Coming out

Nonetheless, the answer to this question was already given in the early years of the rebirth of the Jewish state by Prime Minister Golda Meir: “The war will end when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us.”

In the new country

In memory of the great daughter of the Jewish people, an award was established by the World Zionist Organization, founded at the initiative of Theodor Herzl in 1897 in Basel, Switzerland. The main task of the organization was the revival of the Jewish state in Palestine.

This year, among the awardees were American activists, immigrants from post-Soviet states. Rachel Friedland, after her husband’s death, was left with four small children. Life on social welfare was not her destiny. She graduated from law school, leads a city department in Florida, and actively participates in the life of the Jewish community. When her family learned that Rachel had to travel to Brooklyn to receive the award, the reaction was: “No way, it’s dangerous, you have children!” – this is about the new life in the capital of Jewish life in America. Rachel assured that despite all difficulties, she would fight for a free and safe life for Jews in America.

New York Assembly member Inna Vernikova (R.) shared that in her line of duty, she often has to hear “terrorist”, “child murderer”, “war arsonist”, and everything else of this kind. In response to threats, she bought a Smith & Wesson and brought it to a pro-Palestinian demonstration. She was arrested, appeared in court, but was acquitted – something was wrong with the pistol. “Jews in New York are witnessing an unprecedented rise in hate and violence… I remain a fearless fighter against anti-Semitism,” declared Vernikova.

Among the participants of the meeting were Jewish veterans of World War II. On the jacket of the president of the War Veterans Association, Leonid Rosenberg, there were more than 30 combat awards. He is 102 years old, but he retains the memory of the fight against fascism and is confident in victory in new challenges. We sat next to Dmitry Lokontsov, a colonel of the medical service. At 16, having added years to his age, he voluntarily went to the front, went through the war as a soldier, was severely wounded, then studied at an institute and became an army surgeon. He also survived the “Doctors’ Plot – killers in white coats” – a monstrous anti-Semitic campaign of Stalin’s time.

Today, the past has merged with the present. Much reminds of the struggle against Zionism, raised to a priority of national policy in the Soviet Union. I recently saw on the internet footage from Soviet patriotic films – the wide working masses condemn Zionism, orators in hysteria, the crowd indignant. For newspapers, radio, television, this was the main theme, the cultural elite, scientists, and professors unanimously supported the party line. Jews were expected to publicly condemn Israel and welcome the activities of the Anti-Zionist Committee, headed by General-Colonel, twice Hero of the USSR David Abramovich Dragunsky.

Today in America, the fight against Zionism encompasses the upper and lower strata, intellectuals and the unintelligent, rich and poor. Of course, this is not the Soviet era, but painful associations arise.

American politics are perceived in the country and the world as pro-Israel, the government has provided military and financial assistance to the Jewish state since its inception. But, as presidents of American universities say today, everything depends on the context.

And the context is this: own interests, as understood by the White House, the State Department, and the Pentagon, entirely determine the US’s international relations. During the Cold War, America’s main task in the Middle East was to counter the influence of the Soviet Union. After the collapse of socialism, Islamic radicalism became a serious problem for America. Hamas and Hezbollah are the same as Al-Qaeda, ISIS, the Taliban, Boko Haram, Jihad, and the Houthis – branches of radical Islam, for which Israel is the lesser Satan, and America the greater.

In recent years, the influence of Russia and China in the Middle East has sharply increased, and just like during the Cold War, America cannot lose its position in the region.

Israel is the only reliable ally of America in the Middle East, and assistance to it is determined not by abstract notions of justice, but by geopolitical reality. Realpolitik dictated aid to Iraq in the war with Iran, the mujahideen in the war with the USSR, the military junta that overthrew the democratic government in Chile, friendship with dictators and autocrats, “if they are our scoundrels.” Biden loves Israel and Jews no more than Nixon and Obama, but strategic interests are more important than emotions and PR.

After September 11, the US spent over 6 trillion dollars in the fight against terrorism. As a result of military actions, about one million people died, and about 40 million became refugees. America suffered not only financial but also colossal political losses. Against this background, “aid to Israel” is an exceptionally profitable investment. It should be taken into account that America also helps the Palestinians, with funds from American taxpayers going into the hands of Hamas. Under new agreements with America, Iran will receive 150 billion dollars, enabling it to further strengthen support for forces hostile to Israel. The White House’s demands for a ceasefire, concern for civilians, allow Hamas to remain in power, armed and with financial resources.

In the current war, Hamas’s main weapon is civilians, and terrorists successfully manipulate global public opinion. Few remember that carpet bombing and nuclear weapons were used in the fight against fascism, and no one talked about restraint and innocent babies; military actions stopped only after Germany’s complete surrender. Germany lost significant territories, about 14 million Germans were expelled, and to this day, no one demands their return and compensation. Germany was divided and lived for decades under the military control of the anti-fascist coalition.

