Jews in Europe past their expiration date
“Call it the yogurt’s-expiration-date syndrome”
There is no future left for Jewish communities in Europe.
That’s the inescapable conclusion of You Only Live Twice by Michel Gurfinkiel in Mosaic Magazine.
The lengthy article is a long trip down the death during World War II and then rebirth of Jewish communities in Europe, and how that rebirth is being snuffed out by renewed anti-Semitism from multiple directions, particularly leftist demonization of Israel and Islamist anti-Semitism.
This Leftist-Islamist coalition, centered around hatred of Israel, is a topic we’ve explored here many times in connection with anti-Semitism in Malmö, Sweden, on British campuses, in the BDS movement, in the academic boycott movement, among other places.
The fact is that while intellectually one can distinguish anti-Israeli fervor from anti-Semitism, in reality, on the streets of Malmö and Paris, and elsewhere in Europe, they are one and the same.
Gurfinkiel writes:
To the degree that Israel’s popularity had been an important factor in Europe’s postwar embrace of its Jews, the growing rejection of Israel undermined the Jewish image and standing. According to a 2011 study on “intolerance, prejudice, and discrimination in Europe” by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (linked to Germany’s Social Democratic party), 63 percent of Poles and 48 percent of Germans believe that Israel is conducting a genocidal war against the Palestinians aimed at their “obliteration.” The same study found 55 percent of Poles, 41 percent of Dutch, 37 percent of British, and 37 percent of Germans in agreement with the following statement: “Considering Israel’s policy, I can understand why people do not like Jews.”
It’s also no surprise that it is in Muslim communities in Europe that a Jew must be afraid to wear a yarmulke in public for fear of physical attack. Gurfinkiel:
As for Muslim anti-Semitism, it has been intimately connected with classic European anti-Semitism for more than a century, and has massively borrowed the latter’s doctrines and tropes, from the blood libel to Holocaust denial to the crazed conspiracy-mongering of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The two brands share a common language, and each sees in the other a mirror image of itself. Much money has also circulated between them. Just as fascist and Nazi funds helped Arab and Iranian anti-Jewish activists in the past, so Arab and Iranian money has been lavished on all stripes of European anti-Semites in our time….
The sad fact is that many European Muslims subscribe to the unreconstructed forms of anti-Semitism that are prevalent in the Muslim world at large, and are impervious to any kind of Holocaust-related education. In today’s Europe, hard-core anti-Jewish and anti-Israel activity, from harassment in the street or at school to arson and murder, is mostly the doing of Muslims.
Strategic accusations of “Islamophobia,” however, stymie frank and honest discussion of the anti-Semitism that pervades Muslim communities in Europe..
Gurinkiel’s conclusion is that between Jewish life in Europe may have reached its “expiration date.” He starts and ends the article with that concept:
“Call it the yogurt’s-expiration-date syndrome,” an elderly, Moroccan-born Frenchman recently said to me. He elaborated:
Right after Morocco won its independence from France in 1956, my family joined the country’s ruling elite. My father, a close friend of King Mohammed V, had access to everybody in the government. It went on like that for two or three years. Then one day, out of the blue, Father told us we were leaving. We children asked why. “We’ve passed the yogurt’s expiration date,” he said. “We have no future in Morocco; as long as we’re free to go, we must go.” So we left, leaving behind most of our money and belongings. Ever since then, wherever I’ve lived, I’ve been on the lookout for the yogurt’s expiration date. In France, I think it’s close.
* * *
Can it really be that European Jewry was reborn after the Holocaust only in order to die again? Can it be that, even as Jews, you only live twice? History, of course, is unpredictable except in retrospect. But it would be irresponsible in the extreme to brush off the possibility of demise; “unthinkable” is no longer a word in the Jewish vocabulary. The sober assessment of Robert Wistrich, the instincts of Samuel Sandler and so many other European Jews—these rest on firm foundations. The expiration date looms nearer, however slowly and by whatever intermediate stages it may finally arrive.
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Comments
Many willfully overlook the fact that most Jews ignored the fact that people were coming to put them into the ovens.
For every Bielski brother or member of the underground there were tens of thousands who bought the propaganda hook line and sinker. Even when the evidence was so overwhelming, they simply said, “they can’t kill all of us.”
Those who don’t learn from history, repeat it. Israel means it when they say never again. The rest of civilization, not so much.
If Israel meant “never again” they would not be making such idiotic moves as land for peace from the Six Day War onward.
