“Anti-Semitism is a noxious weed that should be cut out. It has no place in America.” William Howard Taft
The years following WWII saw American liberals among Israel’s best friends. From a Liberal perspective, Jews had impeccable credentials having been, after all, a certified victim group. To make things even better, Zion was resettled by progressives of the Kibbutz movement, founded in 1935 by groups of Jewish pioneers who had previously immigrated from Europe.
Of course, liberalism of the 40s and 50s had yet to be corrupted by Marxism and multiculturalism so it was easy to distinguish them from the left. Today, just as the nature of liberalism has mutated, so has its attitude towards Israel. While there are a few exceptions today, Israel’s enemies are found primarily on the left and in those institutions most closely identified with the new American liberalism including the news media, academia and the mainline Protestant churches.
Anti-Semitism is inculcated at all levels of progressive society in America and abroad. According to the Guardian, these are the worst times since the Nazi era as hate crimes persist against Synagogues, Kosher markets and Jewish businesses in Europe. Dieter Graumann, president of Germany’s Central Council of Jews said that “on the streets, you hear things like ‘the Jews should be gassed’, the ‘Jews should be burned.’ They are not screaming ‘Death to the Israelis’ on the streets of Paris, they’re screaming ‘Death to Jews’. Jewish businesses have had swastikas and anti-Jewish slogans daubed on shutters and windows, such as “Jews, your end is near.”
According to liberal Russell Berman, Stanford professor of German Studies, the recent eruption of anti-Semitism in Europe has multiple causes; the lagging economy, the influx of Muslims, and the ongoing Israel and Palestinian conflict. The ongoing Israeli and Palestinian “conflict” is also a favorite of the left in America to justify anti-Semitism.
The “myth” of Israeli occupation” is just that – a myth, a lie perpetrated by the left and the Muslim world, to push hatred. Palestine is as real as Never-Never Land. From the destruction of the Second Jewish Commonwealth in the first century AD until the Israeli liberation in 1967, there was never a sovereign state on land the left designates as “Occupied Territories.” There is no distinct Palestinian language, religion or culture.
The Palestinian people do not exist and have never existed as a historical group but only as a political ploy used by terrorist organizations and the far left for their own selfish purpose. Fathi Hammad, minister of the interior and national security for Hamas, a recognized terror group, confirmed that half of the so-called Palestinians are Egyptians and the other half are Saudis. Professor Philip Hitti, an Arab historian also notes that there is no mention of the name Palestine prior to the Roman occupiers giving the name to the province of Judea.
Yet, something as simple as the truth will not sway the left. Fortunately, the American people,e as a general rule, have a different perspective on Israel that is diametrically opposed to that of the left-wing media, academia, progressive politicians and clerical elites.
Our forefathers who landed on Plymouth Rock in 1620 considered themselves the founders of a “New Israel.” Committed to studying Hebrew and bridging the Old and New Canaans, [the Holy Land and America], they pledged to restore the Jews to their ancestral homeland. Far from peripheral, this “restorationist” movement flourished in colonial America and widely influenced the Founders.
Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin wanted the likeness of Moses leading the children of Israel to serve as the Great Seal of the newly independent United States. John Adams wrote that he “really wish[ed] the Jews again in Judea an independent nation.” Abraham Lincoln similarly backed the “noble dream” of a re-created Jewish state, as did Woodrow Wilson, a descendant of Presbyterian ministers, who declared, “To think that I … should be able to help restore the Holy Land to its people.”
Deeply influenced by America’s commitment to a Jewish state, Harry S. Truman, a fervid Baptist, liberal and past member of the restorationist American Christian Palestine Committee, made the United States the first nation to recognize Israel on May 14, 1948.
Americans know that Israelis have always stood by them, ready to share technology, intelligence, and innovation — ready to aid them in conflict and to make the painful sacrifices for peace. Israel may be one of a handful of countries that fully fits the definition of ally, but its willingness to support the United States unwaveringly makes it the partner par excellence, America’s ultimate ally.
“Like many physical diseases, anti-Semitism is highly infectious, and can become endemic in certain localities and societies. Though a disease of the mind, it is by no means confined to weak, feeble, or commonplace intellects; as history sadly records, its carriers have included men and women of otherwise powerful and subtle thoughts.” Paul Johnson
Sources: Why the left hates Israel; Why America Needs Israel; Muslim Leaders Admit: Palestine Doesn’t Exist; Anti-Semitism On rise Across Europe in Worst Times Since the Nazis
