The Oxford Chabad

This past weekend was spent in Oxford, England. I was there to visit a friend, and I decided to go to Shabbat services at the Oxford Chabad House. This past weekend also was a weekened where we learned the horrible fate of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, of blessed memory. But for me, what I witnessed in Oxford was a chilling revelation.

The Chabad House Shabbat dinner started out pleasantly enough. Rabbi Eli Brakman runs a very warm and inviting place, where Jew and nonJew alike feels welcomed to their Shabbat meal. The Rabbi spoke eloquently about the Holtzbergs, who he knew personally, as he studied with them at the 770 yeshiva on Crown Heights, Brooklyn. I enjoyed meeting an interesting assortment of individuals who attended the Shabbat services at Oxford, mostly affiliated with the famed university. But then, the speakers spoke. The topic was Obama and his effect upon the Middle East. The first speaker was a leftist, who apparently wanted Obama to press for 'peace,' whatever that means, for Israel. The second speaker was a Palestinian, who compared Israel to Nazi Germany, and then spoke of the horrors of his two day detention in a West Bank prison, and how he made an Israeli guard break down in tears when he compared the situation to Nazi Germany. He also spoke of the need for Israel to be forced to accept 'peace.' He said he is dismayed that Obama will be too pro-Israel. The third speaker was half Jewish, half Palestinian, and again compared Israel to Nazi Germany, claiming that when a little Palestinian girl wets her bed due to Israeli aggression, it is comparable to the hell his Jewish family has endured in pogroms and Nazi camps. The fourth speaker was Jewish and spoke about the need for Obama to push for a regional peace, but was not optimistic about the chances for such a peace.

None of the speakers were actually experts on Israel, 'Palestine' (a state which does not exist), or the Middle East. They rather were Americans, pushed to speak for reasons I cannot understand.

In short, at the Chabad in Oxford, on the very night that the Holtzbergs were murdered, Israel was compared to Nazi Germany.

You can be sure I was there with a strongly worded comment or five. I spoke of the failure of Camp David, and how it is proof that 'peace' is completely impossible at this stage, and not only is it impossible, but forcing Israel to commit suicide against its will does nothing but encourage more violence. In response, of course, I was told I am a 'fanatic' 'who does not believe in peace.' In short, there was absolutely no substantive response in the slightest given.

I found it interesting that afterwards, when I spoke with the organizer of this event, the explanation given was that somehow all the speakers were zionists, and it was a positive event, in comparison to the usual events at Oxford. I was told that when Shimon Peres (a man who famously stated we need to 'close our eyes for peace,' and who is a leftist and believes in ethnically cleansing Jews from our homeland in Judea and Samaria) came to speak at Oxford, there were riots. There in short is no academic freedom at Oxford. Frankly, if I was not in town and did not complain at the Chabad house, there would be little to no opposition to the extremist positions taken. And yet I was told these were the most pro-Israel speakers to speak in a long time! I was told that true Zionist speakers will not or cannot come to Oxford!

It is very sad, the state of the world we live in. I frankly track the shonda (yiddish for 'shame') which took place at the Chabad house to the Mumbai attacks. If we are afraid to defend ourselves, if we cannot speak out against injustice, then those who seek malice in this world will exploit this. Edmund Burke said "The only thing necessary for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing." And he was right.

Why is it that at the #1 most 'elite' university in the world, pro-Israel speakers are afraid of literally being physically attacked? What sort of a world do we live in where we are not even allowed the dignity of our own narrative?

Assume, for an instance, that it is completely impossible to know who is right, either the Palestinians, or Israelis and Jews. Assume, for an instance, that 'no one narrative is better than another.' (this is completely a fallacious assumption, as there is such a thing as absolute truth, but we are assuming this for a moment)

Even under that assumption, why must we surrender our narrative to the Palestinians? Why must we give up even our own dignity? In response to blood libels, why must we apologize? This does nothing other than legitimize the blood libels! The Palestinian position has not changed even a millimeter in sixty years; if anything, it has gotten even more extremist. Yet we now live in a world of 'post-zionism,' where we have to 'understand' an enemy which wishes to destroy us.

Why do we have to 'understand' the enemy at all? There is little to no effort being made to 'understand' Jews and Zionism. The Zionist position is completely absent on campus, replaced, as it were, with the delusion of a 'two state solution,' which is little more than Auschwitz borders. Why is it that Alan Dershowitz, certainly no 'right winger,' is put on a pedestal and given a speaking tour, simply because he does not demonize the Jew?

Where is Jewish pride? Where is Jewish dignity? Why must even my own Zionist narrative be stolen from me?

We see there are people out there who seek to annihilate us not because we think one way or another. But rather, simply because we exist. Why have we given up the will to fight? Why do we even humor our enemy, and give them a forum to speak, yet we refuse to even listen to an Aryeh Eldad or Effie Eitam?

Where is our will to survive? Can it ever come back? When will a real Zionist be able to speak at Oxford without fear of physical violence? Will it literally take the moshiach coming?

Why do we so vividly and constantly have to cry about our brothers and sisters being murdered for being Jewish, and we say "never again," yet we fail to do anything substantive about this all?

What will it take for things to change?

So much to say, so much to say!

I have been terrible about updating this blog, I know!

Anyway, I have so many things that have happened in my life since I last updated, too many to count, really. These are things that C4A readers would find of interest, and I have been lax in updating...

