Stella Paul's "Jews in the Basement" Article in American Thinker

Stella Paul of Stellapundit has sent me this article she wrote in American Thinker entitled, "Jews in the Basement". It is strongly written and is strongly critical of certain Jewish men whom Paul deems have not stood up to anti-Semitism. It is certainly thought provoking.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/07/the_jews_in_the_basement.html

And to add to Paul's anger, here is what Mark Levin had to say on his radio show this week:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/06/30/mark_levin_to_tom_friedman_you_piece_of_.html

This is an issue that I have encountered myself in my efforts to call out instances of anti-Semitism. It certainly does not apply to all Jewish men (or women for that matter). I can name plenty of Jewish men who are actively standing up to anti-Semitism. Like Mark Levin, David Horowitz is certainly no shrinking violet. My friend Ted Bleiweis of the Orange County Independent Task Force on Anti-Semitism is one of my closest colleagues as well as Dee Sterling in Orange County, who has endured a vicious backlash from the more established figures and organizations in Orange County for her activism and criticism of their own inaction.

And that is the point. Why do those who speak out against anti-Semitism suffer so much hostility from many of the Jewish organizations who should be the loudest voices? That takes us back to Paul's article. First of all, there are probably tens of  thousands of Jews in the US who are not even sympathetic to Israel-maybe more. They have bought the liberal line that Israel is violating the human rights of Palestinians. They stand squarely on the side of the Palestinians to the point of actively helping them while ignoring the terrorist acts directed against innocent Israeli citizens as well as the stated objective of Hamas to wipe Israel off the map. The big organization in that category today is Jewish Voice for Peace. They are the useful idiots.

Then there are the peace activists who have drawn a moral equivalence between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Nobody is right and nobody is wrong. The only vision they have is Peace. It blinds them to the real world. If I put J Street in that category, I may be being overly generous.

Don't forget the major Jewish organizations that one would think would be in the forefront of fighting anti-Semitism. From my experience in Orange County, I can only list a few like the Zionist Organization of America, Stand With Us and CAMERA that are doing their jobs. The rest you can throw in the toilet.

Paul singled out Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League for criticism. For years (before I got involved), I saw his name on every headline. I assumed he was the number one guy in fighting anti-Semitism. Yet, when he spoke several months ago in Newport Beach, he pooh-poohed the events in the last several years at UC-Irvine and defended the university. Frankly, I have no idea what the Anti Defamation League does in Orange County.

Of course, in Orange County, the worst is the Jewish Federation, an organization that is too much in bed with UC-Irvine and too engrossed in raising money to even want to acknowledge anti-Semitism at UCI. They trashed my friend Dee Sterling when she pointed out their involvement and funding for a misguided venture called the Olive Tree Initiative. Here you have a major Jewish organization providing funding to a UCI program that has put Jewish students (and others) in touch with known Palestinian activists linked to the International Solidarity Movement, and in 2009 met with Aziz Duwaik, the top Hamas official in the West Bank. The Federation defends OTI by saying that Jewish students come back as better advocates for Israel after learning the debating points of the Palestinians. That is nonsensical and lame. There is anecdotal evidence that some students are coming back with an attitude of moral equivalency toward both sides. The aim of the ISM and their allies is to swing young people from the world to be sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. Failing that, if they can sway Jewish students to a spirit of neutrality, they have also achieved a minor victory.

And of course, there are those Jews who simply don't want to get involved.

Since I am not Jewish, I won't get into the issue of the so-called "self-hating Jews". It is a charge you often hear within Jewish circles. I don't fell qualified to speak on that, so I leave to the Jewish community to deal with it.

I do know this, however; the Jewish community is badly fragmented even on this life and death issue. They spend too much time squabbling with each other instead of uniting against a common threat. Believe it or not, I have made more than my share of Jewish enemies by speaking out on the issue of anti-Semitism at UCI and other UC campuses. I seriously wonder if these folks have any idea what is happening to their co-religionists in Europe today in the 21st century. Anti-Semitism is once again on the march.

And it is back in America-if it ever left.