God works in strange ways. I’m always surprised to learn that Europe still holds Jewish communities! When they’ve had such a spiteful influx of muslims.
Europe’s smaller than us. And, their muslim communities are overwhelming them, now. Add to this the ease of receiving welfare. The burdensome taxes needed to run socialistic models. And, the BRAIN DRAIN!
Mossaic is one of the sites I’ve bookmarked. There articles are always interesting.
Give them Detroit. Imagine what Detroit would look like in one generation if, instead of the current demographic, it was 95% Jewish.
Yeah, I know that “current demographic” might be construed as racist. But, be clear on this, it means what it says it means.
Jews in Europe past their expiration date
Speaking of, how about Jews in the U.S.A.?
“Jonathan Pollard, who has been imprisoned in the United States for the last 28 years for spying for Israel”. WHY IS Jonathan Pollard STILL IN A U.S. Prison ?! Totally Asinine Isn’t It !?
http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2013/08/pollard-blasts-israeli-government-over.html
WE (the USA) free terrorists, rapists, murderers AND we elect such scum, here’s looking at you Filner, political shysters of all stripes, in fact, one is the “leader” of this nation, et al.
Why is Pollard still in prison, in the U.S.A. !?
Johnathan Pollard is still in prison because the Israeli government has not yet made a good enough offer for his release. He’s a bargaining chip, nothing more.
The U.S. Government deemed Pollard the most damaging spy in U.S. history. That’s why he’s still in prison. He should have been executed.
The fact that Israel nevertheless keeps trying to free Pollard gives pause to many of us Americans as to support for Israel.
Then there’s the unexplained reason for Israel’s attack on the U.S.S. Liberty.
The U.S. Government deemed Pollard the most damaging spy in U.S. history.
And that is ridiculous. It can only be motivated by antisemitism.
Then there’s the unexplained reason for Israel’s attack on the U.S.S. Liberty.
There’s no mystery there; the IAF didn’t know it was an American ship. As soon as the pilots saw the US flag they stopped the attack. The mystery, if any, is what Liberty was doing there in the first place.
I think if I were Jewish and living in the European Union I would either immigrate to Israel as quickly as possible or buy weapons for self-defense regardless of the laws. To live in the European Union is just another method of suicide for the Jewish community.
The New Platinum Islamophobia Card …
0% introductory APR on guilt balance transfers and new purchases of anti-Semitic acts until Islamist dominance in Europe.
After that, your APR will be 100%.
God is laughing and planning His revenge on Europe. The Europeans were all too happy to get rid of their Jews; too educated, too intelligent, too driven to succeed, too artsy, too competitive. too successful.
After the war, with a shortage of men and no Jewish commerce to help revive the continent, the Europeans imported Turks, Algerians, Moroccans to do the backbreaking work needed to rebuild a war-torn continent. But these Muslims brought no western culture, no science, no education with them; just a donkey, ox and camel coolie labor force. Now the continentals have to contend with the poison that is Islam.
They didn’t want Jews? Now look at what they’ve got! Subhuman vermin bowing to allah in the streets, child brides, honor killings and raping of the nominally Christian female population.
Who says God doesn’t have a vengeful humorous side? As a son of holocaust survivors, born in Berlin after the war, I sit back in grim satisfaction and contemplation.
The opportunities the surviving Jews had after the war was indeed short-lived. The young Jews must get out, the old, who can, retire out. Looking back at history, many Jews complained to Moses about leaving ancient Egypt, too. They died in the desert. The Jews who won’t leave Europe will die in the upcoming Euro-desert, too.
After all, Jews never believed in a second coming. Why believe in a lasting second lasting future for Jews in Europe?
You know, after watching the Military channel, or one of them, today, I got to thinking. Why did all the plots to kill Hitler fail? In 25 years or so, there was always some slight thing that would foil a plot. Why would God let Hitler live and 6,000,000+ people die? I don’t know. I do know that God does what He does for us. We see in part, know in part, and understand His ways little.
God works through history to achieve His aims; He would not stop the Holocaust, but He would use it as a vehicle to fulfill His prophecy of bringing all His people home from all the ends of the earth so they can make the desert bloom again. They stand as testament that He is God and He alone. Perhaps He also used the Holocaust as a judgment against Europe. Mene, mene, tekel upharsin….
Whatever happens, we have this consolation: God has promised to leave a remnant. IOW, there will never be a time in human history when there are no Jews. So, let the Muslims and the Europeans do their worst. God will do what He will do, and that is all that matters.
