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An Update From Paris: This Jew is Still Here, and She is Not Leaving
I started about a thousand posts for Ricochet today and abandoned them all. There’s just too much to say about the past few days. I was trying to say all of it. But I realized at last that no, that’s not going to happen.
So I’ll just say this part of it. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve heard me say it already, but that’s okay. The point is important enough that it bears repeating.
If you check the Drudge Report right now, you’ll see a screaming headline:
EVERY JEW I KNOW HAS LEFT PARIS
It links to an article in the Daily Mail. The claim was made by Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle.
Mr. Pollard, it is perhaps true that every Jew you know has left Paris. But it is clearly true that you do not know every Jew in Paris.
I have not left. And I will not. And neither will my father. That is at least two of us. And I know many more.
It is true that in the end, the Nazis managed to drive my family out of France. But not before my grandfather killed thousands of them. If these eighth-rate savages think they’ll succeed in getting my family out of France twice, they will discover that I am my grandfather’s granddaughter.
I’ve been told today that “the odds are against me.” By well-meaning people, I’m sure. First, they are not. That’s absurd. What happened was a horror, and it is by no means over, but if these people think they can win against a determined modern nation-state–once it’s woken up–they are even more out of their minds than it seems. Yes, it’s a war–and that was only the opening shot. But they are not the Nazis. They’re just dumb thugs with a taste for blood–and while France may be quite a sane place overall, God help them if they push the Germans so far that they find out what real Nazis are like.
And if you want to talk about odds, I’ll tell you about odds: In my grandfather’s regiment of 1,250 men, only 250 survived. So don’t tell me about the odds: It just makes you sound like a hysteric with no sense of history or proportion.
And while we’re at it: Let’s remember who won that war.
I am Jewish. I am in France. And I am not leaving–not because of a handful of terrorist swine, and not even if there’s an army of them. This family of Jews will not be driven out of Europe twice. And as far as I’m concerned, the response a Jew should have to this outrage is the one we should have had before–when up against a far more fearsome enemy. We may die, but we’ll die fighting, and you’ll be amazed how many of you we take down with us.
So let me speak personally now to anyone who thinks he’ll get me out of here: We will always have Paris. I will always have Paris. As will all the people who belong here. You, however, will die.
I have much more to say. But there is one more thing that strikes me as more important than all the other things on my mind. There are also many terrified Muslims in France right now. And yes, some of them are my friends–and close ones.
They too are the victims of these savages. They are victims in a double sense: Terrorists are as eager to kill them as they are eager to kill anyone in France. One of the cops they killed happened to be as Muslim, as has widely been reported. And they are victims in the second sense in that they this is only country they have. They will be associated forever with those animals–but they are French citizens. They have no Israel to go to. They have nowhere else to go to. So they will stay here too.
Time asked me to write a short piece about the irreplaceable staff of Charlie Hebdo. It is hard to explain all that they meant to France. But this part is important:
In 2012, in an interview with Le Monde, Stéphane Charbonnier, Charlie Hebdo’s director, was asked if he was tempted to tone down the publication’s inclination toward the inflammatory.
“It may sound pompous,” he replied, “but I’d rather die standing than live on my knees.”
It hardly sounds pompous at all. Especially given that this is precisely what he did.
That is what he did, and it is exactly what I feel.
So no, Mr. Drudge, you got this one wrong. I am a Jew. I am in France. I am not leaving. Neither are many terrified Jews in France. Neither are many terrified Muslims. Nor are we even that terrified, to be honest. In fact, I think I’d enjoy killing these kinds of people every bit as much as my grandfather did, and rather relish the thought.
I will stay here with my Jewish friends; I will stay here with my Muslim friends, and I will stay here for all the journalists at Charlie Hebdo–who were what the West is supposed to be and what I hope it will be again. I will stay here for Charb. I will stay here for all of his colleagues. I will stay here for my Grandfather. And I will stay here because too many Jews have been driven out of Europe–and I will not be one of them.
Never again has many meanings: One of them is that.
