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Antisemitismus
Der längste Hass der Menschheitsgeschicht
AntiSemitism.jpg

Der Antisemitismus gegen das jüdische Volk ist der "längste Hass der Menschheitsgeschichte." Warum eigentlich? Was hat es mit "den Juden" auf sich? Warum gab es Pogrome, Vertreibungen, jüdische Ghettos und einen Holocaust? Warum hassen manche Menschen die Juden noch heute?

Warum die Juden?

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Es scheint ein seltsames Phänomen zu sein, aber es bleibt eine historische Tatsache: Der Hass und die Verfolgung der Juden ist der "längste Hass der Menschheitsgeschichte" (Anguish, 2) und er hält bis heute an. Was hat es mit "den Juden" auf sich? Warum gab es eine Endlösung der Judenfrage, die mit der systematischen Massenvernichtung von 6 Millionen Juden, von denen etwa 1,5 Millionen Kinder waren, zum schrecklichsten Völkermord der Welt führte? Warum die Juden und warum hassen manche Menschen die Juden noch heute? Es gibt sowohl rationale als auch irrationale Erklärungen. Bei der Erforschung des Antisemitismus ist es von besonderer Bedeutung, dass wir nicht nur fragen, was passiert ist, sondern auch, warum es passiert ist. Manche machen die Juden selbst für den Hass und die Verfolgung der Juden verantwortlich, was eine andere Form des Antisemitismus ist, wie in dieser Studie deutlich werden soll.

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Anti-Semitismus Definieren

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Die International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) gibt die folgende Definition zu Antisemitismus: 

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“Antisemitismus ist eine bestimmte Wahrnehmung von Juden, die sich als Hass gegen Juden äußern kann. Rhetorische und physische Manifestationen von Antisemitismus richten sich gegen jüdische oder nichtjüdische Personen und/oder deren Eigentum, gegen jüdische Gemeinschaftseinrichtungen und religiöse Einrichtungen.”

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Michael Brown drückte es klar aus: "Antisemitismus ist Judenhass. Es ist die Dämoinisierung des Volkes (und/oder der Nation) als ein Volk (und/oder Nation)." Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks erklärte wie sich Antisemitism während der Jahrhunderte veränderte, und zwar bezüglich warum Juden gehasst wurden (Gründe), obwohl es stets der gleiche Hass war (Auswirkungen). Sacks definiert folgendermassen: "Antisemitismus ist Juden zu verfolgen und ihnen das Recht zu entnehmen gemeinsam mit den gleichen Rechte wie andere zu existieren." Antizionismus (den Juden einen Staat, indem sie sich selbst regieren und in Sicherheit leben können, zu verweigern/entnehmen) ist der neue Antisemitismus, da Juden heutzutage wegen ihres Staats gehasst werden,  wie sie früher wegen ihrer Religion, Rasse under anderen Faktoren des jüdischen Lebens und Existenz gehasst wurden. Als Sacks im EU Parlament sprach, drängte er die Mitglieder Antisemitismus zu verstehen, denn "der Hass, er mit den Juden beginnt, endet nie mit den Juden."

 

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Was führte zum Holocaust?

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Der Holocaust fand nicht in einem Vakuum statt. Adolf Hitler und Nazi Deutschland haben nicht aus dem Nichts eines Tages entschieden die Juden vernichten zu wollen. Schon der ägyptische Pharao verordnete die Tötung aller männlichen Hebräer, wovor Moses in einem Korb und andere durch einen Akt zivilen Ungehorsams der hebräischen Hebammen gerettet wurden—ein mutiger Akt des Widersetzens. Der Agagit Haman, ein Nachfahre der alten Amalakiter, führte im Perserreich eine Politik des Völkermords an allen Juden in den 127 Provinzen ein, die durch Mordechai und Hadassa, besser bekannt unter ihrem persischen Namen Esther, abgewendet wurde. Die Juden hatten in ihrer Geschichte wie andere Völker auch Widerstand geleistet und Kriege geführt, doch in der Zeit des Common Era (CE) kam etwas anderes hinzu. Es gab eine lange Geschichte des Hasses und der Verfolgung von Juden, die mindestens bis ins vierte Jahrhundert zurückreicht. Die Feindseligkeit zwischen der Kirche und der Synagoge über die Theologie, insbesondere über die Person Christi, reicht bis ins erste Jahrhundert zurück. Das kritische Jahrhundert war jedoch das vierte. Theologische oder philosophische Streitigkeiten waren überall üblich, aber ein Hass, der sich aus solchen Meinungsverschiedenheiten bis hin zur Verfolgung entwickelte, war eine ganz andere Sache.

