. . . have I been this afraid. I can still recall Tail Gunner Joe McCarthy holding hearings regarding Communists in our communities, in our government and in our schools. The question was, “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?’
I understood that many members of the Jewish society were socialistic. In Israel the kibbutzim are socialist communities but not Stalinist sympathizing groups. Even the workers unions in the US were a form of Socialism, not the kind that equates with Communism. My father read the Forvitz (the Forward) and that was branded as Communistic or Socialist. But what does than all mean?
My father loved his country. He went to work for the US Government driving ammunition trucks up and down the eastern seaboard, not an easy or safe job. My family, on both sides had fathers and uncles serving in the Navy, Army and Paratroopers in the European theater and in the South Pacific.
Did our beliefs that we take care of each other give aid and comfort to the enemy? Did my father drive any slower because he didn’t want the ammo to get to where it was going because he sympathized with the enemy – not a chance! What happened was that the words themselves had a life of their own and interpretation that belied any actual definition of what they meant. Most Jews came from Eastern Europe where they had to take care of each other in their communities. Before the dreaded Holocaust there were progrommes. There were the ghettos and the shtetels. If taking care of each other was a communist plot – so be it – but it wasn’t.
Even growing up in Boston, everyone’s mother was your mother if she need the bags carried or an errand run or you need to be dressed down for some bad behavior. Is that Socialism? That is community! So what is happening now.
The Congress is once again asking, “Are you now or have you ever been a Muslim terrorist?” “Do you belong to a mosque?” “Do you read the Koran?” Look, after 9/11 we looked at all Muslims as terrorists. We couldn’t help it. If you looked like one of the hijackers, you were then one. After the hysteria passed we settled down and found that radicalism is in a small part of all of the population. In fact, except for 9/11, all terrorists acts committed in the United States since War War II were committed by white anglo- American citizens, save for the Ford Hood incident.
Did you know that 30% of all the credible tips on terrorism comes from the Muslim community? They are policing their own. Should we be vigilant, of course. Should we be hunting and accusing – definitely no!
Why am I afraid. Because I am an Israeli sympathizer. Because I am Jewish and recall the recent history. It started this way – look at them – they are the cause. You are out of work because of the_(fill in the blanks) You can’t get a loan because ______________control the banks. Unions are run by the ______________ so you can’t join them to get a job. You can’t get into a movie because the ________________own the studios. Look at those people in the funny outfits, they want to kill you!
Am I comfortable being on a plane with someone that looks like the hijackers – of course not. Do they want to be on a plane with someone that looks like me?
Why am I afraid? Simple, the committee has asked no one with expertise is to testify. Homeland Security has not testified, FBI has not testified. TSA has not testified, only a few people with anecdotal experience have testified. Oh yes, Sheriff Lee Baca has and they didn’t want to hear what he said.
The Koran is cited as absolute text. Why not the Torah? Maybe that is next. Is the Christian Knights of the Brotherhood a terrorist organization? How many white supremacist terror groups are there in the US? McVeigh could have told us, I guess we will not know because we don’t go after white people.
So why am I afraid again? This time they are attacking your beliefs. Just the other day a local news report in Los Angeles included a story about three men on a flight from Mexico City that were wearing little wooden boxes tied with leather straps repeating prayers in Hebrew. Why did that make the news? What did those little wooden boxes contain? I am not a Muslim but a Jew. What is stopping them from going after the Jews , after all we need to find out what is in the little wooden boxes with the leather straps.