I will not be driven out. Not even if I have to personally teach the entire French police force which end of the gun to shoot from. If they’d like some advice about that, I’m happy to offer it; if not, I will confine myself to the obvious and say: Get your act together, and quick, because you need to up your game. But I’m sure you will–practice makes perfect–and Vive La France.
I will not be leaving.
Published in General
I grew up in an insular environment. Within my limited horizons I was aware that there was rascism and bigotry but I only knew about the black/white form of bigotry. I knew that Jews had been persecuted in the holocaust but that was over there and in my insular environment I had no idea that anti-semitism was not confined to a peculiar form of German national socialism. When I enrolled at Duke University in 1967 I was delighted to meet students who were Jewish. What was strange to me was that they all seemed to have a huge chip on their shoulder that I couldn’t understand. It has taken a large portion of a lifetime to understand what I guess everyone else already knew. That is not surprising, my wife says I should be called Southern Clueless. I admire your fierce determination, Claire, and I hope all of us identify with your fiece pride and strong resolve. I would stand beside you any time and anywhere.
Claire, you rely upon a promise to defend society with military might, while cursing the martial law that would be involved.
Once the enemy is all around you, when the border is no longer useful as a front, then martial law is what’s left.
Well, there’s always surrender.
Still, issuing a call to leave France is unfair to France. I’ve been hasty and I regret it. There are places where this particular threat is negligible, but only for a time. We must fight where we stand or fight somewhere else.
I suggest that you start keeping a timeline, Claire, of France’s relevant political actions from now until, oh, a year from now. This next week is the parade; the period when politicians and citizens alike feel compelled to publicly display their sympathies with Jews. Whether or not those sympathies are genuine, changing laws and customs is a much higher bar. Vague notions of universal respect fall quickly by the wayside in pursuit of actual legislation and commitments.
And I think we can assume many of those sympathies are not genuine or otherwise unserious. A serious rally in defense of Jews would not include Mahmoud Abbas.
Sigh. First of all you could not go out tomorrow and buy an AK 47 just like that.
An AK 47 is a fully automatic military assault rifle. You could buy a semi automatic knock off ( it’s not a real AK 47) and depending on your state might have several large hoops to jump through. Fully automatic weapons have been federally regulated since 1934 by the National Firearms Act.
All NFA items must be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Private owners wishing to purchase an NFA item must obtain approval from the ATF, obtain a signature from the Chief Law Enforcement Officer (CLEO) who is the county sheriff or city or town chief of police (not necessarily permission), pass an extensivebackground check to include submitting a photograph and fingerprints, fully register the firearm, receive ATF written permission before moving the firearm across state lines, and pay a tax.[20] The request to transfer ownership of an NFA item is made on an ATF Form 4.[21] Many times law enforcement officers will not sign the NFA documents. There have been several unfavorable lawsuits where plaintiffs have been denied NFA approval for a transfer. These lawsuit include: Lomont v. O’Neill,[22] Westfall v. Miller,[23] and Steele v. National Branch.[24] In response, Tennessee and Alaska have passed state laws which require the CLEO to execute the NFA documents.[25][26]”
Second, it’s NOT the governments job to protect each and every American. A government that large and powerful would be a tyranny. No thanks. Take some responsibility for your own protection. Or get to be on good terms with your neighbors who are willing and able to defend themselves.
Ms Berlinski, Your passion and bravery are an inspiration. May God protect you and your family and friends.
But God helps those who help themselves. Consider getting a weapon and training.
“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand?…
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
It’s not the State organs coming to harm you, but even the insane jihadi’s will take pause if every attack is met with resistance and fury.
Organize with your friends and neighbors. Train together in self defense , protection techniques, security. Your compatriots in Israel have faced terrible odds, I’m sure you and your friends will as well.
EThompson has made one of the wisest decisions possible about owning a firearm — she has decided she doesn’t want to. I personally made a different decision, but you won’t catch me castigating her for her choice. I have no idea why it doesn’t fit in with her life, and I don’t much care. Not my deal.