 

Im Jahr 70 n. Chr. schlugen die Römer den jüdischen Aufstand in Judäa nieder, töteten über eine halbe Million Juden, versklavten viele Tausende und vertrieben alle anderen aus Jerusalem. Nur ein paar arme und alte Juden blieben im Land. In den folgenden Jahrhunderten folgte eine lange und traurige Geschichte der Diskriminierung, Verfolgung und Vertreibung, insbesondere im christlichen Europa, aber auch unter muslimischer Herrschaft. Juden waren über die ganze Welt verstreut und versuchten, ohne Land zu überleben, oft als Bürger zweiter Klasse. Juden wurden oft verachtet, manchmal geduldet, aber trotz alledem versuchten sie, ihren Lebensunterhalt zu verdienen, Familien zu gründen und einen Beitrag zur Gesellschaft zu leisten. Eine kurze Phase der Hoffnung, die mit der Emanzipation im Gefolge der Französischen Revolution aufkeimte, wurde durch den Aufstieg der grausamsten Form des Antisemitismus in der Geschichte zunichte gemacht: Der Nationalsozialismus. Hitlers Kampf gegen die Juden zielte auf ein judenreines Deutschland, was schließlich zu ihrer Vernichtung führte - 6 Millionen. Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center bedenkt den Opfern...

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Image by Snowscat

Die Wurzeln und Konsequenzen des Antisemitismus

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MEHR ÜBERSETZUNG FOLGT BALD

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It was John Chrysostom (345-407), known as the Preacher with the 'Golden Mouth,' who used that very mouth to spread hatred of Jews as the 'Christ killers.' It is a sad reality that many of the Church Fathers (the early leaders of the Christian Church) advocated some form of anti-Semitic sentiment. The ideology that the Jews were cursed by God for killing the Messiah took root in the Church. Jesus' disciples and original apostles did not speak of such evil. Note how Peter in his opening speeches in the Book of Acts addresses Jewish involvement by the leaders to hand over Jesus to the Romans to be crucified, but there is no notion of condemnation or call of persecution of Jews for it, rather an offer of salvation because of the Messiah's death that brought salvation offered to all of humankind! Paul's heart of love for his fellow Jews never changed, although he had suffered because of some fanatical Jews, just as he had been one. 

 

It was a brutal awakening to me during my theological studies to find out that the roots of anti-Semitism in Europe came partly from theologians! The very preachers who were supposed to teach love and peace in Christ, were among those who spewed hatred and violence against the Jews in the name of Christ! According to the first evangelists and apostles of the Church (expect for Mark and Luke all were Jewish), Christ is 'our peace' who brought down dividing walls to united hostile peoples in love and unity (Ephesians 2:11-18). Paul the apostle was in chains 'for the sake of the hope of Israel' (Acts 28:20), his people. When accused, Paul stood 'trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers' (Acts 26:6), the patriarchs of the Jewish people. God had not rejected His people (Romans 11:1), and His promises were for them and their descendants (Acts 2:39; 3:25-26). The Gospel they preached was a message of God's love for all of humanity (John 3:16). The anti-Jewish theology was not the biblical way of the disciples, eye-witnesses and apostles of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. How fast the Church had departed from this important truth!

 

As the 'Christian' Crusaders were marching through Europe 'to save the Holy Land' from the Muslim invaders, they also persecuted, robbed and killed Jews along the way. They even burned some of them in their synagogues, holding up big wooden crosses and singing psalms from the Jewish Prayer Book - the Book of Psalms! It is little wonder that Jews see the symbol of the Cross not as a sign of salvation, but one of persecution. But we find no biblical commandment for Christians to conquer the Holy Land, nor were these Crusaders honourable soldiers. Most of them were criminals, who were offered forgiveness of sins and who were greedy for bounty on the way to the ancient Jewish homeland. There was nothing Christian in the biblical sense of the word in what they did and who they were. 

