For the eight odd million Jews scattered over the planet and not living in Israel, events concerning Israel cannot be dismissed as if they were occurring in someone else’s back yard.
Whether a Jew is right-wing or left-wing, extreme or moderate, orthodox, conservative, reformed, atheist, academic, intellectual, poor or rich, whatever gender, whatever orientation, whatever country in which he or she is a citizen, whether he or she hates Israel or loves it, feels empathy or none, whether his name is Chomsky or Rabin or has changed his name from Zimmerman to Dylan, whether he stands cheering on a boat where people are yelling death to the Jews, whether he belongs to J Street, AIPAC or the hundreds of Jewish groups of every persuasion, whether he has changed his religion, his appearance or his underwear, he or she is by international fiat and historical reality, forever and eternally, the “Jew”, the world’s whipping boy, the persecuted and reviled, the loathsome and malevolent, the greedy, grasping and cunning, no matter how much charity, compassion and selflessness he exhibits, no matter how he abides by the rules of law and civilized society, no matter how he professes his love for humanity, no matter his long history of victimization and brutal persecution.
There is no escape from the brand, wherever a Jew resides. He has been branded by destiny and history. No Jew can escape, no matter how hard he tries to lose himself into the vast pool of humanity. On a planet occupied by six and half billion people why, one wonders, is the miniscule population of 13 million Jews, give or take, singled out for perpetual censure?
History has shown that this blind cruel destructive hatred is beyond denial, beyond rationalization, beyond reason. Whether it is the blood libel of the Protocols of Zion, or the simplistic canard that the Jews killed Jesus, their fellow Jew, or the Muslim massacre of the Jews or Hitler’s horror, or the Spanish Inquisition, or a hundred other bizarre events, the historical record is always the same, isolation, exile or destruction.
The avalanche of opinions, pro or con, the plethora of blogs on the Internet, the parsing of every side of the Flotilla incident misses the essential point. The effort was just another aspect of the grand design of the never ending war against the Jews. Death to the Jews was the cry heard on the boats. The Flotilla was not about Gaza or charity or humanitarian concerns. It was about destroying the state of Israel, a form of “judenrein”, the avowed goal of the terrorist state of Hamas. Apparently the gaggle of so called humanitarians believed it as well. It is no secret aspiration. It is a stated goal.
Of all the peoples of the world, only the Jews are criticized for defending themselves. Everyone with half a brain knows that open sea lanes will be used to arm Hamas in its avowed mission to destroy the Jewish state.
Frankly, I am not at all shocked by the outcry. I have seen enough of it in my long life. Hitler murdered the Jews and no one lifted a finger. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were expelled from Arab lands and no one lifted a finger. If there was no Jewish state who would have accepted them? Does this question need an answer?
Indeed, it is doubtful that this current administration whose pious words talk of one hundred percent support will, when push comes to shove, voluntarily lift a finger if Israel is attacked or threatened with extinction. If they really believed in their piety, why did they not raise any protest to our fellow NATO member Turkey in advance of this scurrilous act of deliberate provocation, and call them to task for aiding and abetting a terrorist group in attempting to run the Israel blockade?
Why did our President and our Secretary of State, alleged Israeli allies remain silent when every one knew that the Flotilla was a clearly a ruse. Any Jew who holds this administration in high regard should think twice about its sincerity in terms of Israel. Their conduct on this and most other issues regarding Israel has been less than admirable and I’m being kind.
Every country who is a member of the morally bankrupt United Nations knew the motives of the Flotilla sponsors well in advance. If they were really sincere why didn’t they send their humanitarian aid, for example, to Haiti which is truly suffering and bleeding to death?
Of all nations, Turkey, who had by military conquest divided the island of Cyprus and occupies half of it in a violation of a United Nations resolution seems to be having a major hypocrisy problem, an affliction that is approaching a terminal disease in the halls of the UN. Perhaps it is time to move the UN to another venue, say Yemen or Afghanistan.
Above all I am an American by birth loyalty and love. But I carry the Jewish brand, just as other religions carry their brand. Indeed our brand does not kill people to avenge a cartoon of ridicule of which there have been millions featuring Jews as monsters.
As a Jew I am insulted, deeply insulted, by the tsunami of hatred rolling down on Israel and the Jews. Make no mistake about it, however you confront the issue, the hatred is the old bugaboo of anti-Semitism. We must stop calling it anything else. No Jew is immune. Under Hitler’s master plan Jews all go to the “showers” in lock step. The Nazis did not distinguish by anything other than the brand which went back three generations.
Many well meaning critiques decry Israel for its lack of public relations savvy, a so-called image problem. Are they calling on Israel to contrive a kind of informational mask to paper over its true intent, which is to save itself from extinction. Public Relations is a manipulation, a spin, which implies deception and half truths that deliberately parse the truth and shroud transparency. Our politics are riddled with it. Image is never the truth. I know. I used to be in Public Relations.
It is not a question of Israel right or wrong. Israel is a sovereign democracy and like us will make its mistakes, but above all it is a free state far freer than all the Arab states combined that surround it. Jews of all nations have every right to protect their brand through every means necessary. Most Jews know in their gut that if the brand dies in Israel, it will be on a spiral to extinction. Some with the brand will welcome such an outcome.
If this sounds paranoid, over the top and just a routine display of emotional hysterics, so be it. In my opinion it is exactly the moment for such a diatribe. It is about time we called all this faux high dudgeon by its real name, anti-Semitism.
Mr. Adler is the author of 30 books including novels such as 
June 3rd, 2010 at 10:11 pm
An interesting article, Warren.
