Another Pot Calling the Kettle Black

A number of distressing incidents against Jews have taken place, mostly in Europe, since the recent War in Gaza, which have been attacked as anti-Semitic. Some have also claimed that a rise in anti-Semitism is occurring. Although the incidents are troublesome, that they are anti-Semitic or that there is a rise in anti-Semitism is not clear.

Anti-Semitism is a prejudice, which is defined as an unfavorable attitude toward an entire group of people based upon an unessential trait and without full consideration. To unfavorably view Jews merely because they are Jews is anti-Semitism. To unfavorably view those Jews who support the actions of Israel in Gaza is not.

Surely there are anti-Semitic people. They have been prevalent, especially in Christian Europe, since ancient times. Although the prevalence of anti-Semitism since the end of the Second World War may have lessened, no one can be certain of that. With the rise of what is called politically correct speech, anti-Semites may merely have muted their views, and although it is likely that some of the people who took part in the recent incidents aimed at Jews have included anti-Semites, it is not obvious that all of them were. So those who call these incidents anti-Semitic are themselves exhibiting a prejudice.

The Jews of Israel make some astounding claims, the most often mentioned of which is that Israel has a right to exist—a claim which has no historical basis. Throughout history, many nations have come and gone, including the ancient nation of Israel. The Babylonians, the Persians, the Scythians, the Carthaginians, the Aztecs, the Incas, the Algonquians, the Seminoles, the American Confederacy, the USSR, Yugoslavia, even the Republic of Texas—all gone! None had a right to exist; why should modern Israel have that right?

And although I can't be certain of this, my anecdotal evidence seems to show that the force of Jewish appeals to the holocaust is diminishing. The holocaust was a horrific event to which no people should have been subjected. But most people alive today don't even what the word refers to. Most of those who do, only know it through pictures in books or on the walls of holocaust museums. The pictures of those who died in Gaza recently are much more vivid. And to the dead, it makes no difference whether they died by Zyklon B, missiles, bombs, or bullets.

On Sunday, January 18, the Dallas Morning News published an opinion piece written by Rod Dreher titled, "A fresh lesson on why Israel is so necessary." It itself is a hate piece.

Mr. Dreher writes, "those who believe that the Jewish state should tolerate rockets launched from a fanatical neighboring theocracy that openly seeks its destruction should ask themselves if they would expect any other nation to endure such a thing." Notice the loaded and false phrase, "fanatical neighboring theocracy." If I am not mistaken, Gaza is a democratic entity with a duly elected Hamas government. Is it fanatical? Perhaps! But are there no fanatical Israelis? What about those living in illegal West Bank settlements? But more importantly, Mr. Dreher should ask himself if he would expect any other nation to endure the displacement of its people and the confiscation of its land silently and peacefully. What would Mr. Dreher and other Texans do if the United Nations Security Council decided that what is now Texas really belongs to the Apache nation and gave it back. Would all Texans just say, okay, and pick up and peacefully move to Oklahoma? That's just dumb, Mr. Dreher; very dumb!

But the extreme fault of Mr. Dreher's piece is his biases. He writes, "a Jewish friend . . . was driving . . . when he noticed a truck in front of him. . . . One of the stickers on its bumper said, 'Obliterate Israel' along side a mushroom cloud." Because this event took place in Austin which Mr. Dreher calls "ultra-liberal," he blames this "anti-Semitism" on "Muslims and the leftist fringe." How could he know that? Has he spoken to all of the people who have participated in anti-Israeli demonstrations? How does he know that the driver of the truck, a "shining red pickup" isn't really a dyed in the wool Texan Redneck? Texan Rednecks love to drive shiny red pickup trucks, often with gun mounts in their rear windows, and Texas if full of them. Mr. Dreher, a conservative journalist, dislikes liberals, all of them, regardless of why they hold that point of view. He is also a Christian who dislikes Muslims—all of them! I suspect that he also believes that each and every one of them is "fanatical," but no one in the American Christian right is. Those look exactly like prejudices to me. So, before he call the kettle black, Mr. Dreher should scrub the black off his own pot, and remember, it was conservative Christians who inflicted the holocaust on the Jews, not Muslims or ultra-liberals.

There is no question that the Jews of Israel are in a difficult position, but so are the Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and even Lebanon. But the Israelis have not done much to make things better and have done much to make things worse. And when the Israeli government, its supporters, and those like Mr. Dheher call anti-Israeli demonstrations anti-Semitic, they are merely scapegoating others for their own actions.