My grandmother, of blessed memory, used to say,”For this world you have to be made of iron.” As I watch the news from Israel unfold and watch the United States pivot from being the “land of the free and the home of the brave” to the land of the once free and home of the afraid this Independence Day weekend, I once again realize how prescient and knowing she was. Jews should be afraid.. very afraid. It’s deja vu all over again.
One thing I always knew was that I was a Jew. When I discovered, years ago in a school history book, that a man named Haim Solomon helped finance the American Revolution I was ecstatic. It was the pride of knowing that a Jew contributed to the founding and creation of this great nation.
Every reproduction of the Ten Commandments in courthouses across the USA reminds me that Jews contributed to the making of “a country of laws not of men.” That is one of the standards that make made this country exceptional. Jewish immigrant Irving Berlin wrote the patriotic anthem ” God Bless America.” The title says it all.
George Washington’s letter to theJewish Congregation of Newport was written in 1790. It’s welcome and reiteration of the freedom of religion and guarantee from persecution is part of Jewish history as well as American.
Let’s contrast this with the jizya (the tax non Muslims pay) the fledging USA was forced to pay to the Muslims who ruled the seas. After they ignored the terms of the treaty with the USA they captured ships and took Americans as slaves. President Jefferson sent in a private army to rescue them and the Barbary Wars commenced. The Marines were formed.
Our presidents have always recognized the USA as a Judeo- Christian country. So when I heard our president call this a nation of Christians, Muslims, and Jews during his Inauguration speech I was flabbergasted. I have watched our country shift its worldview from allying with Israel,the only country in the Middle East that shares its morals and the values of life and liberty. Now I understand my grandmother’s maxim even better than usual.
Lori Lowenthal Marcus’s pro- Zionist organization Z Street is at the center of a First Amendment lawsuit against the IRS. This pro-Israel organization was targeted because it goes against this administration’s view of Israel. Three Jewish boys, one an American citizen, are murdered for no other reason then being Jews and our State Dept urges Israel to exercise “restraint.” Our president states that Israel shouldn’t “destabilize” the region and Israelis are urged not to take revenge, while hundreds of Hamas rockets hit southern Israel. Our American government scolds Israel for bulding homes while the Palestinian Authority forms a unity government with the terrorist group Hamas. When a Palestinian boy is found murdered the whole world instantly points fingers at Jews.
Israeli police immediately started an investigation. If the perpetrators are found to be Jews, Jews around the world will be ashamed and the perpetrators punished accordingly. When Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar, and Eyal Yifrach are murdered the world yawns . The cold blooded murder of the Fogels, the Mumbai massacre at the Chabad House, Koby Mandell, Alyssa Flatow and so many others is paid for by American dollars flowing to the PA and no one says a word.
Recently a billion dollar bio-energy deal was signed with Iran, while the Protestant Church USA divests from American companies doing business in Israel. JStreet and other Leftist groups are leaders in the BDS movement to weaken Israel economically. Jews of the Leftist persuasion take note. Anti-Semites have a long bloody history and when you’re no longer needed you will be gotten rid of. We are now living in the land of the once free and the home of the afraid to stand for what’s right. Jews be afraid- be very afraid. It’s deja vu all over again.
