JEWS, ISRAEL AND ANTI - SEMITISM

There is very little argument that anti semitism is on the rise throughout the world. Just in the space of a few weeks 7 members of the Labour Opposition Party in the United Kingdom resigned - a central issue being their leader, Jeremy Corbin’s unashamed and ongoing anti semitism. Corbin’s recent refusal to support the labelling of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization is a sign that he has dropped any pretense as to where he stands. This particularly so after the Iran backed Lebanese political party made it quite clear that their hatred was directed to all Jews, not only Israelis.  France was racked with a series of events including desecrations, mobs chanting in streets and threats which resulted in the French Parliament discussing legislation to counter the anti semitic upsurge, a 74 percent increase from last year. The UK is now reporting a 100 anti semitic incidents a month. Most disconcerting is a European poll shows that that a quarter of those questioned maintained that Jews use the holocaust to manipulate their causes. America too has seen a sharp increase in incidents.

THE  GROWTH OF AMERICAN  ANTI - SEMITISM

The American legislature witnessed Congress members for the first time in recent modern history being reprimanded for  anti semitic tropes. This was preceded by the massacre of 13 Jews in a Pittsburgh synagogue and the release of statistics that Jews, who represent 2 percent of the American population, were subject to nearly 60 percent of the religious based hate crimes, a 37 percent increase from the previous year. (The overall European figures reflect similar increases). Last year following the blatant anti semitic chants from right wing thugs in the Charlottesville riots the President’s failure to outright condemn occasioned a backlash with even one of his Jewish Cabinet members publicly criticizing his failure. 

The anti semitic remarks by 2 American Muslim Democratic Party Legislators occasioned Fareed Zakaria, the renowned political commentator, to warn them that they needed to note that in the Muslim World there was twice the amount of  anti semitism than in other countries, and they needed to be sensitive to this evil. There is in addition a split in the highly successful Women’s March movement devolving around the support of some of its leaders of the Leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan. The latter has warned against the “Satanic Jews” whom he claims are responsible for child molestation, police brutality and who are “studying tricks” to be able to dominate all non jews.

This all begs the question why? Before continuing, criticizing Israeli policies and its current leader, Netanyahu, is not anti semitism. If it were over forty percent of Jewish Israelis would be guilty. Jay H. Ell is more than mindful of the need for a two party solution in the Middle East and that the Netanyahu administration has done nothing to further it. (Blog: “ISRAEL’S BIBI IN LEGAL JEOPARDY AS CHANGE LOOMS”). However this is not the subject being addressed. 

CAUSES  OF ANTI - SEMITISM? HAS IT CHANGED THROUGH THE AGES?

All this antipathy, discrimination hatred, persecution and murder is more often than not associated with the denial of the right of the Jews to have a state of their own. The former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Jonathan Sacks, has said that anti semitism is like a virus which has mutated through the ages. Anti - semites rarely admit that they hate the Jews. Rather they put forward reasons as to why they discriminate. The rationale for their persecution always, "co incidentally" is the alleged characteristics of all jews at that point in time. 

For millennia anti semitism was on the basis of religion so the offending Jews had a choice to survive by converting, escaping or dying as martyrs. Then the basis for the persecution was against races that were inferior and or conspiring to control the world, all of which were described as the features of all Jews - this emergence of this racism foreshadowed the holocaust. Today, Sacks concludes, the rationale is that all Jews, regardless of what they may argue, are responsible for Israel and by extension the current Israeli government. The latter, allegedly. being the world poster child for racism and crimes against humanity.

However not everyone buys Sack’s explanation. Some have argued that there are two forces at work - the right wing and neo Nazi wave that is emerging across the world and the other a hatred originating from the Middle East region which has a political and a religious basis. One of the causes of resurgence of the right is said to be economic and what better scapegoat is there than the traditional bogeyman - the Jews? Large sectors of the Islam world in the Middle East and the Palestinian territories demonize Israel and the Jews. The whole education process starting with children focuses on the evil of Jews and Israel. This thrust will take decades to unlearn. 

Perhaps the French Prime Minister was nearer the mark when speaking in the French Parliament on the recent French spate of anti - Jewish hate, “Anti -Semitism is profoundly rooted in French Society. It takes incredibly varied forms. I don’t think that it is the preserve of a particular group. It is going to be difficult to fight against it in France but we’re going to do it with humility.”