What I would like to see though is more Jews and Jewish scholarship reminding Christians from whence we came, teaching the Jewish foundation of Christianity, showing the essentially Jewish nature of the NT teachings. There may be 1.5b Muslims in the world but the numbers of Christians are like the numbers of the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore innumerable. Instead of Jews and Judaism distancing itself from Christians (yes, the history has been lamentable on our part) and Christianity, the key to turning Europe and the rest is asserting the Judaic nature of Christianity.
Why? It’s high time Jews pulled on that common thread to remind folks of whence they came and in what tradition they stood. That chain, that tie that binds is a powerful one. How can you be anti-Semitic when your foundation is Judaism and you’re not a socialist, a communist, or a Democrat?
Read A Divine Madness by Rabbi Avigdor Miller to really understand the holocaust and why it made sense and what it means for the future.
Will do. It’s incomprehensible why so many attempts to kill Hitler failed so the Holocaust could go forward.
Since the left has now alied themselves with radical islam, and opposes christians, the jews should ally with christians against the left. Instead most jews still cling to the left, who now hate them due the the lefts aliance with raqdical islam. Yes old time christians used to disparage Jews, but now they are quite prepared to embrace them, against the left and radical islam.
Mckyam, someone said that even more pithily. It’s so good that I’d feel guilty stealing it, but I can’t recall who first said it. If anyone knows, please post.
“Europe used to have a minority group that was basically creative, hardworking, and law-abiding. They killed it.Now Europe has the minority it deserves.”
In one of Herman Wouk’s books he centers his story on a Jewish old man, with a young niece. She doesn’t know about the Holocaust. While they’re living through it. He does know. And, he wants to keep his niece from finding out.
You need to look at the period of time.
Penicillin, as I’ve said, was developed in WW2 to combat wound infections. (Most soldiers died from the infections.)
Radar’s development had been ignored in England. But not in Germany. So the British had to “fly blind.” This limited the range of their RAF pilots.
It also meant that unil mid to end of 1943, Germany had the advantages of Radar, that was lacking among the allies. (And, I’m not sure, but I think adding American know how is what advanced radar, and other weapons, technologies.
So, why stuff on paper looks simple. And, your fingers can dance over a map. Think of what it was like to fly over hostile country side … where the Germans had the artillery. And, you can begin to understand WHY the Germans, on purpose put their concentration camps FAR IN BACK OF THEIR LINES. Sure. They were prepared to see American and British airmen “coming to get at those positions” … but with what?
You know, of course, there were more valuable targets. From Holland, to Italy. Where you had to concentrate air power before DDay 1944. Which was the landing date on the Western Front, entering the “continent.”
There are so many stories! Take TANKS. They’re brought into Europe at the (6, I think), landing beaches. The Germans were well dug in. And, the tanks ran into a problem. They couldn’t get over the BERMS. (Entangled roots and foliage once you climbed the peaks.) An enlisted American. A farm boy. Saw a way out. And, on his own he (and others), added “spokes” … or iron bars … to the front of some tanks … which climbed up into position. DUG IN. And, tossed the BERMS away like “debris.” And, then? EYES POPPED OUT GERMAN HEADS! The germans couldn’t believe the numbers of trucks that were landing!
Did you know the stream of trucks were so constant … the went single file … from the beach to the Rhine … without gaps!
Was the fighting in Germany intense? YES!
And, if it wasn’t for Stalin, and the Eastern Front … chewing up hitler’s brigades … we wouldn’t have been successful!
Wars ar a terrible thing.
Europeans got to see it first hand. (Even those that were so happy to put Jews on trains didn’t get to “enjoy” that bounty. Or whatever benefits they thought they could steal from the departing Jews.)
“Radar’s development had been ignored in England”
Are you out of your mind?
The entire South-East coast of the UK was wall to wall radar towers from the beginning of the war. It was what allowed the RAF to direct their fighters to an interception point rather than loiter aimlessly waiting for the German to arrive.
The Germans were well aware of the importance of the towers, but their lattice construction made them extremely difficult to put out of action by bombing.
Please post facts, not garbage. Thank you.
Most of Europe wasn’t all that uncomfortable with antisemitism before Hitler. The differences between states ranged from the actively hostile and repressive to the milder mere social ostracism. Jews didn’t live in clusters just to be close to the synagogue.
