I don’t know how to explain to goyim that calling out anti-Semitism is not about hurt feelings or crocodile tears and everything to do with the fear of history repeating itself in the form of angry mobs hellbent on attacking Jewish people.
I don’t know how to explain that I am not calling Jay-Z out because I want to silence Black artists; I’m calling him out because I’m genuinely afraid that his false accusation about Jews owning all the property in America will result in people across the nation blaming Jews for the evils of the world and then inciting pogroms (violent mob attacks) against Jewish people.
I don’t know how to explain that I’m not calling out CDM because I don’t care about the liberation of Palestinians; I’m calling them out because I’m worried that if we allow non-Jews to police our beliefs and define for us what our ancient symbols mean, that it could ultimately lead to any displays of public Jewishness being deemed questionable or offensive, which could eventually end in violence against any Jews who are openly Jewish at public events.
I don’t know how to explain to goyim that nearly every Jewish person in the world either grew up with a relative who had to flee their home in the middle of the night because of this type of violence, or they actually experienced this trauma themselves. I don’t know how to tell them that this is an ingrained trauma in almost every existing Jewish family, and that it has been repeated every few generations across the globe since we entered the Diaspora nearly 2,000 years ago.
I don’t know how to explain that when people say almost the exact types of things that were shouted at my relatives by white Russian nationalists as they burned their villages to the ground that it doesn’t matter if you say you’re a progressive or an anti-racist, or you’re also marginalized in some way, because all I hear are the same words people have said to Jews for centuries before physically assaulting them, and I’m worried you’re going to eventually going to assault me, too.
I don’t know how to explain that if goyim read our history they might understand that we Jews have been used as scapegoats for the world’s evils everywhere on the planet from Lithuania to Ethiopia, and that regardless of our standing in society or our level of assimilation, that it’s always ended with our expulsion or murder or both.
I don’t know how to explain that I’m not trying to be petty or “take up space in the movement,” or draw attention away from other causes, but that I’m only asking for you to examine your words and actions now, while I still hope there’s time to pull out the seeds of anti-Semitism that have been planted, because I am literally afraid that if I don’t, you or somebody like you will ultimately be at my doorstep shouting “It’s their fault! Get them! Kill the Jews!”
I don’t know how to explain that I’m afraid you might believe the vitriol behind your words one day enough to kill me.
I don’t live in the United States – that’s true. But many of you don’t live in Israel and that hasn’t stopped you from judging Israel, from believing Israel needs to act a certain way. You were silent when Obama attempted to influence our elections and furious when we told him (and you) to shove it.
Now you are outraged at why we fail to understand and condemn a rumor that Russia might have tried to do the same thing that we have PROVEN Obama did to Israel…and you wonder why we have lost patience.
At first I was shocked by the anger and the vehemence and the self-induced terror. Then I was hopeful that reality would set in, if not before, then at least following the inauguration.
Now, I begin to see that apparently there is something in you that needs this anger, this all-consuming fear. And so I yield. I will not attempt to convince you or anyone that Trump is nothing more (or less) than a man. I surrender the US to your fears.
But I remain what I am…and what I was, even then, when I was 20 years old. I am a Jew; I am a woman.
And I have grown in the last 30+ years to be so much more. I am an Israeli. I am a wife. I am a mother. I am a grandmother. And I do not fear Donald Trump because the enemies I face are so much more real, so much more violent and deadly.
My enemies blow up buses and restaurants; they stab pregnant women and children; they ram baby carriages. They murder fathers and mothers in front of their children and then dance in the streets to celebrate.
i’m sad to hear about the terror attack in istanbul but if we’re already on that subject.. can we pls talk about how since september 2015 there have been
206 stabbing attacks, 83 shootings, and 42 vehicular in my country??
34 people have been killed in terrorist attacks and 404 people injured.
im literally scared to get out of my house. yesterday i heared a noise and literally started imagining a scenario of a terrorist breaking into my house and stabbing me to death. (which is a thing that actually happened a few times these last couple of months)
i know people have their different opinions on things regarding israel, but please, we are going through a very rough time, and people get murdered every day.
Violence between Israeli security forces and Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem has pushed students to express their solidarity | MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty
As Israeli civilians are butchered by Palestinian terrorists, the truth about theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict is also being butchered by a campaign of vicious lies. Here are ten of the most pernicious myths about the current attacks:
First: Israel is trying to change the status quo on the Temple Mount.