Over the years, while Israel has been fighting for its existence, tens of millions have died in civil and interstate wars, including Muslims and Africans, but the UN and peacemakers around the world are primarily concerned with the Palestinians. At the same time, they were expelled from neighboring countries where they found refuge, and today the borders of Gaza are closed to refugees. But Israel is expected to sympathize with those who seek its destruction. Today, 75% of Palestinians support Hamas.

After September 7, there was rejoicing in many regions of the world, and in Europe and America, public indignation against Israel is expressed more broadly than against Al-Qaeda after September 11. No postwar military conflict has been covered as tendentiously and intensively as the war in Gaza, and it’s no wonder that in global public opinion, sympathies are not on the side of Israel.

In America, liberal media, universities, creative associations, charitable foundations, and various celebrities are at the forefront of critics of Israel. Ethnic and sexual minorities, about whom Jews so cared, mostly support the Palestinians. According to recent polls, 66% of Americans aged 18-24 recognize Hamas’s October 7 attack as genocide but believe it is justified.

The new reality has become a moment of truth, a wake-up call for American Jews. But many Jewish organizations, reform synagogues, politicians, and journalists maintain utopian beliefs that enlightenment and good deeds can change the situation. Soros’s money still subsidizes opponents of Israel. At the very beginning of Israel’s response to the Hamas attack, Bernie Sanders published an article in The New York Times, “Palestinians Must Have Hope for a Better Future” – but there’s no talk from the author about the need to get rid of Hamas. Thomas Friedman gives advice in The New York Times: “Please, Israel, don’t get lost in Hamas’s tunnels”. His advice – “Do nothing”, hoping that global public opinion will shame the terrorists. How would America react if such advice followed September 11?

It’s hard to argue with the conclusions of a persuasive publication in Tablet magazine: “American Jews need to stop being naive about politics.”

From Pandora’s Box

About 20 years ago, I attended a meeting with the famous playwright Tony Kushner, where he was receiving another award. I was interested not so much in his theatrical work as in his support of the Palestinians in the conflict with Israel. Interestingly, how does he, an open gay, imagine living in an environment where homosexuality is punishable by death? Kushner is the compiler, editor, and author of “Wrestling with Zion – Progressive Jewish-American Responses to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” along with fifty like-minded people, including Arthur Miller, Susan Sontag, Jonathan Safran Foer, and other celebrities. He condemns Israel and defends the Palestinians.

In a booklet distributed to those present about his merits, I read that he lives with a husband. Not believing my eyes, I approached Kushner’s PR person to point out what seemed to me a ridiculous mistake. My question provoked an angry response, and apologies did not help.

Since then, my knowledge of gender diversity has been enriched. I know that now in a world free of prejudice and reason, more than 200 gender variations are identified.

To not lose my job, I had to revise my outdated views, which were formulated in the memoirs of the experienced expert on the subject, Giacomo Casanova: “Sexual differences depend entirely on education and social conditions…”, “Rome ‘forces all humanity to become pederasts’.”

My English vocabulary has been enriched with the idiom “Coming out” – to come out of the closet, an open declaration of one’s non-traditional sexual orientation. This phenomenon is broad and massive and not limited to gay and transgender issues.

The forms of anti-Semitism manifestation are just as diverse, which in today’s world has acquired global dimensions. Paraphrasing Casanova, anti-Semites are not born, it depends on education and social conditions, and it’s being imposed on the whole world. Variations of anti-Semitism are perhaps even more than gender ones, each era and social environment has its own characteristics.

After World War II, the world sympathized with the victims of Nazism, many countries passed laws against anti-Semitism, and having a reputation as an anti-Semite was a threat to one’s career and a sign of poor intellect and low morals.

After October 7, the world briefly paused before the scenes of Palestinian terror, but it didn’t take long to wait – Pandora’s box opened, and all the dirty filth came out. The events did not quite correspond to the Greek myth: when Pandora saw the contents of the box, she hurried to close it, and “Hope” remained at the bottom. But the current bacchanalia of anti-Semitism is only growing, and there is little hope of overcoming the new pandemic.

Perhaps there will be candidates for academic degrees who will try to systematize the varieties of this millennia-old evil. But for now, we can limit ourselves to what is obvious even without representative studies.

Social bottom anti-Semitism never disappeared, but recently it has expanded its scope and become more aggressive, fueled by social networks and news summaries presented by media unfriendly to Israel. It is from this group that the main number of anti-Semitic incidents comes. They have no ideology; their pogrom instincts will manifest themselves in the same way towards other victims if there are conditions. Family and school did not teach them that destroying and stealing is bad, and learning and working is good; expecting an enlightenment of consciousness here is futile. Authorities are afraid to apply the law and force, and feeling impunity, these groups behave even more provocatively.

Leftist, pro-socialist groups equate the fight against racism, discrimination, socio-economic inequality, remnants of colonialism with notions of Jews as exploiters, socially privileged, concentrating power and financial resources in their hands. These ideas are actively cultivated and used by demagogue-populists from minorities, whom Jews have helped for many years to enter big politics, media, and universities.

