"Silence ensures that history repeats itself"

Quote by Erin Gruwell, American teacher

Photo by Brandi Redd on Unsplash.

History repeats itself. Over and over. Onstage, the actors change roles, their wardrobe switches, and the conflicts and weaponry are revised. Yet the underlying script remains the same. It is a story of diminishment, scorn, and persecution. 

As domineering corporate and governmental leaders write a narrative of hate, they entrench their power by manipulating masses. This is done with propaganda, fear, and cloaked science.

I see this happening before my eyes every day here in Israel. The noose of persecution is pulled tighter as the leadership desperately fights for authority over the impertinent “children” who won’t listen to their stringent rules.

And yes, this is a replay of another atrocity, and as a Jew living in Israel, I feel that I am able to draw a parallel. Aspects of life in Israel in 2021 can be compared to Germany in the 1930s. Many who survived the horrific Holocaust, and now their offspring, become incensed when such a comparison is made. Yet, these Jews must allow the world to learn from this dark history so it does not repeat itself. The players, the costumes, and the weapons are different, but the plot is the same.

My husband’s parents were Holocaust survivors. On both his mother’s and father’s sides, siblings, parents, and most relatives perished. The tragedy did not end in 1945 with Germany’s surrender; although my husband’s father survived, he then died of a massive heart attack at the age of 49 from the typhoid he contracted in the Bergen Belson concentration camp. Many distant relatives in my family also perished.

So, yes, I can write about this subject, especially in the light of current events, and more so because now the perpetrator is the Jewish state subjugating its own people. Some of these Israelis survived the Holocaust, only to now witness another one looming in their own so-called free Jewish state.

There are a few child survivors like Vera Sharav who are calling a spade a spade. She said in an interview, “I can’t believe I have to bear witness again.” Her prophetic words and wisdom can be heard in this YouTube video.

A new version of the Holocaust is beginning, yet there are those Jews who take offense to any comparisons being made. In the Netherlands, Dutch politician, Thierry Baudet was forced to remove social media posts calling the new underclass the “new Jews,” as reported by MSN. The judge ruled that Baudet “pointlessly” offended Holocaust survivors and their families. Is this judge effectively ruling that history is pointless?

This ruling, in effect, forbids others to learn important lessons from history. If we do not see the daily brainwashing of the masses and the subsequent demonization against these new second class citizens, we are sleepwalking. 

If we do not fight against the unfair persecution of a people who simply want to preserve their bodily rights and defend their power of choice which are protected by the Nuremberg Code from 1947, we are complicit. 

If we continue turning our backs on this authoritarianism and discrimination, it could get worse, with every single person losing rights, dignity, and freedom. No, we are not going back to what people call normal any time soon–just look at the history books.

If we not show solidarity and acceptance of the other, we are missing out on what it is to be human and to have a soul. Our humanity is our compassion, our empathy, and our ability to think for ourselves. 

If we remain compliant and tribal and stiff-necked, we are nothing more than animals, and that is exactly where the authorities want us; coralled and fearful like sheep in a pen.

When a survivor told of his own experience in the Holocaust, he explained that at first the Jews weren’t allowed to sit on certain park benches, so they thought, fine, there are places on the grass to sit. And then they were not allowed in public pools. Fine, the Jews thought, we can swim in the lakes and the rivers. Over time, the rules became more stringent and the public accepted them, allowing this to become a new normal. Slowly, slowly, freedom eroded into authoritarianism and totalitarianism.

Today, in Israel, a large part of the population cannot go to public pools. They cannot go into shopping malls, large stores, theaters, restaurants and more. Those who care about bodily freedom cannot learn at school or university without submitting to unreliable medical tests every few days. And even these “freedoms” are being eroded. Slowly, slowly, it drips its torpid poison.

This is not a localized phenomenon in Israel; it is happening around the world right now. Australians are being forcibly detained in so-called hotels (internment camps). Freedom of expression is curtailed, with learned experts being ridiculed and their words erased. The list goes on and on, yet most people are oblivious, blinded, and paralyzed.

So please open your eyes and see the other. Take time to investigate and try to respect others' opinions. Do not take the narrative you are fed in the media at face value. Do not believe that governments have our backs: they do not. This is an insidious war abut power, not health. 

Instead, look back at history, think for yourself, and compare today to the past. History is your most valuable teacher while your individuality, conscience, and soul are your precious humanity. Do not remain silent; listen and cry out, for history is trying to repeat itself.

 

I am reaching out, please take my hand.

 

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash.

 

 

 

I started this blog upon making Aliyah in 2005. I kept writing for close to 15 years, annotating the many enlightening experiences I had in this special land. From golden desert to oak forested mountains, I was inspired by the beautiful landscapes, dazzled by the brilliant sunshine, and fascinated by the rather zesty culture. I wrote about how these places and people impacted me, touched my heart, and swelled my soul. I felt alive and I felt at home. At last.

 

 

And then C_V_D hit. I no longer had anything positive and inspiring to report. I stopped writing when I first felt the fear from a scary and ubiquitous police presence. I saw an iron-fisted government that soon clamped down on personal freedoms. I watched terrifying one-sided newscasts preaching a dogma fueled by propaganda. 

