‘I condemn thee!’ ‘Whew!’ ‘Glad that’s over with.’ ‘Let’s get back to work.’
This is pretty much what I imagine is in the mind of self righteous foreign leaders when I hear them condemning acts of violence against Israelis or the Jewish people. They come out with strong condemnations and then they forget it ever happened and get on with business as usual.
It happened again today in Europe (Why am I not surprised?!) On the anniversary of Kristallnacht, no less. As reported by JTA:
Amsterdam police said on Friday morning that five people had been taken to the hospital and 62 had been arrested in the violence, which Dutch, Israeli, European and U.S. officials all denounced as antisemitic…
The city of Amsterdam said rioters had “actively sought out Israeli supporters to attack and assault them”
Videos that circulated on social media and were shared by the Israeli embassy in the United States showed Israelis being beaten, fleeing attackers and, in one case, being rammed by a car. Video posted on social media, including some apparently posted by assailants, showed young men chasing and beating people, shouting, “F— Israel” and “Free Palestine.”
Israeli fans told outlets in Israel that they were ambushed by people believed to be of Arab origin as they left the game. The Dutch prime minister condemned the attack.
In a moment of complete candor the Dutch king told Israeli President Isaac Herzog: “We failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during World War II, and last night we failed again,”
This was perhaps the most honest and introspective statement ever made by a European leader since the Holocaust. The problem with it is that antisemitism is so deeply rooted on the European continent, I doubt it will ever change.
It’s true that the people who actually did this were Palestinians and/or their sympathizers. But when a pogrom of this magnitude happens in a European city - it demonstrates just how much their leaders ignore the open hostility against the Jewish people in their cities by their migrant Palestinian population. This was not a random gang of thugs that took opportunistic advantage o something they happened upon. This was a deliberate attack by a huge mob that was planned and executed right under the noses of Dutch authorities. Condemning it after the fact gives me little confidence in how they will protect their Jewish citizens in the future.
For me this is yet another reason why Jews should abandon Europe. European leaders can feign compassion for Jewish victims and condemn attacks like this all day long. But by their constant condemnations of Israel’s defensive war in Gaza calling it genocide and demanding the US cut off all military aid (as did France’s Macron after he cut of their aid)... and the UN’s International Court of Justice (now there’s an oxymoron!) decides Israeli leaders are war criminals, European Jews ought to take a cue about what Europe really thinks of them and ‘get the heck outa there!’ How many more pogroms will it take before the see the handwriting on the wall?
Contrast this with the United States has been doing. Heads of major universities have rolled for tolerating antisemitism on their campuses. The vast majority of congress on both sides of the political aisle supports Israel’s right to defend itself. And has been sending her armaments to do it. We now have a president elect who - when he was last president moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem despite the strong opposition of our European ‘allies’. He also reinstated sanctions on Iran to their great dismay but to the great relief of Israeli leaders. (Not just Netanyahu)
(Trump didn’t care if tour allies didn’t like any of that .He doesn’t even care that they don’t like him! All he cares about is that they respect the US. They need America a lot more than America needs them! Trump knows that. And they know he knows that. This is why they ponied up for their share of NATO expenses that had long been ignored by previous administrations. But I digress.)
Point here is that the US is the most welcoming nation in the world to the Jewish people. The US is making sure it stays that way. There are more Jews in government now than at any time in history – all voted into office by their fellow non Jewish citizens.
And now - with all 3 branches of government being controlled by conservatives who have been far more supportive of Israel and religious rights than their liberal counterparts, things are looking very bright for us here now. I say this knowing full well that antisemitism is on the rise here too. But the differences between the US and Europe could not be more stark.
Europe? They can be Judenrein. That’s what Nazi Germany wanted and they can have it as far as I am concerned! Let the exodus begin. Starting with Amsterdam. I’m sure that Israel will be more than happy to let in every single Jewish immigrant from Europe. Starting today.