Europe never recovered from the last one, so it seems. It’s a sad combination of the dregs of medieval barbarity and the ingrained subservience of the ‘peasant’ class. The emergence throughout Europe of a new and virulent anti-semitism is evidence of a further disintegration of European morality and an ugly window to the not-too-distant past.
There are whole libraries on Hebraic history, and any number of highly educated and friendly scholars who will give of their time and knowledge to those who honestly seek the truth. The Judean diaspora is said to have had its advent with the conquering of Israel in 722 BC by the Assyrians, the Jewish peoples having been scattered throughout the middle east. Still, with typical Jewish stubbornness and determination, groups of Jews here and there maintained their religious and cultural identity despite being widely separated.
After the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 73 AD, following the Jewish revolt against Roman rule in 70 AD, the Romans harried the Jews from Palestine, scattering the remnants of the population across Asia, Africa, and Europe. Widely-scattered Jewish communities, stubbornly clinging to their religion and culture, were seldom welcomed in their adopted homelands, and being different were easy targets for both incidental and institutionalized discrimination and violence.
The word ‘pogrom’ means a violent attack, sometimes government or military sponsored, against a specific group of people. Pogroms were common throughout Europe and the Russia of the Tsars. Much of the hatred against European Jewry arose from the very success of these ‘interlopers’, as they were looked upon. Largely well-educated and prosperous through hard work and determination, they became easy targets in their isolated and powerless communities.That they were able to survive, much less prosper, under such conditions is no small testament to their adaptability.
Anti-semitism is a word coined by a German socialist, William Marr, in 1879. He founded the League for Anti-Semitism. The late philosopher Zvi Diesendruck stated that, “There has never been a standing term for this merely negative attitude, to any other people in history”. “Only anti-semitism; only against Jews”. The undercurrents of this pernicious practice can be seen right up to, and into, modern Europe. The culmination coming with the murders of millions of European Jews, and others, at the hands of the Nazis in Europe’s death camps. After the war there was a diaspora in reverse, as hundreds of thousands of displaced and homeless Jews made their way to the infant state of Israel. Anti-semitism, at least for the years after the war, was a shameful thing scorned by most good citizens of Europe. That it still existed and was just under the surface cannot be denied. Discriminatory practices in the old Soviet Union states were endemic against Jews.
Now, with in increase in Islamo-fascist populations through Europe, we see a new impetus towards violence and hatred toward European Jewry. The Jewish population who were fortunate enough to have left Europe before World War Two, and those who could not and were slaughtered, constituted an educated-class brain-drain that much of Europe has yet to recover from. Had Hitler had a few more Einsteins and a few less chicken farmers named Himmler, we might be in a whole different world today.
Europe, in its hide-bound arrogance, has nothing to recommend itself to anyone who loves freedom… freedom from oppression, freedom from fear. There may be another out-migration of Europe’s Jewry. In this day and age, unlike the travel-restricted Europe of yore, there is nothing to prevent Europe’s Jews from voting with their feet. It will be Europe’s loss and the world’s gain.
I am delighted to hear that I am not the only person in this country who thinks that the €430,000 per year which will be spent on protecting the Guantanamo Bay suspects in Ireland is an absolute disgrace, as per Neil McGonigle (Letters, July 31).
Once again, it is an indication of a Government worried about its international reputation instead of unemployment levels and the fact that it is going broke
Note to President Obama and the Left. Sure Europe likes to complain about U.S. foreign policy. But what in Wicca's name made you think they wanted to do anything about the problem here themselves?
Maybe we should blame Bush for the fact that the rest of the world sorta covertly likes a unilateral America that mops up the world's messes by itself, while allowing everyone else to complain about the janitor. Bottom line to the "reality based community". No one else wants to pick up a mop.
The US Mint will begin to print more and more $2 bills as a result of inflation inside of the next few years. This will put us on the 1, 2, 5 system that the Euro is on. A superficial, yet salient symbol of the further Europeanization of America.
Europe, the birthplace of democracy, will sadly not last much longer in it's current state. Europe's birthrate is tragically low at an average of 1.5. If Europe continues along this trend Europe's society will suffer greatly as the economy falls apart from lack of workers. Europe will be unable to function as a society, much less pay for their lavish social programs, without a quick solution. (By Europe I am referring to the E.U.)
Europe seems to think they have found a solution to their problem. Here is what a typical European politicians would say. “What better solution than to import thousands of radical Muslims to do all the Europeans jobs! Remember, no questioning whether this is a good idea, Europe is a multicultural society that tolerates anyone and anything.”
Islam underwent a transformation as the result of Saudi Arabia's exportation of Wahibbism, the overthrow of the shah in Iran, and the near extinction of moderate Islam. Islam in the old world has become very radical as many of the moderate versions have nearly been wiped out due to the pressures exerted on the Middle East near the end of the cold war. As more and more radical Muslims move to Europe the country will begin to change dramatically as the postmodern culture begins to die out to the new Islamic culture.
Hopefully radical Islam and postmodern European culture will mix into some unforeseen tolerant brand of Islam. Sadly, this is very unlikely. A good contrast would be the collapse of the Roman Empire. As the Roman Empire began to collapse they were still admired by the barbarian peoples in Europe that would later try to recreate Rome. The Germans created the Holy Roman Empire and the Russians called their leader the Czar after Caesar. Radical Muslims do not look up to modern Europe; they despise it. Many of the radical Muslims in Europe look down on it as materialistic and rotten with no desire to be “European.” Whatever replaces current Europe will be as different as night and day from present day Europe.
The change is not going to be pretty. Look at the Balkans, multicultural society's tend not to work. Once the old Europeans realize that their culture is slipping into the minority or the Muslims realize their in the majority violence will erupt. Unfortunately radical Islam will win as they have the much larger birthrate and the fanaticism. It will be bloody.
Currently America needs Europe to help America in Afghanistan, Iraq, and to keep Russia in check. America needs to realize that Europe isn't going to be our allies forever or even another fifty years. America needs to be building relationships with new countries to slowly replace our European allies. If America doesn't it will be in trouble as it wakes up one day to face a nuclear armed, radical Islamified Europe.
