Holocaust

June 25, 2020 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

If You Don’t Like History, Don’t Erase it, Teach it!

History has always been written with blood, sweat and tears, but never with disappearing ink. Unless you are H. G. Wells, armed with a pen, you cannot erase, ignore or alter the past. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be stopping a wave of people across our nation, advancing a politically motivated cultural revolution. This American cultural tsunami has taken our country by surprise, but it didn’t happen in a vacuum. While I recognize that the protests are justified and that our system needs reform, I cannot understand or condone the riots, violence, looting or the accusation of “systemic racism.” Additionally, the bringing down of statues, paintings and other artifacts seems very far removed from the tragic murder of George Floyd.

There is a great danger in rewriting history, because it eradicates key events that future generations would end-up knowing nothing about. A powerful and sad example of that is what has happened with the Holocaust. A survey was taken in 2018 yielding terrifying results. Two-thirds of millennials in America do not know what Auschwitz was, and 25% do not know that six-million Jews died in the Holocaust. So, when historical revisionists creep in with their altered narrative, much of our young population doesn’t have the know-how or even the motivation to check the stories’ accuracy. Add to that the dwindling down of Holocaust survivors and pretty soon nobody will remember the Jewish catastrophe.

In a letter to General Dwight Eisenhower dated April 15, 1945, General George Marshall reported what he saw when he visited the concentration camp at Ohrdruf: “But the most interesting – although horrible – sight that I encountered during the trip was a visit to a German internment camp near Gotha. The things I saw beggar description. While I was touring the camp I encountered three men who had been inmates and by one ruse or another had made their escape. I interviewed them through an interpreter. The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty and bestiality were so overpowering as ·to leave me a bit sick. In one room, where they were piled up twenty or thirty naked men, killed by starvation, George Patton would not even enter. He said he would get sick if he did so. I made the visit deliberately, in order to be in a position to give first hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to propaganda.”

General George Marshall’s discernment was very sobering. It is mind boggling that after witnessing such horrors in the camps, anybody would entertain the idea that one day, people would deny it or change the narrative to serve their own agenda. But almost prophetically, General Marshall saw the horrors of the Holocaust as potentially being denied, minimized and forgotten. It has only been seventy years, and a large percentage of our current youth doesn’t know what took place during the years of Nazi Germany. This is a chilling reality!

I do not like this part of history any more than an African American likes the horrible US legacy of slavery or a Native American likes the carnage that his ancestors endured when the first pioneers set foot on what became the USA. Likewise, I do not like the Holocaust years because of their bloody legacy in general, and because of the loss I experienced in my own family in particular. My maternal grandfather Maurice Weinzveig was taken during a round-up in Paris in the summer of 1942, sent to Auschwitz. He perished in the smokestacks, one of the six million Jewish Holocaust victims. I wish this never happened, but I cannot erase it from either my memory, my family’s collective memory or history. You do not see me destroying German property, loathing anybody German or even boycotting companies that were instrumental in the development of the systematic attempt at the destruction of all European Jews. Allow me to elaborate.

What about IBM and the Holocaust? Most people are completely unaware of the fact that IBM, with the help of German inventor Herman Hollerith, was instrumental in tallying and identifying Jews all over Europe. In 1933, computers didn’t exist, but the IBM punch card system was developed and used by Nazis for “the Final Solution to the Jewish Question.” This all happened with the full knowledge of the IBM New York headquarters. It is terrifying to think that the Nazis were that organized, but the fact remains that many concentration camps inmates were registered upon entry with punch cards compatible with the IBM system. It is another part of history that is despicable and that I wish I could erase, but I cannot. You also don’t see me boycotting or destroying IBM property. By the current logic, I should go around and destroy any IBM computer I can get my hands on, just because IBM was instrumental in the killing of six million Jews and six million additional victims. This is absolutely ridiculous! Shame on IBM for their involvement in the Holocaust, but please, do not campaign for the destruction of all things IBM.