I manifestly do *not* want firearms in the hands of people who are uncomfortable with them, for whatever reason, whether it be the weapon itself, the different set of required reactions, or an unease with a statement it might make about society. For years, I didn’t lock my car, because I didn’t want to have to live that way. I also didn’t wear a seatbelt, or a helmet when riding a motorcycle. Well, that was a different time. Life and the passage of time changed my mind, but you know what didn’t? Sneering diatribes from know-it-alls.
We need not have every person armed in order to get it right. We do need every person *potentially* armed, and a good percentage carrying at any given time. If you are one of those who feels comfortable and (reasonably) confident in your ability to handle a situation by force of arms if need be, then I’ll be glad to see you, and so will EThompson, no doubt.
So don’t be a jerk about it. You make us sound like kooks.
Claire,
I just want to clarify that you have my unconditional support in your brave and public decision. We’ve tussled before, but you are in the firing line, and you have my respect and admiration. I’m debating points with you, but not values. Hoo-ah.
You’ll understand why I might be reluctant to discuss the details, but don’t you worry about that.
According to Ha’aretz:
So there’s that.
Claire, I thought you wouldn’t leave Istanbul, yet you did.
You say: “If these people think they can win against a determined modern nation-state–once it’s woken up–they are even more out of their minds than it seems.”
Well, it’s that “determined” part that’s problematic, isn’t it? And brave -but empty- talk like this will accomplish nothing. The Charlie Hebdo editors, like so many marching in ad-hoc solidarity, were nihilists, and that is not a fighting faith. A rising blood-and-soil nationalism -you can call it by another, uglier, name- is another thing altogether. And they know quite well that the problem isn’t militants, it is Islam per se, which doesn’t even need the militants to win, but only time.
France -like most European countries- is a decadent nation-state.
You say “Remember who won the war.” Well, I remember that it wasn’t the French. And it certainly wasn’t the Left, like those marching in ostentatious solidarity, however many claimed a role in Le Resistance, and its importance. And I also remember that the French didn’t invite the Germans in.
To paraphrase Jesuit philosopher Bernard Lonergan: “A civilization in decline can’t be talked out of its destructive practices because any arguments that might be employed to put an end to those destructive practices were already rejected in order to start those practices in the first place.”
Because my mother died. And my father lives here. Point?
A fact of which I was unaware. I might have checked; I’m sorry. But you were the go-to reporter on Turkey, and once seemed determined to hang on in Istanbul till the bitter end. My (larger) point: do you honestly think that France today can simply go on, with maybe some tougher law-enforcement to make it work?
This isn’t “Casablanca” and there are serious indications that unless there is radical change -and not just “determination”- perhaps not even the French will always have Paris, as I indicated in my previous remarks.
Zafar, Abbas devoted his doctoral dissertation to denying the Holocaust. He presides over a country (by any other name) that spent recent years constructing a giant system of concrete tunnels for the purpose of kidnapping and murdering Jewish men, women, and children. Nothing – certainly not a presentation of “balance” – could justify his inclusion.
If this march was a privately organized demonstration, then there might be cause for Netanyahu to respect their request to abstain. But it was not. Membership was not a condition of participation.
I’m sure not every Jew in France is a Zionist. But Israel must be involved in any international discussions of this massacre to remind the world that this is why Israel exists and why Europe’s Jews continue to emigrate there. Israel is now established and here to stay regardless of ongoing need. But any European who objects to the idea of a Jewish state must at least be willing to ensure similar protection and freedom for Jews in Europe. Netanyahu’s presence is a reminder of that.
I applaud your courage and your convictions Claire. Thank you for sharing with us here and on the Ricochet podcast. The quote below from David Horovitz of the Times of Israel is extremely sad. Nothing will get better in France until the leaders of that nation can muster at least a bit of your courage.
“Three and a half million people took to the streets of France on Sunday in a show of solidarity for the latest fatalities of a ruthless ideology. But they couldn’t bring themselves to call that death-cult by its name.”
I think the point is that they would rather have had neither Netanyahu nor Abbas at the march – but if they had one they felt obliged to have the other as well. So Abbas was there because of Netanyahu, not despite.
So Abbas was there because of Netanyahu, not despite.
—
Yes, in the same way that a rapist is in court because of the victim.