Wednesday, October 27, 2004

The New Kristallnacht


Full disclosure: I am not a Jew. I am a practicing Christian, non-evangelical, from a background of tolerant Protestantism. I read eclectically, am well educated, and consider myself an intellectual. And I stand with the Jews.

Many historians date the beginning of the Holocaust to November 9th, 1938. On that date the Nazi government launched a pogrom against the Jews, killing hundreds and arresting many more. Synagogues were torched, Jewish shops and homes were looted and destroyed, and Jews were shipped off to concentration camps. That night of major violence came to be known as Kristallnacht, in reference to the shattered glass found on the sidewalks in front of Jewish businesses all over Germany. A few days later new laws were passed by the Nazi government, effectively banning all economic activity by Jews and removing what few civil rights remained to them. It was a big step down the road that led through the gates of Auschwitz and Treblinka to the Final Solution.

Does the West stand on the threshold of a new Kristallnacht? The alarming spread of anti-Semitism across the globe is ominous evidence of a new cycle of hatred.
  • When Jewish students are attacked on an American university campus by protesters screaming "Hitler was right!";
  • when the prime minister of Iran says, "...the use of a single atomic bomb has the power to destroy Israel completely, while it will only cause partial damage to the Islamic world";
  • when synagogues are burned in Belgium and European Jews are afraid to wear the yarmulke openly;
  • when The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is made into a television drama in Egypt and sold openly on Wal-Mart's website;
  • when Jews are fleeing anti-Semitism in France to settle in Israel;
  • when the world does not rise up in outrage against these evils;

-- then it is time to prepare for a new and more widespread Kristallnacht.

Anti-Semitism is virtually everywhere, even in such formerly safe havens of the Anglosphere as the USA and Australia. Around the world, but especially in the Middle East, countries which once boasted large and vibrant Jewish communities are now emptying themselves of Jews. Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, and Iraq once were homes for Jews. Now there are virtually none; they have left their homes and their cultural roots to resettle in Israel or America. There had been Jews in Yemen since at least the second century, taking on many of the cultural characteristics of the Muslims around them and contributing to the civilization of Yemen while retaining their Jewish identity; now they are gone.

The "World Community", as exemplified by the UN, regards violence against Jews to be of no importance. The UN passes dozens of resolutions condemning Israel, the most notorious being Resolution 3379 (1975), which declared that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination." All Israeli actions towards the Palestinians are censured, including the building of a wall to protect innocent Israelis against suicide attacks. But in all the years of the UN’s existence, not one resolution has been passed against those who have promised to annihilate the "Zionist entity".

Anti-Semitism was already established on the nationalistic Right. More alarming are the notably virulent strains now reappearing on the Left. During Hitler's time, many of the Old Bolsheviks were Jews; Bolshevism was considered "revolutionary Jewish politics" and was reviled as such on the Right. But in the Soviet Union persecution of Jews flared sporadically and the purging of "rootless cosmopolitans" was the duty of the Party. Now, with the euphemistic equation Zionism=Racism, the very existence of Israel has been called into question. An anti-Zionist might say, "I am only against Zionism, not against the Jews," but that is merely a new and disingenuous cover for Jew-hatred.

The mushroom cloud over Tel Aviv is the dream of the enemies of Zionism.

In their reaction to conservatives by those on the Left, a new term has developed: "Neoconservative" is a code word for "Jew". A neocon who supports Israel is thus an agent of the Zionists. I am, in fact, one of their unwitting dupes as I write this, since I stand with the Jews.

Is the rich and fertile culture of "The West" even conceivable without the Jews? In every enterprise open to them Jews excel. They are over-represented in the highest reaches of the arts and sciences, and in the academy; despite historical obstacles and discrimination, they are to be found among the greatest mathematicians and physicists, composers and musicians, historians and novelists. Examine the masthead of a magazine, the credits for a movie, or the members of a university faculty, to see the contributions of the Jews.

