Admittedly, I grew up in the golden age for Jews in America. Anti-Semitism was muted;  Jews were respected for their family values and love of education. In fact in past presidential elections, candidates delved deep into their genetic inheritances to divine a Jewish gene or two.

The existence of the modern state of Israel, a Jewish state but unequivocally also a democracy, gave Jews existential pride, a psychological homeland to which they could move if so desired, and a sense of protection and invincibility.

Globally, Jews stood taller. For those stuck in Jewish-unfriendly geographic locations, rescue if things turned really ugly, was a reality. 

Israel’s creation -  by necessity a warrior state - also morphed from a small agrarian economy to a leader in start-ups, high tech, and constant innovation. Moreover, its commitment to rule of law provides more legal rights for Arab citizens than those given in Arab states.  Specifically, Israel gives property rights to Muslim second wives - a right unheard of on the Arab street where so many women are still viewed as chattel.

As Arab money and Arab propaganda gained traction in Democrat-run inner cities, in the prisons, and the mainstream (legacy) media, Israel’s truth of a progressive society, democracy, and an inherent military ideology of not harming civilian non-combatants,  was muted and ultimately destroyed.   

So, how did it come to pass that Israel is falsely compared to Apartheid South Africa or a "colonizer" and a false moral equivalency between Israelis and Palestinians is bruited about from American universities - especially the ivies?

The distortion of historic truth has been fuelled by superior marketing by the United Nations, which is anti-Semitic and anti-American and by some African-Americans, who were assisted in their civil rights struggle by American Jews, but now feel their oppression is synonymous with that of the Palestinians. It also came from the university woke administrations and professors, along with the stark ignorance of our youth, and the larger population of Muslim converts and immigrants whose mantra is “Kill the Jews.” 

All of the above have either not been educated about history in the area, or deliberately distort it. Some hate the Jews because Israel uncomfortably reminds them of their own failures, as George Gilder noted in his best-seller, The Israel Test.

Prior to Israel’s existence, the entire area was controlled and governed by the U.K.

In 1947, the United Nations presented a plan to divide the land between Jews and Arabs.  The Jewish agency accepted the plan; the Palestinians and Arab countries did not. 

Instead, Arab countries waged war against Israel and told the Palestinians as soon as the war was won, they could take over in Israel. However, the Arabs failed, and Israel against all odds won the war, and no Arab country then and through the present, will absorb the Palestinians. 

Many peace initiatives have been attempted and some have been successful. In 1979, Israel and Egypt signed a peace known as the Camp David Accords. Egypt was the first Arab country to accept Israel’s right to exist.  As a condition, Israel turned over to Egypt the Sinai Peninsula it had captured in 1967.

The Oslo Accords were established in 1993. In return for peace, Israel turned over complete control to the Palestinian Authority (PA) of Gaza in Judea, and Samaria in the West Bank in exchange for peace.

While  this was the road to complete autonomy for the Palestinians, they violated the agreement by heightened acts of terrorism through a renewed intifada.

In 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty that ended 46 years of warfare.  As with Egypt, this agreement has been respected and endured. 

Israel, in year 2000, under a Camp David Peace Plan, offered much of Judea and Samaria and 100% of Gaza to the Palestinians for peace. The Palestinian Authority's response was the Second Intifada that killed hundreds and injured thousands of Israelis.

Incredibly, in 2008, Israel offered 98% of Judea and Samaria for peace (which was extremely risky to Israel) but again the PA refused. 

Thus, the Palestinians have rejected four peace offerings while Jordan and Egypt gladly accepted peace treaties and have respected  them.     

Against these truths, and the unspeakable atrocities Hamas and some Palestinians  have  heaped  on Israel, there is stunning, overt and increasing anti-Israel, anti-Semitic craven hatred towards Jews  openly expressed in America, never before experienced.  Some  Americans gleefully condone the terror and bestial violence we have just witnessed by Hamas in Israel. They, too, want Israel eliminated. 

They are unchecked. So could a Nazi Germany happen here? 

It’s hard out there for a Jew.

Image: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, via Picryl // public domain