The Best of British Manners

Last week’s British University and CollegeUnion’s decision to boycott Israeli academics should come as no surprise to those who are familiar with Jewish history.

As Professor Uriel Reichman, President of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, said Thursday night, the British boycott is "a modern reformulation of Judenreine," a German expression used by the Nazis meaning "Jew free," describing areas they had emptied of a Jewish presence.

Yes, once again, like it or not, anti-Semitism rears its ugly head.

Whether it’s setting fire to a Swiss synagogue a couple of weeks ago, or boycotting Israeli academia, anti-Semitism is still alive and well, despite its advanced
age.

Israel is just the excuse. As events have proved time and again, Jews all over the World suffer when Israel tries to defend itself.

It happened in 2000-2001 with a spate of anti-Semitic attacks all over Europe, and it’s happening now as Israel tries to halt the Kassam cascade on Sderot.

WHY?

Anti-Semitism is as natural as the sunset.

Ever since Esau hated Jacob, the world has been programmed to hate the Jews.

British academics would obviously deny this, but the reason for anti-Semitism is clear:

The Jews taught the world to love their neighbors and strangers, share with the poor, respect the elderly, help the weak, uplift the oppressed...

Judaism gave the World its concepts of humaneness and morality... that man’s essence is his soul and not his body... and that greatness is achieved not by dominating others but by controlling one’s own animal instincts and striving to become like God.

As Hitler himself said:

“I am freeing Man from the restraints of an intelligence that has taken charge, from the dirty and degrading self-mortifications of a false vision called conscience and morality, and from the demands of a freedom and personal independence that only a very few can bear.”

Yes, humankind and British academics can no longer fritter away their lives according to their whims and passions. Life involves responsibility and meaning. And subservience to a Higher Power instead of indulging in unrestrained physical desires. That is the message the Jewish people bring to the world.

And that’s why they hate us.

Yes, they say it’s because we’re too rich or too poor; because we’re capitalists or communists, because we attack innocent Palestinians or we don’t defend urselves
at all...

But the real reason is that these people are not willing to take responsibility for their own lives and immoral, selfish behavior.

If Israel and the Jewish people would begin to realize that too, and see themselves with the same clarity as Hitler did, we could teach the British and the other anti-Semites a thing or two about manners.