What about the Ford Motor Company, founded by Henri Ford, a proven antisemite who was admired by Adolph Hitler? In a previous article, I already made the point that the Ford Motors Company of 2020 is not that of 1920, but the founder’s name “Ford” remains in the name of the corporation. By the current standards, should we ask that the company be renamed because of the ugly, xenophobic past of its founder? And if we were to be consistent, we should also tear down the statue of Henri Ford located in River Rouge Michigan. Then you have the case of Father Charles Coughlin, the antisemitic Catholic Priest of the 1930s who used his very popular weekly radio broadcast to spew his venom on the air waves. Should we ban Catholicism and destroy all Catholic Churches and statues? What about Charles Lindbergh involvement with Hitler, Göring and even his consulting for the Luftwaffe (German Air-force)? Should we take down his statues in Minnesota, California, Georgia and other locations? Do you see where this is going?

It is much more important to tell it like it is and warn people about the ugliness and danger of racism and antisemitism than to topple any statue. Bringing a statue down will not stop people from being racist. Educating people on how to fight racism will go a lot further. Granted it is painful to relive parts of history for the purpose of teaching it to the next generation, it is crucial to do so. Following the logic–if you can call it logic–used by protesters and rioters today, all that they deem offensive must be destroyed. But where does it end? It simply doesn’t because various people will keep getting offended by all sorts of things that have taken place in history. Rewriting history is ignoring the problem and ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away. Teach history, teach the good the bad and the ugly history so that it can be identified, condemned and alleviated in the future. The alternative is an Orwellian universe that even those pushing statues off their pedestals today, do not wish for tomorrow. There is still time to stop the suicide of Western Civilization, but the clock is ticking!

June 18, 2020 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

The Proper Way to Support BLACK LIVES, and Why it MATTERS!

Growing up as a Jew in France in the 60s and 70s wasn’t without its challenges. My own mother who had lost her dad in the Holocaust at age 15, had developed a fear about telling people that we were Jewish. So much so that she even forced me to learn German in school as a second foreign language, just in case the Germans would invade France again, so that I could get by. It was not until she was in her early forties before she was comfortable telling others that we were Jewish. But all this never stopped me from making friends of different backgrounds at school. Two of my earliest buddies were Vietnamese and African. Every time I told my mother about a new friend, this fearful question always arose, “Do they know we are Jewish?” to which I always answered that they didn’t care and neither did I. Racism never had a foothold in my life. It never made sense to me to hate somebody based on color, race or creed. It didn’t when I was a teenager and it doesn’t today as a middle age adult.

When I moved to the United States in 1985, it quickly became evident that there were racial tensions between blacks and whites on many levels. Economically, culturally, politically to name just a few. Blacks and whites were clashing. Inter racial relations have not improved, they have actually gotten worse, to the point of injustice and wrongful deaths that we have witnessed in 2020. There is a serious problem affecting America today that cannot be ignored, and that is a reason why the movement known as Black Lives Matter–founded in 2013– has gathered so much momentum and picked the interest of so many. Such a movement appears to be giving the African American community the voice and momentum that they need to push reform forward. Philosophically, this is a good thing, but practically, the BLM ideology sends a very different message–if you know where to look. To be sure, I am not saying that black lives do not matter. Of course they do, as all lives matter. I am simply saying that before we blindly join and support the BLM movement based on somewhat of a knee-jerk reaction, from a mix of compassion, rightful indignation and misplaced guilt, we should investigate who the BLM supports and promotes. It is not always the easiest thing to do as a lot of the connections are no longer evident from their website. But let’s consider the following:

To put it simply; Black Lives Matter supports BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions). I have tried my best to expose the false narrative used by BDS proponents for several years. The BDS movement (officially co-founded in 2005 by Mahmoud Abbas and Omar Barghouti), has been pushing for a total boycott (academic, cultural and economic) of Israel and those who support Israel and Israeli products and companies. It has made great strides towards convincing people across the globe that Israel was the perpetrator of crimes against humanity, oppression, invasion and persecution. The BDS movement is not interested in social justice in general or they would also call for the boycott of many other countries that truly commit crimes against humanity such as Venezuela, China, Iran, Sudan and many others, but they don’t. Their only agenda is Israel and the Jewish people worldwide. They are not even hiding it as California University Professor Asad Abu Khalil said, “The real aim of BDS is to bring down the state of Israel….That should be stated as an unambiguous goal. There should not be any equivocation on the subject. Justice and freedom for the Palestinians are incompatible with the existence of the state of Israel.” Likewise, BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti stated, “A Jewish state in Palestine, in any shape or form, cannot but contravene the basic rights of the land’s indigenous Palestinian population…definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No Palestinian – rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian—will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”

