Take a number

In the acclaimed movie Catch-22, Captain Yossarian, played by Alan Arkin, was the terrified B-25 bombardier. He observed, “Just because you’re paranoid, it doesn’t mean they aren’t all after you.” Similarly, when Jews or Israelis confronted with the overwhelming number and the variety of haters arrayed against them, they can be justified shrugging their shoulders and saying, “…just take a number and get in line.”

As the United Nations General Assembly sessions begins, it is an opportunity to take inventory of our sovereign enemies list. Afterall, the UN, led by Israel-hater Secretary-General Guterres, sets the standard for double-standards. For reference, in 2023 the UNGA condemned Israel 14 times and the rest of the world just 7 times. And this year, with the pending recognition of a hypothetical “State of Palestine,” despite the Palestinian and Hamas-led slaughter, there is a bumper crop of haters. The list, besides the Arab block, includes countries that were first had witnessed the Holocaust: Britian, France, Germany, Portugal, Malta, Australia, and Canada. Israel’s Ambassador Danny Danon to the UN should direct them to drop their veneer of decency and join the ignominious line.

For most of the countries just mentioned, their recent invasion by millions of Muslim migrants has either altered their electoral calculus or added to a predisposition against Jews and Israel. Sadly, the bulwark of our Western civilization is weakening, and the warped demographics are influencing both economic and military alliances. It is a slow drift away from the values that would connect to Israel and the Judeo-Christian world.

This year, a special award must go to Qatar for its exquisite footwork. Qatar was able to both provide Hamas leaders with five-star living accommodations and grounds for a huge American Air Force base. These multi-tasking, slippery Qataris also conducted hostage negotiations and signed checks for the billions of dollars that found their way to American educational institutions to indoctrinate our children into the woke, intersectional, and DEI propaganda. Maybe Qatar deserves to go to the front of the line.

The coalition of the wicked needs a subcategory for international organizations that under the guise of double-talking diplomacy to screw over Israel. This growth industry includes the UN, UNRWA (that was shown to be a bloody division of Hamas), the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and Amnesty International. Organizations like the Red Cross rationalize their inability to help hostages by citing loopholes in their charter. Let’s not forget the “Jewish” subdivision of this category including Sanders, Soros, J-Street , Jewish Voice for Palestine and any Democrat who supports Mamdani as the candidate for mayor of NYC. Surely there is a place on our line for all of them.

Over the last two years, Israelis watched the noisy keffiyeh-wearing marching mobs, and the tented encampments built at prestigious universities. With all the media coverage, it seemed as if all of America had embraced the anti-Israel, pro-Hamas cause. They too can shuffle on over to the haters line.

To add to your concerns, RealClearPolitics reports the worsening attitudes about Israel, “Though the number of people protesting is small relative to the U.S. population, these attitudes have spread among young people, with young Republicans and Democrats expressing increasingly negative views of Israel.” If we don’t quickly reeducate them, they too are destined for the line.

Just recently we learned that four thousand Hollywood A-List actors and filmmakers pledged to boycott Israeli films. Many media outlets opt for inverting the truth, and relentlessly paint the Israelis, who suffered the rape, torture, kidnapping and murder, as the oppressors. Having proclaimed their socially conscious speeches rich with anti-Israel virtue signaling, they can head out, sans a red carpet, to join the line.

Unfortunately, most of the above haters lack the time and interest to study the history of antisemitism, evaluate the story of the modern state of Israel, and appreciate Israel’s contributions to science, medicine and environmental protection. Maybe with just a little bit of enlightenment, some detractors would see the folly of their actions and slink away from this long line.

It is observed that today’s Israelis are the children and grandchildren of the Jews that couldn’t be killed or that they are the descendants of those expelled from North African countries…and now they have F-35’s. Despite the horrible losses of October 7th and the protracted war that followed, they are a resilient people and will succeed. Having a long line of haters is old news, and the recent additions won’t rattle them.

As for American Jews, the trends are more troubling. Progressive politics are a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. It’s hard to imagine the course of history with a Harris-Walz presidency. Surely, Iran’s Fordow would still be enriching Uranium. The danger in future elections should make us shiver. The issues of assimilation, indifference, and unaffiliating are other existential threats.

The underperformance of major Jewish organizations due to their Left-leaning political orientation is also retarding a coordinated response to antisemitism and anti-Zionism. The lay and professional leaders might note that author Joseph Heller wrote for fictional Captain Yossarian to wisely say, “The enemy is anybody who’s going to get you killed, no matter which side he is on.” Demand that these well-funded enterprises resist their political attachments and instead do better for the Jewish people. History might someday show how some Jews squandered away their opportunity stop some of the haters.

Tom Lehrer, a satirical songwriter in the 60’s, wrote for the TV show That Was The Week That Was. In his song National Brotherhood Week, the lyrics included, “…Oh the Protestants hate the Catholics … And the Catholics hate the Protestants … And the Hindus hate the Muslims … And Everyone hates the Jews…”

The song was published sixty years ago, and it feels like nothing has changed.