To sum it up...

1. I went to a conference, organized by CAMERA, exploring Jewish antisemitism in the media. By that I mean Jewish sources which are explicitly anti-Israel, to the extreme of telling utter lies. How do you combat such lies, when a Jewish source is telling them? I took copious notes for no real reason, since I have no idea where I put the notes. One complaint I have about the conference is that they did not serve adequate food over the time period of the conference. All there were were muffins and cookies, over a whole day! But definitely it was memorable.
2. I went to another conference, organized by Eye on the UN, which explored the antisemitism of the UN. I saw Pamela from Atlas Shrugs from afar, and never spoke to her in person. (I was thinking how she supports Vlaams Belang) There were AMAZING speakers at this conference, including John Bolton and Senator Norm Coleman. But most importantly of all, there was Nonie Darwish. She gave a very impassioned speech about the plight of Muslim women in the Islamic world. She is doing amazing things. As far as the UN goes...there is a permanent majority of antisemitic nations, which are out to do Israel in. It's a sad tale. It's one we all know. The saddest part is that an international agency like the UN could do real good...but it has been totally delegitimized.
3. I heard Alan Dershowitz talk...twice. Let me say...he is excellent when he is attacking Israel's attackers. He was infuriating when he decribed Israel as "occupying" the West Bank, and the "human rights dilemma" of home demolitions. He is good friends with Shimon Peres, so what do you expect? I heard him say that Israel should abide by the Barack plan, or something close to it, because otherwise Israel will be an "occupying" power. It was very difficult to listen to. Mr. Dershowitz, please stick to what you are good at: debating Noam Chomsky and others! The sad thing is that because he is seen as "pro-Israel," he is considered a right wing nutcase. Truly sad state of affairs.
4. I heard the Iraqi Ambassador to the UN speak, at Columbia. Yes, that very Columbia, where Ahmadinejad spoke. Disgusting to set foot on those grounds, but I did anyway. The ambassador basically said that there is progress in Iraq, but it is not covered by the media. He said that the nation is 4 years old, and it takes time to really build a country out of scratch. With that said, he pointed to the oil sharing deals as proof of Sunni-Shia-Kurd reconsiliation, as well as the big turnout for voting. He spoke of how 25% of the Parliamentarians are women - as said in the constitution. He has a point - that is major. And he said that the US should not leave Iraq right now, until the nation is stable. It should be noted that there was a Columbia student who was upset with the ambassador...for being too pro-American!
5. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I went on the tour of Europe that I said I would. I traveled to six countries in ten days! I traveled to England, Germany, Switzerland, France, Poland, and Czech Republic. I have no idea how I had the gumption, and the energy, to do so much traveling. It should be noted that this was a C4A trip, as I went with fellow posters PM and Steven. I am so excited to have met these amazing people, and I consider them friends for life, truly. Words cannot even adequately sum up the trip, which was a trip of a lifetime. I saw Auschwitz, I saw a Jewish museum in Basel, Switzerland - home of the First Zionist Congress, and I had amazing conversations. I feel renewed and reinvigorated in my activities.

And so, with that all said...summing up my life as best as I could...I shall bid you adieu, for now.

More on The Roots of Jewish Self Hatred

I have thought more about Jewish self hatred, and I feel that this sums up the roots of this problem best.

---

I started to read The Jewish State by Yoram Hazony, and I feel it misses most of the point of where the problem of "post-zionism" and Jewish self hatred stems from. I believe that the essence of the problem can be summed up by the way the Islamists describe Israel as little Satan.

Jewish self hatred is not limited to the Jews; Western self hate is at an all time high, and I hope to visit Eurodhimmiland this winter just to see the Louvre and large parts of Paris prior to it being taken over by Islamists. What does Western self-hate and Jewish Israeli self-hate have in common? Answer: they both derive from a hatred of capitalism and the American way.

Israel was formed upon a "Labour-Zionist" ideal, and I view this, i.e., its socialist roots, as the core of the problem. Every year that Israel moves away from these socialist roots, it has a greater and greater chance of success against its internal and external enemies.

Socialism is a form of nihilism, and it is directly inapposite to an idea of Judaism. True socialism cannot succeed as long as Jews remain Jewish. The USSR knew this, witness their extensive antisemitism. Karl Marx knew this, see On the Jewish Question.

And so Israel did perform genuine bad things against its religious populations early on in its statehood. I would argue this is the result of the nihilistic orientation of its Founders. The way the Mizrahi, for instance, were treated by the 'liberal' socialist Zionist elite is deplorable.

But this all is the result of an anti-Jewish attitude exhibited by the founders of Israel. This anti-Jewish attitude stems from socialism, which is also anti-Christian and anti-nationalistic. To the extent that the West has been gripped by suicidal tenancies, this is why. (NOTE: the founders were pro-Jewish ethnicity, but antagonistic towards the Jewish religion. Ben Gurion himself was an atheist.)

Israel's self hate did not materialize out of thin blue air. The self hatred in Israel is minimal in comparison to what is in Eurodhimmiland and the US, aka, "Big Satan," from whence the self-hating philosophy has its roots. This self hatred is even evident in India, whereby the communist parties seek total abdication of India's might to the Islamists. (Remember that communists and Islamists are aligned.)

The future of Israel and the West rests with the rejection of nihilism and the embrace of an alternative, non-suicidal philosophy. Judaism is one such alternative, but is by no means the only one.