So it was the postwar accomodation and attempts at reconciliation that were the anomalies in the historical sense. As the WWII generation dies out, the collective guilt is disappearing and with it the pro-Israel attitudes and acceptance of Jewish populations.
As others point out, Europe is replacing its Jews and much what would normally be its own younger generations with immigrant muslims without skills or education, most of whom end up on the public dole for welfare, housing, and food. There are already vast sections in and near major cities in France and the UK that are essentially “no go” areas for police, and some have separate local muslim-dominated fire and EMS services because natives get attacked.
Between Europe and the Jews, I’ll bet on the Jews. But not IN Europe . . .
I have a theory…
Money = Power = Oil Rich Middle East = Political Clout = EU & UN Turning Against The Jews
thus…
Unleashed Oil Fracking = Turning Off The $$$ Spigot To The Middle East = Loss Of Political Clout = EU & UN Turning Away From The Middle East Agendas
Correct, which is why the left oposing fracking, since they are now alied with the islamists.
The idea of those cats describing Israeli policy as “genocide” toward the Palestinians considering their own history complicit in the real thing is really all you need know about liberal Europe in the 21st century.
Muslims, once Europe is Judenrein, you’re next, for Europe needs a scapegoat.
Whoa, whoa whoa. As a Jew living in Ireland, let’s not haul out the broad brush for tarring Europe. First of all, the British Isles are still a world apart from the mainland. Do France and Sweden have a Muslim problem? You betcha. You couldn’t PAY me to go to Malmo. But not every European city is that far down the proverbial loo. My husband and boys travel the British Isles freely in yarmulkes and tzitzis. A little jeering from “yobs”? Yes – two incidents, since we moved here two yrs ago. A more likely meeting involves just friendly questions about a people most Irish have read about, but never met. The Protestant neighbourhoods in Northern Ireland are positively philosemetic and philo-Zionist, flying the Israeli flag alongside the Union Jack. Let’s be clear about who our friends are – and on this side of the pond, Jews (and Americans) still have plenty of friends.
You are correct, christians, including catholics, are now your natural allies, the enemies of the jews are now all on the left, as the left has allied themselves with radical islam.
If Europeans aren’t just outright anti-semitic, they are definitely being taught to be. When I was last in England (many, many years ago) there was a round of bombings in Israel with many Israeli deaths (14 if memory serves me), and subsequent IDF actions that resulted in a few Palestinian deaths (2 or 3).
The BBCs coverage of the events was blatantly pro-Palestinian/anti-Israeli. Reports on the bombings were quick (10-15 seconds), void of emotion, and showed a lot of emergency vehicles. Reports on the Palestinian deaths were easily 60+ seconds, reported with melodramatic sadness, showed crying women and children, and flag draped coffins. It was all very emotional.
Being subjected to this consistent and repeated propaganda, it is easy to understand why Britain and Europe are the way they are.
Agreed, the BBC is pretty slanted against Israel. So is the Guardian, the Irish Times and RTE. But like America, there are outlets in the media for other points of view as well. Good newspapers include the Daily Express, the Telegraph (most times) and the (London) Times (a Murdoch paper – horrors!); a great Irish pundit to follow is Kevin Myers (I think he just went to the Sunday Times) and on Irish radio there’s Marc Coleman.
I’m not saying that there isn’t anti-Semitism in Europe. There definitely is. But it’s also important not to fight the last war, and to support our allies where they exist.
“renewed anti-Semitism from multiple directions, particularly leftist demonization of Israel and Islamist anti-Semitism.
This Leftist-Islamist coalition, centered around hatred of Israel”
So if the left are now allied with the Islamists to destroy Israel and the Jews, why are so many Jews stupid enough to ally themselves with the left. Its as if they have a death wish. The entire Jewish community in the world, and especially the Jews in the USA, should be giving a single unified ultimatum to the left, either dump your aliance with the radical islamists, or do without the Jews, and then if the left does not listen, join the conservatives as a block. It will probably intensify leftist hatred of the jews, but does it really matter whether somebody hates you enough to want to kill you, or merely hates you enough to ally themselves with people who want to kill you, either way you end up dead. But at least by turning on the left, you are now fighting against the people that want to kill you, and not fighting for them. And if your defection causes the left to be defeated, the left might even change their attitudes to win you back.
[…] Professor Jacobson of Cornell Law School seems to think so. Here is part of his in-depth analysis of the potential survival of Jewish communities in Europe: […]