MY SAY: ONCE AGAIN!
FROM THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE OF MIDEAST OUTPOST-http://www.mideastoutpost.com/archives/once-again-ruth-king.html
After the Holocaust, “Never Again” emerged as the rallying cry of international Jewry determined to prevent recurrence of the murderous anti-Semitism that had slaughtered one of every three Jews in the world. Israel became the incarnation of Jewish renewal and its existence a guarantee of “never again.”
For a few decades, European nations were shamed by their complicity in the roundup of Jews. But, as writer Conor Cruise O’Brien noted “anti-Semitism is a light sleeper” and what may have started as ignorant criticism of Israel has morphed into international hatred of Jews. By 2017 anti-Semitism and anti-Israel harassment had become a pandemic. Evil, when committed against Jews, especially in Israel, has become banal. Jewish settlers in their beds, babies in cribs, toddlers in diners, soldiers at bus stops, shoppers in a kosher deli in France, are deemed not quite as innocent as other victims of terror. As far back as 1980, when terrorists placed a bomb in the Rue Copernic synagogue in France that injured ten and killed four passersby, Raymond Barre, then Prime Minister of France, lamented “They aimed for Jews but they killed two innocent French citizens.”
Today in the most perverse irony Jews are compared to Nazis.
Where did those comparisons originate?
Why in Israel itself where the late unlamented Yeshayahu Leibowitz coined the term” Judeo-Nazis” to describe fellow Israelis. Who praised the scoundrel? The Israeli elite bestowed honors upon him, including the government’s highest award, the Israel Prize. (When this caused a public furor, Leibowitz withdrew from taking the prize but never withdrew his slander of the Jewish state.) That didn’t stop Israel’s rag Haaretz, when a year later he slipped his mortal coil, lauding him for his “profound moral seriousness and the great relevance of his thought today.“ Herzliya’s Mayor eulogized him as “one of the greatest intellectuals of his generation” and named a street after him. Even in Jerusalem a street now bears his name.
Who is mining the bedrock of anti-Semitism in the West? Those unspeakable Jews who undermine, libel, defame Israel and give legitimacy to the avalanche of hatred that is spreading like wildfire.
Jewish-American voters were a powerhouse of political activism on behalf of Israel. Now their short attention span has guided them to policies inimical to Jewish survival. “Never again!” is still their motto but the focus has changed dramatically.
Never again will women be denied the right to end pregnancy even at late stage. Never again will the “settled science” of climate change be disputed. Never again will anyone claim that capitalism and Judeo-Christian principles are superior. Never again will any immigrants be denied entry into America. Never again will any religion be slandered, with the exception of Orthodox Jews and Evangelical Christians. Never again will any conservative legislators be supported. Never again will any conservative opinions be heard with respect. Never again will anyone vote for a Republican.
Writer Linda Goudsmit sums it up well:
“The liberal Jewish community has lost its way. Liberalism has replaced religion as the community’s organizing principle. The Jewishness of Judaism has been replaced with the secular anti-Semitic anti-American tenets of the radical left-wing liberal Democratic Party in America. It is completely counter-intuitive for Jews to support a platform that is clearly anti-Semitic — but the inconsistencies and hypocrisy do not seem to get in their way. How is that possible? Because the liberal Jewish community has surrendered its rational critical thinking abilities and embraced the feel-good emotional sloganism of the New Democrat Party. “
When I searched for the words “never again” I found that there were 43,800 lyrics, 25 artists, and 100 albums matching “never again” in popular music. Most of them were about lost love, deception, lost jobs and other subjects dear to pop culture.
However, one was from an album from a band named “Disturbed” formed in 1996 when musicians Dan Donegan, Steve “Fuzz” Kmak, and Mike Wengren hired David Draiman as their singer. They sold over 13 million albums worldwide, making them one of the largest grossing metal/rock bands. They disbanded in 2011.
These are lyrics from a song “Never Again” from their album “Asylum:”
A generation that was persecuted endlessly
Exterminated by the Nazi war machine
We will remember let the story be told
For the countless souls who died
Their voices fill this night
Sing with me Never again
They aren’t lost you see
The truth will live in me
Never again, Believe me
Never Again.
Fast forward to July 2017: Lyrics from the rap star JAY-Z ‘s song “ The Story of O.J.”:
“You wanna know what’s more important than throwin’ away money at a strip club? You ever wonder why Jewish people own all the property in America? This how they did it.”
Even the ADL which will “never again” support Israel’s settlements was a tad ruffled by that Jewish stereotype.
Charles Krauthammer wrote on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz:
“……[M]ourning dead Jews is easy. And, forgive me, cheap. Want to truly honor the dead? Show solidarity with the living—Israel and its 6 million Jews. Make ‘never again’ more than an empty phrase. It took Nazi Germany seven years to kill 6 million Jews. It would take a nuclear Iran one day.”
Sobering words but here we are.
Instead of “never again” it has become “once again.” And this time around with the help of those who would be the first victims.
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