We Can No Longer Stay Silent on Anti-Semitism
THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!When is anti-Semitism not anti-Semitism? When it’s Jewish paranoia, is one answer. When it’s criticism of Israel, is another. The All-Party Parliamentary Enquiry into anti-Semitism published last week in the U.K. will be welcomed by many British Jews. The very fact that so high-level an enquiry was instituted in the first place confirms that the problem doesn’t exist only in their minds.
To call out anti-Semitism, unless blood has been spilt, is a hazardous enterprise in Britain. It draws the accusation of hypersensitivity. It attracts the opprobrium of other Jews who view themselves as less hysterical, and who consider it crying wolf or an attempt to silence fair criticism of Israel. And it plays to fears that lie buried deep in the British-Jewish psyche that to complain is to be ungrateful and, worse, that its only effect will be to call attention to a minority that has thrived by cultivating near-invisibility. “Keep shtum” was my father’s advice to me when I was growing up in Manchester in the 1950s. Don’t go in fear, but don’t be too conspicuous either.
Yet among the enquiry’s findings is that hate crimes against Jews in Britain have doubled in the past decade. This confirms what some Jews fear and others have experienced, but that many will dismiss as insignificant. What constitutes a hate crime? Should we grant as much significance to a placard saying “Hitler was right” or “Death to Jews” as we do to a physical assault on a rabbi or a yeshiva boy? The abuse of Jews in social media might be on the increase, but so is abuse of everybody. Is the All-Parliamentary Enquiry crying wolf on our behalf?
If I characterize this as a debate among Jews, it is also a debate individual Jews are having with themselves. Am I right to be worried? Should I be packing my bags to leave, or should I at least know where my bags are? This is hardly Kristallnacht, says one voice. It was hardly Kristallnacht before it was Kristallnacht, says another. How many Berlin Jews saw the writing on the wall? Oh come on, London today is not the Berlin of the 1930s. No, but Berlin in the 1920s wasn’t the Berlin of the ’30s.
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The first two paragraphs pretty much sum it up!
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Last edited Tue Feb 24, 2015, 03:41 AM - Edit history (1)
Mere criticism of the actions of the Israel government does not equate to antisemitism
Of course, no one was claiming anything to the like. But we are assured that the "left" is all about being against anti-Semitism, not to mention the double standards when it comes to Israel.. I am sure they don't like sugar on their porridge either.
"Inspiring images of over 1000 Muslims forming 'ring of peace' around Oslo synagogue"It's far past time for Israel to recognize Palestine.
My view, even as a casual observer over the decades seems to suggest that:
When the Jewish nation of Israel attacks their enemies they are "Israel" as a nation and political body.
When Israel is being attacked, either with weapons or in print as a nation for their political stance, that once political body now becomes a Jewish nation and all attackers are strictly "anti-Semites".
The world, including myself, is growing tired of that ploy.
Israel doesn't even have to be mentioned for someone to "criticize" it, all that is needed is the mention of JEWS.
It goes on and on, and supposedly "it's all in our heads."
Today we define ourselves as Jews in many ways: by common heritage, observance of Jewish laws, lineage, or by a combination of all or some of the above. But many years back, before the ruin of the Temple, Jews were defined first and foremost by their spirit -- the spirit of camaraderie and mutual responsibility. "Love your neighbor as yourself" was the great klal ("rule," but also "sum total"
by which we lived. It was a rule that included within it every other precept, the pinnacle of human spiritual achievement. This is why we, Jews, became a nation only when we pledged to be "as one man with one heart" at the foot of Mt. Sinai. This is also what allowed us to develop the humane society that we had cultivated for centuries, and which has given the world so many of its cultural and moral assets.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-laitman/the-simple-and-unwelcome-_b_6687030.html