 

During the Middle Ages ghettos were established for Jews. They were discriminated against and expelled from powerful countries of Western Europe, including France (1181), England (1290), most of Germany, and Portugal and Spain (1492/97). In totality, Jews had been expelled from over 80 countries/kingdoms during their history. No other people had suffered such a fate. Eastern Europe was more friendly towards Jews and they found refuge there, yet not without occasional pogroms, notably in Russia (the worst were in 1881 and 1903). Interestingly, those mainly poor Jews fleeing Russia found safe haven in North America, as did other Jews fleeing persecution elsewhere, where they grew into a largely prosperous and influential force. What is further interesting about the USA as a safe haven for Jews fleeing persecution and expulsion in Europe, is that North America was discovered by a man commissioned by the very rulers who had expelled the Jews from Spain and Portugal in 1492. Columbus set out to discover what would later become a safe haven for Jews while they were being expelled from that very kingdom! One might see the hand of Providence in such an event. But the suffering of Jews continued, and it was terrible and widespread. 

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In 1141, the body of William, a Christian boy of Norwich, England, was found dead on Good Friday. Jews were accused of stealing and killing the boy and drinking his blood in the Passover celebration as a ritual murder. There was no evidence linking Jews to the dead boy, yet anti-Jewish accusations found support and 'the cult of William...flourished for several centuries' (Anguish, 99). This case was the first blood libel accusation in England and among the worst of false accusations against which defenceless non-citizens were helpless at the mercy of the mob. The Jew was the scapegoat. Ironically and sadly, blood libels against Jews would result in the shedding of Jewish blood. The 'charge of ritual murder against Jews... found an echo in every century thereafter and left a stream of blood in its wake.' The Greeks of antiquity had already used such accusations against Jews, as did the Romans against early Christians (Anguish, 99). In Germany there was an accusation that Jews stole the host (bread) of Communion (which in Catholic theology is the physical body of Christ) with the absurd claim that Jews intended to somehow torture Christ. Sadly, one such incident lead to Jews being burned and in other cases these accusations were often 'prelude to massacre' of Jews. Such 'accusations of ritual murder multiplied in England, France, and Germany,' leading to persecution and death until Emperor Frederick II 'prohibited the accusation' and Pope Innocent IV 'exonerated Judaism of the charge' (Anguish, 99-100).

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In 1215, at the Fourth Lateran Council, Jews were ordered to wear a badge to distinguish them from others. They had to live separately from Christians. England adopted this practice and issued several anti-Jewish laws. Jews were expelled from England in 1290 and not allowed to return until 1656. The Yellow Star or the Judenstern (the Jewish Star) was a practice enforced by Nazi Germany in its occupied territories. Jews were marked, isolated and eventually placed in Jewish ghettos for containment.

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The Black Death (1347-50), wiping out one third of Europe's population, was blamed on the Jews poisoning the wells across Christendom in Europe. 'It [well poisoning] was first believed in Southern France, where the entire Jewish population of a town was burned.' Edward Flannery calls this type of holocaust 'systematic' and the 'pattern was almost always the same: accusation, trial, torture, confession, and consignment to the flames.' Some members of the higher classes and Emperor Charles IV and even Pope Clement VI (r. 1342-52) sought to defend and protect Jews, as they, too, were victims of the plague! Yet their efforts had little or no effect. The perpetrators often benefited from the confiscations of Jewish assets, hence 'economic motive was seldom absent in the ubiquitous trials and massacres.' Religious motives also played a role. At least 200 Jewish communities were destroyed (Anguish, 109-111). The Jew was the scapegoat, irrationally so, as this case shows in terms of the false accusation of well poisoning, yet in terms of scapegoating the politically vulnerable and taking advantage financially of the Jews was 'rational' for the exploiting powers, but thoroughly immoral. The Jew was the scapegoat.

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German Reformer Martin Luther (1483-1546) turned on the Jews towards the end of his life, calling to ban their books, confiscate their assets and expel them if possible. Nazi ideology would later build on such important figures of historical influence to 'justify' anti-Semitic policies and actions. Jews were persecuted throughout the Middle Ages. They were also forced to 'convert' to Christianity, or else they were excluded from most of the trade. Jews were not only highly educated, but also excellent craftsmen. Sadly, at times, Europeans would envy them, but not expel them until they learned their quality of craft and then eliminate Jewish competition by expulsion. The Jew was the scapegoat. Luther had consulted Jewish scholars in his translation of the Bible and thought Jews would eagerly accept his Gospel that emphasised faith. But Jewish insistence on their God-given religion angered him and changed his attitude toward them. The Protestant reformer who contributed so much to the development of the Church took a wrong turn towards the end of his life with this sad change of attitude and its dramatic consequences. 

