Have you found your monocle yet?
Mao! Sharon!
Mengistu! Bokassa! Mobutu! Idi Amin!
Leopold! Ataturk! Lenin! Karadzic! Temujin! Kahless! Number One!
Sorry, what were we talking about again?
Newsflash! The world isn’t Nazi Germany. You are safe!
Well, in all fairness I don’t think a country ruled by Hamas would be very safe.
This is where you demonstrate the fact that you simply do not understand what it is to be part of a group that was the victim of genocide. You never feel completely safe, ever. Jews in Germany prior to the Nazi were valued citizens, holding positions of influence and authority. They felt safe. It didn’t save them.
“Never again,” sure. But when it comes down to brass tacks, who’s going to make sure it never happens again? The UN? They’ve done such a fantastic job in Darfur. A strong, secure Jewish state gives some measure of comfort to the Jews of the Diaspora, knowing that if anything like the Third Reich ever arose, there would be someplace safe to go.
So, no, Brendan. Even living in Canada, a strong Western liberal democracy, I can’t say that I ever feel 100% “safe”. Synagogues are still defaced, Jewish schools firebombed, graveyards desecrated, all happening here in Montreal or other supposedly “safe” places. I’ve got living relatives with tattoos from the concentration camps, and I’ve heard first-hand stories of the Holocaust my entire life, as have most Jews in Israel. It changes your perception of “safe” in ways that I suppose cannot be intuitively understood. So I don’t blame your lack of empathy, but you might want to try stretching yourself a bit before making a statement like that.
Jewish schools have been firebombed in Montreal?
Strength and security are not found in oppressing your minority population, soon to be majority population, because sooner or later they will rise up against you and sweep you away.
Perhaps. Perhaps not. I honestly don’t have a clue about how Israel should best deal with the Palestinian issue and extremist political parties of any stripe. I just know that “safe” is an extremely subjective feeling, but on a communal level, I’d guess that most Jews feel less safe, inside or outside of Israel, then most other ethnic or religious groups on the planet. And feelings of being unsafe beget reactions that would not occur if security was assured.
Ironically enough, most of what you said is also true of Palestinians in Gaza.
Indeed. And that’s one of the underlying reasons for why we have a war going on right now.
I think you really hit the nail on the head.
I’m a member of a very vulnerable minority group right now (A police officer was quoted as telling a white farmer that all white dogs must die.). so I’m more sensitive to the idea of persecution based on ethnicity than you would think.
I am sensitive to the fact that there are anti-semites out there.
I do however disagree very strongly that the answer to Jewish concerns is to isolate yourself from the world. I especially think that the current actions of Israel are doing more harm to the Jewish cause than a few nutjobs with spraypaint and a racist agenda.
The answer to the future prosperity of the Jews is integration, not isolation.
Honestly, if you look around there hasn’t been any pogrom on Jews since Israel was founded (Give or take hostility in Arab countries that forced a lot to leave).
The fact there’s a “Jewish army” or a national force for this really seems to help.
(Or maybe it simply because we concentrated most Jews in one place so our haters won’t have to search for us… :) )
Or maybe it’s because the Holocaust was so morally appalling to the vast majority of the world that no one’s in a hurry to enact something similar?
Your argument is analogous to Bush’s claim that his actions prevented any further terrorist attacks on American soil. You can’t prove the correlation.
I don’t see that Israel’s existence in any way prevents pogroms. Their reach isn’t long enough and they’re not in a hurry to make friends on the international level. If, say, a country in South America decides it’s time to wipe out the Jews, there’s not a hell of a lot Israel can do about it.
So you are relying on basic humanity to prevent another Holocaust? Have you heard of Darfur? Rwanda?
Jews have been persecuted for centuries. To think otherwise is naive. Israel is the solution. A homeland where Jews will never be murdered simply for being Jewish. Israel hasand will protect Jews internationally.
I don’t want to put words in anyone’s mouth, but I know for a sizeable population, integration is considered cultural suicide. It would dilute the ethnic and religious basis of the Jewish race.
A beautiful and noble goal to help obscure the fact that Jewish sovereignty and independence is gained by depriving millions of people of their own sovereignty and independence.