemitic narrative. Reading requirements from people like Ilan Pappé, will obviously tip the scale towards the Palestinian side. As a matter of fact, instead of looking a both sides of the Middle East crisis academically and ethically–two words that once would have been redundant within the same sentence–the class syllabus is pretty much a shameful piece of Palestinian propaganda.

Based on the false assumption that Palestinians have been in the Land of Israel for centuries, the class will most certainly paint Israel as the colonizing invader who doesn’t belong. This argument is easily debunked if one is interested in factual history. But this is hardly the case anymore. It seems that all parties interested in the pro-Palestinian narrative are really more interested in the anti-Israel agenda, wherever that will lead them. At the end of the day, if an antisemitic agenda leads one to choose camps that are less than ethical and possibly lethal to Israel…it will be a small price to pay.

So it is fair to say that being pro-Palestinian might be more of a by-product of being anti-Zionist than a just cause in and of itself, and this definitely qualifies as antisemitism. Starting in the fall of 2016 at UC Berkeley, you will even be able to get university credits for it!

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