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The pogroms of 1881 and 1903 in Russia were another watershed moment in Jewish history. These brutal anti-Jewish 'riots,' with law-enforcement passively standing by and the press even praising the massacres, showed yet again that Jews were not safe. When some revolutionaries assassinated Czar Alexander II (13 March 1881), his son and successor, Alexander III, blamed it on the Jews. Although a few Jews were among these revolutionaries, blaming it on the Jews (as a whole) was, of course, exposing the century-old scapegoating of the Jews and blaming all the ills of society on them. The May Laws that followed forced Jews out of their homes and into small living quarters elsewhere, a full 40% of Jews surviving only on charity. The discrimination against Jews was partly blamed on the oldest blood libel: the murder of Jesus by Jews, with the ideological implication that Jewish suffering was somehow justified. Under Nicolas II cruelty against Jews continued and the new czar refused Jews equal rights, although many fought heroically to defend Russia in the war against Japan as loyal subjects. The belief among Jews that assimilation (adjusting to the society they lived in) would bring them protection was shattered in yet another vicious pogrom. The Kishinev pogrom (1903) 'shocked the Jewish people' especially because of their defencelessness. What were they to do? Jewish self-defence units emerged, yet most sought to leave Russia for America. However, a proper solution would be of a different nature: 'a permanent home for Jews in the land of Israel' (My People, 118-121).

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Jews were also used if they somehow benefited their Christian or Muslim overlords. The high level of education among Jews, notably in medicine and finance, made some Jews 'useful,' and therefore important and influential. Their education and skill was often their survival. But the wealth of those few Jews who had it, was also envied. They were often looked down upon as an inferior race or treated with suspicion for being a peculiar people. The Jew was different. As long as Jews were useful, however, they were tolerated and treated humanly. Jews died in both Russian and German uniforms to defend their countries, but were not rewarded with equal rights and protection. Jews eventually experienced some measure of emancipation with the changes ushered in by the Enlightenment and French Revolution (1789). Notably, Napoleon contributed to their emancipation. But this changed quickly during the Nazi era, first in Germany and then across Europe. The Jews were, as Nathan Feinberg put it, 'a persecuted people without a country' (Holocaust, 39). They remained vulnerable and defenceless as non-citizens and second-class citizens, being at the mercy of their overlords.

 

In short, during the early Middle Ages, the 'good Jew' was a 'converted Jew'; during the later Middle Ages, the 'good Jew' was a 'useful Jew'; but during the Holocaust, a 'good Jew' was a 'dead Jew.' Throughout this time, every misfortune was blamed on the Jew. The Jew was the scapegoat - for everything! The century-long scapegoating of the Jews led to history's most horrific genocide: The Holocaust—the systematic killing and murder of 6 million Jews. A genocide of such proportions becomes possible once that group of people is demonised and dehumanised to such an extent that there is general agreement that extermination is right and necessary. Such are the dangerous of radical propaganda, and it is evil propaganda that lays the groundwork for evil action.

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"Ich hatte einen Traum,
ein schrecklicher Traum: 

Mein Volk war nicht mehr,
Nicht mehr!"


Lied der ermordeten Juden
-Yitzhak Katznelson

Image by Colin C Murphy

How did it come to this?

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This long history of anti-Jewish sentiment and outright hatred, based on anti-Jewish ideology, blood libels and a general blaming of the Jews for all the misfortunes of society, ultimately culminated in the Shoah (Hebrew for Holocaust). The Jew was the scapegoat for everything — and had to be get rid of! This time not by expulsion only, but by extermination. One German Nazi theologian even claimed that the Kingdom of God would come on earth once the Jews were exterminated— theology gone mad with the most horrific of consequences! Even the seat of education can become a tool in the hands of those who seek to persecute and demonise the Jews. Knowledge is no guarantee against evil; it always depends on the deep-seated values of the individual. 

 

Nazi propaganda was, in the words of Viktor E. Frankl, psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, 'a propaganda against any kind of meaning and against the value of existence itself,' demonstrating 'the worthlessness of human life.' The lives of the people in the concentration camps were considered 'worthy only of death,' yet they were still 'fully exploited to its absolute limit.' It was the total 'devaluation of life,' the ultimate 'debasement and degradation of humankind!'  (Yes to Life, 25-26). Jews were used to carry the gassed, dead bodies into the ovens to be burned and exposed of...

