On the One Hand: Bunch of stuff in the papers and–for all I know–on television news as well about the “rising tide of anti-Semitism” in Europe, America, Russia, and even China. Some Jews in the US buying guns, just in case. No more Tree of Life stuff: “I see an anti-Semite with a gun, I shoot the bastard; that’s my policy.”[1]
This is an age-old story. Kishinev[2]; the Dreyfus Case[3]; the “Jewish census” by the German Army in WWI[4]; various “numerical limits” on everything from the number of Jewish dentists in Hungary to Jewish blacksmiths in Rumania to Jewish undergraduates in the Ivy League[5]; various kinds of “genteel” anti-Semitism[6]; Kielce[7]; the rue Copernic[8]; the Buenos Aires community center.[9]
It’s too bad that the Jews don’t have a country of their own. One that has the will and the means to defend itself against attack by enemies either close at hand or operating at arms-length. Like the US after 9/11: invade Afghanistan, invade Iraq, send the Special Forces scalp-hunting in Somalia, and no American cares if the League of Nations tries dragging on our coat-tails.
Maybe the US can operate as a normal nation-state because memory in international opinion has a short half-life. I see that another Iranian girl has died under murky circumstances after contact with the morals police. I see that Saudi Arabia gets the World Cup for 2034 or so. I don’t see much on Uighurs, so maybe that one got sorted out to everyone’s satisfaction.
So perhaps if the Jews had a country of their own, the anti-Semitism would stop?
On the Other Hand: We all want the bombing of Gaza to stop. It isn’t just Israel that is involved in this war. Hamas has responsibilities and choices too. Like Japan in 1941, it started a war that it cannot win.
Here’s a simple solution. Hamas surrenders. Lays down all its arms. Turns over all its war criminals—all of them–to the International Criminal Court,[10] rather than to Israel. They get taken to the Netherlands and are held while their cases are investigated[11] and tried.
The League of Nations could propose this and Hamas could accept out of their deep humanitarian concern for the people of Gaza. Israel would stop bombing. What the UN and the European Union and US media all refer to as “innocent civilians” would no longer suffer loss of life and limb, house and home, livelihood and sanity. These people are, after all, the families, friends, and neighbors of the Hamas soldiers. Hamas isn’t like ISIS. It didn’t recruit from all over the Muslim world. So it could demonstrate the depths of its humanity by ending the war.
[1] Stole that one, obviously. Intent to Commit Rape — My Policy — Shoot the Bastard – Clint Eastwood – YouTube
[2] Kishinev pogrom – Wikipedia
[3] I gotta give you a reference to the Dreyfus case? Shame on you.
[6] See: An Education #8 Movie CLIP – Hard and Boring (2009) HD – YouTube and Gentleman’s Agreement (1947) – Hotel registration [HD] – YouTube
[7] Kielce pogrom – Wikipedia Like Kishinev, not so genteel.
[8] 1980 Paris synagogue bombing – Wikipedia
[10] ICC doesn’t assign the death penalty, just some term of imprisonment in a reasonably comfy European prison.
[11] Lots of video evidence of who did what.
waroftheworldblog 