Among the fondest myths held by American Jews, perhaps the most treasured and sacrosanct is their belief that a Holocaust could never happen in the United States. Anyone who dares to broach the subject is more than likely to elict the defiant response, "America is not Germany; it is a multicultural society based on tolerance for all ethnic minorities".
So firm is the conviction of these ?I-am-an-American-first? diehards that they often dismiss increasingly overt violent anti-Semitic attacks - such as the shooting of Jews by members of white supremacist groups, the abundance of Swastikas and hate messages, as well as the firebombing of synagogues and Jewish centers throughout the country - as ?mere fringe elements who do not represent mainstream Americans.?
One hardly knows whether to bitterly laugh or cry at such a myopic assessment; for the America of today is surely not the goldene medina (golden land) of yesteryear.
The advent of the civil rights struggle and subsequent affirmative action legislation in the l960s brought an ill wind of change to the United States, giving rise to White Power movements seeking to ?put Blacks in their place? and punish Jews, who supported Black liberation. These hate groups quickly began to attract White supremacists and basically follow Hitler's Nazi ideology. They seek to establish an Aryan society and scapegoat both Blacks and Jews for America's economic, racial and social problems.
Although on the surface America is perceived to be a tolerant society, many non-Jews perceive Jews as ?having too much influence, too much money, and too much power.? Ironically, while Holocaust Awareness is being taught in school curricula in the United States and presented in the media, many not-so-genteel gentiles, who simultaneously by and large support the palestinian uprising, openly express the view that ?Jews deserved the Holocaust.? It is they who are joining militant hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the American Nazi party, the National Alliance and anti-government militias ? and they are doing so at a frightening rate.
Tragically, American Jewish spiritual and organizational leaders have been reluctant to come to grips with this growing danger and to plan for immediate emigration to Israel. Despite the bitter lessons of the Holocaust, they desperately continue to cling to the well-worn clich?: ?It cannot happen here.?
As the State of Israel commemorates Yom HaShoah VeHaGvurah, the words of a survivor of Auschwitz sound an ominous message, to which world Jewry, and American Jews in particular, would do well to pay attention:
?Once the world does it to us, shame on them; Twice, shame on us.?
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Shifra Hoffman, a noted journalist, is founder of the Victims of Arab Terror International Organization (VAT) and Executive Director of SHUVA (Return), the Israel Emergency Aliyah Movement. She can be contacted at hoffmanshifra@hotmail.com.
So firm is the conviction of these ?I-am-an-American-first? diehards that they often dismiss increasingly overt violent anti-Semitic attacks - such as the shooting of Jews by members of white supremacist groups, the abundance of Swastikas and hate messages, as well as the firebombing of synagogues and Jewish centers throughout the country - as ?mere fringe elements who do not represent mainstream Americans.?
One hardly knows whether to bitterly laugh or cry at such a myopic assessment; for the America of today is surely not the goldene medina (golden land) of yesteryear.
The advent of the civil rights struggle and subsequent affirmative action legislation in the l960s brought an ill wind of change to the United States, giving rise to White Power movements seeking to ?put Blacks in their place? and punish Jews, who supported Black liberation. These hate groups quickly began to attract White supremacists and basically follow Hitler's Nazi ideology. They seek to establish an Aryan society and scapegoat both Blacks and Jews for America's economic, racial and social problems.
Although on the surface America is perceived to be a tolerant society, many non-Jews perceive Jews as ?having too much influence, too much money, and too much power.? Ironically, while Holocaust Awareness is being taught in school curricula in the United States and presented in the media, many not-so-genteel gentiles, who simultaneously by and large support the palestinian uprising, openly express the view that ?Jews deserved the Holocaust.? It is they who are joining militant hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the American Nazi party, the National Alliance and anti-government militias ? and they are doing so at a frightening rate.
Tragically, American Jewish spiritual and organizational leaders have been reluctant to come to grips with this growing danger and to plan for immediate emigration to Israel. Despite the bitter lessons of the Holocaust, they desperately continue to cling to the well-worn clich?: ?It cannot happen here.?
As the State of Israel commemorates Yom HaShoah VeHaGvurah, the words of a survivor of Auschwitz sound an ominous message, to which world Jewry, and American Jews in particular, would do well to pay attention:
?Once the world does it to us, shame on them; Twice, shame on us.?
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Shifra Hoffman, a noted journalist, is founder of the Victims of Arab Terror International Organization (VAT) and Executive Director of SHUVA (Return), the Israel Emergency Aliyah Movement. She can be contacted at hoffmanshifra@hotmail.com.