“Anti-Semitism is a horrible disease from which nobody is immune, and it has a kind of evil fascination that makes an enlightened person draw near the source of infection, supposedly in a scientific spirit, but really to sniff the vapors and dally with the possibility.”
Mary McCarthy quotes (American novelist and critic,1912-1989)
The world often reflects what we want to see. This is precisely the illusion that feeds anti-Semitism. Strange as it may sound, the same people who criticize someone because he is Jewish, more often than not ignore the good that many Jews do—because they are Jews! What is wrong with this picture?
Despite the thousands of stories and analysis lavished by editorials about the awful way Israel treats the poor Palestinians, one almost never reads stories about how Israel goes out of its way to provide electricity and other important human services to a people who have sworn to commit genocide against their benefactors. I doubt very seriously that the British would have acted so kindly toward the Germans in WWI or WWII.
Would one ever expect to find in the Palestinian territories a hospital that would treat Jewish or Israeli patients with as much care as they treat their own? The very question invites ridicule and scorn—if you happen to be a Palestinian living in Gaza or the West Bank. Yet, Hadassah Hospital of Jerusalem routinely provides care for the injured among the Palestinians, who curse the Jews even as they recover from their life-saving operations. Aside from promoting a religion extolling victimhood, what other kind of gifts have the Palestinians contributed toward the betterment of the world? Sad but true, if the Palestinian community would love life more than they love death, the Messiah would have been here a long time ago.
But why digress?
After Paul Newman died, throngs of people spoke about his greatness and generosity of spirit, but the pundits conveniently forgot to mention Paul Newman considered himself Jewish.
Then again, if you look at the Nobel Prize winners, you will discover an amazing array of Jews, whose brilliance made the world a better and healthier place for all humankind. Of course the media never bothers to mention the number of Jews who have won this prize; they would rather focus on the droll characters of our people. The list is impressive:
When Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, Mayor Sharpe James, Rep. Vito Fosella, Sen Ted Stevens, Gov. Jim McGreevey, Martha Stewart, Randy Cunningham, NY Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Gov. Edwards, Conrad Black, Senator Keating, Gov. Ryan, Rep. Charlie Rangel, and Gov Begoivich get caught for corruption charges or other sundry offenses, the media never bothers to mention what religion or denomination they were — because they were not Jewish. But if any of the above individuals happened to be Jewish, you can be sure the media would be on that like “white on rice.”
However, when men like Ivan Boesky or Andrew Fastow or Bernie Madoff committ fraud, almost every newspaper article mentions that they were Jewish. Now ask yourself a question: Why is this so? I think you are wise and intelligent enough to know the real answer . . . .
One is reminded of the famous Einstein quote. In 1921, Albert Einstein presented a paper on his then-infant Theory of Relativity at the Sorbonne, the prestigious French university.
“If I am proved correct,” he said, “the Germans will call me a German, the Swiss will call me a Swiss citizen, and the French will call me a great scientist. If relativity is proved wrong, the French will call me a Swiss, the Swiss will call me a German, and the Germans will call me a Jew.”
Well, some things never change.