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The Zionists Have Been Right All Along
Until I was 12 years old, the only time I gave any thought to the Jewish people was when I was sitting in a Sunday Bible class for kids at my church. The stories, in what Christians call the Old Testament, were standard fare for children of Christian families throughout the 20th century. But two things happened in my 12th year that sent the Jews rocketing into more of my continual awareness.
The first thing that happened was that I inexplicably volunteered to run the student council presidential campaign for my friend Jack Markell. I use the word “inexplicably” advisedly. I’m mortally averse to administrative tasks. I cannot fathom whatever possessed me to volunteer, but volunteer I did. (As I’m writing this, it occurs to me that I might have written about this before here on Ricochet. If so, bear with me. It will pass.)
Another student at school pulled me aside and asked me what I thought I was doing, working on Jack’s campaign. I thought the question was odd and, as I was not someone who was socially timid, I responded with an assertive “Why shouldn’t I?” The kid gave me a conspiratorial look, glanced left and right, then over his shoulder, and whispered, “he’s Jewish.” All of these secretive gyrations were mystifying to me, probably because I wasn’t all that interested in the disclosure itself. I didn’t give two hoots whether Jack was Jewish or Martian. I was probably mildly surprised that he was Jewish — I hadn’t any idea before my conspiratorial adviser let me know. But it was puzzling to me that anyone thought I was supposed to care whether Jack was Jewish. Honestly, I found the whole experience puzzling. Now, I am happy to report that Jack won the election, notwithstanding his unfortunate choice in campaign manager. However, those events did surface something that I would continue to chew on regarding the weirdly obsessive interest this other student took in Jack’s Jewishness.
Not long after that, the Summer Olympics took place in 1972. As a 12-year-old kid, I was outraged by the massacre of Israeli athletes at those summer games by Palestinian terrorists. As outraged as a 12-year-old could possibly be. It altered my whole perception of the Israeli/Palestinian question and imposed an unexpected dose of moral clarity on my early-adolescent mind. I loved the Olympics, was generally but not overly sympathetic toward Israel, but those events left me seething at the injustice of the athletes’ murders. The Munich massacre was…formative.
Over the decades that followed, I found myself generally sympathetic to Israel’s interests but, if I’m honest with myself, I was also reasonably balanced by the realization that no person, and thus no nation, is perfect. But, as the saying goes, I may have been born at night, but I wasn’t born last night. So I’ve never given any credence to the whole occupier/colonist/settler propaganda. It is, well, a stupid idea that the next-to-last people in a given geography have permanent claim and are entitled to eternal self-righteous umbrage. The whole colonialism schtick is a transparent manipulation, easily spotted by anyone with more sense than a gullible undergrad.
And the minute someone starts braying about the U.N. and international law, all such jibber-jabber immediately translates in my mind to “undemocratic rule by unelected bureaucrats.” It’s a total non-starter if they’re hoping to activate my notably limited reserves of empathy.
All of that being said, I’ve been generally tolerant of the claims of the Zionists when they say they need a country of their own to ensure against another Holocaust. But have I also felt a wee bit that, multiple generations post-Holocaust, their worries about yet another Holocaust were emotion-laden and not particularly reality-based. Outside of the Muslim world, I believed, no one really wanted to kill the Jews.
And then October 7th came. And I found myself even more outraged than I was in 1972. But even that didn’t alter my sense that the Zionist imperative was, while understandable historically, still perhaps a bit overblown. Hamas’ actions were unprecedented and barbaric, to be sure. But Hamas is still a finite organization that, though it will be painful to destroy, can be destroyed nevertheless.
But in the intervening days, as I’ve watched what has occurred — quite literally — all over the world in massive crowds numbering thousands of Hamas sympathizers; as I’ve watched the widespread vandalizing of the posters of kidnapped and missing Israeli innocents; as I have watched — even today — the Jew-hating mobs in Russia as they stormed the plane(s) arriving from Israel, I have utterly changed my mind about the Zionist cause. My thinking has transformed from being benevolent and humoring of Zionist concerns, to being in utter agreement with their belief in the feasibility of another Holocaust. I have come to believe that they would actually have to be mad not to persist in the Zionist cause. I have been sold by the size of the worldwide crowds, marching in the streets and baying for Jewish blood.
The Jew-haters have me convinced: the Zionists have been right all along.
Published in General
Waiting for the arrival of the Hamas wing of Ricochet…
Heh
A Jew, born, and raised in the United States of America, is one lucky Jew! As one of those lucky Jews, I can tell you that I have rarely experienced antisemitism in my life. But that does not mean I have not experienced any antisemitism. What drives me crazy is the attitude, and the politics, of the majority of my fellow Jews. As I see it, most of the antisemitism is steeped in the progressive agenda. It’s just crazy to me how so many Jews can be progressives. That being said, I very much appreciate your post. This brutal attack by Hamas, and the support it has generated throughout the world, is an eye-opener for me as well.