 

We remember that Jews were first killed in mass executions and buried in mass graves by bullets in mass shootings. This, however, was considered 'not good' for the psyche of the executioners (!) and hence a different 'solution' was sought. Some Jews survived these mass shootings. Using the gas chambers was a more 'effective way' for mass extermination. Frankl recalls the debasement and worthlessness of Jewish life as 'not worthy of the soup,' and 'not even worth a lead bullet, just some Zyklon B' (26-27).

 

The systematic mass murder of Jews killed 2/3 of the Jewish population in Europe and remains the greatest crime against humanity. The post-war slogan "NEVER AGAIN" should really mean never again! The Wu-Tang Clan has made a powerful rap song commemorating the Jews (viewer discretion advised!). The extent of evil, hateful, dehumanising ideology during the Holocaust had reached its lowest point in human history. Any such propaganda must be taken seriously and dealt with before its evil consequences cause devastating effects. Never Again is Now, as we remember the evils of the past in order not to repeat them  and prevent them wherever they might manifest. We remember the victims...

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May their memory be a blessing

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"Du sollst kein Opfer sein, du sollst kein Verursacher sein, aber, vor allem, du sollst kein Zuschauer sein." 

-Yehuda Bauer

Antisemitism Today
 

After years of discrimination against Jews that culminated in history's worst genocide, one would think such evils would never be repeated again. Not so. Antisemitism is on the rise across the world. Antisemitism is still a deep-seated prejudice today, one that cannot be underestimated. Jews are no longer as vulnerable as they used to be, but hatred of Jews has not diminished. Jews are often looked at with some suspicion, or treated with contempt due to the deep-seated prejudices. There is, however, a great support among Christians for Israel and Jews. But current looting of Jewish shops, reminiscent of Kristallnacht (the night of the broken glass), or vandalising Jewish cemeteries with Nazi Swastikas, calling the Jews 'the new Nazis,' is appalling, and shows the deep-seated hatred among some radicals today. Using the very symbol to demonise Jews that was used in the Holocaust to exterminate them, is the greatest of insults to the people who suffered that worst of genocide. Stirring hatred against any group or peoples should never be underestimated, not only for the potential violence it can cause, but also, like the turning point at Kristallnacht, about the changes in policies it can produce. Nazi Germany pursued a Germany that was judenrein ('free of Jews,' literally, purified of Jews as if they were some disease) by expulsion, then deportations, and eventually extermination. Such policies are dangerous and lead to great evils.'This is the most frightening time for Jews since the Holocaust,' warn Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkin (Why the Jews? 12).

 

Today there are also more 'sophisticated ways' to express hatred, often covered in a form of humanism, intellectualism or victimhood. Some groups seek to justify their hatred of Jews based on what Jews do wrong or the power and wealth some Jews hold. But perhaps the most dominant 'justification' to hate Jews today is the existence of the State of Israel. As the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks pointed out, Jews used to be hated for their religion and their race, today they are hated for their state. It is often claimed that the Jews stole the land from Arabs and that their nation is a European colonial experiment to the detriment of the native Arabs. Such propaganda is not only historically false, it is ideologically dangerous. The history and conflict between Jews and Arabs on the historic homeland of the Jews (the people from Judea) is more complex than that. Turning Jews into villains and Arabs into victims is very distorted. According to such a narrative, the victims have to be helped and liberated and the villains have to be opposed and defeated. Such propaganda and Neo-Marxist revolutionary thought is not advancing peace between two ancient, historic peoples of the Middle East. Zionism is often misunderstood and used as an ideological weapon agianst the Jewish State. Some call Zionism 'racism,' others a 'crime against humanity.' Both claims are not only false, but also dangerous, as it seeks to delegitimise the existence of the State of Israel. It is one thing to criticises government policy, but a completely different thing to call for the abolishment of a state and its people. Comparing Israel to Nazi Germany is not only absurd, but even if there was truth to the claim, no one called for the abolishment of Germany after World War II. So why call for the abolishment of the Jewish State? Something deeper is at work here, something very sinister. As Jonathan Sacks rightly pointed out, anti-Zionism is the new antisemitism. When calls for genocide of Jews are heard on the streets of Europe, America and Australia, something alarming has developed. When Jews in Germany, of all places, are given instructions for their own safety not to be visible as Jews, freedom and security are lost — and human rights too.

