Death, Taxes and Anti-Semitism
Whenever Jews congregate in any numbers, occasionally the talk turns to anti-semitism and the plight of Jews throughout the world. Inevitably someone uses the phrase “Zi Svere tzu Zan a Yid” which translated into English means “it is tough to be a Jew”. As a seventy-four year old native-born Canadian living in a friendly, peaceful environment and having personally experienced very little discrimination, I cannot agree more.
It is beyond my comprehension why David Ahenakew, a Canadian aboriginal veteran of the Canadian army that fought Nazism, once head of the Assembly of First Nations, a member of the Order of Canada, should be on trial for wilful promotion of hatred against Jews. It appears that he was angry with the positions taken by some newspapers owned by Can-West Corporation. These newspapers, in his opinion, were negative to some issues important to Canadian Indians. Can-West is controlled by the Asper family, a well-known Jewish family of Western Canada. Mr. Ahenakew stated in public utterances, that “he agrees with Hitler’s frying of six million Jews because”, as he states,” they were going to take over Germany. They deserved what they got”. What does Ahenakew know about Jews? Do Jews live in his native communities? Has he, in fact, met many Jews? In my experience, the Jews that I know have always been supportive of native issues and would like to see them get a better deal in Canada. Alan Borovoy of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, and himself a Jew, fought some of his earliest battles in support of Canadian Indians. Why would Ahenakew come out with such extreme hatred? Why?
In England, Sue Blackwell, a lecturer at Birmingham University, stated “Israelis cannot expect to be treated as normal citizens from a normal state.” She also declared that “you cannot talk about academic freedom and free debate in Israel in the same way that you can talk about it in the United Kingdom.” Why pick on Israel when there are so many countries with no academic freedom at all? Her remarks are totally anti-semitic.
On September 16, 2004, I wrote a letter to Pierre S. Pettigrew, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, asking him to support a stand-alone resolution at the 59th General Assembly of the United Nations, condemning anti-semitism. He answered me on April 7, 2005, by stating that in 2003, Ireland tried such a tack, but decided against it, for reasons which he does not outline.
However, he added, with Canadian support the U.N. adopted a resolution by concensus condemning all forms of religious intolerance. However, he made the point that since Canada is a multi-cultural society, extremely complex, the Canadian government promotes respect for all races and religions and does not want the focus on any one group. In theory this sounds very logical, …treat everybody equally. Since Jews have never been treated equally, the practical effect of this attitude has allowed anti-semitism to flourish nearly world-wide.
There is a major problem between Israel and the Palestinians, but to compare the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians to Germany’s treatment of the Jews during the Second World War is unbelievably ludicrous , odious.and anti-semitic
Anti-semitism is similar to a pandemic……. a mental and psychological disease, growing and diminishing in various parts of the world. But unlike most diseases where the roots of the problem can be identified and eliminated, the causes of anti-semitism are completely unrelated to any rational analysis. They are like a viral disease which changes its form spontaneously so as not to be stopped.
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century immigrants coming to Canada established agencies such as the Canadian Jewish Congress and B’nai Brith whose main function was to insure Jewish security and fight for Jewish interests. Most immigrant groups went through a similar process. In our country they wanted to protect Jews from discrimination and in other countries to ameliorate the victims of violent anti-Jewish prejudice. With the advent of Zionism and the birth of the state of Israel they regarded Israel as vital to the defense of Jewish interests world-wide.
As a general rule Jews and most Jewish self-help organizations are inclined to promote liberal and social justice issues. They generally support the separation of church and state, abortion rights (except for the orthodox), stem cell research, environment issues and health care available for all, irrespective of ability to pay, gay rights and liberal immigration laws. In Canada the majority support the Liberal party and in the United States, the Democratics.
The people that supported us in the 50’s and 60’s in our fight against anti-semitism were the established churches, the human rights organizations and, generally speaking, the left wing. The people antagonistic towards Jews were the extreme right- wing parties including the Fascists and the fundamental Christian churches. This has changed considerably in the last few years.
The Anglican church is promoting a “disinvestment in Israel” policy, a very severe blow to the welfare of the State. The Saudi Arabian daily, Al-Jazirah, reported that forty men, women and children with Pakistani citizenship were arrested after performing Christian religious rites in an apartment in Western Riyadh. Did the Anglican church propose disinvestment in Saudi Arabia for religious persecution? Imagine the uproar if Israel banned Christian services in Jerusalem. Why is Israel treated so differently?
Today the Chrstian Fundementalist Churches and the moderate right wing parties support the State of Israel in its quest for a two state solution to the Israeli Palestinian problem.
In the interests of Israel, it may be proper for the established Jewish self-help organizations to avoid taking sides on issues such as gay marriage, immigration and homosexuality in order to avoid confrontations with its supporters, the fundamentalist churches and conservative parties. Individual Jews, of course, would naturally be free to support or condemn whatever they see fit.
Many people resent the fact that Jewish religious teaching presents Jews as “the Chosen people”. I can understand the lack of popularity among the general public. Be that as it may, they are “chosen” in one respect…… chosen to be individually and collectively, hated, unfairly maligned, victimized, discriminated against and murdered, for reasons difficult to fathom.