The size, vehemence, and ugliness of the upsurge in support for murder, torture, rape, and hostage taking could lead to clearer thinking by many. I hope the IDF can finish the job before the usual suspects put a stop to justice
This has mystified me since I first became politically aware, well before high school. And by that time I had enough understanding of Nazism that I have never been able to fathom how anybody gets away with calling it “far right.”
I think that’s because the actual name and its derivation and intent, National Socialist, is suppressed. The totalitarians have been at this a long time.
You nail it and I am now waiting for this to be promoted ot the main feed so I can share it.
You did write about the election previously, but it was well worth repeating, Keith. A very fine post.
As a Jew in Israel who is pretty aware of different political strands, I wasn’t surprised by what Hamas did when given the chance. I wasn’t surprised by the Arab-Islamist riots in support of Hamas. I wasn’t surprised by the equivocation of University presidents and the justification and even celebration of baby-killing by student groups.
I wasn’t surprised by any of it.
But I was disappointed by all of it.
As an American who has known many leftists, I also was not surprised.
That old essay “Who Goes Nazi?” is as relevant as ever.
Silly Russians.
This is what a plane with Jews looks like.
Paul, do you have a link to that essay?
Yes, I do. Here is the essay on the Harper’s website. And here is a PDF of the original magazine pages. And here is an archive, in case the Harper’s page becomes unavailable.
Dang brother, you are thorough! Thank you.
Am I right that this was written in 1941?
Yes, August 1941.
And there are still people who argue that the “good people of Germany” had no idea what was going on after Jews were put on trains and were didn’t really support Hitler. I think they are the people who think a little socialism would be easy. (I think we have quite a lot of socialism and don’t find it easy.)
Paul did say it was an old essay.
It could stand rewriting for today’s corrupted culture.
I appreciated going back to those times.
Yes, I’m just impressed with the timely critique.
AndrewSpencer Klavan expressed thoughts along those lines on a recent (post October 7) American Mind podcast. He mentioned how he had to explain blood libel to some of his friends, in high school or college, as they weren’t familiar with the term. A lot of the anti-Semitism found in other countries isn’t part of the American experience.Maybe that should be past tense. The last month has shown that we are importing our share of anti-Semitism and teaching it in our colleges.
edit: I meant Andrew’s son Spencer, no relation. Andrew is making the rounds promoting his book and that name is fresher on my mind.
Hear, hear! If anyone has read about the video documenting the atrocities of 10/7, it will turn your stomach. What took place was comparable to what happened in Nazi Germany. You can read about a news reporter’s reaction here. https://nypost.com/2023/10/29/opinion/hamas-horrors-you-luckily-wont-see-glimpse-of-terror-too-sick-for-israel-to-air/?&utm_campaign=nypdaily&utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20231030&lctg=64e141bddec94437120af276&utm_term=NYP%20-%20Morning%20Report
(Sorry I can’t seem to embed links from my work computer.)
Probably all that is needed is
https://nypost.com/2023/10/29/opinion/hamas-horrors-you-luckily-wont-see-glimpse-of-terror-too-sick-for-israel-to-air/
The rest is tracking your activity, what ads to show you, etc.
They weren’t good people. They were people.
They decided they could live with the Jews being loaded up and taken away. It is unlikely that they thought they would be exterminated – that was largely unthinkable in most civilized nations.
But they were probably eager to not think about them at all. And evil flourished – to coin a phrase.
From that link: a “by any means necessary” banner at a demonstration in Brooklyn supporting Hamas.
Counter-suggestion: Expel all of these barbarians from the West by any means necessary.
The odd thing is that they shouldn’t need to be expelled, by their own standards they shouldn’t WANT to be in the West.
After a year or two it’s difficult to ignore the reality without making a conscious effort. Do we really think that the Germans didn’t know what was happening to the Jews? There were at least a dozen main camps and many dozens of sub-camps employing 10’s of thousands of various workers who went home during their time off. Did Americans not know what we were doing to the Japanese-Americans? Not exactly the same thing by a long shot, but along the same line. It’s pretty hard to keep something that massive, and evil, from public knowledge.
They are living as parasites upon the West, collecting welfare benefits. And by immigration they are conquering as well. A prime duty in Islam is endless jihad until the entire world is conquered.
I truly don’t know. There would have been rumors, but they would have been floating around in a giant sea of rumors. Besides which, removing ‘dissidents’ and locking them up where they can’t do harm or where they can await trial or where they can await deportation to another country isn’t something people see as shocking even now during a war.
I do not wish to excuse them. Rather, I am trying to find them within me and the people around me because I believe it is all too easy to turn away. Because all of us have ‘enough things to worry about.’ And that’s not who I want to be.