Insulting Jews Everywhere—A Call to Congress

 

Dear Members of Congress,

You should be embarrassed by your lack of courage regarding the anti-Semitism resolution that has been proposed, and apologize to Jews everywhere. How could you even think of changing the resolution to include every single group discriminated against? I am insulted and disgusted by your decisions to consider these changes, since you are either politically stupid or historically uneducated. Let me explain why:

First, to equate anti-Semitism with any other group that is discriminated against is ludicrous. We are not just talking about discrimination: we are talking about centuries of murder, torture, isolation, hatred, marginalizing and rejecting the Jews. Centuries. Every other group in America pales historically in comparison in several ways. Tell me about the centuries of hatred against LGBTQ communities; explain how blacks in this country were victims of hatred in the United States more than 500 years ago (since they weren’t a slave population in this country before then). 

Second, Judaism is one basis of the founding of this country. Its values, morals and ethics have become the basis of Christianity and Islam. Isn’t it finally due some public support in our times by condemning those who would destroy or marginalize us?

Third, anti-Semitism is alive and well in almost every country in the world, whether you are talking about Europe, Asia or Africa. Jews have often been the scapegoat of choice for 4,000 years, by nearly every religion and every civilization. Unlike many other groups, I speak as a Jew who refuses to speak about being victimized; instead, I speak the truth. I acknowledge the anti-Semitism I’ve experienced, and I choose to rise above it, rather than blame all of society for this treatment. I don’t expect special favors, reparations, or any kind of compensation. I will take care of myself, thank you.

But when societies begin to show signs (including the U.S.) of increased anti-Semitic activity, I become concerned. Individual anti-Semitic acts are one thing; organized groups determined to spew their hatred on Jews, just because they are Jews. must be called out. These other groups that have been named have plenty of advocates, at political, cultural and educational levels. Where are the champions of the Jews?

I was comforted and proud that the U.S. was going to make a stand against anti-Semitism, as we see growing polarization, groups segregating themselves and aligning against Jews in particular. I understand that the resolution has no legal power. At the same time, we would be making a statement not just to Americans but to the world that we will not stand for anti-Semitism. Other groups have already spoken out for their constituency. Who will speak out for Jews?

I still hope that when the resolution is finalized and announced, politics are put aside. That extremists are discredited. And that wisdom, justice and compassion reign. That we condemn only anti-Semitism for this resolution.

Please don’t disappoint me.

P.S. Don’t bother to mention Ms. Omar; just censure her and remove her from committees. I don’t want her scapegoated in this resolution and thus make her a martyr.

 

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  1. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Arizona Patriot (View Comment):

    I should also point out that a similar instruction is included in the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 6:14-16: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?”

    St. Paul actually proceeds, after this passage, to quote Old Testament verses supporting this argument. Thankfully, there is no instruction in the New Testament to slaughter anyone, though this has certainly not prevented Christians from doing so from time to time.

    The separatism you are talking about is promoted because when Jews mix with the other population in terms of practices, including marriage, they disappear. We are seeing that today. Intermarriage threatens to remove the Jewish population. Keeping separate due to religious practice is not the same as trying to remove yourself from the population in every way, certainly not today in America. I think there are many kinds of assimilation, and degrees of assimilation. Few Jews completely remove themselves from other communities.

    • #91
  2. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    By the way, I married a gentile, so I have contributed to the problem. We didn’t have kids, so I’m not perpetuating the confusion, but my husband doesn’t practice Judaism. Fortunately, he gives me a lot of freedom to follow my path.

    • #92
  3. Arizona Patriot Member
    Arizona Patriot
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Arizona Patriot (View Comment):

    I should also point out that a similar instruction is included in the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 6:14-16: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?”

    St. Paul actually proceeds, after this passage, to quote Old Testament verses supporting this argument. Thankfully, there is no instruction in the New Testament to slaughter anyone, though this has certainly not prevented Christians from doing so from time to time.

    The separatism you are talking about is promoted because when Jews mix with the other population in terms of practices, including marriage, they disappear. We are seeing that today. Intermarriage threatens to remove the Jewish population. Keeping separate due to religious practice is not the same as trying to remove yourself from the population in every way, certainly not today in America. I think there are many kinds of assimilation, and degrees of assimilation. Few Jews completely remove themselves from other communities.

    Susan, I agree and understand.  I think that there are good reasons for national, religious, or other groups to keep separate.  My point is simply that such separatism is inherently going to lead to antagonism, and you can’t fairly place all of the blame for such antagonism on the other group.

    Also, in response to Rodin in #89 above, I do not say that persecution was justified, either against Jews or other groups.  I only say that it is understandable, and to some extent inevitable, when a minority group in a foreign land does not assimilate.

    I am quite thankful for Jewish assimilation in America, and I think that America and Israel are the best two homes that the Jews have ever had.  I am utterly opposed to anti-Semitism in America, which comes mostly from Muslims like that horrid Congresswoman and from the Left, though there are some folks on the Right who share this failing.  I think that evangelical Christians like me are the best friends that the Jews and Israel have, and I have no intention of backing off from that support.

