Jews control the world. They have infiltrated the top echelons
of American politics. They dictate policy and tirelessly pursue
their “Jewish” agendas.
While this is mostly untrue, I only wish it were so.
Far from being ashamed, I proudly salute the prominence,
prestige and vast contributions of the Jewish people.
In fact, my people are so beautiful and so ethical that I wish
we controlled more. Much good will come of our extended inclusion
in society and politics.
Former Malaysian Prime minister Mahathir Mohamad recently
reiterated the age-old canard that Jews rule the world.
What could he have meant by such a statement? Do Jews not
deserve power? Surely it is bigoted to mark people of a certain
faith as unacceptable for assuming prominent positions.
To treat Jews specifically by a double standard is an attribute
of anti-Semitism, pure and simple.
Beyond the stupidity of such a statement, it is flat out
ignorant. Jewish contributions to the world are as numerous as they
are wonderful. They should be cherished ““ not stigmatized and
repelled.
From the shackles of Egyptian enslavement to the Holocaust, Jews
have suffered a long and arduous history.
And throughout it all we have found refuge in belief, customs,
debate and upright morality.
Based on our own suffering, the Jewish people have gained a
unique insight into the anguish of the weak, the cruelty of
absolutist ideology and the consequences of indifference to
evil.
From the beginning, Jews have been among the leading voices
denouncing genocide and crimes against humanity.
Starting in 1915, America shamefully looked away as over 1
million Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman Empire.
The United States chose neutrality and silence, hardly issuing a
whimper of disapproval.
It was up to Henry Morgenthau, Sr. ““ a Jew ““ to
vociferously oppose the Armenian Genocide. As American ambassador
to the Ottoman Empire, Morgenthau spoke out against the viciousness
of Mehmed Talaat, the Turkish interior minister, and the flaccidity
of American policymakers.
Similarly, the United States barely condemned the Khmer Rouge
and their notorious killing fields on which 2 million Cambodians
died. Later, America even supported that same genocidal regime.
But a brave few, led by Jewish Congressman Stephen Solarz, were
outraged at the pathetic response to the genocide.
Solarz drew upon his people’s history in the Holocaust to
understand such evil. He spent a year and a half trying to pass a
resolution in the House urging President Carter to stop the
killings.
Israel, the Jewish homeland, was in fact the first country to
speak of the Cambodian genocide in the United States. Jewish New
York Times columnist William Safire assiduously called on the world
to act against the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.
Christopher Hitchens, another writer of Jewish descent, remains
one of the foremost Kurdish sympathizers and supporters. While the
world stood by as Kurds were massacred by Saddam Hussein’s
poison gas, Hitchens advocated well-deserved Kurdish autonomy,
protection and human rights.
Of course, this is not to say that every Jew is a good person.
Good and bad people obviously exist among every faith.
Nor is this to say that Jews are better than anyone else.
In the final analysis, it is one’s actions, not gender,
religion or nationality, that matters most.
That said, there is absolutely nothing wrong with patriotic and
believing Jews attaining positions of power in America or anywhere
else.
What, for example, do Jews do with our supposed vast sums of
money? We donate to charity.
In one year alone, in the 1990s, the “United Jewish Appeal
raised more money than any other charity in America, including the
Salvation Army, American Red Cross, Catholic Charities and the
American Cancer Society,” according to one study.
Jews also put their brains to great use. Vitamins and the
vaccine for polio were invented by Jews. Forty percent of
America’s Nobel Prize winners in science and economics have
been Jews as well.
Not bad for a people that constitute about 2 percent of the
American populace.
Perhaps most importantly, it is directly from Jewish tradition
and the Hebrew Bible that the world received the basis for our
system of Western ethics ““ not to mention the radical idea of
absolute monotheism.
The lessons of Jewish history have taught us great justice,
morality and a keen understanding of humanity.
Just as the prophets did in ancient times, today’s Jews
serve as a conscience to the world.
Anti-Semitic slander, such as comments from Malaysia’s
former prime minister, are utter rubbish and only do a disservice
to the world.
From the Ten Commandments to advocating human rights, the Jewish
people’s deeds and accomplishments should be celebrated and
emulated by all.
Keyes is a third-year Middle Eastern studies student. E-mail
him at dkeyes@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.