Opposition Leader Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) expressed outrage on Tuesday over the wave of anti-Semitic incidents and threats in the United States and said Israel should be preparing for the worst - a wave of Diaspora Jews fleeing to the Jewish state.Being ready to flee hatred is an old Jewish tradition. One of my Off-the-Boat Generation ancestors would move her family every few years and tell them that they could only take with them what they could pack in one or two suitcases.
"I call on the government to urgently prepare and draw up a national emergency plan for the possibility of waves of immigration of our Jewish brothers to Israel,” Herzog said at a meeting of his Zionist Union Knesset faction, where he expressed shock and strongly condemned the outbreak of anti-Semitism in the United States, France and other places in the world.
America used to be the place where people would go to flee oppression in the old country. It's a sad commentary on Trumpism and American nativism that fleeing America is now being talked about.
But for Jews, as I've written before, this is nothing new.
(H/T)
Do you really think that it will happen again? I don't, at least not in the US.
ReplyDeleteI have taught safe handling and maksmanship to an awful lot of people that appeared to be jewish over the years. I never asked 'caus i didnt care, but at least 20% of my NRA students were either jewish or descended fom jews. Which means that several hundred know the basics of either pistol or rifle (or both) and have the ability to resist.
I liked your article.
Well, the Germans started by driving out scientists and intellectuals...kinda like the tech industry engineers and programmers that are starting to wonder about their safety here. We know who will be next.
ReplyDeleteCP88, they always seem to get around to the Jews.
ReplyDeleteYep, and anyone who thinks that the Religious Right wouldn't compare Judaism and Islam over their views of Jesus, plus toss in some of the old "who killed Jesus, eh", is sadly misreading the willingness of the old white men in power to hold onto it.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone really think that a bunch of fearful Jewish citizens with 9mm Glocks are going to even be a speed bump in the road to an organised effort?
ReplyDeletew3ski
w3ski, no, but going quietly is no longer an option.
ReplyDeleteGiven the wave of threats and vandalism by emboldened knuckle-draggers, and Trump's near-silence on the issue other than his outrageous "false flag" remarks, complacency would be foolish. I don't think anyone expects it to get as bad as Europe in the fascist era, but nastiness short of that could still get very nasty indeed.
ReplyDeleteAnd the mere fact that serious people in Israel are even talking about this should be a wake-up call.
While I think the fear is overblown, it isn't impossible for it to happen.
ReplyDeleteAnd, IIRC there are about 8 million jewish people in the US...mostly concentrated in a few cities. If half are willing to resist, the damage would be huge. And there would be many other non jewish folks who would help that resistance.
Look at what a few folks did in Warsaw....without any outside help.
Now imagine with help from the armed portion of the citizenry of the USA (and yes, we are conservative, and you call us anti-semites (even though we aren't), but not all of us would stand idly by).
Could happen in Europe, but I would doubt here in the US. Not while I am breathing.
B, thank you. I hop we don't need to call on you.
ReplyDelete