GUEST COMMENTARY - Antisemitism has existed from time immemorial and will likely persist for millennia to come. The Jews have been maligned, hated, persecuted, expelled, segregated and slaughtered. And yet. They persevered, defying time and place. Ironically, although it was hoped that the creation of Israel would mitigate antisemitism, the occupation and the way the Palestinians are treated has only emboldened the antisemite of convenience
Righting the Wrong
The Jews are who they are.
What they have always been, and so
as though it was ordained, they remain
who they are.
The racist, the bigot and the blind diehard antisemite
have all converged on them.
If the Jews did not exist,
the antisemite would have had to invent
someone just like them.
Despised when they are poor,
resented when they are rich,
deprived when they are in need,
disdained when they fail,
and debased when they succeed.
Repelled, rebuffed and repudiated.
They remain the easy mark, the prey
of the antisemite of convenience.
The impudent white supremacists
who seek to liquidate them,
revel with satisfaction and fulfilment
when the Jews are condemned to perish
without a hearing and without a final plea.
Over the centuries the Jews have defied insolent foes.
Fought brazen enemies.
Faced the undying malicious antisemite,
never granted a rest, a pause or reprieve.
In their heart they knew they will endure
but then, had to remain vigilant, wary and guarded
against the antisemite of convenience.
The antisemites call them friends,
but in their heart hatred simmers.
They conspire, contrive and collude,
and aside they whisper slander,
as the Jews became the evil cause, the pet object, the target
of the antisemite’s piercing malice.
Antisemitism has no cure,
has no reason or season.
The cancer of hatred will endure,
laid, embedded in the racist’s soul.
No balm of love can purge it,
nor can the sharp knife of truth excise it.
Antisemitism will persist.
No accommodation will expunge it,
no compliance, no acceptance, no submission and no subordination.
Vain hope.
Antisemitism will not die a natural death.
It may hide at times.
It may become obscure,
but when grievances mount and adversity reigns,
when moral strength fails,
and the antisemite stands naked to their fear,
their blind hatred becomes all-consuming,
they need not look afar
to place the blame,
to find a prey.
They will not hesitate, will not vacillate
to point to the Jews who are there
to answer their wicked desire,
to satiate their unquenched thirst to hate.
Millenia have passed,
and the Jews’ time has come,
after a long and painful wait,
to rid themselves at last
from the bigot’s deadly spell.
When Israel was born,
it seemed at times
as though the hated Jews had become
humans and accepted just like any other.
They rejoiced, and celebrated
as a new day dawned
and happily, they grasped the friendly hands.
Yet, Israel’s very existence
and the seizure of Palestinian land that followed
aroused a new wave of antisemitism,
aggravated by the harsh occupation.
Routinely committing human rights violations
and often uncalled for indiscriminate incarcerations.
Night raids are rampant, terrifying young and old,
and homes demolished cause a chilling dislocation.
Uprooting olive trees and land confiscation
depriving so many of their livelihood and self-preservation,
settlers’ harassment and violence against innocent Palestinians
goes unpunished and frequently encouraged by zealots
and governed by two layers of political and judiciary system
akin to apartheid
leaving the multitude of Palestinians hopeless, wondering
will the day ever come to realize liberation.
And yet the Palestinians’ plight will become so much worse,
by appointing the racist, misogynist and megalomaniac pair
Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir
to be in charge of policing the border,
civil administration and coordination of activities in the territories,
which is like tapping two ravenous beasts
to be in charge of guarding a pile of raw fresh meat.
Whose intention is further oppressing the Palestinians
forcing many to flee
tantamount to nothing less than annexation
to fulfill their nightmarish messianic mission.
Can anyone deny that this horrifying reality,
of the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians
is contributing to the rise of antisemitism and
is only bolstering, emboldening and evoking
the antisemites to do their evil deeds?
The saddest thing of all
unlike any other people around the globe
most Israelis still adore Trump.
A bigot, white supremacist and an incessant schemer,
who wines and dines with his ilk,
notorious antisemites and holocaust deniers
the likes of Kanye West and Nick Fuentes,
the type that Trump relishes to host.
Fascists, homophobes, the scum of the earth
who poison millions with venom in their wake.
But then,
for a multitude of Israeli hypocrites
who complain about the rise of antisemitism
Trump remains their favorite son.
For once, they should be truthful to themselves and admit
how much they are contributing to this ugly phenomenon
and be the first to correct their way.
Yet still antisemitism will survive.
It is self-generating,
and innately poisonous.
It is an incurable disease
and if left unchecked,
it becomes deadly.
If there is no cure,
there must be a defense.
Utilizing antisemitism to engender Jewish cohesion,
achieving unity and fostering harmony,
invoking a new awakening and rejecting division.
But none of that will come to pass
lest the Israelis first resolve to end the occupation,
and cease subjugating other people to their whims.
This much every Jew must know.
Amity should not blind them,
and must not hold to the illusion,
that many of those antisemite masked faces
which many Jews have grown to respect,
would have been so relieved,
had the final solution
put the Jewish question to rest.
(Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years.)
[email protected] - Web: www.alonben-meir.com
The Antisemite Of Convenience
