Here we are 65 years later, and still fighting the ravages of anti-semitism. The "Work Will Set You Free" sign at the Auschwitz Museum is stolen by right wing thugs, a priest in Poland claims that the Holocaust was "a Jewish invention, a Jewish cemetary in France is defiled with swastikas; these are just a few of the incidents highlighted in a report issued recently by the Coordination Forum for Countering Anti-Semitism an Israeli organization that tracks anti-semitic events. The Huffington Post ran the story and the comments that followed were mind-boggling to say the very least. If I didn't read them for myself, I would not have known the visceral hatred and ignorance that exists. (For those not familiar, the Huffington Post was founded by Arianna Huffington in 1995 to provide a liberal alternative to conservative bloggers as Matt Drudge and his Drudge Report.) Comments ranged from "You reap what you sow," to "well, how can you prove it was an anti-semitic event; maybe it was just anti-Israel?" Certainly, that would not have been the response had the story been "Muslims attacked worldwide." In that instance, the response would have overwhelmingly spoken to the injustice of collective punishment.
How ironic that this "collective" punishment is used by the left to attack Israel, claiming that Israel engaged in "collective punishment" during Operation Cast Lead in 2008.(Never mind that Israel has incontrovertible proof that certain key aspects of the Goldstone Report are patently false.) I looked up the word "liberal." One of its meanings is to be "open minded and tolerant." Yet, the so-called liberal agenda seems destined to believe that anything Israel does is wrong. And to believe the Hamas-controlled Palestinian media. Is that open minded and tolerant?
Any attempt to "reason" with those wanting to demonize Israel is fruitless. I was fascinated by the posters' rationale that "jews are so sensitive," or "you can be against Israel's policies and not be anti-semitic." Well, no, you really can't. To read a story about the rise of anti-semitism and not show pure revulsion is counter any logic I know, and certainly counter to what I believe a "liberal" should believe. Where is the tolerance? Tolerance seems only to exist for a group of people who continue to threaten Israel's survival, who continually call for her destruction, and refuses to acknowledge her existence, hides amongst civilians, and routinely fires unguided missiles into southern Israel.
Sure, one can take issue with Israel's policies -- and even people within Israel do so, but to show glee at anti-Semitic behavior is unfathomable. If one can truly separate "anti-Israel" from "anti-Jews," how in the world can one justify this well-documented anti-semitic behavior? Then, there's my favorite, "well, you know, not all victims of the Holocaust were Jews." That is correct, but to quote Elie Wiesel, "not all victims were Jews, but all Jews were victims."
Of greater concern is the belief that the Huffington Post is unbiased in its coverage. One poster suggested that proof of a non-bias was that no comments were censored, and that anyone supporting Israel, or supporting the validity of the story about Anti-Semitism, were simply being too sensitive. Sins of omission are equally as problematic. Where, for instance, were the stories about the amazing Israeli response to the disaster in Haiti? They were one of the very first countries on the ground, built a state-of-the-art medical facility, treated over 1100 patients, performed over 800 surgeries, delivered almost 2 dozen babies, ensured the airlift of a 5 year old child to Miami for treatment for leukemia, and brought a 5 year old back to Israel with them for life-saving open heart surgery. (And this doesn't even include the tents, sleeping bags, and medicine left behind.)
Earlier today, Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the Gates of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Invoking the memories of those who perished at the hands of the Nazi Amalek, the Prime Minister cautioned Jews of the perils of the new Amaleks. The Prime Minister promised, "as head of the Jewish state, that never again will we allow the hand of evil to sever the life of our people and our state... Am Yisrael Chai, we have returned to our homeland, to the land of our forefathers, to Jerusalem, our capital. We have converged from all corners of the world, Holocaust survivors, Arab Jews, Jews from former Soviet Union states, Ethiopian Jews." He concluded his remarks be by saying, “We bow our heads in memory [of Holocaust victims] and raise our heads as our flag waves with its two blue stripes and the Star of David at its center. We still haven't lost our hope."
On this day, the 65th Anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz Death Camp, I will leave with a quote from Civil Rights hero and martyr Martin Luther King:
"And what is anti-Zionism? It is the denial to the Jewish people of a fundamental right that we justly claim for the people of Africa and all other nations of the Globe. It is discrimination against Jews, my friends, because they are Jews. In short, it is anti-Semitism...Let my words echo in the depths of your soul: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews -- make no mistake about it."
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