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For Whom Would You Wear a Star?
Having read this disturbing Gatestone Institute article about the increasingly dangerous situation for Jews in France, I would suggest that there is an opportunity here for European gentiles to put their money where their multicultural mouths are.
There is a story from the Second World War in which the German occupiers’ ordered Jews in Denmark to wear a yellow star. This was immediately followed by a royal order from King Christian that all Danish citizens should wear yellow stars. The story is apocryphal, but the solidarity and courage of the Danish gentiles with their Jewish countrymen were real and should be seen as exemplary.
It turns out that today, in France at least, the wearing of a kippah (also known as a yarmulke) is strongly correlated with the risk of violent attack by Muslim anti-Semites. So why doesn’t every European citizen who does not count himself antisemitic immediately begin wearing a kippah? (They can be ordered, in bulk even, from Amazon.) For that matter, American visitors to Europe should wear kippahs too. This will make it more difficult to deliberately target Jews and will demonstrate the commitment of European gentiles to money-where-your-mouth-is inclusivity, tolerance, and protection for minorities.
Alternatively, perhaps President Trump should declare America ready and willing to receive Jews and other at-risk Europeans who find themselves in need of a refuge from the new Europe.
Published in Islamist Terrorism
Agree completly Kate. One caviot, the religion of peace wants to kill sympathizers nearly the same as the real deal.
Pecking order:
1. Jews
2. Sympathizers
3. Everyone else (infidels)
Wearing one would require hyper vigalance. I,m for it.
The Gatestone story is appalling and why is this not making headline news everywhere? Instead of adding more police, why doesn’t the government stop it? I’ve heard it’s also very bad in Germany, Austria and elsewhere for not only Jews, but others – attacks by gangs, rape – people are afraid to go out at night now. Are you kidding? @claire have you investigated these claims in the article? I am shocked because these stories don’t make their way here, and this is how it started in the 30’s……
Exactly, Kevin— those who believe that Muslims are as capable of anyone else of assimilating, becoming European, and dwelling in tolerant sympathy with non-Muslims should have no problem wearing a kippah. Or, for that matter, a rainbow t-shirt or an Israeli flag or a dress.
Milo Yiannapoulous had the right idea when he announced his plan to lead a Gay Pride march through the most Muslim areas of England. He was dissuaded on the grounds that it would be too dangerous. What should have happened was that Milo’s march was enthusiastically joined by every Briton who believes gay and lesbian people have the right to live and move in safety anywhere. That’s not what happened, of course. And—for shame.
I think it deeply and rather horribly ironic that Angela Merkel made opening the borders to “refugees” an explicit attempt to signal that the Germany of 2015 was not the Germany of 1933… she was so proud that people were fleeing toward Germany this time around.
Kate, I am going to place an Israeli flag on the back of my truck. I dont currently have a US flag, but going to put one of those on there too. Side by side.
Correction: Milo was going to lead a march through Muslim areas in Sweden, not England. But the security concerns that forced him to cancel this plan would, he said, have been the same anywhere in Europe.
You bring to mind the tale of Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds.
@roberto that story makes me so happy!
When Milo’s right, he’s right.
Kate, I love the statement you’re trying to make, and I’ve been wrestling with your idea this afternoon (today is my last day in Israel), and my reaction is to resist it, and I’m trying to figure out why. So I’ll try to work it out here. First, I’m not sure that people would know what supporters were trying to do. After all, there isn’t a government mandate persecuting Jews, where the rest of the population is standing in solidarity with the Jews. If, for instance, people were wearing kipas, going about their everyday routine in Europe, people will think they’re Jews; the message will be lost, because the attacks are informal. At the same time, those who aren’t Jewish will be put at risk. Perhaps if lapel button were manufactured that had a protest comment, that might be more effective. And everyone could wear it, not just men. In fact, the buttons could be the Star of David. I may be off track here, but them’s my thoughts.
What would the left’s response be to Trump welcoming refugees because of Muslim violence?
This post and the story it links to has been on my mind all afternoon.
I just can’t believe what I’m reading and watching unfold in Europe.
I guess Europe doesn’t hear the Muslims chanting antisemitic oaths every day.
At least there is Israel. If we do nothing else, western civilization must support Israel’s safety. At least they will have a place to go.
I have little respect left for a Europe that has invited millions of Muslims into their countries to torment their Jewish citizens.
At the very least, if I had been in Europe’s shoes over the past five years, I would have said to the Muslims, “Okay, you need our help. Here’s the deal. One antisemitic word or action out of any of you and you’ll all be sent back to wherever you came from. There will be no second chance.”
The Muslims are addicted to their hatred, and the only time you can reach addicts is when they have reached the bottom. The Muslim refugees have reached the bottom. They will die without our help.
So there are strings attached to our help: You will have to give up your Muslim supremacist thinking and habits if you want to live here. And we will be watching you.
