There Is No Place Like Home
I often get asked what I miss about the USA. It is hard to say. Amazon for sure. Also I never appreciated American bureaucracy before. Now I do. I will take two hours at the DMV anytime over what we are going through here to start a business.
Here's something I don't miss.
When I was last in New York, I had a meeting with someone who was looking to do some business with me. I am not sure how it came up but he mentioned how unjust Israel's treatment of Gaza was.
So I gave him a history lesson.
I started with Balfour, the mufti's support of Hitler, The attack in 48 and rejection of peace at that time. Then the rejection of peace in 67,73, the 80's , the 90's and finally in 2000, with Barak offering 98% of the Palestinian's demands.This offer was answered with the 2nd intifada
This is what he said .
'Wow. I never knew that before. I thought you guys owed all the media. Your not doing a very good job getting the story out.'
Maybe I should have gotten angry. I could have pointed out how anti-Semitic the statement was. I could have clocked him but I gave up violence a few years back.
What did I do?
I told him that was not the case. The media is owned by Australians.
Some might think I did not pick a fight because I wanted to do business with him.
That was not the case. He wants to do business with me. I could live the rest of my life and not see this guy again and it would not make difference.
No, I didn't say anything because these things are not shocking anymore.
A few months back, walking in Manhattan, I was called a kike. That's a word I had't heard for 30 years. I have to be honest and say that I am not as comfortable wearing a kippa in public. It's not worth the hassle.
Now we all know this started with our current president opening the doors to all the right wing fanatics.
I wish this was true
It's not.
The uptick in antisemitism started in earnest during the last administration. With the waning support of Israel during the Obama years, people on the left saw that it was OK to criticize Israel.
I also criticize Israel but it seems that some people don't know the line between being anti-Israel and antisemitism. That is why when the most powerful ally Israel has in the world starts to criticize Israel it signals to everyone that they can say what they want.
It's like when you sound racist when you point out that black lives matters focuses only on police when most murdered blacks are killed by other blacks ( 89.3% according to the Washington post).
Invariably , some white people making these arguments will cross the line , thinking they are not. Some will just cross the line.
So on college campuses it became OK to harass Jewish students who supported Israel. It became OK to deface Jewish religious buildings with the words ' free Palestine' etc.
In reality, it is not a left or a right issue. We are accosted by both.
Here in Israel the kids don't even know what antisemitism is. Its a strange thought but even when I speak to my contemporaries , most say they know what antisemitism is but have never actually experienced it.
Why should Jews anywhere have to experience that.
At the end of my conversation, the gentlemen asked why is it even necessary to have a Jewish state. No democracies are defined by a religion.
I asked him if he knew his grandparents. He said yes, of course.
I said 'I did not. They were thrown in an oven.
That is why we need our own state because we can't trust the rest of you when we will need to'.
You would be surprised how quickly that ended the meeting.