Posted on 08/15/2006 4:13:05 AM PDT by Alouette
British Jewry is concerned that the uncovering Thursday of a Muslim extremist plot to attack planes from Heathrow Airport will increase animosity towards the Jewish community, already suffering from heightened anti-Semitism following Israel's attacks on Hizbullah.
"There's no doubt that any increase in tensions brings with it an increase in pressure against the Jewish community at times like this," said Mark Gardner of the Jewish Community Security Trust. "People look for scapegoats. Jews and Israel come near the top of the list. This will not help the situation."
The CST has recorded a doubling in anti-Semitic incidents in Britain since the fighting in Lebanon began. Gardner said that it was advising Jewish institutions to stay on "an unusually high level of alert" - already in place due to existing Al-Qaida and Hizbullah threats - but that no activities were being changed or curtailed due to the revealed terrorist plot.
Already Thursday, some Muslim and left-wing political voices could be heard making the link between the planned attacks and what is happening in the Middle East, implying that Israel was inflaming tensions and, by doing so, raising the chances of terror striking in places such as the UK.
But Jewish leaders stressed that these views were in the extreme minority.
Still, said Ben Novick, director of media relations for the Britain-Israel Communications and Research Center, said such views "feed into public opinion and violence on the street." He charged that such connections would be "wrong" because the plot had been being planned for months, while Israel had only been fighting in Lebanon for the past few weeks.
Israeli Deputy Ambassador to London Zvi Ravner called any such connection "ludicrous" on the same grounds, and dismissed concerns that such assertions would change the attitude towards Jews or Israel. He pointed to Prime Minister Tony Blair's strong support of Israel's right to defend itself and said that he didn't believe the fallout from Thursday's events would be all bad for Israel.
He added that the foiling of the terrorist attack had had the benefit of taking attention away from what was happening in Lebanon, noting that one TV station had canceled a previously scheduled interview with him on the subject to cover the airport story.
Jon Benjamin, Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, noted that sometimes events such as Thursday's reminded Britons of their shared experience with Israelis in facing terrorism. He said that this type of report "brings home to people how important the security situation is."
But Carolyn Gazal didn't need it brought home. What she needed was to get home herself - to New York, one of the cities allegedly targeted by the intended hijackers. But she and her husband decided to put off their flight back from London out of fear that the long takeoff delays experienced by passengers on Thursday would continue Friday. They decided to push back their takeoff from Friday morning to Sunday so that they wouldn't have to spend the day at the airport only to cancel due to the risk of violating Shabbat if their flight left late.
She said, though, that she wasn't particularly scared of the thought of heading to Heathrow Airport at the end of the weekend.
"As Jews we're just used to it, the threats and terrorists," she said. "It's not something new to us."
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
I'm feeling left out, and thus, fear persecution by those who need someone to persecute.
It would seem the only Jews with balls live in Israel.
Where are the American Jews standing up for Israel. All I see is CAIR standing up for terrorists while American jews stand behind Hillary and vote for the cut and run Democrats.
I know that may not be to everyones liking,but its what I see.
Are you saying it was a Jewish man who walked into the Jewish Federation in Seattle and opened fire?
Yeah, we are paranoid, but someone really is out to get us.
So, does this mean that a backlash backlash is in the works??
Makes me dizzy just thinking about it.
I don't know how you could so completely misunderstand my post. I don't think Jews are paranoid, I think they blame the victim, which is themselves, instead of standing up to the perps.
How else to explain a statement by a Jewish group that they fear "retaliation" after the arrest of these muslim terrorists?
I don't get it. They should be beating the drum about the need to crack down more on the jihadists, not cowering.
Ahem.
If I fear going into certain areas of town at night, it is certainly not out of fear of any "backlash";
It is plainly anticipation of certain criminal behavior.
Criminals need to fear retribution and punishment, not backlash.
The attempt at moral equivalency on the part of the writer certainly fails in this case. At least for me.
Britian's muslims are a huge problem. They never should have been allowed in in the first place and the country needs to engage in a concerted effort to deport any illegal muslims and to deport the extremists. Otherwise in a century the UK will be a muslim hellhole.
For thousands of years we Jews have experienced the sanction by the leaders of the world to let their hordes of Muslims and fanatic haters of all types engage in pograms against us as a way to deflect anger from themselves. It is second nature to a Muslim or a Nazi to yell "Jew" in order to get out of paying consequences for their actions.
For thousands of years, we have learned that if a Jew does anything, it is then said that all Jews did that thing. So, if some of us are smart, rich and successful, we are all smart, rich and successful, things that cause envy and hatred, and if one of us fights back, we have all suddenly become a real physical threat and must be put in our place.
Younger, assimilated Jews who have lived their lives in American suburbs where they were a majority in their schools, have never felt real anti-Semitism. They really may believe the problem is Israel. They believe that if Israel would only assimilate, if Israel would only absorb punishment quietly and perhaps even disappear, no one would ever hate a Jew. When they get to university, they are brutally inculcated by their professors and the political cadre to be anti-Zionist or else. Some resist and they experience the real anti-Jewishness then.
I am older. My grandparents were working class Russian immigrants. I never lived anywhere where I had even the illusion of being a majority. I was eight years old when my parents impressed upon me that whatever I did, good or bad, it would reflect on all Jews, everywhere. Like it or not, we are Jews first to the world and people only a dim second. And I know from experience that if I resist, eventually, I will be blamed by virtue of my stiff-necked Jewishness.
Alouette is right: they are out to get us and we are trained to not give them any excuse. Winning, succeeding, resisting are all that sort of excuse.
All Jews are not cowering, but all Jews know that we will be blamed, no matter what the Muslims or the other Nazis do. Fear is realistic. At some point, the hatred will break into the open in the West and it will go beyond hating Zionism and crafting some weak response to the effect that to be anti-Zionist is not to be anti-Jewish.
However, I think it is best to have the hatred out in the open. It is like lancing a boil. So, they will react against us. At least it will be overt and we have a Western cultural bias against the Holacaust in our favor. While we know we will be blamed, we also know that we can never again just go along until we are interned and expelled and wiped out.
Who does the average Western hater fear the most: Jews or Muslims? They are going to have to choose, IMO. If they side with the Muslims, then we at least know just who the enemy is and where they stand.
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel.
also Keywords 2006israelwar or WOT [War on Terror]
----------------------------
The Jews have a legitimate right to be paranoid. Indeed, some are out to get them - but not everyone. I have met Jews that thought EVERYONE was out to get them, especially Christians. That is a tragic misunderstanding and the loss of an opportunity to find refuge among friends.
The words "Live Free or Die" have application here.
During the growth of NAZI Jew bashing, the popular notion among Jews was that they shouldn't resist, should keep a low profile, and dare not be seen as provocative. That didn't work out very well.
What IS the kid to do if the whole world/planet chooses appeasement over destroying the bullying that is seeking to destroy him? What are his options? The world has taken a vote and voted YES, the kid will be the bully's punching bag.
Do you want me to empathize, sympathize, or condone? I think giving in to the merciless is foolhardy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.