Marci, I believe the trouble is with a significant number of the population having anti-semitic views themselves.
I am uncertain as to the symbolism implied by wearing the kippuh. I would confer with practicing Jews before using this item as part of a protest.
The same would be true of the Star of David, in any color.
Mis-using or shifting meaning of symbols might not be helpful.
To support the Jews, we should work with them to show that support in appropriate and effective ways.
I will read the article now, and surely be horrified by the depths to which humanity can stoop.
This is a real question, of course. And one would have to enquire.
Susan: “After all, there isn’t a government mandate persecuting Jews, where the rest of the population is standing in solidarity with the Jews. If, for instance, people were wearing kipas, going about their everyday routine in Europe, people will think they’re Jews; the message will be lost, because the attacks are informal.”
I guess my answer to that would be that at the moment, women in Europe are being told to avoid wearing provocative clothing, and Jews are beginning to hide their Jewishness (e.g. not wear the kipa) out of fear of attack. This obviously should be dealt with on the level of the government, but the government(s) response has been, essentially, silence. Bullies and bigots look for vulnerable, isolated victims. Not only would wearing the kipa provide cover, it would signal to the Jews themselves that their fellow citizens were with them and had their backs. (It must feel pretty lonely in France these days. ) Maybe it would provide the governments with some richly-deserved embarrassment too?
But I’m really offering this as a way for European gentiles to put up or shut up. Do you really believe that the Muslim immigrants are peaceful, trustworthy people? Okay, then walk through their neighborhood wearing a kipa.
Also (doing some more pondering myself, Susan!) what is so strange, again, about the immigrant crisis in Europe is how explicitly linked it was to the Holocaust. Most of the citizens and governments in occupied Europe did little or nothing to protect their Jewish populations. (Denmark is the exception.) Those countries are—or claim to be—ashamed of this. Swedes fret because they allowed their railways to be used to transport Norway’s Jews. The Dutch made a shrine for Anne Frank, who was betrayed.
So…here’s their real chance to show that today’s Europeans are different from those of yesteryear, that they are willing to risk a little (not a lot, but a little) to exhibit genuine solidarity with their Jewish neighbors now exposed to this latest iteration of violent anti-Semitism. While they’re at it, they can show how serious they are about defending women’s rights and the rights of sexual minorities, too.
I think that the West of today has succumbed to the moral relativism of equivalency concerning different cultures. We have confused the fact that popular culture shapes opinion not truth. I like to call it paralysis from analysis. I’m sure that my words will offend, but we have aircraft designers that build aircraft to transport people for business and pleasure, and we have another culture that only exhibits the desire to destroy passenger aircraft, and no desire to build one.
We have people that fled a culture that offered them no economic success and constant tribal warfare, and yet they seek to establish the same tribal mentality in European neighborhoods that they themselves sought to flee.
We are not without our own sins. The treatment of Jews, and the refusal of the US government to allow Jews seeking sanctuary into the US during the 30’s and 40’s is nothing to be proud of. The internment of Japanese American citizens during WWII without benefit of a trial, many of whom who lost their homes, businesses and farms is nothing to be proud of either.
As FDR had the opportunity to do?…
And we have many, many in leadership positions both in and out of government who are either afraid to speak the truth about which is the superior path to take or else they have so drunk the cool-aide that they can no longer discern for themselves the truth of the matter. Thank you for being both wise and bold enough to swim against the stream, no the raging current, in this way. We need a lot more who are willing to do so. We are not perfect, of course not, but the results speak volumes if we are just willing to listen.
@dougwatt, I think it’s possible that the European elites want to be proud of themselves more than they want to protect real people, especially when doing so is difficult and sometimes dangerous work.
There were so many quotes in Douglas Murray’s book in which Europeans said things like “when my children ask me what I did for these [poor, pathetic] people, I want to be able to say I helped…” It’s not really about the migrants. It’s about the European ego.
Which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing if the migrants really were the equivalent of Europe’s desperate Jewish refugees; I doubt the folks aboard the SS St. Louis would’ve minded if a country offered them safe haven merely for the sake of bragging rights.
Moreover, among the migrants are undoubtedly true refugees from war-torn countries. Murray interviews a few, and you’d have to have a hard heart not to be glad they managed to escape from Syria or Afghanistan with their lives. I want both Europe and the U.S. to be places where such people can be welcomed and embraced.
Having thrown open the gates to all comers, however, Merkel (et al) has created a situation in which both sheer space and—more importantly—the mercy and generosity of Europe’s population must be exhausted. Today, European women, Jews, gays and lesbians, Catholic priests, random victims of violence and others are paying the price but it will also be paid by the suffering of future refugees whose ships will be turned back.
Christians make a big deal about martyrs who refuse to renounce their faith. Should the Pope pretend to be a Jew? Who would believe it?
I’m not a Jew. I like many jewish people and appreciate that they have sincere beliefs.
