Among the kinder stereotypical descriptions with which the Jewish people have come to be identified is the myth that "Jews are smarter than others". Although this characterization has proven to be true in various fields of endeavor where, despite being a minority among minorities, Jews have excelled in academia, finance, the arts and science, there is one major aspect in which we have consistently failed to validate that mythical claim; namely, the area of Jewish survival.



Given the unrelenting persecution Jews have suffered through the ages, it should have been a foregone conclusion that after the establishment of the State of Israel - which, with G-d's help, rose phoenix-like from the ashes of the Holocaust - there would be only one response to the slings and arrows of gentile nations: "We owe you no explanation; we will not accept your diktats! We will do what has to be done to defend our Jewish homeland!"



Instead, Israeli governments from the Left and Right invited - no, actually pleaded with - the leaders of such 'good friends' as Germany, France and Great Britain to become involved in helping solve the Arab-Israeli conflict. And lest we forget, it was Israel who pressured the United States to become a "full partner" in the Oslo so-called "peace process" disaster.



Such Jewish myopia has resulted, measure for measure, in the United States now pressuring Israel to reward Yasser Arafat's war of terror with a 'Palestinian state'.



The precarious situation in which Israel finds itself today is due in no small part to its own self-destructive policies, as evidenced by the latest 'clever' decision by Prime Minister Sharon to evacuate Gaza and remove thousands of dedicated courageous Jews from their homes. Nothing, it seems - including the slaughter of more than l,400 Israeli victims and wounding of over 6,000 in Arab terrorist attacks - will deter the former IDF General from trodding the dangerous path of his predecessors in making additional concessions to Israel's implacable Arab enemies.



Further exploding the myth of Jewish intellectual superiority is the incontrovertible fact that five decades after Israel's rebirth, the majority of Jews opt to live in the Diaspora. This, despite the growing tide of anti-Semitism that has once again reared its ugly head, manifesting itself in increasingly virulent attacks upon Jewish communities worldwide (including America, where 'it' could never happen). They remain seemingly oblivious to the danger posed by white supremacists, Muslim fanatics and Mel Gibson's passionate, blood-libel film, preferring to reside with these virulent haters.



How truly wise is the Biblical injunction: "Eyes they have, but see not; ears they have, but hear not"



In the final analysis, history has proven that, notwithstanding the many accomplishments benefiting every nation in which they dwelled, Jews were, at best, tolerated; at worst, annihilated.



Ergo, it is indeed high time for the Jewish people everywhere to really 'smarten up', pick up and pack up; to come home to the Jewish homeland, Eretz Yisrael.