Dear Friends, Election talk is engulfing Israel. But, for the moment, the fundamental issues remain as they have. Two days ago, for the first time ever, Israel marked an official day dedicated to commemorating the story of the million Jews who were expelled and forced out of Arab and Muslim countries in revenge for the establishment of the State of Israel. The date of November 30th (a day after November 29th, the day of the UN Partition vote) was chosen to remind the world that people on both sides ofthe conflict (Jews and Arabs a like) were forced to flee as a result of the war. Had the Arab world done the right thing and absorbed the fleeing Arabs, just as Israel absorbed the fleeing Jews, we could live in peace today. Instead, there are 5 million Arab descendants of the original refugees who continue to keep alive their dream of “returning” to Israel, thereby ensuring that no peace will ever be possible. To mark this day, and to coincide with my visit to Ireland, I published the following piece that discusses the story of Jewish expulsion from Arab countries and argues that given the fate of Christian communities across the Middle East, it appears that while “it stares with the Jews. It never ends with the Jews.” In this piece, I tell the story of a Christian Arab Lebanese colleague who told me that “they miss the Jews” and that he is terrified to think of an Arab Middle East without minorities.״ He expressed fear that the intolerance demonstrated towards the Jews decades ago is now being turned towards almost all other minorities - from Christian to Allewaites to Shiites to the Sunni Muslims - who fail to uphold the demented standards for Muslim piety set by the Islamic State. I reflect on his words arguing that “rising tides of hatred, intolerance and brutality are not satisfied once they have rid society of its Jews. Sooner or later, others will follow. Not only does it never end with the Jews. It is never really is about the Jews. That is why it never ends with them. Hatred of Jews is about those who hate – not about those who are hated.” To read the full piece in the Irish Examiner: irishexaminer/viewpoints/analysis/it-starts-with-the-jews-it-never-ends-with-the-jews-300042.html
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 11:53:51 +0000
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