While it is challenging to find the connection between BLM and BDS, it is not impossible. BLM is part of a larger network known as M4BL (The Movement for Black Lives). Dots become a lot easier to connect once we realize that M4BL is an umbrella organization under which you can find other groups such as Black Lives Matter. Once this is established, it takes no time to find out that M4BL supports BDS. They claim that “3 billion dollars in US aid is allocated to Israel, a state that practices systematic discrimination and has maintained a military occupation of Palestine for decades.” or “The US justifies and advances the global war on terror via its alliance with Israel and is complicit in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people.” They even propose some actions to be taken against Israel as they encourage people to “Fight the expanding number of AntiBDS bills being passed in states around the country. This type of legislation not only harms the movement to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine, but is a threat to the constitutional right to free speech and protest.”

Additionally the Movement for Black Lives cites as resources: www.BDSmovement.net and www.blackpalestiniansolidarity.com. Both these websites are clear supporters of the BDS ideology and the flawed Palestinian narrative. So, the connection between BLM and M4BL is undeniably clear, and their antisemitic slant is also very obvious. I do not want you to miss the irony here: A movement that claims to fight racism of all sorts and promotes social justice, is also promoting the destruction of Israel and the hatred of Jewish people. So before we support BLM and donate to the cause, we must examine our hearts. Is it OK to fight for justice and equality for African Americans while supporting the oppression and destruction of Israel? Whichever way you look a it, it is hypocrisy. Not to mention the global support for BLM including anti-racism gatherings in Paris where some people were shouting dirty Jews to the crowd. Again, where is the connection? So, where do we go from here?

Inequality can only be remedied by true reconciliation and true reconciliation only comes from God. The problem that seems to arise out of the BLM movement is that reconciliation is spoken of, but submission is what is meant. There are some strong similarities between the “reconciliation” promoted by BLM and the one promoted by groups like “Christ at the Checkpoint (CaTC.) claiming to seek reconciliation between Israel and Palestinians in the name of Christ. When reconciliation is simply a word spoken to force the other side to submit unilaterally, then we have a problem. Reconciliation is a two-way street that includes compromise and humility. I have seen very little of that coming from BDS promoters as well as those who defend the BLM movement. What I am even starting to see, is more and more parallels drawn between the tragic murder of George Floyd and the deaths of Palestinians. Some people are even borrowing visual elements such as the Middle East head scarf worn by Arafat and the Palestinian flag, to incorporate them into images of George Floyd. There is absolutely no foundation for this connection, but that doesn’t stop people from drawing it.

As a French/Jewish immigrant to America, I have come to realize that injustice and inequality is very real all around us, and that is a tragedy. I have been speaking and writing against antisemitism for over twenty years, and I know that it is very real, as Satan infuses that hatred daily in the heart of men. Racism will continue to exist everywhere, but it doesn’t mean that we have to adhere to it. As God’s word tells us that through the blood of Messiah, Jews and Gentiles have been reconciled into one new man, without any separation between them. Racial reconciliation is not something we have to work on, but something we need to grab hold of and believe in, in complete faith, because of what Yeshua did on our behalf; Jews and Gentiles, blacks and whites.

Ephesians 2:11-16 drives the point home better than I ever could,” 11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separate from Messiah, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Messiah Yeshua you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.”

So, I support black lives today as much as I have supported them my whole life, but not through a manmade movement that has a shaky foundation at best. I support black lives because of my Messiah who supported all lives, enough to die for them. We all should support black lives and it definitely matters how we do it!

June 12, 2020 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Do We Still Need to Explain the Swastika in 2020?

Apparently, the short answer is YES, and it is unfortunate. The swastika is an old symbol that was hijacked by Nazi Germany and should have been retired in 1945 at the very latest. It goes back thousands of years in history and is meaningful to Buddhists, Hindus and a few other Eastern religious groups. The symbol was mostly seen as a good luck symbol until it was discovered in a few different places including German pottery. Before you knew it, the swastika was assigned the meaning of the “pure Aryan race”, leading to its usage on every Nazi medium possible as often as they felt it necessary. It was adopted by the Nazi Party in 1920 and replaced all other flags by 1933.

