Ruthie Blum: Happy Hanukkah from Trump and Johnson
Trump’s and Johnson’s words are especially apt in light of the assault against Israel launched on Friday by the International Criminal Court. Responding to a petition by the Palestinian Authority, ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced the opening of an investigation into Israeli "war crimes" allegedly committed by the Israel Defense Forces during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza in 2014. The absurd probe is the latest in a long line of discriminatory measures taken against the Jewish state by the so-called "international community."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed this very issue when he lit the first Hanukkah candle at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Sunday with US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.
"2,200 years ago, the Maccabees fought the war of liberation for the Jewish people and the Jewish faith against the anti-Semitic Greeks," said Netanyahu. "They wanted to extinguish our faith, to stamp on our freedom, to drive us out of this land, to say that we have no right to exist."
He went on: "We have fought against immeasurable odds, as no people has fought in history. We crossed the abyss from extinction to survival, independence, and now a thriving democracy. And yet, we find ourselves now, in the beginning of the 21st century – in the year 2019 – where the International Criminal Court, that should know otherwise, has set forth decrees that are just as anti-Semitic as the decrees of the Greeks."
Trump and Johnson couldn’t have said it better themselves.
10 hate crimes that shattered 2019, 10 angels who put it back together
2019 has been a year marred by a number of targeted mass shootings around the world, leaving minority populations reeling from the hate flung their way. But in the face of such darkness, it has also produced some remarkable moments of outstanding courage and determination not to let hate win.Whose problem is antisemitism? Everyone's
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) have listed their the top ten moments of hope and hate this year, with mass shootings in El Paso, Texas Christchurch, New Zealand, and Jersey City topping the list; mass shootings account for half of the hate list. Three of the shootings took place in mosques and synagogues; one occurred on Yom Kippur.
On the hope list, it is the moments of human kindness that stand out: a Muslim woman defending a Jewish family against antisemitic hate on the London underground, while in Oregon a teenager inspires a new law to mandate Holocaust education in schools.
In August, 22 people were killed and 26 injured after a gun-man drove for more than 11 hours specifically to target Mexicans at a Walmart in El Paso, an attack which the ADL’s Center on Extremism noted was "the deadliest white supremacist attack in the U.S. in more than 50 years."
The attack came just months after a similar onslaught against Muslims in a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, in March which left 50 dead. In both Christchurch and El Paso the shooters posted messages to web chat board 4Chan, stating white supremacist views.
"The attack on Christchurch underscored the fact that white supremacy is a global terror threat whose ideology manifests around the world and results in acts of violence in many instances," the ADL said in their report.
The Orthodox Jewish community in the New York Metropolitan area has been the target of a number of attacks over the last year, culminating in the killing of three people at a Kosher supermarket in an attack in which a policeman also lost his life. The targeted attack was tied to the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, which has professed antisemitic beliefs.
Synagogues were also the targets of the next two events on the list, at the Chabad Congregation of Poway, California, and in Halle, Germany. The Poway shooter was another who posted a manifesto online, speaking of his hatred for non-Christians and holding up the Christchurch shooter as a role model.
But as difficult as these attacks are, the top event on ADL's hope list is a timely reminder that hate can be overcome.
THE GLOBAL interconnectedness of contemporary antisemitism means that the effort to confront and roll it back must also be global. Arabs who recognize the damage antisemitism has done to their own societies should also recognize that on the right-wing fringes of American racism, Arabs and Muslims fare little better than Jews in the pantheon of those most vigorously despised and demonized. Americans, for their part, should see that Arab antisemitism is also their problem, and bear up to the responsibilities of fighting it.
But how? What is the American role in fighting antisemitism in Arab countries – and who are America’s natural allies in that struggle?
The most common answer one hears revolves around the need to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – and with good reason. The conflict exacerbates the problem – and an eventual resolution, in my judgment by way of a two-state solution – will clear much of the swamp in which Arab antisemitism festers.
After generations of a US diplomatic focus on high politics to resolve the conflict, Jared Kushner, senior adviser to President Donald Trump, has placed new emphasis on the economic dimensions of the challenge. Creating new business partnerships based on “win-win” outcomes for Israelis and Palestinians alike could in due course augment traditional diplomacy and help build the range of viable Palestinian institutions necessary for sustainable governance.
But functional approaches by themselves are no panacea. We must not forget that among the September 11 hijackers were several well-educated and well-heeled young people. Their extremism flowed not from economic disadvantage but from a cultural pathology of brainwashing. To expunge that pathology, Arab autocrats – beginning with those allied with the US – must at last expunge this vile content from the schools, mosques and media they control.
A difficult truth about political life is that while it usually takes two or more parties working together in good faith to advance brotherhood and peace, it often takes only one to block or tear down that work. That is why our efforts to build a better world cannot rest. It is also why, as the God of Abraham is our witness, fighting antisemitism as well as anti-Islamic and anti-Arab bigotry is ultimately one seamless fight that must involve people of good will everywhere. Arabs and Jews simply must stop hating each other so that together we can face the truly dangerous people who hate us both.
The writer is a Moroccan publisher. He is on the board of directors of the Atlantic Council and an international counselor of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.