The Traveling Kind, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise | @MDWorld

November 21, 2015 Victor El-Khouri 3 Comments

In the 1880s, the five wealthiest Jewish families in a small town in Romania paid to bring the entire Jewish population of that place to the United States.

My ancestors were among the people who were geographically fortunate.  Because of the generosity of their fellow Jews, they could leave a place that was violently threatening to them.  I don’t know what their reaction was when they saw the Statue of Liberty, or if they knew enough English to read the poem by Emma Lazarus at its base, but I can make myself all weepy imagining it.

Those were different times.

Now, if the threat of pogroms still existed, the people running our government would find it impossible to distinguish between the people in Romania killing people, and the people in Romania being killed.  I know this because that’s how we are reacting to the parallel situation in Syria.

The reason there are refugees from Syria is that Daesh slaughters civilians, especially Muslim civilians, every chance they get.  Because these extreme fundamentalists see their bloodthirsty, patriarchal interpretation of the Koran as the only one, they threaten the very humanistic, inclusive values that attract immigrants to our shores.

The terror attacks in Paris and Beirut were terrible things.  I object to them with every fiber of my being.  I think we should do everything possible to catch those responsible and look for ways to prevent further attacks.  People of good will can disagree about how to accomplish these things, but none of their suggestions should include racism nor fear.

Which, it seems, is the most common reaction among almost all parts of our recent discourse.

I’m not just talking about fringe-level libertarians who seem to think that because Daesh behaves abominably, we can sink to their thinking processes.

Nor am I talking about the ridiculous and stupid extremists who get elected to state government.  Every party and every state has a few.  It’s not fair (but it is entertaining) to ascribe such ridiculousness to an entire party.

When a presidential candidate does it, especially when that candidate is leading in the polls, that gets more worrisome.  As a Jew, I find the idea of having to register with the government offensive and frightening.  As an American, I am ashamed.

Our national representatives in government behaved in a cowardly and craven fashion when they voted to toughen immigration requirements for Syrian refugees, including 47 Democrats.

Terrorism wins when we let ourselves surrender to it.  Yes, there are Muslims who perform terrorist acts.  There are also white Christian people who perform terrorist acts, including Timothy McVeigh, a white Christian who killed more people in Oklahoma City than died in Paris.  If anything, our lackadaisical gun laws allow just about anyone to commit terrorism.

Terrorism wins when we let our fear compromise our values.

President Hollande of France opens his arms to Syrian refugees, despite being in one of the terrorist targets last week.  Pretty good for a surrender monkey.

Certainly better than a blustering blowhard like Chris Christie.

It is my responsibility as a Jew to make the world a better place, and that responsibility remains whatever I think about the existence of a deity.  it is part and parcel of the concept of tikkun olam.  These are not values limited to Judaism, but Judaism is the path through which I came to understand them.

I would like to say that this racist xenophobia is a new thing for Americans, brought on by the way the world has changed since September 11, 2001.  Unfortunately, that isn’t true.  If we had been a little bit less xenophobic, Anne Frank might have lived.

If we become a little less xenophobic, we may save thousands of Anne Franks.

Martha Thomases, Media Goddess, wishes everyone a peaceful and loving Thanksgiving.