Jewish Group
Related: About this forumThe Jews Stand Unbowed--but Alone
The muted reaction to the murder of six Israeli hostages by Hamas last week fills Bernard-Henri Lévy with despair. It tragically confirms his view that the Jewish state and Jews around the world are alone. That searing sense of abandonment and isolation gave Mr. Lévy the title of his new book, Israel Alone, scheduled to publish in its English translation next week.
In an interview in his home, Mr. Lévya liberal Jewish French philosopher and filmmakerdraws attention to one of the hostages, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23. Hersh was executed for being a Jew, Mr. Lévy says. He was also American. Where is the collective rage in the U.S.A.? The collective grief? This indifference pains me. Mr. Lévy has met Hershs parents, the most resilient, compassionate, freedom-loving Americans. Why, he asks, has the whole country not rallied to wrap the Goldberg-Polins in their arms and carried them forward in their painful journey of mourning?
(snip)
The U.S. used to be the most blessed place for Jews in the world, along with Israel. He pauses and adds France to his small list of sanctuaries, citing an aphorism that is now used less and less: Heureux comme un Juif en France, or Happy like a Jew in France. In reality, it was Happy like a Jew in America. For all the loneliness, he says, there have always been Americans who feel a metaphysical connection with Israel. Mr. Lévy uses Israel and Jewish almost interchangeably. My reference to Israel is a part of my being a Jew, he says. Israel is at the root of Jewish identity and inseparable from it. The point was hammered home on Oct. 7, the day that scarred the Jewish psyche more than any event since the Holocaust.
(snip)
There was a second shock. Rather than provoke sympathy and compassion for the Jews, Hamass massacre liberated hate. This, for me, was a very big surprise, Mr. Lévy says. I expected at least a moment of real solidarity in the face of this enormous crime. Instead, the murderers were blessed, excused and praised. The victims were accused, cursed and held responsible for their fates. Even before Israels military response had begun in earnest, there was an explosion of antisemitic demonstrations in New York and on campuses across America. Mr. Lévy saw the same in France, which devastated him.
(snip)
How does Mr. Lévy explain the outpouring of antisemitism when supporting Israel should have been the ineluctable reaction? A big part of the world was longing for something like Oct. 7, dreaming of it. He likens the celebratory reactions to that day to the joyous outbursts in many parts of the world after al Qaeda attacked the U.S. People danced in the streets after Sept. 11. And they danced after Oct. 7. They loved the humiliation of the U.S. and Israel. There was a craving among the antiliberal, antidemocratic, anti-Western, antisemitic crowds for someone to do this. He recalls an obscene, disgusting relief that Israel was so vulnerable, that the Jews could be killed again like that in such an easy way.
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https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-jews-stand-unbowedbut-alone-war-hamas-hostages-50e5717c?st=nn5ksdd4ubg4glx&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
marybourg
(13,153 posts)So we all keep our thoughts to ourselves in public.
madaboutharry
(41,292 posts)themselves, can understand the despair.
Richard D
(9,326 posts)madaboutharry
(41,292 posts)Beastly Boy
(11,079 posts)This is the price we pay for daring to fend for ourselves. Well worth the price for remaining alive in the face of universal expectations to the contrary, as far as I am concerned.
And the Jews who forget are setting themselves up for shock and disappointment.
Richard D
(9,326 posts)I see light, because the Jews dont accept darkness anymore, he says. They dont disarm themselves. They fight back. They behave as they should. They are proud. Most important, they dont hide who they are anymore.
applegrove
(122,970 posts)online because I don't stand for the current Israeli Government and they don't give me that option of supporting the state not the government. So I don't answer because I can't. It is not "yes". It is not "no". It is not "unsure".