While the original design can still be found in other cultures, clearly predating the Nazi era, there is an unspoken international agreement that the swastika was retired at the end of World War Two. It is also understood that the counter-clockwise symbol is the original one from Eurasia, while the clockwise one is the one adopted by the Nazis. I am not sure that the girls knew the difference. Would a business person making a new kind of fun shaped caramel crackers, call and market their products as “Krazy Karamel Kracker”, taking the chance of being remembered as the KKK candy manufacturer? Of course not, because anything that would create the KKK acronym has also been retired from the vocabulary of decent people.

So, I was very disturbed when I was made aware of a couple of Penn State students who recently took a picture of themselves and posted it on Twitter, both displaying a drawn swastika on their shoulders, while smiling at the camera. The message that they tried to convey was unclear, but the symbol they used was crystal clear. There has not been an answer or explanation from the students using the symbol. Silence can be a wise choice at times, but when accused of using an unequivocally antisemitic symbol, silence is not the appropriate answer. The use of that symbol by the students can only be explained in one of two ways: Ignorance or malice. Maybe a little bit of both is even more accurate.

I always like to give people the benefit of the doubt, so I will first assume that the two girls didn’t have any idea of the weight that this symbol carries. I personally don’t think that it is the case, but it is always possible. If it was the case, it will validate why we still need to educate people about this dark period of human history.

I am more inclined to believe that they knew the meaning of the symbol, thought that it was cool for shock value, and didn’t really care if they offended anyone. If that was the case, it could still be argued that they don’t really understand the gravity of such a symbol. Unfortunately, there seems to be a resurgence of the use of the swastika symbol among teens in America.

Then, there is the possibility that they simply are antisemitic and wanted to display their xenophobic ideology online to the world. This remains unclear since they have made no comments during or after their actions. The blond student on the left (Ryann Milligan) happens to be a Rehabilitation and Social Services major, where she will be trained to help people and be an advocate for others…Scary! Maybe it is still time to switch majors?

Penn State did issue a statement condemning the girls for their actions: “The reported anti-Semitic post is deeply disturbing and sickening. The University is contacting the individual alleged to be involved. We will continue to speak out against hatred and intolerance.” I personally find their statement extremely vague and non-committal at best. There is also a petition going around to expel the students, and it has already garnered almost 100,000 signatures. Penn State also tweeted: “A public university does not have the power to expel students over speech, no matter how morally reprehensible it may be, but the university does have the power to condemn racism and address those who violate our values.”

It is uncertain if the students will be disciplined or not, but what I can guarantee you is that regardless of malice, ignorance and discipline, they need to be educated. They need to take a trip to Auschwitz or at the very least to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC. They also need to read Elie Wiesel “Night”. If that is too much to read for their millennial brains–and I say this without malice as millennials have a different way of gathering and retaining information–maybe they should watch “Schindler’s List” or the French documentary “Nuit et Brouillard” (Night and Fog) filmed in 1965.

I too often hear people complaining about the fact that Jews talk too much about the Holocaust, that we are “obsessed with its memory.” Well, I might not be obsessed by its memory, but I lost my grandfather in Auschwitz, and I am greatly offended when a couple of American teenagers make light of the very symbol that represents the people who killed my grandfather within a total of twelve million innocent victims, six million because they were Jews (1.2 million of these being children.)

So don’t tell me we need to tone down Holocaust education, we need more of it! As a matter of fact, I welcome the fact that H.R. 943, “The Never Again Education Act” was signed into law on May 29th, 2020. It was introduced, as the text says , “To authorize the Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to support Holocaust education programs, and for other purposes.” Section 2.4 of the Bill delineates exactly why it is important to educate people about those events, and it sounds like it could have been directly addressed to the three Penn State students. It reads, “As intolerance, antisemitism, and bigotry are promoted by hate groups, Holocaust education provides a context in which to learn about the danger of what can happen when hate goes unchallenged and there is indifference in the face of the oppression of others; learning how and why the Holocaust happened is an important component of the education of citizens of the United States.”

