There is a popular misconception that Jews and Israelis are difficult, assertive, and protective of their own interests. In fact, the opposite was shown in Nazi Germany. Jews were ordered to stop practicing certain professions, and then shifted to ghettos which they did quietly and cooperatively. Once in the ghettos, Eichmann or an underling went to leaders and explained people would need to report for transfer and cooperation would make the task easier. The Jews duly reported and were separated into two lines, and the Germans took machine guns and murdered the defenseless, and the remaining into railroad cattle cars where they would be starved, tortured, and killed in their new home.
Lack of resistance made the Germans task wonderfully easy and a 1,000 Jews could be killed without a single German casualty. No one in the world helped until the Nazis became their problem. And the phrase never again was born.
So when in 1967, Egypt, Jordan, Syrian, and Iraq gathered together to destoy Israel, few countries cared, the UN took away their peace-keepers, America was occupied with Vietnam, and there were few offers of help. .
But this time was different as the Jews did not go meekly. And while choices are difficult and peace a wonderful goal, the Israelis leaders know this. If they gave up all the land requested and had less security, and Arab countries gathered to again destroy the country, none of the countries which pushed for the compromised borders would helpi Israel. France, which pushed for a conference would do as they had done in 1942, we can maintain peace but just have to turn over our Jews for slavery, experiment, and likely murder, sounds fair enough, do what you want with them, the great majority said.
I hope there can be a peace, and one suspects the new president may push for interim measures to help the Palestinians establish a functioning economy and limit trade barriers. But the lessons of the holocaust are not lost, had the Jews be more suspicious, and fought harder, the number of deaths would have been far less.
There is a popular misconception that Jews and Israelis are difficult, assertive, and protective of their own interests. In fact, the opposite was shown in Nazi Germany. Jews were ordered to stop practicing certain professions, and then shifted to ghettos which they did quietly and cooperatively. Once in the ghettos, Eichmann or an underling went to leaders and explained people would need to report for transfer and cooperation would make the task easier. The Jews duly reported and were separated into two lines, and the Germans took machine guns and murdered the defenseless, and the remaining into railroad cattle cars where they would be starved, tortured, and killed in their new home.
Lack of resistance made the Germans task wonderfully easy and a 1,000 Jews could be killed without a single German casualty. No one in the world helped until the Nazis became their problem. And the phrase never again was born.
So when in 1967, Egypt, Jordan, Syrian, and Iraq gathered together to destoy Israel, few countries cared, the UN took away their peace-keepers, America was occupied with Vietnam, and there were few offers of help. .
But this time was different as the Jews did not go meekly. And while choices are difficult and peace a wonderful goal, the Israelis leaders know this. If they gave up all the land requested and had less security, and Arab countries gathered to again destroy the country, none of the countries which pushed for the compromised borders would helpi Israel. France, which pushed for a conference would do as they had done in 1942, we can maintain peace but just have to turn over our Jews for slavery, experiment, and likely murder, sounds fair enough, do what you want with them, the great majority said.
I hope there can be a peace, and one suspects the new president may push for interim measures to help the Palestinians establish a functioning economy and limit trade barriers. But the lessons of the holocaust are not lost, had the Jews be more suspicious, and fought harder, the number of deaths would have been far less.