I wonder if this is of any interest to this list? Selma ----- Original Message ----- : Friday, April 04, 2003 1:52 AM Subject: War Revives Dilemma: Are Jews Assimilated?
> > http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB104923418353196000-search,00.html?collect ion=wsjie%2F30day&vql_string=%22Jeffrey+Zaslow%22%3Cin%3E%28article%2Dbody%2 9 > > The Wall Street Journal > April 2, 2003 > Jeffrey Zaslow > > "Type "kill the Jews" into an Internet search engine and you'll find > 5,100 entries filled with absurd accusations: that Jews forced the > U.S. into war with Iraq, blew up the space shuttle, and masterminded > the Sept. 11 attacks. > > In France, a poll shows that 26% of Jews are considering leaving the > country because of anti-Semitism. In Spain, 72% of people surveyed > say Spanish Jews are more loyal to Israel than to their home country. > And in the U.S., according to FBI data, even though hate crimes > against Muslims soared 1,600% in 2001, those 481 incidents were still > less than half of the 1,043 hate crimes against Jews. > > For many American Jews, the news is disheartening and confusing. By a > multitude of measures, Jews are an assimilation success story in the > U.S.--accomplished, often well-regarded by neighbors, the "luckiest" > Jews in history. And yet there is talk that American Jews are naively > ignoring the storm clouds. Historically, in times of world turmoil, > Jews have been targeted. Now again there's a confluence of issues -- > America's strong support of Israel, anti-Western rage, the familiar > back lash against Jewish achievement -- intensifying concerns about > anti-Semitism. > > "Some Jews are fooling themselves," says the Rev. Walter Michel, a > retired professor from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. > "Translate anti-Jewish writings from the Arab world--things that a > billion people read and hear every day -- and it's venomous. It's > worse than Nazi propaganda." > > In the U.S., the war has heightened rhetoric. Last month, Rep. James > Moran (D, Va.) said in a public forum that Jews were leading the U.S. > into war with Iraq. This was despite polls showing that just 52% of > American Jews favored military action, versus 62% for Americans > overall. "If the war in Iraq goes wrong," asks Mr. Michel, "whose > fault will it be?" > > For Jewish and non-Jewish Americans alike, there are warnings here. > Both anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism are driven by a fear of > democracy and modernity, by a need to find an explanation for "what's > wrong," says Ruth Wisse, a Harvard professor now writing a book on > "Jews and anti-Jews." > > Judaism has always been a religion focused on commemoration--of > tyrants overcome, of the deliverance from slavery, of the tenacious > survival of the Jewish people. In the modern era, this urge to > commemorate often settles on the Holocaust, which many regard as a > motivator for fighting current anti-Semitism. Some Jews dwell on the > atrocities, stressing the lessons for today. Others have trouble > dealing with the awful past, or are embarrassed by it, or say enough > already, it's time to move on. > > I see this tension in my own family. As a U.S. Army private during > World War II, my father was among the liberators of the Dachau > concentration camp. At a row of cattle cars, all filled with the > mangled bodies of dead Jews, a fellow U.S. soldier turned to my dad > and said, "If you're not careful, Zaslow, that's where you'll end up." > > The soldier knew my father was Jewish. Was he issuing a threat? A > friendly warning? For decades, my dad rarely spoke about the horrors > he saw that day in 1945. But lately, he's been obsessed with his > memories. He gives Holocaust lectures at schools, and discusses > anti-Semitism with anyone who will listen. > > My mother wishes he'd let the topic rest. As my dad talks, she often > feels overwhelmed with emotion and asks him to stop. She keeps > telling him she is living in the present. But truth is, World War II > is a painful memory for her, too. Her brother had enlisted in the > U.S. military, saying, "I've got to go. They're killing Jews." His > B-17 bomber was shot down, his body never found. > > It might be healing if more Jews moved on from the Holocaust by > mastering a middle ground: pressing forward, but not forgetting. A > large new Holocaust museum is rising on a busy street in my community > in suburban Detroit -- replacing a far-smaller museum -- and part of > me is glad it's there. Part of me wonders, though, what my non-Jewish > neighbors think of this huge, sad structure, with prison-inmate > stripes worked into its design. In the end, I was heartened to learn > that most visitors to the current museum are non-Jews. > > Some Jews argue that we should focus on the bonds we've built with so > many non-Jews, rather than isolated anti-Semitic incidents. In a New > Republic article last year on "ethnic panic" among American Jews, > author Leon Wieseltier called us "the luckiest Jews who ever lived," > adding: "The Jewish genius for worry has served the Jews well, but > Hitler is dead." > > Indeed, the nation's 5.2 million Jews can focus on some bright spots. > Few Americans see Joseph Lieberman's religion as a factor in his > presidential run, and polls show that most Americans support Israel, > even if they question Israeli policies. Though a 50% intermarriage > rate threatens the religion's future, it also suggests that > anti-Semitism is waning: More non-Jews are welcoming Jews into their > families. > > About 74% of Americans have a "favorable" opinion of Jews, according > to a 2002 Pew Research Center poll. That's down from 82% in 1997. > > But my father, for one, says numbers can never be the whole story. In > a letter he wrote to his parents the day he saw Dachau, he described > the crematorium, the liberated inmates beating Nazi guards, the > stacks of bodies. "Please believe me," he wrote. "I am telling you > what I saw." > > Fifty-eight years later, he feels it's crucial to keep repeating his > eyewitness account. A part of him is still that 20-year-old soldier, > standing by those boxcars, being told that as a Jew, he better he > careful." _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
