Reflecting on 70 years since the Final Solution, the attack at the synagogue in Colleyville, and why are there no Jews in the Middle East.(outside of Israel)

 

What happened to the Middle East’s Jews

Follow this link for video of discussion. Starts at 1:45 into video.

https://youtu.be/w81SkbCbidY

 

Just 2 weeks ago, we had a discussion with Richard Hirschhaut, of the LA AJC. One of the questions I raised was of the  push by Islamist groups, either associated with Palestinians, or with the Muslim Brotherhood( in particular, CAIR, which claims to be the representative of US Muslims) to repeat antisemitic memes, and then back-track when caught.

Now, one week later, we had this horrible event, which could have ended in tragedy. It came just in advance of the 70th year since the notorious Wannsee Conference, which settled the fate of Europe’s Jews, in the Entloessung zur Judenfrage-The Final Solution of the Jewish Question. It was also just in advance of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jan 27.

 

Attack on the Beth Israel synagogue would at first seem to have been the work of a deranged lunatic seeking the release of another deranged lunatic, Lady Al Qaeda,  Aafia Siddiqui.

However, even lunatics need outside input to trigger and guide their delusions.

What drove both of them ? Both were from  Pakistan. What about Pakistan?

 

This from Rob Eshman in LA Times:

Karachi-born Siddiqui, 49, came from an educated, devout Muslim family. … Massachusetts Institute of Technology and, in 1995, went on to obtain an advanced degree in cognitive neuroscience at Brandeis University, … 44% of undergraduates identify as Jewish.

…, Siddiqui tried to dismiss her lawyers because of their Jewish background and demanded that prospective jurors undergo DNA testing to determine if they had Jewish genes.

“Study the history of the Jews,” she wrote in a plea to then-President Obama. “They have always back-stabbed everyone who has taken pity on them and made the ‘fatal’ error of giving them shelter.” She added: “This why ‘holocausts’ keep happening to them repeatedly! If they would only learn to be grateful and change their behavior!!”

But in truth, antisemitic conspiracy theories dominate Pakistani textbooks, media and government. Why would Siddiqui believe anything else?.

( Op-Ed: The Texas hostage-taking was a symptom of conspiracy theories run amok

JAN. 17, 2022 https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-01-17/jewish-hostages-texas-pakistan-aafia-siddiqui

 

Pakistan is no outlier in the Moslem world on anti-Semitism:

Malaysia

The esteemed President of Malaysia:  In a speech made before the Organization of the Islamic Conference shortly before he left office, Mahathir claimed "the Jews rule the world by proxy: They get others to fight and die for them."^[80] “We are up against a people who think. They survived 2,000 years of pogroms not by hitting back but by thinking. They invented socialism, communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so that they can enjoy equal rights with others. With these they have now gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power. . . .”(NY Times https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/21/world/views-on-jews-by-malaysian-his-own-words.html) 

 

Something has gone very sour in the Moslem world, far more so than in the Christian, Hindu, or Buddhist world:

 

ADL survey of attitudes- data 2014/15

https://global100.adl.org/map

Worldwide

USA- about the same for Canada, most Anglo countries, northern Europeans.

Latin America- worse

Prime Example-Chile-

The new President has Chile’s Jews worried.

They sent him this gift a two years ago:

A jar of honey and affirming building a community based on inclusivity, solidarity, and respect.

And he replied:

 

Gabriel Boric Font

@gabrielboric

 

La Comunidad Judía en Chile me envía un tarrito de miel por el año nuevo judio, reafirmando su compromiso cn "una sociedad más inclusiva, solidaria y respetuosa". Agradezco el gesto pero podrían partir por pedirle a Israel que devuelva el territorio palestino ilegalmente ocupado.

In short:You should have  called on Israel to give back the Palestinian territory it has ilegally occupied 

 [An aside, as a descendant of Palestinians, it is ironic that he is occupying land that was stolen from indigenous native Americans by the ancestors of today's Chileans!]