But I’m not going to pretend to be a Jew. I have my beliefs and the same crazies that would kill Jews would probably be even happier to kill me. I will stay true to my beliefs, Jews can stay true to theirs, and I hope we all fight together to kill the oppressors instead.
Yeah, Milo is someone who stands out, flamboyantly and stereotypically, for many things, including the normalization of homosexuality, and even for coercing us to accept homosexuals as normal.
I don’t think homosexuals should be harmed and I think they should be equal under the law. But I’m not going to pretend to support a bunch of perverts and their political agenda to force acceptance of their perversion just because someone else goes too far in their opposition to that agenda.
It is sufficient for me to support the rule of law. I won’t be someone else’s pawn.
There are times when claiming to be something or someone you are not is the only way to tell the truth. The story of Roddie Edmunds (#6) that Roberto offered is a splendid case in point.
I don’t doubt for a moment that, should you happen upon a scene in which a Jewish person was under attack, you would go to the rescue. For that matter, I’m sure you would do the same for a woman or a gay man or whomever was being persecuted—for that matter, you would attempt to rescue a Muslim being beaten by white nationalists, because killing people is not okay.
If the Islamophobe-phobes were correct, and Muslims everywhere were being set upon by those famous vicious Christian Republicans, I’d be inclined to don a Hijab as much as to say: “Okay, you want to hurt them? You’ll have to take me too.” Of course, I’m not going to be much use in a brouhaha, but I can refuse to go along with the setting-apart.
And yes, I know: the kipa (or hijaab, or cross) isn’t being forced upon people from the outside, but represents self-definition and even separation, e.g. “I am Jewish, I am not Christian/Secular/Muslim, etc.”
During WW2, you didn’t have to self-define as Jewish to be treated as such, as Christian converts and purely secular Jews discovered. I would imagine that the Muslim anti-Semites would attack someone they thought “looked Jewish” (or gay, or whatever) without bothering to check how their victim saw or defined himself.
Solidarity with the unjustly attacked or oppressed means being willing to share the danger (especially if you aren’t in a position to offer direct protection). If wearing a kipa feels too much like renouncing Christianity, Muslim homophobia offers an easy alternative. We can wear rainbows and hold hands.
Not their pawn. Their protector.
WWJD? He might not approve of Milo, but in my reading of the Gospels, he died for the sinners as much as, maybe more than, the saints.
There is no doubt in my mind that there are Moslem refugees that desire nothing more than to live in peace and to be able to earn a living. There is certainly culture shock and assimilation does not mean that they have to accept pornography, or some of the other nonsense found in Western culture, I don’t accept those things.
Assimilation means that they have to accept the fact that Sharia Law is not the law of the land in the West. They may not practice honor killings, female genital mutilation, they may not have a separate court system, they may not have their own morality militia controlling their neighborhoods, and their young men may not travel to the Middle East to participate in terrorist training, or the latest Jihad du jour. Assimilation also means that you may not rape a woman, and provocative clothing is not an invitation, nor is it a defense in a court of law. They are free to worship, they are not free to interfere with Christians and Jews who practice their faith.
Merkel made a serious error in judgement and chose to ignore, and then tried to cover up crimes that were being committed by Moslem immigrants by forbidding the police to talk to the media. This became a problem in Great Britain as well, and in Belgium. The French authorities have taken the problem more seriously. Criticism of those that pointed out the problem became, you are racist, or at it’s most benign; you must accept diversity.
BTW: More on the subject from Gatestone.
In a nutshell! This.
Apparently his own father stood by and allowed him to be killed. Perhaps the answer to that question is, nothing.
I’d rather attack the attackers than deny my own truly held beliefs.
I don’t think wearing a kippah or yamulke would count as “pretending to be a Jew.” Putting one on at a Jewish ceremony does not make one a Jew or imply Jewishness; it makes you a participant.
Now, obviously, civil society is not a Jewish ceremony, but wearing one in public could easily be taken as a sign of respect for Jews and their participation in it.
Anti-Semitism seems to be a constant in Europe, only the justifications change. Once, it was because the Jews were said to be Christ-killers…the fact that Jesus was himself a Jew tended to be ignored. But as Christianity became less-important in Europe, anti-Semitism tended to be based more on ethnicity, on the idea that a Jew couldn’t be a ‘real’ Frenchman or German…neither Dreyfus’ loyal service to France nor the 12,000 Jews who died in WWI for country and Kaiser counted against this view.
Now, with the erosion of nationalism, the grounds have shifted once again, with anti-Semitism being justified on the grounds of ‘Israeli oppression of the Palestinians.’
I’m pretty sure that if the Israelis decided to move lock, stock, and barrel to another planet, yet another justification would be quickly discovered.
Yes, that planet is soaking up to much of the suns rays.
The hatred of Jews is supernatural. It is fueled by the enemy of all mankind. It will be with us till the end of days.