The Question No One Wants to Address

There was an incident recently in Philadelphia where Jewish owned restaurants were picketed simply because the owners were Jewish. It could not have happened during a worst time. It occurred on the Eve before Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass when Nazi leaders made a state sponsored attack on Jews. Businesses and synagogues were burned, and trashed and Jews were taken to concentration camps. It seemed that the protesters were not aware of this fact. They didn’t know the history of what occurred in the Holocaust of did they. It was like rubbing salt into the wounds of people in the Jewish Community. Ignorance is not bliss.

However, in the response from the Jewish community they labeled this as antisemitism. However, there appears to be ignorance on the part of the Jewish community of the tragedy that the Palestinians are still undergoing in Gaza. 76,000 Palestinians were killed in the response to the tragedy of October 7 when 1200 Jews were killed and 251 people captured by Hamas as hostages.

There have been settlers planted in Gaza against the Palestinians. Last week reporters were killed and injured by Jews in Gaza.

There seems to be a complete disconnect that Jewish people stateside don’t make the connection that two wrongs don’t make a right. The international courts have accused the right- wing government of Israel of genocide, and I believe that it is true.

This is not the first time that a nation such as Germany became our enemy, and Hitler’s murdering of Jews created an environment of anger against Germans in our nation. The same was true for the Japanese where America put innocent Japanese in internment camps. Those American Germans and Japanese were boycotted as well and worse lost all their rights and property. We didn’t stand tall in indicating the Germans and Japanese  people in America had nothing to do with what was happening in Germany or what happened in Pearl Harbor.

Human beings can’t or don’t separate what is occurring in Gaza from those who are protesting their anger at Netanyahu and the right-wing party of Israel from someone who is Jewish here in the USA. They are not against Jews. They are against the government of Israel.

I can’t believe that American Jews do not know what happened to the Palestinians by the right wing and Trump taking over the cause against Palestine. The present groups putting together a new government have indicated that they are against a two-state solution. We have received a lot of words from Netanyahu with little or no action in stopping the oppression of the Palestinians. Like Trump he is trying to stay out of prison.

Historically Jews have been innocent on so many times where they have been subject to discrimination. They become an easy target for the white nationals and replacement theory that says the Jews will not replace us.

is an old saying in political ethics that absolute power corrupts absolutely which was put forth by Thomas Hobbes.

I believe that education is key as people are woefully uninformed about the plight of the Palestinians and Jews from both an historical perspective and current events. If they knew the history, I am sure that they would have picked another night just to get people on their side. The timing was so inappropriate as well as picking the wrong target.

Here is the question that no one wants to answer. If the Jewish people have been through so much historic prejudice and hardship, why aren’t they more sensitive to a Palestinians going through the destruction of their lives, land, people, and culture? “Never forget is at the heart of Judaism regarding the Holocaust.” But that same phrase is now at the heart of the genocide that Palestinians have and still remember that same mantra, “Never forget!” That is something that they share.

I saw this up front and personal when I was taking a course at St. George’s College in Jerusalem. One evening a head of the PLO, the Palestinian group, give a history of Palestinians experience in Israel and Gaza. Another evening, we heard from a Rabbi historian give his view of the history of Jews in Isarel. There historical addresses were like watching two different movies. No agreement.

Trump has made the process of understanding hard to achieve for the War in Iran has been fueled by him and Hegseth. I don’t think if Netanyahu pressured him into the war with Iran that Trump would be so solidly defending Hegseth because he and Hegseth are in the same boat.

There is an irony here. Both Jews and Arabs use the word, Semite, to define themselves as people of the desert but have expanded that word, Semite, to mean two groups of people who speak the same language. Semite refers to a common language, Arabic and Hebrew. They must find common ground. Searching for common ground against antisemitism and anti- Palestinian should be the place to start.