by Annika Hernroth-Rothstein
If you believe that Jews not only run the world but also are the devil incarnate, it is perfectly rational to use whatever powers and weapons you have at your disposal to try and wipe them off the face of the earth.
This past week was
dominated by U.S. President Barack Obama's apparent outreach to us, the
Jews -- first, in the now infamous Jeffrey Goldberg interview in The
Atlantic, and later in the week, in Obama's address to Washington's Adas
Israel Congregation on Iran, Israel and his relationship to the Jewish
people.
The Atlantic piece was
referred to as "The Middle East Interview," but whatever he said about
the Gulf states or minor "setbacks" (his word, not mine) in regard to
the Islamic State group was not half as enlightening as his thoughts on
anti-Semitism, the Iran deal and how it relates to Israel. When asked
whether Iran's open and aggressive anti-Semitism worries him in regard
to a nuclear agreement, Obama had the following to say:
"Well, the fact that
you are anti-Semitic, or racist, doesn't preclude you from being
interested in survival. It doesn't preclude you from being rational
about the need to keep your economy afloat; it doesn't preclude you
from making strategic decisions about how you stay in power; and so the
fact that the supreme leader is anti-Semitic doesn't mean that this
overrides all of his other considerations."
Many things about this
statement are highly objectionable, but one main point jumps out at
first glance -- the fact that Obama seems to misunderstand the nature
of the anti-Semitic worldview. If you believe that Jews not only run
the world but also are the devil incarnate, it is perfectly rational to
use whatever powers and weapons you have at your disposal to try and
wipe them off the face of the earth. Using nuclear weapons to kill Jews
is not irrational to the Iranian regime; it is at the very core of
their logic, and this deal is presenting them with a strategy no one
can argue with. To put it plainly, if Iran in fact understood that
anti-Semitism was irrational, they would not be anti-Semites.
Anti-Semitism is not
about finding Jews annoying, nor is it a superficial flaw. It is an
ideology and a plague. The American president is either unable to
understand the difference between views and beliefs, or he is fully
aware and is making a judgment call based on what he sees as a
historical injustice. He is righting perceived wrongs by making Iran
the de facto arbitrator and police of the Middle East, thus making
Israel and the Jewish people into collateral damage.
Whether it is ignorance
or malice or both, Obama is now making an effort to set up this
geopolitical shift as a moral choice, rather than one based in chilling
amounts of realpolitik. During his speech at Adas Israel, Obama
pointed to the Jews as a people bearing a particular burden of ethical
responsibility. Without shame or irony, he told us that he has "high
expectations" for Israel, and that the idea of tikkun olam (repairing
the world) somehow obligates us to roll over -- even if that motion
eventually puts us in a pit. No word on how far Iran has to go, or why
he chose to bring them in from the cold while leaving the rest of us
with frostbite.
If I were to interpret
this president's words in the most generous way possible, I would say
he is dangerously ignorant about the world he is attempting to change
and is applying a Western mentality to an Eastern problem. But what
seems more likely is that he has decided to remodel the Middle East and
is telling the world in general and the Jews in particular that his
vision will come to pass, come hell or high water, and we may as well
relax and let it happen.
These past years have
been the darkest in Jewish history since World War II, and I find it
deeply disturbing that the leader of the free world is not only choosing
to side with an openly anti-Semitic regime against the Jewish state,
but also has the chutzpah to tell the Jews that Jewish morality obliges
us to take it on the chin.
"It's my name on this." Those
are the words Obama used to describe the Iran deal. He said this as if
to demonstrate that he can be trusted, that he is in it with us, just
as hesitantly and just as warily. Those were comforting words to
Goldberg, and they would be to me if I did not begin to understand what
this president hopes to leave as a legacy. It's not a new deal -- it's
a new world, but with an old and familiar scapegoat.
Annika
Hernroth-Rothstein is a political adviser, activist and writer on the
Middle East, religious affairs and global anti-Semitism.
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=12697
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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