Perhaps it's Time We Took a Long Hard Look in the Racist Mirror

A recent survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) reports that up to a 33% of Jewish people personally experienced verbal or physical anti-Semitic violence. Apparently, the scourge of anti-Semitism is back with a vengeance and ranges throughout the continent, from the UK and Ireland in the west to the new Eastern European members in the east.

Let’s face it, the best scape goats are the old scape goats and throughout European history there has never been a better scape goat then us Jews. The economic meltdown in Europe has been the perfect excuse to bring back the old demons and the good news for “practitioners of the art” is that anti-Semitism has become so much easier and even acceptable in the guise of anti-Zionism.

No… before you get on your high horse, not all anti Zionism or condemnation of Israeli government policy is anti-Semitism. Let’s just say that the existence of the modern Jewish state, not to mention much of recent Israeli government policy; has provided modern anti-Semites with a convenient smoke screen for their racially fuelled hatred. One no longer has to come out with diatribes against the “chosen people” rather one can feign moral outrage towards “that shitty little country” and still retain ones politically correct credentials and respectability.

Scandalous… and we are justifiably outraged. However before we here in Israel get on our morally superior high horse, perhaps we should first take a long hard look in the racist mirror.

This week it was reported that the two largest amusement parks in Israel, Super Land and the Lunar Park do not allow Jewish and Arab schools to attend their parks on the same day. A 7th grade teacher from Ajial, an Arab school in Jaffa; was told that there was no availability on the dates he requested for an end of year treat for his students. When he called back however pretending to be from a Jewish school, he was shocked to learn that availability was no problem.

Then there is the video of around 40 off duty border policemen beating up a 63 year old Arab man and his two sons, for no obvious reason. The pictures are quite clear and quite damning. The border police however, in reacting to the incident stated that the “three men attacked the forty policemen” in an unprovoked attack. I recommend you look at the video on you tube and decide for yourselves.

Also this week, Omar Walid, the most seriously wounded survivor of last week’s horrendous Bank shooting in Beer Sheva, in which 4 people were murdered; opened his eyes for the first time. Apparently this young Bedouin man saved the life of a Jewish man by throwing himself on top of him, a brave act for sure.

However this young man claims that he was shot not by the gunman, but by the police. He claims that as he tried to escape the mayhem inside the bank along with another Jewish man, while the Jewish man was led to safety, Omar was actually targeted by the police. Having saved the life of one man, all he wanted to do was escape however he was then shot, apparently because he was an Arab and therefore a subject of suspicion.

These are just three recent and lamentable examples of institutional racism in Israel. Unfortunately such attitudes and behaviour permeate throughout Israeli society. The refusal to integrate Ethiopian children into schools in Petach Tikva last year, or to allow Sfardi girls to learn in an Ashkenazi religious school in Bet Shemesh are two more sad examples.

Racist and often violent incidents against Arabs, foreign workers and even Jewish Israelis of Ethiopian or Russian decent are rife and occur on a daily basis. So called price tag attacks on Muslim and Christian individuals and property go without punishment. Worse still, many of our elected representatives promote racist ideology, incite racism and promote racist and anti-democratic legislation in the Knesset.

Likud MK, Miri Regev’s speech in Schunat Hatikva last year was truly shameful. If one replaced the term foreign workers with the term Jews, her speech would have been very much at home in 1930s Germany, yet her overt racism and incitement received little or no condemnation from the powers that be. Sadly she has many “kindred spirits” in todays corridors of power.

For sure, sadly racism exists in all societies. Apparently we all have our prejudices. However, surely it is the job of any right (correct) minded civil society to rid itself of such attitudes and behaviour. As we look on in horror and rightly condemn the return and rise of good old fashioned European anti-Semitism, I would venture to suggest that we urgently look to put our own house in order, and quickly!

It would be nice to be able to get up in the morning, look in the mirror and actually like what we see.