 

I witnessed freedom of speech being shut down as the health ministry and the TV, radio, and social media mocked, then silenced any and all opposition. Rabbis took on the narrative, showing bewildered congregants Torah's solutions to heal in these dark times. This too mirrored the government's narrative, and so most Israelis followed directions with shocking obedience. I had no idea that such a “charif,” confrontational and outspoken people could obediently and unquestioningly stand in line with such innocence and trust.

 

And so I witnessed our society being divided into two camps who have now spun so far from the other, it looks as if there is no rectification. These two sides now live on two planets elbow-to-elbow in a tiny orbit.

 

This country that has always been a tinderbox awaiting the next blaze. But the threat has always been from the outside: be it the anti-Semites, the many enemies that surround every border, or the haters who live within.

 

I have lived here for 16 years and witnessed three wars, plus the recent rocket barrages that incited pogroms from Arab Israelis within our midst. These last acts of hate gave me a sense of hopelessness regarding a peaceful future in Israel. Yet this too subsided, as if a lid were capped on the simmering volcano. All returned to calm, as both Jewish and Arab Israelis went back to living and working side by side. That is, until the next eruption will occur, for the volcano still simmers beneath.

 

The wars that erupted from the north and from Gaza were devastating and terrifying, yet they miraculously strengthened the Jewish people. Jews united in these times; they opened their homes to strangers who fled the rockets; they gave, they cared, they felt as one nation.

 

And here we are in what I will call another “battle.” Yet this war is different as it pitches Jew against Jew in their Jewish homeland. It is a battle without traditional weapons; fear and a one-sided narrative have replaced bullets and rockets. And this non-violent weaponry is proving to be even more powerful as it is forcing Jews to reject other Jews.

 

I feel like I am watching a boxing ring from the sideline. A great, strong and confident boxer is in the ring awaiting the next round. He is punching the air, biting, grinning in anticipation of his next win.

 

And I want to curl up and cry in the corner of this ring because the Jews are failing by setting up such a fight. They are failing each other and are failing in the eyes of Hashem. The Jews lived in exile, and suffered pogroms, and died in millions at the hands of the Nazis. Yet, they were given back their ancient homeland to rebuild and to care for and to respect.

 

The biggest responsibility of Jews, especially those who have the merit to live in Israel, is to be a light to others, to show love, to honor, and to treat one another well. I fear we have gone astray, and this is under the auspices of the first Prime Minister who is an Orthodox Jew.

 

It is a time of confusion, fear and separation. Yet if we are to learn from our errors of the past, we should know that baseless hatred spells the end of the people in this land. This happened in the times of the First Temple, when the Jews were banished to Babylon; and again, with the destruction of the Second Temple, when Jews were enslaved and walked away in chains to Rome and exiled beyond.

 

Some 2,000 years later, it was finally time to come home and set up a nation with both a high conscience and consciousness. Yet 73 years after the establishment of the state, I see fractiousness, disrespect, inequality, indignity, and corruption. I can see this failure as clearly as the radiant, magenta sky that soars above me. And I can see the ticking meter is running out.

 

Data records over 8,000 Israeli deaths from C_V_D, and this is a true tragedy. Yet despite a zealous campaign to restore health, the government’s plan has not brought back any sense of normal. In fact, just the opposite of normal is true.

This week, the government extended their C_R_N_A powers until the end of 2022 and have renewed the “state of emergency” for another two to four months. They increased the fines of violating the so-called Green Pass to 10,000 NIS, and have legislated that they will close businesses which do not enforce their discriminatory measures. Such actions do not restore health.

 

Instead, their tightening muzzle instills a new reality of fear, confusion, and distrust. The worst offense is that the government of the Jewish people is fostering a division among its own people and those on the two sides now find themselves separated by an invisible iron curtain.

 

Old friends are afraid to gather together, families are being split up over the narrative, and marriages are crumbling. Many have lost their livelihood, their hope, and their sanity. Children have lost the innocence of their childhood, while he youth have lost their sense of adventure. Those who believe in sovereignty of the body and a freedom to make their own decisions now find themselves to be pariahs.

The boxer is starting the next round. The punches are coming closer and lower, and I fear those Jews cheering for the strong opponent’s side will jeer and cry in delight upon seeing painful blows inflicted.

I cower in the corner at this “fight.” The Jews are perpetrating injustice upon others in their own society, especially their own children. We, who have been banished and exiled and then fought for freedom, justice, and dignity, should know how to respect others’ rights.

Photo by Bogdan Yukhymchuk on Unsplash.

We should intuit how to hold the two opposing sides in one hand and stay above judgement and hate. We should respect the other, and even if we cannot understand another’s position, let go of the fear and sit with it. 

 

We should be healing ourselves from within, not lashing without. We should be praying to Hashem for the strength to be better people instead of spending energy trying to coerce and enslave the other. We should know better.

 

For truth and peace live between two opposites. The light is there for us to touch and to take and to warm our hearts. We all need to reach out to the other with respect and to unify as one people with a higher consciousness. We need to gracefully bow to the other, step out of the boxing ring, and grow as a people. I am reaching out, please take my hand.