 

In Europe, Greece is an outlier-far ahead of Poland, Russia, or Ukraine

In Africa-

 

Nigeria= very tolerant

Asia Singapore

What about the Moslem world

Iran- to be fair-better than Christian Greece

I suspect more Iranians hate their Ayatollah regine more than they hate Jews!

 

But Egypt- at peace with Israel-partner against Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, Iran

Morocco

Jordan- at Peace with Israel

Odds of peace with our nearest neighbors-Gaza-West Bank

So- I go to my point, Where are the Jews of the Middle East today?

Communities that date back to – Iraq-Persia- Egypt-over 2500 years. Yemen-2000 years. Before Christianity-before Islam.

That was posed at the UN by Hillel Neuer of the UN watch:

https://youtu.be/35eEljsSQfc

This is the way that map looks:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why is it that the winds of antisemitism were pervading the Islamic world before the State of Israel, before Zionism?

Multiple factors-

Anti-Jewish statements in the Quran- war at the end of days in which the trees will betray the Jew hiding behind them

 

Historic anti_Jewish edicts in Islamic law- no Jew may ride on a horse, stand higher than a Moslem, no synagogue higher than  a mosque,  must pay tax to be allowed to live.

Modernity= rise of nationalism-began with improved rights for minorities, and then went south from there- first case- in a large way-the Armenian genocide, which was an inspiration for Hitler. From that point, nationalism closed out all that did not fit neatly in the Islamic world =similar to European fascist states.

The reaction against modernity-

The Saudi compromise with Wahabi Islam= leave us alone, and build madrasas outside Arabia!

 

Muslim Brotherhood- al akhwan al muslimun-Hasan al bana-100 years old- rejection of liberal thought and politics, and of things western.

“The Muslim Brotherhood’s history of anti-Semitism goes back to its founding. Its leading Palestinian figure, Haj Amin el-Husseini, collaborated with the Nazis, declaring that Jews were the enemies of Islam and had been for 1,300 years. He made explicit appeals on the radio to Arab listeners to “kill the Jews.” In 1946, when Husseini returned to Cairo, he was enthusiastically welcomed by Hassan al-Banna, the Muslim Brotherhood’s founder. In a secret bulletin intercepted by OSS agents in Cairo, Al-Banna said of Husseini, “What a hero, what a miracle of a man. Yes, this hero who challenged an empire and fought Zionism, with the help of Hitler and Germany. Germany and Hitler are gone, but Amin Al-Husseini will continue the struggle.” The Muslim Brotherhood, Anti-Semitism, and Democracy | The New Republic

 

So, as we approach the International Holocaust Remembrance Day= Let’s see what is left of a once glorious Jewish presence despite subjugated and untouchable status.

Follow this link to see the original images that I presented on zoom discussion.

https://www.jimena.org/videos-photos/

One of the images is of a magnificent synagogue in the Island of Djerna, Tunisia. Live was bad for the Jews, who mostly left, but that hasn't stopped the government from cashing in on Jewish tourism. 

My discussion followed with this short graphic account of what was once a glorious Jewsoh presence in the Middle East , now made Judenrein, except for one island of safety- the State of Israel.

 

Short summary:

https://youtu.be/UDmrDMrNk7k

This is a link to amore extensive video:

https://youtu.be/ihOlgDx6-UE

 

Are we suffering from " Gevalt" or" Head in the Sand" syndromes? --Interview with Richard Hirschhaut of the American Jewish Committee

 

Jan 8 Notes and video of interview with Richard Hirschhaut of the American Jewish Committee

This is a direct link to the interview conducted by Rabbi Norbert Weinberg, Hollywood Temple Beth El 

https://youtu.be/6l2Gnp-Juoc

Introduction

AJC recently issued a poll, showing a rising number of Jews concerned about anti-Semitism. Conversely, the survey was denounced as exaggeration by an op-ed writer for the Jewish  Forward .
Are we suffering from " Gevalt" or" Head in the Sand" syndromes? 

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Hirschhaut is chief strategist and principal spokesperson in advancing AJC’s global advocacy mission in Southern California. AJC is considered the “dean of American Jewish organizations.” He has been involved for over 30 years in civil rights, humanitarian, and Jewish communal advocacy, serving in senior professional roles across the U.S. with the Anti-Defamation League, Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and American Friends of Rambam Medical Center.

