Should Jews fight their country’s antisemitism or move to Israel?
With convincing arguments on both sides, it’s hard to know what to do. Some would say that allowing the haters to intimidate Jews, to the point where they feel that their only option is to flee their countries of birth, is to give them a clear win.
While that’s true, others might say that if your kids can’t walk to and from school or take public transportation, without being harassed or beaten up, there is no viable future for them there.
Especially hard for observant Jews, whose identity is obvious, they are forced to weigh up whether they’re prepared to hide who they are for the sake of their survival.
This is the real dilemma facing Jews from Western countries, such as the U.S., Europe, Australia and Canada who are in a daily battle, not only outside of their neighborhoods, but even where they live.
Take the most recent case of the northern London suburb of Golders Green, where half of whose residents are Jewish. It was only a week ago that a crazed man, wielding a knife, stabbed two Jews before being apprehended by unarmed police officers. With the help of a neighborhood volunteer watch group called, “Shomrim,” (translated as “guards”) the perpetrator was tazed and neutralized, but not without first putting up a fight.
It was just a few short weeks, prior to that attack, that four ambulances belonging to Hatzalah, a volunteer Jewish-owned company, dedicated to saving Jewish lives, were torched in that same Golders Green area, causing the evacuation of 34 people from nearby homes.
All of the suspects appear to be Muslim UK residents, who have taken up a systematic campaign, to send the unmistakable message that Jews are not wanted in the country that they now control.
But this is not unique only to the U.K. Ron Dekel, President of the Jewish Students’ Union of Germany (JSUD) at a German university, also acknowledges that “Antisemitism is ‘everywhere’ in German universities.”
Followed around by vicious antisemites, shouting profanity-laced threats, he, too, has, undoubtedly, had to consider whether there is a future for Jews, in the country which, following the Holocaust, enacted strict laws forbidding the expression of antisemitism. Classifying it as hate speech, incitement of hatred, insulting or degrading Jewish people became a criminal offense, punishable by up to five years in prison.
But the local Muslim migrant population doesn’t honor those laws. Instead, they flagrantly resort to the type of harassment and physical beatings that are meant to frighten people to leave. Making matters worse, a Berlin court proceeding determined that a “Jewish man, nearly beaten to death, was not the result of an antisemitic incident.”
Such judgments leave Jews vulnerable, knowing that if they can somehow muster the courage to seek justice for the wrongs they have suffered, they will not necessarily receive it from biased judges who have, cowardly, taken the side of the Jew-haters.
Given what Dekel calls a “resurgence of traditional medieval-style antisemitism in Germany,” why would anyone think that they can win a battle that is already stacked against them?
Despite the ominous forecast, “there is a growing movement of young Jewish students in Germany, who are not letting antisemitic protesters and people take their space away.” Their intent is to continue to appear “visibly Jewish in public.”
While Dekel affirms his belief “in a future for Jews in Germany and Europe, stating that it has to be fought for, not everyone has that same kind of gumption and fearlessness, especially if they are elderly, women or children.
A similar situation is taking place in Norway where Joel Ystebo, member of the Norwegian Parliament for the Christian Democratic Party frankly stated, “I’m seriously worried about the situation for Jews in Norway and especially in Oslo right now.”
Ystebo believes a “higher acceptance for antisemitic behavior” is a contributing factor, saying “the situation is pretty serious.” One example of that is the shocking recent statement by a professor at a leading Norwegian university who called the Oct. 7 attack, “the most beautiful thing that happened this century.”
Although funds have been allotted to protect the Norwegian Jewish community, Ystebo says it’s not enough. Consequently, Norwegian Jews are, likewise, considering leaving Norway.
It’s no surprise that Aliyah from countries such as Canada, France, the U.S. and Europe are at an all time high. These are the places where Jews are experiencing the greatest threats and attacks by fearless Muslim migrant populations, who think that they can succeed in creating Jew-free countries.
And when laws are disregarded by leaders and lawmakers, who fear their own constituency, that’s exactly the end result. Sadly, they have sold out to the bullies who are sending a loud message that they are now in charge, making the decision as to which populations need to be pushed out.
How long will it be before they are also able to intimidate Christians to leave, because they’re next on the list. Eventually, they will have effectively been able to recreate their Muslim caliphate throughout every Western country, which, apparently, was always their goal.
So, as the threat level of countries is raised to “severe,” as just recently happened in the U.K., one can only imagine that Jews feel like sitting ducks, waiting for the next attack to take place, since they are the likely victims who will be on the receiving end.
When such a perilous situation exists, who would be willing to stay and fight against the ignorance, intolerance and downright hatred which is only gaining more momentum by the day? Perhaps if Jews felt encouraged by their leaders, promising to do whatever it takes to protect and preserve their Jewish communities, they might be up to the fight.
But even if that were to happen, you can’t change the minds of haters who are just too invested in a narrative where Jews are the perpetrators of genocide. Facts are meaningless to them.
Feeling virtuous as they shout outrageous accusations, such as “baby-killers” it provides them with the missing purpose and meaning their lives lack. How do you remedy that?
If weak politicians and leaders continue to capitulate to the extreme Muslim populations in their countries, fighting will cease to be an issue altogether, because fleeing will be the only option left for their Jewish citizens who are simply not being adequately protected.
A former Jerusalem elementary and middle-school principal who made Aliyah in 1993 and became a member of Kibbutz Reim but now lives in the center of the country with her husband. She is the author of Mistake-Proof Parenting, based on the principles from the book of Proverbs - available on Amazon.
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