Europe, save your Jews!

On the 15th of March 2016, more than 100 parliamentarians from nearly 40 countries have met at the Bundestag in Berlin for the third annual conference of the Parliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism. Please note, third. Not seventy-first, but third. Despite, or maybe because of the terrible crimes committed by national –socialists during the WWII, for a long time nobody deemed it necessary to convene. Not because there haven’t been odd anti-Semitic attacks here and there in Europe, but because on the whole, most Jewish people felt safe. The times, they are a-changing. Once again this hydra raises it’s ugly head and this should make us sit up and think.

Whether you are Jewish or not, there has been a trend that a person well versed in history cannot help but noticing. When a country has a crisis, people begin to look for a scapegoat. Pointing fingers in the direction of Jews has a history, which no one can deny. State bankruptcies, religious fanaticism, pandemics and epidemics, all of those have been used as reasons to expel and eradicate Jews in the past. Eradicate, no less.

But the trend is not limited to Jews alone. Thinking oh, well, this doesn’t concern me, is false security. The problem with a scapegoat is: when it is gone, the problem stays and more often than not turns into a civil war. All indications point to the development of such a problem.

In Berlin alone, the latest statistics from the Research and Information on Anti-Semitism organization showed that there were 34% more anti-Semitic incidents in 2015 than in the previous year. Most such crimes were attributable to far-right perpetrators, but there is an increasing concern about attitudes that new refugees have brought with them.

Today's situation of the Jews in the whole of Europe, was highlighted by Fringing Timmermans, the first vice president of the European Commission, during the conference. All over Europe, Jewish children left public schools because they felt harassed. Teachers would not dare to teach about Holocaust. Synagogues have to be heavily guarded and schoolboys have to cover their kippas under the baseball cap, so that they are not attacked on the streets. „This cannot be our Europe“, stressed the former foreign minister of the Netherlands.

Angela Merkel enters the stage. The person that single-handedly brought around two million reasons to be afraid to Germany. How must it feel, to withstand the questioning glances of so many people, fully aware at this moment that you have no answers? I hope I will never find out. But she stood her ground. More than that: she had the chutzpa to fold her hands in her typical Merkel – mudra and started chanting her usual mantra.

„The fight of the anti-Semitism is a very important subject …blah… anti-Semitism is present „unfortunately, in today's everyday life“ …blah blah ... „We shall never resign ourselves to it“ blah blah blah…

I would have preferred to hear what this means in real terms. And so I listened to the speech of the President of the Bundestag Prof. Dr. Norbert Lammert. Another well-tuned performance. More of the lukewarm utterances a la “Nothing has to do with nothing”. “There is no causal connection between the influx of Moslem refugees, who are principally against the sheer existence of Israel and the anti-Semitism. However, there are connections which I don’t recommend to either overlook, or to attach premature judgements to“, he said.

Oh-kaaay…There’s a zillion things in the world that I don’t understand. But I recognize rhetoric, consisting of dense unilateral speeches, delivered to the exclusion of alternative perspectives, any time.

Come on, give us something – you can practically see this thought forming on the faces of completely puzzled conference participants. Here it comes: “There is a wide consensus within the political class of Germany that refugees should be integrated with reference to the basic law. Whoever comes to Germany, will have to respect it. The postulate, that Germans wish to live in peace with all the people, is an integral part of this law. This is not a choice of matter for anyone here. Whoever wants to live in Germany, must recognise the right for existence of Israel must. „Anti-Semites cannot be integrated“.

Wonderful! Strong and inspiring. Let’s clap our hands in appreciation and hail the good intentions of the German government, who cannot even agree to disagree on anything these days. Just how are they going to enforce these intentions is not clear to anyone, but Lammert is getting standing ovations.

In the meantime the Jews in Malmö, Marais and Jodenbuurt are packing their bags for Israel. To those who sneer at their backs and say :”Good riddance!”, I can only say:- “Don’t be silly; save your Jews. All indications are, that when they are gone – you are next.”