    It would help if American Jews were not so heavily Left-leaning.  They supported Clinton over Trump 71-24, while white Evangelicals like me favored Trump 81-16.  This was not much of a departure from prior years: from 2000 to 2012, 69-79% of American Jews voted for the Democratic Presidential candidate, with 19-30% supporting the Republican.  Among white Evangelicals, Republican support was 74-81%, compared to 16-24% voting for the Democrat.  The Pew data is here.

    • #93
  4. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Arizona Patriot (View Comment):

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Arizona Patriot (View Comment):

    I should also point out that a similar instruction is included in the New Testament, 2 Corinthians 6:14-16: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?”

    St. Paul actually proceeds, after this passage, to quote Old Testament verses supporting this argument. Thankfully, there is no instruction in the New Testament to slaughter anyone, though this has certainly not prevented Christians from doing so from time to time.

    The separatism you are talking about is promoted because when Jews mix with the other population in terms of practices, including marriage, they disappear. We are seeing that today. Intermarriage threatens to remove the Jewish population. Keeping separate due to religious practice is not the same as trying to remove yourself from the population in every way, certainly not today in America. I think there are many kinds of assimilation, and degrees of assimilation. Few Jews completely remove themselves from other communities.

    Susan, I agree and understand. I think that there are good reasons for national, religious, or other groups to keep separate. My point is simply that such separatism is inherently going to lead to antagonism, and you can’t fairly place all of the blame for such antagonism on the other group.

    Also, in response to Rodin in #89 above, I do not say that persecution was justified, either against Jews or other groups. I only say that it is understandable, and to some extent inevitable, when a minority group in a foreign land does not assimilate.

    I am quite thankful for Jewish assimilation in America, and I think that America and Israel are the best two homes that the Jews have ever had. I am utterly opposed to anti-Semitism in America, which comes mostly from Muslims like that horrid Congresswoman and from the Left, though there are some folks on the Right who share this failing. I think that evangelical Christians like me are the best friends that the Jews and Israel have, and I have no intention of backing off from that support.

    It would help if American Jews were not so heavily Left-leaning. They supported Clinton over Trump 71-24, while white Evangelicals like me favored Trump 81-16. This was not much of a departure from prior years: from 2000 to 2012, 69-79% of American Jews voted for the Democratic Presidential candidate, with 19-30% supporting the Republican. Among white Evangelicals, Republican support was 74-81%, compared to 16-24% voting for the Democrat. The Pew data is here.

    I agree with all your points!! ;-)  Thank you. Yes, there are consequences for the separateness and we contribute to those differences. I am extremely grateful, especially, to the evangelical Christians. I am very aware of their ongoing support; unfortunately liberal Jews find it threatening, because they fear you want to convert us. Of course you want to convert us! That doesn’t bother me, because evangelicals desire that out of love, and when Jews say no, they are very kind about it (although I do believe they worry about us).

    I think these discussions of anti-Semitism could have some very good outcomes. Liberal Jews can ignore many of the foolish Leftist beliefs, but how will they wish this one away? Thanks for a good extended discussion, @arizonapatriot!

    • #94
  5. Freesmith Member
    Freesmith
    @

    Clifford A. Brown (View Comment):

    Jon1979 (View Comment):

    cdor (View Comment):

    Jon1979 (View Comment):
    They’ll have to concede that some special interest groups aren’t worth pandering to, no matter how many votes they might harvest (where both Omar and Talib are in states that went narrowly against and for Trump in 2016), and the Dems’ leadership is trying to figure out a way to avoid that break.

    Anti Semitism–special interest groups…what about the Black Caucus?

    They’ve been playing photo op with Louis Farrakhan for years, but for the most part have steered away from any comments similar to his — they want his supporters to support them, but they didn’t want the firestorm that would come from parroting his talking points. Omar’s willing to take Farrakhan’s support and say the things he’s saying. If the other Democrats let her get away with it, expect some others in the CBC to become less shy about saying similar things, if there’s no price to pay for saying them.

    Paging Senator Scott, Senator Tim Scott, this is a repeat page. Report to the Washington Post with your stern editorial rebuking the CBC for condoning anti-Semitism and forgetting those civil rights workers buried in the ground. Your staff did a global find and replace on your column castigating Republicans, so the column is 75% done.

    Very funny. Scott knows his role and it’s more about making white Republicans cringe with race guilt than criticizing black Democrats.

    • #95
  6. unsk2 Member
    unsk2
    @

    I think this discussion has taken a turn that is not constructive.

    One should not have to give up their religious, ethnic or cultural heritage to assimilate, unless that heritage encourages breaking the law or the hurting of others as does Islam.  Period.

    E Pluribus Unum or”out of many, one” recognizes that there will be legitimate differences among America’s citizens, and those differences,  if they don’t encourage hurting anyone do not need to be extinguished.

    Arguing over who did what to whom way back when , or who got  the worst end of the stick  throughout history is an exercise in futility.  Yes, there were some very terrible groups and practices throughout history and they were very common.  Yes the Romans severely mistreated both the Jews and the Christians, but in the Democrat’s new ‘hierarchy of hurt” view of things it appears very likely that the Romans did not just ethnically cleanse both the Etruscans and the Cathaginians, they tried to literally wipe any evidence of their existence off the map and pretty much succeeded.  Wiping out your enemy was not uncommon back then.  One of the reasons that Islam is so bad is that the Koran froze in time the horrible commonplace practices of the seventh century and won’t let Islam reform itself to fit the modern world.

    I think one of the criticisms Jews have of the modern Western World  is that  we  the dominant Christian culture in a Judeo Christian civilization  have failed at times  ( failed big time in the case of the non-Christian Hitler and Stalin) to live up to the higher standard of behavior that we have set for ourselves and I think there is some legitimacy to that idea within the Judeo-Christian context but that does not mean the West’s behavior should be lumped together with some of the really atrocious culturally accepted behaviors of other cultures in the past.

    • #96
  7. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    unsk2 (View Comment):
    I think one of the criticisms Jews have of the modern Western World is that we the dominant Christian culture in a Judeo Christian civilization have failed at times ( failed big time in the case of the non-Christian Hitler and Stalin) to live up to the higher standard of behavior that we have set for ourselves and I think there is some legitimacy to that idea within the Judeo-Christian context but that does not mean the West’s behavior should be lumped together with some of the really atrocious culturally accepted behaviors of other cultures in the past.

    Completely agree. We are in 2019, and it’s time to move forward. We can learn from the past, but not dwell in it. Thanks, @unsk.

    • #97
  8. Yehoshua Ben-Eliyahu Inactive
    Yehoshua Ben-Eliyahu
    @YehoshuaBenEliyahu

    Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Demo… (View Comment):
    Calm down

    Regrettably,  “A Jew doesn’t buy an umbrella because it’s drizzling outside. He waits until he gets drenched in a downpour.”  The Jews of Berlin in the 1920’s were as cultured and as assimilated as the Jews of Manhattan today.  Learn from history.

    • #98
  9. Kay of MT Inactive
    Kay of MT
    @KayofMT

    Yehoshua Ben-Eliyahu (View Comment):

    Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Demo… (View Comment):
    Calm down

    Regrettably, “A Jew doesn’t buy an umbrella because it’s drizzling outside. He waits until he gets drenched in a downpour.” The Jews of Berlin in the 1920’s were as cultured and as assimilated as the Jews of Manhattan today. Learn from history.

    I think it is about to happen again, as we have let the muslims into congress and they Don’t Shut Up, and the squishy congress people are going along with them because they “don’t think it will happen to them!”

    • #99
  10. Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Demo… Coolidge
    Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Demo…
    @GumbyMark

    Yehoshua Ben-Eliyahu (View Comment):

    Gumby Mark (R-Meth Lab of Demo… (View Comment):
    Calm down

    Regrettably, “A Jew doesn’t buy an umbrella because it’s drizzling outside. He waits until he gets drenched in a downpour.” The Jews of Berlin in the 1920’s were as cultured and as assimilated as the Jews of Manhattan today. Learn from history.

    @susanquinn quoted a very reasonable comment that American Jews should speak up about progressive anti-semitism and you responded with obscenity and hyperbole.  I stand by my comment. 

    • #100
  11. Yehoshua Ben-Eliyahu Inactive
    Yehoshua Ben-Eliyahu
    @YehoshuaBenEliyahu

    Kay of MT (View Comment):
    I think it is about to happen again

    When Omar had her guillotines polished, sharpened, and ready, Sanders and Schumer were led up, kicking and screaming, as her first customers. “Anyone who turns his back on his people cannot be trusted,” she was heard saying before the blades came down and their heads rolled.

    • #101
  12. Yehoshua Ben-Eliyahu Inactive
    Yehoshua Ben-Eliyahu
    @YehoshuaBenEliyahu

    In June, 1936, Zeev Jabotinsky called on  Jews to evacuate from the Diaspora and immigrate to Israel: “If you won’t eliminate the Diaspora – the Diaspora will eliminate you,” he presciently predicted.

    • #102
  13. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    With the cowardly display of obeisance towards Omar, the bar has now been lowered. Language such as is used by Farrakkan will now become much more standard and oft spoken. What’s next after that?

    • #103
  14. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    The penalties for speaking out will become louder and more vicious. At some point, each of us will have to decide if we find ourselves in those situations whether we speak up or remain silent.

    Tonight I watched the DVD of Irena Sendler, a Christian in Poland who saved the lives of 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto. I’m feeling a bit raw at the moment.

    • #104
  15. Shauna Hunt Inactive
    Shauna Hunt
    @ShaunaHunt

    I watched that two weeks ago. It’s sobering. It’s also a miracle.

    • #105
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