Beyond those achievements, the greatest gift of the Jews to Western Civilization has been the Law. The Jews brought us the idea that a man stands accountable before his Creator, Who will sit in judgment over him; that the Law is just and eternal, and that obedience to it is a moral and righteous act. Christianity, especially as developed by Saint Paul, was responsible for the spread of this new idea of law and the individual throughout the West. Still, it is in essence a Jewish idea. Christ's revolutionary message urged a return to the Law as originally understood by the Patriarchs. In its earliest years the gate to Christian conversion opened onto Judaism first. And today a Christian views the just society as a fulfillment of the Law, the Jewish Law of which Christianty is a New Covenant.

So while the halls of justice in Christendom may accord with the architecture of the Greeks, and may boast inscriptions in Latin, the justice handed down within them is the justice of the Hebrews. I stand with the Jews.

The Laws of the Jews form the moral and ethical core of Western Civilization. Without them we would be a hollow culture, subject to the whims of polytheism and prone to the fads of nihilism. They are the backbone of what makes us civilized; we repeal them at our own peril.

Whether or not it is 1933 (or 1936, or 1938) all over again, it is time for the West to make a stand. Before the shards of glass cover the pavement in front of Jewish businesses in the new Kristallnacht; before laws are passed restricting the rights of Jews; before whole families are shot and bulldozed into mass graves; before the mushroom cloud rises over Tel Aviv -- Western Civilization must stand up and be counted. We must say, with the Jews, "Never Again."

I stand with the Jews.

22 comments:

Baron Bodissey said...

Buddy -- good to see you over here!

We won't be posting every single day (I have a day job), but you might want to check in from time to time. When the mood hits her, Dymphna can really write a lot.

I'm not quite as old as you, but my dad was in the war, too, in Army intelligence.

Baron Bodissey said...

DocC -- Thanks for the feedback. I'm with you on this. We all need to raise a stink about it, so that it will have to matter to the Powers-That-Be.

BTW, watch for Dympna's writings, too. She's a better writer than I am!

Baron Bodissey said...

Buddy -- I got the link to it from Roger Simon yesterday. Very amusing! Not sure if Dymphna has seen it yet, though...

hollymer -- I think any country that loses its Jews would have problems. I haven't seen any research, but I would bet that the proportion of Jews in a country's population correlates with economic growth, academic scores, etc.

Aquatic Cadaver Dog said...

In the Old Testament God said to the children of Israel, "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you." I believe this promise still stands today.
My father was one of the liberators of Dachau and ever since I was a little girl (growing up as a Christian) I have been a friend of the jews.
Do you know the "derogatory term" our soldiers are called by our foes in Iraq? They call us Jews. And so we stand with the Jews.
It says in Revelation that one-third of Israel will be saved. Secular Jews have another religion--liberalism.

Baron Bodissey said...

A.C.D. -- Yes, I have heard that hostile Iraqis refer to all foreign troops as simply "the Jews". There are some Christians who would feel insulted to be designated that way, but I am not one.

I think it is likely that the secular religion of liberalism would abandon the Jews to their fate, all in the name of "peace".

Baron Bodissey said...

DAMNYOURLOUSYEXCUSES -- I presume you've heard about the recent raid on the Colegio Hebraica in Caracas...

Baron Bodissey said...

Fred -- "I think that the destruction of Israel and the ongoing persecution of Jews outside of certain safe haven countries is a sign of civilizational suicide."

I completely agree. As I have said before, the Jews are the beating heart of Western Civilization.

Dymphna said...

Baron, if Judaism is "beating heart" of the West, then the problem cannot be attacked directly. Extending your metaphor, it is easy to see how often and how thoroughly the West has attempted to eradicate Judaism, to project all evil onto the Jew and thereby rid the commonweal of any awareness of its own flaws. Shylock is a good example. Another is the many side trips to kill the Jews that the Crusaders indulged on their way to Jerusalem.

This attack of self against its own heart is an example of an auto-immune disorder. If the West is ever to be whole again, it must see this malady for what it is: a disorder at the cellular level.

What is your prognosis re the vital necessity for seeing this disorder -- now millenia old -- for the lethal disease that it is? Do you think the explosion of information technology will help or hinder civilization's recovery?

~D

Baron Bodissey said...

Actually, Judaism itself seems intent on self-destruction, even without the help of Arabs or Nazis. Jews in the West shared the same low birthrate, i.e., trending below replacement level. But, in addition, Jews in America are "assimilating" at record rates.