False. Israel stringently maintains the status quo on the Temple Mount. Last year some 3.5 million Muslims visited the Temple Mount alongside some 200,000 Christians and 12,000 Jews. Only Muslims are allowed to pray on the Mount, and non-Muslims may visit only at specified times, which have not changed. Though the Temple Mount is Judaism’s holiest site—where Solomon built his Temple some 3,000 years ago—Israel will not allow a change in the status quo. The ones trying to change the status quo are Palestinians, who are violently trying to prevent Jews and Christians from even visiting a site holy to all three faiths.
Second: Israel seeks to destroy al-Aqsa mosque.
False. Since reuniting Jerusalem in 1967 Israel has vigorously protected the holy sites of all faiths, including al-Aqsa. In the Middle East, where militant Islamists desecrate and destroy churches, synagogues, world heritage sites, as well as each other’s mosques, Israel is the only guarantor of Jerusalem’s holy places. Palestinians have been propagating the “al-Aqsa is in danger” myth since at least 1929, when the Palestinian icon, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini, used it to inspire the massacre of Jews in Hebron and elsewhere. Nearly a century later, the mosque remains unharmed, but the lie persists.
Third: A recent surge in settlement construction has caused the current wave of violence.
False. Annual construction in the settlements has substantially decreased over the last 15 years. Under Prime Minister Ehud Barak (2000), 5,000 new units were built in the settlements; under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (2001-2005) an average of 1,881; under Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (2005-2008) 1,774. All three were hailed as peacemakers. What about under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2009-2015)? Just 1,554. Some surge.
Fourth: President Abbas says that Israel “executed” the innocent Palestinian Ahmed Manasra.
False. Manasra is neither innocent nor dead. He stabbed a 13 year-old Jewish boy who was riding his bicycle. Manasra has been discharged from the same hospital where his victim continues to fight for his life.
Fifth: Israel uses excessive force in dealing with terrorist attacks.
False. Using force to stop an attack by a gun, knife, cleaver or axe-wielding terrorist is legitimate self-defense. Israeli police officers are subject to strict rules that govern the use of deadly force, which is permitted only in life threatening situations. How would the American public expect its police to respond to terrorists stabbing passersby as well as police officers?
Sixth: The current violence is the result of stagnation in the peace process.
False. Israel experienced some of the worst terrorism in its history when the peace process was at its peak. The reason for Palestinian terrorism is neither progress nor stagnation in the peace process, but the desire of the terrorists to destroy Israel.
Seventh: President Abbas is a voice of moderation.
False. President Abbas said on September 16 that he welcomes “every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem….” President Abbas has not condemned a single one of the 30 terror attacks on Israelis over the last month. He and his Fatah movement continue to use the Web and the airwaves to incite the Palestinians to even more violence.
Eighth: International action is required to enforce the status quo on the Temple Mount.
False. Israel enforces the status quo. The international community can help most effectively by telling the truth and affirming Israel’s proven commitment to maintaining the status quo. It can also help by holding President Abbas accountable for his mendacious rhetoric regarding the Temple Mount.
Ninth: The reason the conflict and the violence persist is because the Palestinians don’t have a state.
False. The Palestinians have repeatedly refused to accept a nation-state for themselves if it means accepting a nation-state for the Jewish people alongside it. In 1937, the Palestinians rejected the Peel Commission report that called for two states for two peoples; in 1947, they rejected the UN partition plan that did the same. In 2000 at Camp David and again in 2008 the Palestinians rejected new proposals that would have created a Palestinian state. The Palestinians rejected peace both before and after the creation of Israel, before Israel gained control of the territories in 1967 and after Israel vacated Gaza in 2005. The Palestinians have always been more concerned with destroying the Jewish state than with creating a state of their own. The core of the conflict remains the persistent refusal of the Palestinians to recognize the nation-state of the Jewish people in any borders.
Tenth: Palestinian terrorism is the consequence of Palestinian frustration.
False. Palestinian terrorism is the product of incitement, which inculcates a culture of hatred and violence in successive generations. The biggest frustration of the terrorists is that they have failed to destroy Israel. They will continue to be frustrated.
Ron Dermer is Israel’s ambassador to the United States.
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