When I heard about the incident with the flotilla, I immediately knew that, before even researching the incident, that there would be a large pile-on against the nation of Israel. And, of course, I was right. It doesn’t matter to the world that the Israeli soldiers were armed with little more than paintball guns while being attacked with chains and knives. It doesn’t matter that the flotilla was specifically set up to give Israel a black eye. All that matters to the Arab nations is that it’s yet another excuse to attack.
Don’t expect Obama to be of absolutely any assistance. If there is one thing that I’ve seen in his administration, its his baffling desire to woo our enemies, while snubbing our allies.
I actually had a novel in the works that (in vaguely hidden terms) describes precisely the scenario Israel faces, but I haven’t had any success in getting an agent for it yet. Just remember, Warren, there are still those out there who support Israel despite the howlings of the UN dominated world.
June 4th, 2010 at 3:03 pm
Don’t buy it – blockade is unlawful and should be negotiated away. There must be a way for humanitarian aid, construction materials, and other necessities of daily life into Gaza from the sea.
June 4th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
Mr Adler: Did the thought occur to you that Israeli’s also attack and kill Semites?
The Muslim and Arabic peoples are also a branch of the semitical people who descended from the seed of Shem, the original semite and son of Noah.
This kind of behavior by Jews AGAINST these people is also anti-semitical.
June 4th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
Excelllent points, Warren, but addressing the choir.
The political managers in the Middle East and Europe, abetted by numerous policy makers and journalists along the Beltway, want the Yids dead. Period.
Anyone who doubts this can see the interview with Helen Thomas, doyenne of the Washington corps of reporters. She wants all Israelis to “go back where they came from,” unaware of the word Sabra (or most other English words that evoke decency or intelligence.) Take a look.
June 4th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
In all matters incurred along the road of life, the answer lies in the ability to look for basic right and wrong. Mr. Adler is a bit dramatic with his (as usual) eloquent essay but I, as a lowly gentile, stand with him on the ‘big picture’ one-hundred percent and my allegiance as an AMERICAN is to Israel.
A country has a right to defend itself. The Israelis are doing what they feel they must to secure and protect their citizenry. Polite liberal talk will not evaporate the hatred, nor will it disarm the enemies of Israel.
If you do not understand that the speech of firepower is all that keeps Israel safe, then you have been coddled by America too long, and have taken Her coddling for granted as well as mis-interpreted the basis and dynamics of your own comfort and security.
June 4th, 2010 at 11:49 pm
“Hitler murdered the Jews and no one lifted a finger.”
Wow, really? Because I’m pretty sure hundreds of thousands of brits, americans, frenchmen and others, the majority of whom were gentiles, risked or lost their lives to stop Hitler and his horrid regime.
Mr. Adler, I’m not Jewish but I have a profound respect for Judaism as both a religion and a culture. That said, your article is quite possibly one of the most hate-filled things I’ve ever read. A psychologist would have a field day dissecting its cultural narcissism and ignorance. You seem to be under the delusion that Jews are the only people who’ve been persecuted throughout history. The Irish were grossly persecuted for their religion for centuries. The Armenians were massacred in a horrific genocide akin to the Holocaust. Rival African tribes rape and kill one another over ethnic differences every day. How about Native Americans? Or innocent Japanese immigrants during WWII? Middle Eastern Americans since 9/11? It’s tragic, all of it, but it’s the human condition to persecute and be persecuted.
Also, you accuse the President and Secretary of State of not being kind enough to Israel. I’m sorry but why should they be? Israel spit in the face of the Vice President, a consistent and fervent supporter of theirs. Its intelligence agency recently stole a bunch of British passports – Britain, our one true ally – for the purpose of sneaking into Dubai to carry out ‘essential’ state sanctioned assassinations.
Israel supports official assassinations, persecution of those who don’t share its religious or cultural values, and acts indignant when the West calls them on it.
And to all those saying Israel has a right to defend itself — I completely agree. I don’t think any sane Westerner is trying to claim Hamas is anything less than a crazy, terrorist regime. That said, if Israel continues to expect financial and military aid as well as American political capital at its back it better start having a little more gratitude, because as an American taxpayer I’m pretty freaking sick of sending billions a year to a country whose favorite hobby seems to be whining about how my President isn’t stroking their ego enough.
June 5th, 2010 at 11:20 am
Absurd-
I must disagree with your premise. While the actions of my Americans in World War II were valiant, they weren’t based in altruism by any means. If you read history, Hitler had been enacting his plans for a rather long time before the US involved itself in the war- and only then because our ships were bombed in Pearl Harbor. In fact, before the war, unfortunately, there were numbers of Americans and Britons who actually were supportive of the Nazi Regime, including many of the media elite.
Had Hitler not tried to dominate the world, chances are that world would never have even paid a moment’s attention to his massacre of the Jewish people.
Just look at the wholesale massacre of the Jewish people in Russia. Do you think anyone ever mentions the “purges” in history class?
June 5th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Bravo Warren, Israel should defend themselves. There is proof that heavy arms and ammo
were hidden behind sacks of supplies. That is why passengers fought so hard. They knew
and wanted to protect the arms. American Jews “Stand up and support Israel” Understand
that the Administration would through them under the bus to make friends with Islamic
Terrorists! Has Israel ever started a war? NO, give them a chance to live in peace and
create more than the world has seen. A small nation with so little population contributes
more to the world than all the Arab nations in the world.
Marvin Rothenberg
June 8th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Your conclusion that war is inevidable is no better, no worse, than the Moslem conclusion. Before peace can be tried, someone must believe it is possible.