This is a huge milestone in Holocaust education and a win against those who belittle the Holocaust, make light of it and even those historical revisionists who deny that it ever happened. But if Holocaust education happens in the classroom, it starts and continues in the home. Parents are responsible to instill in their kids the values that are morally right. Sad to say, but we still need to explain to some people what the swastika represents, and seventy-five years after the Holocaust, we shouldn’t have to! Unfortunatelly, as long as people use the swastika like a cool tattoo to be paraded online or anywhere else, we need some of us to tell them that they are dead wrong. They are targeting the Jewish people even if they don’t realize it.
This being said, we must respect all human beings created in God’s image, especially at a time when our country is so divided by racial inequalities. But let us not let the xenophobia of some become the guilt of all.

April 16, 2020 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Holocaust Remembrance Day in the midst of COVID-19!

We continue to shelter-in-place and practice social distancing as well as cover our faces with masks and hands with gloves. This might go on for a few more weeks and frankly, even as we re-open the country, a gradual re-entry into the economy will undoubtedly continue to incorporate the items that are quickly becoming our “new normal” for the foreseeable future. Additionally, more and more people are starting to hear of the death of someone they know. When this is all said and done, we will have a sobering reminder of how fragile humanity really is. Eventually, people around the world will have memorials to the victims of COVID-19, because remembering the positive AND the negative is part of our human fabric and is necessary for our survival as a global village.

On the subject of remembering, Israel and the global Jewish community are gearing up to remember the Holocaust during the 2020 Yom Ha Shoah (The Day of the Catastrophe) Commemoration. At 10:00 am in Israel on April 21, sirens will sound all over the land for 2 minutes, as all people will literally come to a halt wherever they are, including cars on roads. Some will say that the last thing we need to worry about is another Holocaust Memorial, especially when the whole world has its eyes fixed on COVID-19, the rising death counts and the race for a vaccine. It seems like just about all the news we get nowadays revolves around some aspect of the pandemic and its effect on the economy, so who cares about another event to remember one of the biggest human tragedy of all times? Well, we all should and here are some reasons:

• We Need to Shift Our Focus: It might do us some good to shift our focus onto something else even for a day. How many press conferences, News reports and hunts for toilet paper and hand sanitizers can we go through before we go insane? There is something very healthy about shifting our focus onto another person, group or event for a while so that our attention is no longer on our own situation. We can easily find a person or a cause worthy of our attention. The alternative is to negatively dwell on our own lives and as a result, ignore the rest of the world around us. Sure, businesses, restaurants and many other places have closed for now, but there are many things that we can do to encourage, help and sustain others. Remembering the victims of the Holocaust will help shift our focus, even if for a day!

• Life goes on during a pandemic: Even though for the first time in the history of mankind the world literally came to a screeching halt, the earth still orbits the sun and we still have 24 hours in a day, divided between night and day. True, we are being introduced to a new normal that will most likely dictate our every moves for the next several months or possibly years. But this is no reason to forget or ignore important dates to be commemorated. It might be expressed differently amidst a pandemic, but we should not ignore the remembrance of the 6,000,000 for any reason whatsoever!

• The Fight against antisemitism is still needed: Not only is it still needed, but it is needed more than ever. Our fight cannot be put on hold because people are forced to shelter in place for a while. As a matter of fact, one of the most lethal weapons against the Jewish people and Israel is the intricate web of social networks. Social networks have become the number one method of propagation for the longest hatred, and it can all continue as people are stuck in their homes. People get indoctrinated online as they buy conspiracy theories against the Jews, hook, line and sinker. Eventually, the propaganda turns people into propagators of antisemitic acts either against property or people. This is all happening right now in front of our very eyes.
A pastor–and in his case, we should use the term very loosely– recently told the Jewish community that they were being infected by COVID-19 because they rejected Jesus. Iran is accusing Israel of being behind the virus. White Supremacists are also connecting the virus to the Jews. Now is not the time to pause on either our fight against antisemitism or our recognition of its victims over history. Let us not give Holocaust deniers and historical revisionist one shred of an opportunity to push their evil agendas any further!
“We are all in this together” is as valid for the fight against the virus as it should be for the fight against antisemitism–another deadly virus!

Join me on Monday, April 20th at 6:00 pm when I will conduct a Virtual Service for Holocaust Remembrance Day live from my house. I promise you it will be uplifting. Register here

February 26, 2020 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Hitler would be very proud of the Aalst Carnival in Belgium!