Unknown said...

Hi. I too was born under the sign of Aries. I'm fiercely nationalistic, as well as non religious. Oh, and I stand with Christians against Islam. :)

Islam is essentially a nihilist ideology, but its goal is the same as that of Judaism and Christianity. Whereas Judaism and Christianity try and build toward the utopian ideal of "Gan Eden", Islam tries and tear down towards that utopian ideal.

Dostoevsky, very astutely in his Notes from the Underground, questions that man is at all longing to achieve this utopian ideal, as it would mean the end of history, the end of further striving, aspiration, hope, and free will. I happen to agree.

According to Dostoevsky, the one most advantageous advantage for man is the preservation of his free will. It may or may not be exercised in harmony with reason but it cannot be included in the system of the "lovers of humanity" because it makes forever impossible their dream of transforming human nature to desire only the good and rational.

"May it not be that he so loves chaos and destruction (surely this is incontestable), because he instinctively fears to attain his goal and to complete the edifice under construction." So that even even if the world of the "crystal palace" really existed, "even if man really were nothing but a piano key, even if this were proved to him by natural science and mathematics - he will devise desruction and chaos, will devise suffering of all sorts, and will insist on getting his way!" And, if this suffering and chaos could be calculated and tabulated in advance, then man would purposely go mad to be rid of reason and to "insist on getting his way".

Perhaps that is what anti semitism is. Man purposely going mad to be rid of reason and to "insist on getting his way".

As I said earlier, I'm not religious. I cancelled my "subscription to the resurrection". Was I wrong?

Baron Bodissey said...

I can't answer that. Others have asked similar question; Orson Scot Card thinks that humanity cannot thrive unless it can also strive against adversity.

To quote Wallace Stevens:

Say even that this complete simplicity
Stripped one of all one's torments, concealed
The evilly compounded, vital I
And made it fresh in a world of white...

There would still remain the never-resting mind,
So that one would want to escape, come back
To what had been so long composed.
The imperfect is our paradise
.

Unknown said...

The imperfect is life.

M. Simon said...

This secular (mostly) Jew is doing his best to help the Jewish tradition continue.

Although intermarried my First Mate is now Jewish and I have 4 fine Jewish children.

In any case I count myself as a liberal in the RINO mold.

Baron Bodissey said...

Well, let it be known that I, a onservative Gentile, stand with you.

Lil' Mermaid said...

I stand with the Jews as well.

I enjoyed your post on this issue and I am placing a link to in on our blog CUANAS (Christians United Against the New Anti-Semitism).

Keep up the good work!

Publius2000

Baron Bodissey said...

Publius -- I think CUANAS already has a link to us (and this post) via Pastorius. But I could be wrong.

Anyway, thank you very much for your encouragement.

Judith said...

Also, Israel has two official languages: Hebrew and Arabic.

And Arab women in Israel have more civil rights than anywhere in the Muslim world.

Kiddo said...

I too stand with the Jews, although a Christian, and against any attacks on their communities outside of their own nation which I also defend.

My Dutch blog partner Herwulf posted a story a while back about the recent wave of attacks in Amsterdam by muslims there titled : "Families Besieged in their Own Homes", yet another set of anti-Jewish attacks to which Europeans (non-muslim) increasingly don't know how to handle.

What Would Charles Martel Do?

Henrik R Clausen said...

Actually, there has been one recently: Kosovo, March 2004, where most NATO troops - notably the Germans, too - stood aside and let Muslim mobs plunder & arson ortodox churches and monasteries.

Not known by many. We're publishing a little whitebook about it.

costin said...

Oriana Fallaci discourse about european anti-semitism:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P95Xp0PtXCk

http://www.hsje.org/sull.htm

Reading this or watching the video makes my hair rise

Anonymous said...

if only there would be more people like you the world would be a better place

Gary Fouse said...

Zionist and Neo-Con are definitely code words for "Jew". Just the German word for Jew (Jude) is to this day an emotionally charged word in Germany due to history. No epithets are needed. Just listen to the way the Jew-haters spit out the words, "Zionist Jew". It is the same way German Nazis spit out the word Jude.

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk