Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on February 3, 2020

In Arab and Muslim lands, anti-Semitism is often expressed as both hatred of Jews and hatred of Israel, and is very frequently bolstered by Holocaust denial. Delegitimizing the Jewish state can serve as a means to reverse the humiliation, degradation, and oppression of Muslims.

In Eastern Europe, right-wing, nationalist parties have taken control, often rewriting Holocaust history, and often with the support of groups that are strongly anti-Semitic and have adopted Nazi slogans and agendas. In Western Europe, anti-Semitism is found among right-wing forces; within political parties on the left, especially in Britain; and among elements of the Muslim community.

But for now, the democracies of Western Europe are strong enough to withstand the pressure. And in America, the episodes of anti-Semitic speech and violence, though theyve greatly proliferated in the past few years, have begun to mobilize communities and governmental agencies to protect Jews from violence. This wont stop anti-Semitisms continuing growth, but it will control it. Despite a long history of bias at many levels, from academia to boardrooms, Jews in America have established themselves during the past century in every sphere of American life, and the American tradition of tolerance will remain far more powerful than its manifestations of prejudice.

So although Jews face ongoing violence, it is not of a level that will, in the foreseeable future, result in massive death. In Europe and the United States, there might be limited outbursts. Should Iran develop nuclear weapons, it could, in a moment of irrationality, launch them to try to obliterate the Jewish state, which its leaders repeatedly have vowed to destroy and which is home to nearly half of the worlds Jews; but Irans fear that it could be devastated in return by a nuclear-armed Israel would almost surely keep such a cataclysmic possibility in check. In short, despite the rise in worldwide anti-Semitism, a repeat of the Holocaustmajor mass murderis, though possible, unlikely in the foreseeable future.

As we mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, I wish I could be more upbeat than that. But Im not. Im a physician. I know that one can manage a chronic disease, one can treat it, one can often prevent its complications, but one can rarely cure itand one cant ever be sure that it wont become, at some point, catastrophic.

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Read more here:

Seventy-Five Years After Auschwitz, Anti-Semitism Is on the Rise - The Atlantic

Category: Holocaust Denial
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