Through the ages and up till 1960's the Christian faith and in particular the Catholic Church fueled anti semitism in that they blamed the Jews collectively for the death of Jesus. The Causa Nostre Aetate in 1965 reversed that dictum. Pope Benedict XVI, 2011 gave a detailed theological and biblical argument as to why this canard was no longer valid. As recently as January 2019 Pope Francis preached that Catholics must continue to ask forgiveness for their anti semitism. There is no doubt that this change of dictum has resulted in a decrease of Christian anti semitism.

The late Amoz Oz, the internationally recognized Israeli author and major proponent for peace and the two state solution looked at all the culture and symbolism that reinforced hatred of the Jews. When discussing his novel Judas he commented that in paintings of the Last Supper, Judas is painted as the archetypical scheming Jew. Shakespeare, as another icon of arts and culture perpetuated the “trickery and venality” of the Jew in The Merchant of Venice, is yet another example of how deeply ingrained in culture this bias was sustained. 

In addition defamatory fictions have been widely circulated, most notorious being the early twentieth century anti semitic booklet, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which allegedly details the secret world wide conspiracy of jews as to how they control the world. This infamy was punted mercilessly by the Nazis. At that time it was believed by many in the West. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem introduced it to the Middle East in the forties and even today it is doing the rounds as well as reemerging in the rest of the world 

Rabbi Sacks, who has been prominent in inter religious initiatives, postulates a unique unconscious etiology of religious violence in his award winning book, Not In God’s Name - Confronting Religious Violence. Briefly he sees Islam and Judaism as two Abrahamic denominations whose progenitors were his two sons Isaac and Ishmael. Islam believes that Ishmael was the patriarch’s real son while Judaism accepts that Isaac was. Sacks thus postulates the overall dynamic is unconscious sibling rivalry as to who are the true chosen, the others being infidels and imposters.    

Ed Hasain, the internationally recognized Islamist commentator, who champions a two state solution, believes that the Middle East States still feel humiliated by the repeated defeats they have suffered, starting from 1948. when a ragbag Israeli army, barely armed, defeated the might of 5 Arab States. Palestinians who were displaced martyr themselves rather than seek peace, believing that will give them dignity and ensure them a place in heaven. 

So whatever the causation of this millennial long racial animus it is still deeply ingrained in society and is destined to continue for the foreseeable future.

THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF JEWS AND NATIONS STATES

There are 6.9 billion inhabitants of the world - 2.2 billion are Christian, 1.9 billion are Muslim and 15 million are Jews. Anti - semites throughout the ages have accused Jews, who represent 0.02% of the population of the earth, of a conspiracy, whether through finance or evil of one or other sort, to control the world at the one end or of being inferior and being akin to vermin on the other. Nor has the fact that some Jews are irreligious or have “opted out” from all aspects of Judaism exempted them from these assaults or the gas chambers. Thus from time immemorial Jews have been persecuted, hounded out of countries and subject to genocide, most notably by the Crusaders and the Inquisition in the Middle Ages and in the last century by the Nazis where 6 million were gassed in the holocaust. Stalin killed over a million and Eastern Europe had a tradition of pogroms  through the ages.

There are a 195 countries in the world with one Jewish State, Israel, which is 149th in size with mainly island states that have a smaller area. There are 16 Muslim States in the Middle East, several Islamic countries in North Africa surrounding Israel and 59 Nations with Muslim majorities. Following the United Nations Resolution in 1947 dividing the British mandate of Palestine between Israel and Palestinians, Israel’s right to existence has been threatened by invasions and terrorism. 

ISRAEL SINGLED OUT AT THE UNITED NATIONS

The ubiquitous charge against the State of Israel is that it is a threat to world peace and guilty of crimes against humanity. The central venue for the orchestrated attacks on Israel, in fact challenging its very right to exist, is the United Nations. This preoccupation lead the outgoing Secretary General, Ban Ki - Moon to claim, “Decades of political maneuvering have created a disproportionate number of resolutions, reports and committees against Israel”. He lectured the Security Council, “That for the last decade we have had a bias against Israel at the UN….this has foiled the ability of the UN to fulfill its role effectively”. For example at the time of his statement in 2017, over a six year period, the UN had passed 223 resolutions castigating Israel and only 6 against Syria.

Ban Ki - Moon’s plea fell on deaf ears as the General Assembly Resolutions in 2018/2019 show. There were 27 Resolutions criticizing countries of which 21 singled out Israel while the remainder were aimed, one each at 6 other countries, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Crimea, Mynamar and the USA for its embargo on Cuba. Most of the recent resolutions single out Israeli behavior towards the Palestinians and instruct Israel to meet their demands. There has been no condemnation of any terror attacks by HAMAS who now control the GAZA area which was handed over to Palestinian Authorities by Prime Minister Sharon in 2005 with the dismantling of Israeli Settlements. Sharon asked for no concessions in return. 