 

Most Jews and Arabs just want to live in peace. War and terrorism has cost too many lives and caused too much suffering. But it also increased resentment on both sides that only forgiveness and reconciliation could heal. There is progress in this area, and both Jewish and Arab peace activists are making promising efforts towards peace. Unfortunately, there is a small elite who is driven by an evil ideology that wants to eradicate the other. Their ideology has, however, found widespread support, even on the streets of Western nations and their university campuses. Not only are their slogans alarming, their ignorance of historical reality and ideological deception is, too. The political lobbing against international support of the state of Israel is an other element of the anti-Zionist agenda. Isolating Israel through demonisation and delegitimisation can have fatal consequences for a state surrounded by state regimes bent on Israel's destruction. The Jews have no alternative than to defend themselves against Islamic terrorism. The radical Arabs feel they must fight the 'evil Jewish oppressor.' The mainstream media, sadly, has too often fuelled the fires by one-sided reporting against Jews, blaming them for almost everything and often all but justifying Arab terrorism. There is a lack of moral clarity on the difference between freedom fighting and terrorism. The UN has also become a platform to demonise the Jewish State and lobbying has been done in 'unkosher' or 'non-halal' ways. For those who want to remain objective peace activists, in-depth education is necessary as too much propaganda is not only distorted, but causes harm and stirs hatred.

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When Jews in New York are being attacked or Jewish shops in France vandalised for the policies of the elected government of the state of Israel, then something is seriously wrong. Not only is Islamic jihadist ideology a problem among ill-informed young Muslims in the West, there is an increased antisemitism in academic circles and on the political Left, often in a cloak of intellectualism, yet not less dangerous in terms of sharing public opinion. On a positive note, many Arab leaders in the region have come to understand that Israel is here to stay and that it is better for everyone to live in peace. Under the presidency of Donald Trump, peace agreements have been established between Israel and both Morocco and Sudan, and advances in normalising relationships between Israel and other nations like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This is a remarkable achievement, given the fact that previous presidents in decades of peace negotiations have achieved only two peace agreements between Israel and two of its hostile neighbours (Egypt and Jordan). We should remain optimistic. It seems that previous presidents pursued a strategy to first establish peace directly between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority before extending peace in the region, yet Trump's approach was to seek to establish better relations in the region before finding ways to have peace to this very long conflict that cost many, too many, lives on both sides.

 

Peace is possible, but it takes two to make peace. It won't come by signatures on paper alone, but requires a change of heart and attitude. And one thing that must be uprooted is any form of hateful ideology which is the driving force in people's minds and emotions, policies and, eventually, actions. It's no good to 'heal people artificially.' Antisemitic, i.e., anti-Jewish, incidents and atrocities have increased in the West and terrorism in the Middle East has not stopped despite the best of efforts, and therefore, this issue must be high on our agendas. Hatred must not be allowed to win. Not to speak against evil is to support it.

 

One brave Christian minister who stood up to Nazi policies was Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), who said that he, as a Christian, cannot be silent when he sees a catastrophe coming and then simply comfort the victims — he had to act! For, 'silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.' The German theologian was imprisoned for his refusal to comply with Nazi Germany and executed in the concentration camp despite having the opportunity to negotiate on behalf of Germany. He refused. Elie Wiesel (1929-2016), himself a Holocaust survivor of Romanian descent, pointed out how 'neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.' The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, stated that 'Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.' We need such voices today, too — Jewish and non-Jewish. What happened to the Jews should NEVER AGAIN happen to them or to any other people. We should all be living in security, freedom and dignity  and peace!

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'"... Was immer unsere Zukunft uns auch bringen mag:

Wir wollen weiterhin "Ja" zum Leben sagen,

Denn eines Tages kommt die Zeit -

dann werden wir frei sein!"

_________________

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Sources, References

 

Abba Eban and David Bamberger, My People: Abba Eban's History of the Jews. Volume II. New York: Behrman House,  1979

Edward H. Flannery, The Anguish of the Jews. Twenty-Three Centuries of Antisemitism. Mahwah, NJ: Pauli's Press, 1985

Martin Gilbert, The Holocaust: The Jewish Tragedy. London: Fontana Press, 1986

Martin Gilbert, Churchill and the Jews. London: Simon & Schuster, 2007

Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews. New York: Harper & Row, 1987

Viktor E. Frankl, Yes to Life in spite of Everything. London: Rider, 2019

Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning. London: Rider, 2004 

Dennis Prater and Joseph Telushkin, Why the Jews? Reasons for Antisemitism. New York: Schuster & Schuster, 2003 (kindle)

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www.yadvashem.org 

www.holocaustremembrance.com

www.theholocaustexplained.org

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