Not Just a "Jewish Issue"

A ‘Silence of Jews’ has come over much of the Jewish-American Community Over Hagel & Brennan’s Nominations

Although the topic ‘Silence of Jews’ has been written by numbers of scholars over the years, the 21^st Century demands we openly talk about it again as many Jewish leaders continue to utilize this strategy against today’s anti-Semitic and anti-Israel threats.

In a recent interview with the Jerusalem Post (http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=303173), the President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), Morton Klein made a statement that he believed the American-Jews are frightened of making a particular issue seem to be more important to them, than to others. His comments were made after he solicited support from other Jewish Groups in an effort to fight the nomination of Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense and John Brennan for Director of the CIA.

Klein also commented that “his counterparts at other organizations said that he was making this a Jewish issue, which they considered bad for the Jews”…The “AJC, AIPAC, ADL and the Conference of Presidents never came out and said we oppose this man because he is horrible on Iran, he is horrible on terrorism, horrible on Israel, horrible on fighting radical Islam,” Klein said. “I was called by major Jewish leaders, personally called, and they told me to stop our campaign against Hagel.”

This call for ‘silence,’ and in this case a ‘push-back to silence’ from Jewish groups may not have come as a total surprise to Klein or others active in Israeli-American relations.  However, it is very alarming to hear that the only major Jewish group to publicly oppose the Hagel and Brennan nomination along with the ZOA was the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), which is a partisan group.

Klein’s remarks expose one of the fundamental dilemmas in Jewish history: How to survive through centuries of oppression and accusations of disloyalty while living in exile? Well, this question is still haunting Jews today. A call for a ‘keep-a-low-profile’ and ‘don’t-make-any-waves’ mentality is a mindset that has existed in Jewish communities and ghettos as a way to avoid confrontations within the ruling society they live in and not become a target.

This ‘low-profile’ may have prevented some Jews from pain, suffering and death up until the beginning of the 1900’s, but is no longer an effective method to protect Jewish survival in modern day life. Jews can no longer buy into that behavior for three reasons: global communications, advanced weaponry and the Holocaust.

It is obvious that the ability to immediately reach millions of people via telecommunications and to quickly travel the world enables anti-Semitic propaganda to spread rapidly. It provides a means to widely distribute half-truths, myths and outright lies to millions of people who often absorb it without question. And, it encourages organized hatred to be globally spewed by power-hungry leaders, angry bigots and religious fanatics.

Second, the advancement of weaponry, including chemical and biological, and with the capability to view and reach long-range targets have made it possible to murder an individual or carry out massive genocide.  

Then of course there was the Jew-hater, Adolf Hitler, who likely got validation for his hatred from the Qu’ran and the anti-Semitic hoax ‘Elders of Zion.’ With the encouragement and collaboration of those already indoctrinated and those newly propagandized, Hitler and his allies successfully exterminated millions of European Jews, as well as Roma, Slavs, intellectuals, gays and political dissidents.

This became a defining moment in modern history where being a Jew became an intolerable offense that ONLY a death sentence could erase. Prior to the Holocaust, Jews could pay a tax or even convert in order to save their lives. But, Hitler’s Nazi Germany would only settle for genocide, changing what was left of Jewish life forever.

Given these obvious reasons, it is astounding that so many Jewish organizations and their leadership can’t see what should be evident to all…you can’t remain silent about the growing threat from Islamic ideology because you think it is only a Jewish issue.

The confirmation of Brennan and Hagel is not just an issue that relates to the Jewish-American population, but goes to the heart of what our government should be providing all its citizens…national security. Calling this a Jewish issue is ludicrous and extremely short-sighted, as well as very dangerous to the survival of Western Civilization.

Silence will not protect the Jewish People, nor will it protect any American in the 21^st Century. This is a perilous approach, and if allowed to continue, will enable our enemies to bring their agenda to all Americans, not just the Jews.

The attacks on 9/11 were a wake-up call to Americans, but with passing years its impact seems to have faded for some. However, the stark reality of the increasing displays of anti-Semitism, the vicious attacks and murder of French, Belgium, British, Swedish, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and German Jews by rapidly expanding and influential Muslim communities and other Anti-Semites can’t be ignored by the American community. Neither can the Iranian Regime’s nuclear expansion as Ahmadinejad delivers speeches threatening Israeli annihilation followed by the U.S’s downfall.

We must not be silent about the political power recently garnered by the well-financed, well-organized Muslim Brotherhood who has emerged from a forced subjugation to seize power, their Jihadi dogma spreading here and abroad; or Hamas and the PLO’s goal to terminate the State Israel; and the Al Qaeda network continuing to branch out, kidnapping or killing non-Muslims abroad as part of their terrorist operations.

Domestically, academic campuses are caught in the battle between freedom of intellectual speech and Israel-bashing events, while the general public is called upon to boycott, divest and sanction products made by Israeli companies. Politically speaking, Jews are seeing warnings of a growing anti-Semitic wing within the Democratic Party that supports candidates with anti-Israeli attitudes and hate-speech. And of course there is the fear of another 9/11.

But, there seems to be a disconnection between many American Jews and Israel, other than the acknowledgment that Israel is in a fight for its life. In the midst of these Islamic forces, it will be the people who fail to recognize that a free world is mutually connected to a strong America and a strong Israel who will doom Western society to an anarchistic and 7^th Century Middle Eastern mindset.

Sadly, assimilation, ignorance of history and general prosperity has led many Jews to be blind, in denial, or in genuine fear that President Obama and some in the Democratic Party will abandon Jews if they fight him on the issue of his appointees.

In the interest of America’s national security, it is evident that fears of retaliation from any political figure should not obstruct the vetting of candidates nor prevent a public discussion on topics of national concern by anyone, including Jews. These issues should be uniting all Americans under one banner, the banner of freedom for all.

Today, silence is the enemy. Those who get their story out first are usually believed, whether delivering the truth or fiction. Digging through the layers of deceptions and inaccuracies that have covered up the facts hasn’t been very successful in balancing the decades of lies and misinformation circling the public arena. There are plenty of influences coming from people attempting to silence the Jewish voice (unless that voice criticizes Israel), that within the Jewish community it is a disaster to silence one another.

The knowledge of what enabled Hitler’s rise to power must be a lesson for all Americans, not only the Jewish community. Today, the two most important words to remember and fight for are: “Never Again.” I fear that remaining silent will turn these words into “Yes Again.”