The city of Aalst, Belgium has officially held its carnival since 1923. Parades of that sort actually go back to the Middle Ages. Aalst almost always makes the news for its 3-Day carnival taking place yearly at the end of February. The organizers repeatedly claim that the satirical tone of the carnival is to be remembered when one considers any of its floats. They claim to poke fun at people indiscriminately. Freedom of press and freedom of expression are at the core of the Aalst Carnival, and within reason, in a world where these two are quickly being squeezed out, if not disappearing altogether, this is a breath of fresh air that we must respect. Unless it is taken too far!

Going back to the French Revolution of 1789, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen said in its article 11, “The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law. Furthermore, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights added in its article 19, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” Important boundaries for all of mankind were put in place to protect our freedoms on just about every level. The laws are in place to protect us, but keep in mind, that even if something is not illegal, it does not mean it is appropriate. We should never allow ourselves to abuse the power of free speech, even in a satire!

Belgium also has some very specific boundaries regarding freedom of speech, like most countries in the West. Through an organization known as UNIA, Belgium monitors and defends people who have been victims of discrimination. They are very helpful in determining when freedom of speech crosses the line and becomes racism and/or incitement.

The 2019 Aalst Carnival featured some giant orthodox Jews with grotesque facial features, wearing pink outfits with oversized shtreimels (Jewish fur hats) with rats on their shoulders and money bursting out of their pockets. The depiction was so despicably antisemitic that even UNESCO–not Israel’s strongest supporter over the years–decided to remove the Aalst Carnival from its list of “cultural heritage of Humanity.”

The embarrassment created by the UNESCO removal in 2019 should have taught the organizers a lesson and should have given them a serious incentive to put an end to the antisemitic elements of the carnival. Instead, it appears that it emboldened them to go further. This would be outrage at any time of history, but in 2020, it is oil thrown onto the fire of global antisemitism. This will inevitably provide justification to those who want to kill Jews, as we are starting to witness that again.

The “Aalst Jews of 2020” were again wearing oversized shtreimels, dressed in black this year, but the bottom half of their bodies were that of insects or vermin; ants to be exact.

A small replica of the Western Wall was also paraded with words “complain ant” (words that apparently look like the words Western Wall in dutch.) Joining the crowds were dozens of people wearing caricatural orthodox Jewish garb and large fake crooked noses, not to mention the many flyers with stereotypical renditions of Jews with side curls, crooked noses and curly hair.

The 1940 Nazi propaganda film “The Wandering Jew” depicted Jewish people as rats coming out of sewers to invade the world. Jews were compared to parasites and vermin. In other Nazi works, they were compared to insects like lice that must be exterminated. You know the rest of the story. Antisemites currently do not need any incentive to hate the Jews, so why go there?

Without the help of Aalst Carnival, global Jews are again at risk for their lives. Comparing them to insects or rats is giving antisemites justification for their actions, When the mayor of Aalst was asked, he responded that there was no antisemitism in his city. Seriously? Even Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes ONLY stated that the carnival “was causing damage to our values and the reputation of our country.” Unfortunately, words never condemn actions unless they are followed by consequences for those actions.

The Aalst Carnival MUST stop its antisemitism and all other kinds of xenophobic displays or it should not be allowed to continue. I don’t care how funny people think it was–as all watchers were smiling or laughing as the floats passed by them–it continues to fuel the unnecessary and irrational global tsunami of antisemitism that is now claiming Jewish lives again!

In 2013, they chose to wear Gestapo uniforms, walked around wearing cans labeled “Zyklon B” — the poison that the Nazis used to kill Jews in gas chambers, and paraded a cattle car similar to those used to transport Jews during the Holocaust. At this rate, it won’t be long before the floats look like crematoria or gas chambers!

Well, actually, it was only a day later that the city of Campo de Criptana, Spain featured such a float in their parade. Nazi uniforms, train car and crematoria along with prisoners in striped outfits. Some say that the village is a great friend of Israel. Even if they are, what a poor way to commemorate the Holocaust!

Is it time for all the Jews of Belgium to make aliyah to Israel?

Aaslt you would make Hitler very proud!

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