For far too long, Zionism has been stuck in a defensive mode.
By Howard Rotberg, INN Dec 9, 2023, 11:09 PM (GMT+2)
Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon
For the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no tellin’ who that it’s namin’
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’
Watching the protests in American and Canadian and European cities where predominantly young people call for a genocide of the Jews in Israel – “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free” – one is struck by some important facts.
First, a lot of the protests are in universities and while Antifa and other anti-liberal groups participate, one can assume that the protesters have a high representation among Muslims and/or university students. Looking at the female protestors, anywhere from 50% to 75% are wearing hijabs.
Second, university professors, mainly in Middle Eastern studies and gender and diversity studies, are indoctrinating their students to hate Israel and Jews everywhere.
Third, this growing influence can be seen in American Muslim areas like Dearbor, Michigan and Minneapolis, Minnesota..
Fourth, although not all the residents there are radical Islamists, we see that they are electing university trained Islamists, such as Ilhan Omar in Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib in Dearborn.
Fifth, these elected representatives organize themselves into radical caucuses allying with left-wing Black radicals and spend a lot of time trying to pressure their governments to take anti-Israel actions.
Sixth, we see in the case of American Secretary of State Blinken, who is apparently Jewish, that efforts are made to pressure Israel to lose the war against Hamas by allowing some Palestinian Arab group, be it the corrupt and hateful Palestinian Authority or others, to participate in the governance of Gaza after the war. Anyone who understands the facts about the history of Palestinian Arab terrorism and rejectionism of peace proposals should understand that America and other western countries have become financial backers of Palestinian Arab terrorism and leaders in the international efforts to isolate and endanger Israel.
And so, in this context, we who support Israel must begin to look at a paradigm shift. According to Merriam-Webster is “an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way.”
For far too long, Zionism has been stuck in a defensive mode, whether it is trying to deal with an evil United Nations, UNRWA and UNHCR, or international NGOs, including those funded and controlled by antisemites such as George Soros and including BDS boycotters and advocates for diversity and inclusion – which promises inclusion for everyone except the Jews of Israel and their supporters.
Israel has become a powerful country in terms of its military, its high tech sector and its finances, but what good is power if you don’t use it? I am thinking here of using power to shift the paradigm. Specifically the paradigm that Muslims are growing all around the world and have through immigration and demographics grown so much in terms of power in the West that there is nothing we can do, except submit. I discuss this sad submission in my book The Ideological Path to Submission … and what we can do about it. We must address the issue head on – we shall never submit to Sharia Law, jihad and a world-wide Caliphate just as we shall never submit to Hamas, no matter what naive talks emanate from the talking heads in the media.
The demographic situation in Germany, France, Sweden, Belgium etc., and the rise of European leaders on the right, including Orban in Hungary and Gert Wilders in the Netherlands has perhaps opened the floodgates, where the alliance between leftists and Islamists is seen to be bad for society, and people are unafraid to say so and risk the opprobrium from the politically correct.
Here is a speech given by German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck on Nov. 2.
“Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel took place almost four weeks ago now. A lot has happened since then. Not only politically, but especially for the people. So many people’s lives are now consumed by fear and suffering. Public debate since the attack has been heated, sometimes muddled.
“Too much seems to me to have been mixed up too quickly. The phrase, ‘Israel’s security is part of Germany’s raison d’état’ has never been an empty phrase, and it must not become one. It means that Israel’s security is essential for us as a country. This special relationship with Israel stems from our historical responsibility.
“It was the generation of my grandparents that wanted to exterminate Jewish life in Germany and Europe. After the Holocaust, the founding of Israel was the promise of protection to the Jews — and Germany is compelled to help ensure that this promise can be fulfilled. This is a historical foundation of our republic.
“Our historical responsibility also means that Jews must be able to live freely and safely in Germany.”
This statement shows to me that classical antisemitism rising in places where Islamists are taking power means the beginning of a realistic assessment of liberalism and whether individual human rights can coexist with radical Islam.
Germany, despite the passage of time is still known for Naziism just as the Arabs should be known for their terrorist groups. Hamas, while it has awakened the protesting antisemites, has also awakened Good people everywhere to advocate for Good over Evil. It should also awaken the Arab countries who were attracted to the Abraham Accord and who fear Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Toby Axelrod reports in JTA: “Recognizing Israel’s right to exist is now mandatory for those who want to become German citizens in the former East German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
“Applicants living in the state will have to confirm in writing ‘that they recognize Israel’s right to exist and condemn any efforts directed against the existence of the State of Israel.”
On the bright side, I believe some young people are ready for a paradigm shift away from the reflexive UN anti-Israel resolutions and the totalitarian leftist-Islamist alliance. For example, the youth wing of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), called the Jusos, in late November, 2019, condemned its leadership’s anti-Israel voting record at the UN. This organization of 14 to 35 year-olds has over 70,000 members. who adopted a resolution that the “disproportionate condemnation of Israel, the only democratic state in the Middle East” is a problem affecting UN bodies “that is carried on not only by states of the Middle East, but also European states, who pass, or abstain from, anti-Israel resolutions”. They urged the leadership to “dissociate from the initiatives and alliances of antisemitic member states in the bodies and specialized agencies of the United Nations.
Donald Trump was a great U.S. President in foreign matters including Israel and specifically his Abraham Accord. Joseph Biden, perhaps just a tool of his far left and anti-Israel advisors has been one of the worst presidents, specifically for empowering and enriching Iran, the country that boasts of its intentions to use nuclear weapons against Israel.
Every Jew must see himself or herself as a Maccabee. From the Maccabees to the IDF, we fight, but on Hanukkah we don’t celebrate a military victory as much as a religious victory. Our Maccabees throughout history will sacrifice on our behalf, and our duty is to properly analyze the shifting paradigms so that we can win the war of ideologies.
Howard Rotberg is the author of The Second Catastrophe: A Novel About a Book and its Author, (about Israel during the Second Intifada), TOLERism: The Ideology Revealed, and The Ideological Path to Submission… and what we can do about it.
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