ISRAEL AND THE JEWS

There have always been Jews in Palestine, even after their expulsion by the Romans in AD 41. They became a distinct minority following the Muslim conquest in the seventh century.  Israel’s twentieth century rebirth was a secular venture so as to be a haven for persecuted Jews. The British Government’s Balfour Declaration in 1917 was motivated by European anti - semitism. From then on and especially in the thirties with the rise of Nazism, pioneers settled in the then Palestine. The flood really followed post World War Two as holocaust survivors sort a home. This was followed by 700,000 forced out Jews who resided in Middle East Arab Muslim countries. About a 125,000 beleaguered Ethiopian and Yemen Jews were airlifted to safety.  A massive influx was from Russia when a million “Refuseniks” were finally let out of the collapsed USSR. Recently, following the anti semitic wave in France a 100,000 French were estimated to have emigrated. These additions were augmented by an uncertain number of Jews who have settled in the "Holy Land" for either religious or “patriotic” reasons. Currently nearly 6.5 million of Israel’s 8 million population are Jews, the rest being Palestinians and other minorities such as Beduins.

From a religious point of view the Jews claim that they have always prayed to return to Israel ever since the fall of the first Temple over 2000 years ago as reflected in Psalm 137 - “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion….. if I forget you Jerusalem may my right hand loose it’s skill… .   Since the Middle Ages the Passover has been celebrated with the statement, “Next year in Jerusalem”. 

THE JEWS IN THE AMERICAN DIASPORA

The most oft quoted argument posited trope against the diaspora Jews is that they have dual loyalty to their country of origin and Israel. This contention has been negated by the extensive involvement of Jews in their societies, where they have been allowed to participate. The USA with about 4 million Jews have the largest Diaspora population. The American Jewish community is well integrated in the society. There are two vying Jewish interest groups who focus on relationships with Israel - the highly influential older American Israel Public Affairs Group, (AIPAC), which accepts whatever policies the political party in power in Israel enunciates and the newer J Street which actively advocates a two party solution to the Palestinian dilemma and is generally more radical in approach. 

Politically, to date most Jews have been Democratic but a significant number, (30 percent), back the Republicans. Up until very recently there has been a bipartisan support for Israel which could be under threat as a result of the current Prime Minister Netanyahu openly backing the Republicans and having been involved in feuds with the last two Democratic Presidents, Clinton and Obama. Also several Jews argue that Trump has been unconditionally supportive of Israel and have used that as one of their arguments to back the Republicans. The largest contributor to the Republican midterm effort was Sheldon Adelson who till recently was Bibi Netanyahu’s most significant Diaspora backer.

AT THE END OF THE DAY

Anti - semitism with its multifactorial genesis is still deeply ingrained in society and has manifested in various forms including genocide, for two millennia. The bias and discrimination against the nation state of Israel is a modern day phenomenon which finds its more extreme manifestation in Iran and its surrogates, Hezbollah and Hamas who have vowed to wipe the nation state of the face of the earth. The behavior of the nations at the UNO provide irrefutable data that the tiny state is being discriminated against and being labelled as the world number one rogue nation.

The irrational memes that a people that are widely diverse and represent 0.2 percent of the world population, namely that they are able to secretly control the planet with all their money and deviousness is still widely believed and disseminated. The converse of this fabrication is that the Jews are an inferior species and are often labelled, for example, as dogs, also still has currency. In spite of the fact that this two millennia old aberration is still indelibly ingrained in the psyche of large swaths of societies, meaningful attempts have been made to dispel this evil by individuals, groups and nations. The efforts by the Catholic Church and Muslim groups have made inroads on the religious fronts as well.

Criticism of Israel and its leaders do not constitute anti semitism. Jay H. Ell would go one step further and blame the present Prime Minister of Israel for fracturing the bipartisan support of the American legislature of Israel by his arrogance and megalomania thereby risking, his country’s relationship with its closest and most powerful ally.  His recent disgraceful coalition with a group that is regarded akin to a terrorist organization shows that he is as divisive within Israel as he is with Jews in the diaspora. 

None of what happens in Israel justifies the resurgence in the American House of representatives of the old anti semitic cry that Jews have dual loyalty. That is the crisp point not whether criticism of Israel policy is acceptable or not.