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Commentary
by Dr. Gerhard Falk |
The Jews of Europe
Fifty-seven
years after the murder camps of World War II were brought to an end by the
defeat of Nazi Germany, the lives of the 2.5 million Jews now still living in
Europe are in doubt again.
Pretending
that there is somehow a difference between the age-old anti-Jewish hatred which
has been the perpetual landmark of European “civilization” and attacks upon
Israel, the hate mongers are once more cursing “the Jews”, burning down
synagogues and beating Jews in the streets.
There is
of course no difference between anti-Jewish and anti-Israel conduct. They are
the same because both seek the annihilation of the Jewish people whether in
Israel or anywhere. Otherwise, the destruction of the synagogues in France would
have no meaning. The message is clear. A worldwide campaign against all Jews is
now in progress. That campaign is fueled by the Arab hate mongers whose religion
prescribes that no one but they have a right to live. It is enhanced and
augmented by European bigotry which is already making it dangerous for any Jew
to live in Europe.
Consider
these numbers: In 1939, at the opening of World War II, 3,300,000 Jews were
living in Poland. 85% of these Jews were murdered by the German-Polish alliance.
The 500,000 survivors were forced out of Poland after the war by the continued
Polish anti-Judaism in force even now. Likewise, Russia has only 550,000 Jews
today as 1.5 million were murdered there during the Holocaust. The Ukraine also
has 450,000 Jews now. These Jews are in grave peril as the agitation against
them is unceasing. Many are now going to Israel, others have come here. A
permanent future for the Russian and Ukrainian Jews in not conceivable.
France has
a larger Jewish population today than it had in 1939 when there were 300,000
Jews in that country. Today there are 600,000 Jews in France because many Jews
moved to France from North Africa after the French abandoned their erstwhile
colonies there and these colonies became independent Arab countries. Evidently,
the Arabs never compensated the Jews they despoiled.
Now we
find that 6 million Arabs have moved into France, outnumbering the Jews 10:1.
These Arabs, with the implicit approval of the French government, attack Jewish
community centers and assault Jews in the streets. They also burn down
synagogues. A good example of the latter strategy is the arson which destroyed
the Or Aviv temple in Marseilles and the arson at synagogues in Le Havre and in
Strasbourg. Likewise the synagogue in Lyon was bombed. In Toulouse a kosher
butcher shop was fired. In Rhone the Arab cowards attacked a pregnant woman.
Therefore,
Ariel Sharon, prime minister of Israel, has invited the French Jews to move to
Israel and added that he would pay them to do so. The French government
denounced that invitation. The French fear that American Jews and non-Jews may
refuse to import French clothes, perfumes, wines, cars and other goods if the
French Jews leave France. It is of course a good idea not to buy anything
French. Why should our money support hate mongers who seek our destruction?
There are
now about 300,000 Jews in England (United Kingdom) so that nearly 1.5 million
European Jews live in just three countries.
Germany,
once more a leader in the general denunciation of Jews and Israel, has 60,000
Jews out of a total population of at least 83 million.
Lest it be
believed that the Moslems of this world are only opposed to Jewish survival, it
ought to be of interest to contemplate these facts: In South India the Moslem
sect known as Deendar Anjuman has been bombing churches in the states of Goa and
Karnataka. In Moslem Kosovo, located in the erstwhile Yugoslavia, Moslems
“flattened” an Orthodox Church. These are the same people who benefited from
the NATO air attacks against Serbia. So far 86 churches have been destroyed by
the Kosovo Moslems even as the Allied “peacekeepers” look on and do nothing
to prevent such atrocities.
In the
Sudan, which has a large Christian population, the Arab government has
systematically persecuted Christians, many of whom were sold into slavery in
Saudi Arabia. In Saudi all religions other than Islam are forbidden. There are
of course no Jews in Saudi. There are, however, a few foreign Christians.
Recently 14 of these Christians were arrested by the religion police and jailed
on the grounds of practicing Christianity in their homes. While in solitary
confinement, these Christians were told they would be released if they convert
to Islam.
In the
Moluccan Islands churches and Christian schools have been burned to the ground
even as Moslem forces shoot and bomb Christians.
In India,
Moslems regularly attack Hindu temples and assault Hindus in their villages and
homes. The Buddhist statues in Afghanistan were destroyed by gunfire during the
reign of the so called Taliban Moslems there.
In the
Philippines, a largely Christian country, Moslem killers explode bombs and
murder civilians. For example, on April 21, 14 Filipinos were killed and 100
wounded when an explosion occurred in General Santos, a city in the south of The
Philippines.
We could
go on and on to show that there is a worldwide effort on the part of Islam to
assault not only Jews but also members of any faith other than Islam.
In view of
all this, Christians would do well to recognize that the attack on the tiny
Jewish minority of only 13 million worldwide is also devolving upon the 2
billion Christians. Some Christians see and know this and stand with their
Jewish friends against our mutual persecutors.
Yet, the
European Parliament, as always concerned with the annihilation of Jews, is
seeking to use economic “sanctions” against Israel. Not against Sudan or
Saudi or Indonesia or Albania but against Israel. “How dare the Jews defend
themselves,” argue the Europeans as they campaign against their Jewish
minorities in a manner not seen since the demise of Joseph Göbbels, Hitler’s
propaganda minister.
There are
hardly any Jews in any Moslem country today. However, the Jews of Europe are
once more in a precarious position. If the hate campaign of the Arabs in France,
Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands and other European counties is so popular as
to again lead to synagogue burnings, we need to consider what can be done to
bring the bulk of the European Jews to Israel. The argument that Israel is
itself under attack is of course spurious since in Israel Jews can defend
themselves while in Europe Jews are once more defenseless victims of potential
mass murder.
The Arabs
who instigate these hate campaigns caused so much misery for the Russian Jews
that one million moved to Israel in the early 1990’s. If the Arabs succeed in
Europe, then Israel is likely to gain one million more immigrants from European
countries including France, Russia, Ukraine and Belgium. As usual, we can agree
with the former foreign minister of Israel, Abba Eban, that “the Arabs never
miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”
Shalom
u’vracha.
Dr. Gerhard Falk is the author of numerous publications,
including Stigma: How We Treat Outsiders.
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