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1)

Just a few weeks ago, after we planned on this Shabbat program, Rosa Rosenberg was so kind as to loan me a copy of People Love Dead Jews by Dana Horn. It talks about the trend to fetishize the Jews of the past, while ignoring the threats to Jews of the present. Its title is reminiscent of another  work, by another famous Jewish author, Cynthia Ozyck, ALL THE WORLD WANTS THE JEWS DEAD( NOVEMBER 1974 Esquire). The theme is so very much the same—the people of Israel were almost destroyed in the Yom Kippur war, yet that bothered no one, especially not the United Nations, which went on to label Zionism as racism.

Then , I see this report of a faculty member at the respected University of Maryland, who was canned for being outspokenly Jewish:

Filed in the US District Court of Maryland, the suit, alleging a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, said that Dr. Melissa Landa — a professor at the College of Education for ten years before the university declined to renew her contract in 2017 — was subjected to “a series of actions designed to alienate, humiliate, and ultimately terminate” her after she began speaking out against antisemitism. (  https://www.algemeiner.com/2022/01/07/former-university-of-maryland-professor-alleges-discrimination-firing-for-expressing-jewish-faith-in-civil-rights-lawsuit/?fbclid=IwAR3lbyVXIIKPeHcyLEHlDJn1KxHFt4dyuRYSNRkTCLjuUFPWHhbYtABTGjk )

 

So now we have the new poll, about Jews reporting attacks.

Please explain what this recent poll by the AJC is about?

The report goes on to document actual physical attacks not just snide remarks on Instagram? Who is attacking? why is it not given much coverage in the news? Is it true that people love only dead Jews? Are we paranoid? Or do we have our head in the sand?

 

 

Response:

 

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This is the week before Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day. I moved us up a week so as to put Tu B Shvat into our next week’s agenda.

At one time, both Jews and black Americans were in the same boat and rowed together. W E B Du Bois, an African American, was an example of that cooperation. He was a brilliant young scholar, educated at Harvard, and infused by the same anti-Jewish sentiments of his fellow Harvard alums. Studying at the University of Berlin in the 1890s, Du Bois absorbed the volkisch German nationalism of his teacher, Heinrich von Treitschke, who said: “The Jews are our misfortune.”

But, as he began to create the NAACP, he found so much support from major Jewish leaders that he broke from the anti-Semitism he had absorbed as a young man. Holding up the Jewish people as a “tremendous force for good and uplift,” he reciprocated Jewish support by putting the NAACP on record against The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. He condemned antisemitism in Poland and Hungary, as well as in Germany….Du Bois remained steadfast in denouncing Hitler’s war against the Jews and supporting Zionism

https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/03/05/when-an-african-american-hero-tried-to-stop-the-holocaust/

 

We are understandably concerned, now, that, as in the 1960’s and 70’s, there were those in struggle for Black advancement who turned against Jews, notably, Louis Farrakhan.

I fear that we find people in the anti-Zionist camp intentionally seeking to drive a wedge between us. For example, this on Nov. 27 by Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations.  “But I also want us to pay attention to the polite Zionists. The ones that say, ‘Let’s just break bread together.’ They are not your friends,” she said. As examples, she cited the ADL, Jewish Federations, Hillels and “Zionist synagogues.” She also repeated an unsupported claim, one that circulates among some activist groups, that “police officers in the United States who kill unarmed black men, women and children are trained by the Israeli military.” https://www.jweekly.com/2021/12/13/adl-spars-with-cair-over-local-muslim-leaders-remarks-on-polite-zionists/  

Her position is straight from the platform of the American Muslims for Palestine https://www.ampalestine.org/educate/publications/amps-report-working-zionist-organizations

That lie has been a staple diet of many resolutions proposed against cooperation between police here in the US and Israel for training purposes.

This just one example of people trying to drive a wedge between our communities—

Since the AJC was attacked by this speaker from CAIR and by the AMP, what is your take on this- how serious the impact, what are you doing to counter it.?

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Response