Jews, Indigestible; Israel, An Indigestible Nation

Why do they hate us?  It is a question Jews have been asking for some time..  The answers arrived at often include the following: (1) non-Jews are jealous of us, (2) we are cultural outsiders, and outsiders are generally unwelcome, (3) if Jews lack respect for other cultures, why should others respect theirs, (4) Jews think they're special; chosen, etc. etc. etc.  And, now, once again, an author tries to come to grips with this question.  In his book, From Ambivalence to Betrayal, Robert S. Wistrich grapples with the question as to how and why the European Left is anti-Jewish.

Repeated waves of Czarist anti-Semitism, in the opinion of Mr. Wistrich, caused leftist, Jewish radicals, to "embrace(d) Socialism or Communism with the fervor of neophytes."  It was a way of shedding an "unwanted residue of an anachronistic tribal past."

As early as the time of Theodor Herzl, he notes, Jews on the left were in the vanguard of those making anti-Zionist arguments.  They not only criticized their Jewish faith, but also the idea of Jewish nationalism.  But, how, asks Wistrich, did anti-Semitism find fertile ground, not simply among Jews, but also among non-Jewish fellow travelers?

In his search for answers, Wistrich offers a number of anecdotes.  He points out, for example, that Karl Marx and Moses Hess, two German Jews, were clearly estranged from their Jewish faith.  And, in their criticism of capitalism, it was almost inevitable that Jews would come in for criticism for being  capitalists.  Add to that Jews were adherents of a primordial religion based on the faith of their forefathers.   (Voltaire and d'Holbach, in their attacks on the Old Testament, held Jews responsible for the Catholic Church's barbarism, fanaticism, and intolerant obscurantism.)

At the time of the Boer War, British socialists accused South African Jews of attempting to influence public opinion against them and to discredit the Conservative government.

On one hand, Jews were bashed for being wealthy and for assimilating, on the other, for clinging to a clannish religion that set them apart from others.  Communists attacked them for being politically reactionary and for having survived as a unique people rather then vanishing into the multi-ethnic "classes" over which Marxists loved to pontificate.


Karl Kautsky, a Jew from Prague and editor of Die Neue Zeit, concluded that Jews had been subjected to pogroms because of their isolation  in the Pale of Settlements and their consequent disenfranchisement.  From this, in his mind, it followed that the Zionist movement, by  segregating itself would only serve to strengthen anti-Semitism.

Rosa Luxemburg, a Jewish left-wing revolutionary who had clearly disassociated herself from fellow Jews, is quoted as asking, "Why do you come with  your special Jewish sorrows?" She then goes on to declare, "I feel just as sorry for the wretched Indian victims of Putamaya, the negroes of Africa ... I can not find a special corner in my heart for the ghetto."  In other words, for reasons best understood by her, sympathizing for others left no room for Jews.

The reviewer of Wistrich's book, Seth J. Frantzman, writing in The International Jerusalem Post,  Dec 14 - 20, 2012, finds that the various anecdotes don't really connect into some sort of unified theory.  But, in my opinion, a theory can be found even if Wistrich didn't manage to put his finger on it.

The key lies in "respect for the other."  That's not really as simple as it might sound.  Consider the   economics of "free markets."  You can't just will free markets; too many people want to manipulate them for personal gain.  Once manipulated, a market ceases to be free.  Free markets require laws to safeguard them; for example, anti-trust laws to prevent monopolies, and anti-insider trading laws to ensure transparency.  Then too, you will need a body of commercial laws.  In other words, you need a relatively honest and sophisticated nation.

In much the same way, respect for "the other" also requires a body of law to which all citizens willingly subscribe.  Jesus may have given gave us the "golden rule"; namely, to do to others as you would have them do to you."  And, before that, the Jew, Rabbi Hillel, preached that to be a good Jew, don't do to anyone what you wouldn't want done to yourself.   But, quite frankly, you need more than a good sermon.  You need a body of law; namely, laws safeguarding human rights, and laws prohibiting discrimination.

Americans tend to think that our political system sprang full blown from an egg; that our exceptionally brilliant forefathers fought with one another over questions of ideology, but, in the end, got it right and set it all down as the American Constitution.  That, of course, is not quite how the American system emerged -- not really.  Our forefathers were keenly aware of Europe's religious wars and wanted to be sure our government stayed clear of establishing a religion.  In this they deviated a bit from the British, who established the Anglican Church as their Church of England.  Nevertheless, they were much indebted to British law.  And, while they didn't much care to be taxed without representation, they were aware of the Magna Carta and the subsequent evolution of British law.  Those laws became the foundation of America's laws.

The lot of the Jews in earlier ages was precarious at best.  But, as western governments evolved along lines that would bring them into the 20th century, Jews would benefit enormously from the progress being made in human rights.  Indeed, German Jews began taking pride in their German identity.  But, German democracy proved fragile.  It couldn't withstand the suffering that the German people experienced after the WW I.  In their  midst, emerged a man, Hitler, who sold them on the idea that all of Germany's problems stemmed from the Jews.  Germany would be made whole again if Germany could only rid itself of its Jews.  The manner in which Germany set forth to do this was truly monstrous.  Indeed, it was genocidal.

Here in the U.S., the drafting of our Constitution left incomplete the task of safeguarding human rights.   It took a horrific civil war to rid our country of slavery.  Other tasks that remained to be undertaken were the elimination of Jim Crow, the elimination of child labor, suffrage, gay rights, etc.  Jews participated in all these struggles.  And struggles they were.  American anti-Semitism remained quite palpable prior to WW II.  Nevertheless, the lot of Jews became better than it had ever been before.  Today, Jews participate in all of America's affairs and are represented across the entire political spectrum.

But what about Europe?  There Jewish rituals have come under attack.  Jewish newborn boys are still, by and large, circumcised on the eighth day after birth.  Some in Europe would ban this.  A number of European countries would also deny Jews the right to kosher meat -- meat from kosher animals that has been ritually slaughtered.  Ritual slaughter involves slitting the animal's throat.  Death is virtually immediate.  Nevertheless, one European country after another is requiring that an animal be stunned prior to having its throat slit.  This violates Jewish law.

Then too the influx of Islamic immigrants has made many European streets unsafe for Jews.

Liberal minds, it seems, are comfortable with other cultures, provided they are not Jewish.  They are tolerant of nations with the most horrendous record on human rights abuses, but find fault with that Middle Eastern nation, Israel, that extends far greater tolerance to Muslims and Christians than its Islamic neighbors.  Whatever it is that makes Jews unique -- it's that which seems to offend people everywhere. With the exception of Israel, America, and of other English speaking countries, Jews find themselves under attack.  Ireland is of course the exception.  They may speak English, but have little love for Israel.  But, of course, the stayed neutral during WW II.