These groups are trying to radically change the demographic structure of the country and subjugate its institutions. They will strengthen their influence, and Jews should not expect anything good from them, no matter how hard they try to please their haters. Compared to the left, right-wing groups are significantly less dangerous for Jews, although the mainstream in politics and media tries to portray them as the main threat. Jewish Democrats in politics and media have drawn the ire of Trump’s supporters, being at the forefront of his opponents. White nationalists accuse Jews of trying to flood the country with colored illegals. Supremacists have utterly absurd notions: “We won’t let Jews oust us.” Jews cannot oust anyone due to low birth rates, mixed marriages, and not having the most significant money and the majority of votes in Congress. Jews’ influence is insufficient even to secure their children in schools and universities, their synagogues, and cemeteries.

One of the few positive changes is the development of Judeo-Christian civilization, which has led to an improvement in relations between Jews and Christians. “Christ killers,” “Blood of Christian babies,” these accusations today can only be heard from the most benighted bigots. Christian Evangelicals support the biblical right of Israel to the land of Judea and Samaria, to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

At the same time, relations with another world and the fastest-growing religion – Islam – have radically deteriorated. About a million Jews were forced to leave Muslim countries. The demand “From the river to the sea” – the destruction of the Jewish state – finds widespread support in Islamic countries. In Western Europe and America, mass Muslim immigration has become a threat to the security of Jews. Few still hold illusions about the peaceful coexistence of the two religions and peoples, the children of Abraham.

A notable feature of the new world is that evil does not hide itself and successfully uses the conditions of democracy and freedom to its advantage.

“We will build a new world. He who was nobody will become everything!”

The ideology and practice of the Communist International have been revived under the conditions of liberal democracy. “Critical Race Theory,” “Wokeness,” “Inclusivity,” and everything else in this vein aggressively and widely influence American public life, destroying traditional values and societal moral norms. Heirs of the victims of racism, imperialism, colonialism, segregation, and discrimination want revenge, redistribution, review, special rights, and privileges. “Pay and repent” is the order of the day.

In their time, the Bolsheviks defined priorities for seizing power: “Take the post office, telegraph, telephone, bridges, and train stations.” The new progressive revolutionaries have marked their strategy: “Capture the universities.” To solve this task through diligent study, accumulation of knowledge, great discoveries, outcompeting others in admissions and career advancement is an impossible task for them. But reliance on affirmative action and demagoguery about justice and privileges has enabled them to achieve their goals.

A society and state, exhausted by guilt and compassion and blinded by utopian hopes, established quotas, privileges, and an atmosphere where demographics, social origin, and political correctness became the decisive criteria for advancement.

Since serious scientific disciplines are too challenging for the new generation of students admitted with lowered standards, departments and courses unrelated to science but adequate for the spirit of the times were created for them. Accordingly, the requirements for professors and administrations were determined. Those who tried to defend academic traditions were proclaimed racists, homophobes, reactionaries, proponents of white privilege.

Until recently, it would have been unthinkable to imagine that a candidate with a doctoral dissertation titled “Taking Responsibility: Black Electoral Success and the Redefinition of American Politics,” a few inconspicuous publications, and accusations of plagiarism could contend for the presidency of the world’s most famous university and defeat competitors – Nobel laureates, with global recognition and works known around the world. But the author of this dissertation, Claudine Gay, became the president of Harvard University, her profile fully meeting the requirements of the academic revolution. And who would dare remove the first Black female president of Harvard!

At Congressional hearings, Dr. Gay, in response to questions about anti-Semitism and the persecution of Jewish students, recited mechanically, “It depends on the context.” Similarly, her colleagues from other universities, coached by lawyers, shamelessly and without conscience defended themselves. One can imagine what the reaction of university administrations, authorities, media, and the public would be if African Americans, gays, feminists, or anyone from minorities and carriers of alternative ways of being and thinking were in the position of Jewish students.

University presidents found defenders among students and their colleagues, unsurprisingly, as otherwise, they wouldn’t have a place in elite educational institutions.

Students and professors of the new call cannot but understand their academic inadequacy and compensate for their inferiority complexes with aggressive demagogy and harassment of opponents. Not only Alan Dershowitz, America’s most famous lawyer, a longtime defender of Israel, an opponent of using law for political purposes, but even Hillary Clinton, an icon of liberals and progressives, was driven out of a university chair for supporting Israel.

Elite universities have always been perceived as a citadel of knowledge and culture, a model of civilized thinking and way of life. And Jews have always relied on the power of reason and enlightenment in overcoming prejudices. But anti-Semitic ideology has triumphed here too.

The Jewish world is in turmoil. But the cycles of Jewish history allow us to make sense of the present, even if it seems incomprehensible to reason. In these cycles, the inevitability and repeatability are clear, in the words of Ecclesiastes – King Solomon, – “A time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace”; “A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them” – a time for actions and a time to pay for actions, righteous and unrighteous. And an infallible, repeatedly confirmed forecast: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun… And this too shall pass…”.