The World Is Upside Down

I keep hearing from many that “the world is upside down”! In fact, it was a tune played by the British army band at Yorktown in 1781 when Cornwallis surrendered to Washington, ending British rule. In fact, the world is not upside down in the context of the current regional war in the Middle East. (And yes, it’s regional!)

What is so strikingly obvious here is the lack of connection and understanding of history, and, particularly, Jewish history, that escapes the multitude.

The simple realization is that no one can see the forest for the trees. It’s too obvious, and the same behavior applies to all, even to many Jews. The glaring presence of antisemitism! To the non-Jew, we can be easily ignored based on a 3500 year-old axiom that says ‘it’s OK to mourn dead Jews (the Holocaust), but live Jews don’t have the right to live in peace.’

Yes, much of the Christian world supports Israel, and the Jewish culture, but…a great deal of that is based on the narrative of ‘the second coming’. That may or may not happen, nor did the first one, really. Too many laws of nature would have to be broken for either to occur, but that’s another argument. As a result, Jews are still persecuted, campuses are still over-run by students, instructors, and administrators who deny Jewish or Israeli speakers for fear of ‘offending’ someone. We can’t have Islamophobia, can we? So, anti-Semitism is OK.

I really believe that this hate comes from deep with-in. The non-Jew looks at us, and our innovation, inventiveness, and our gift to humanity persona, and just hates. Because they see everything in us that they hate in themselves, the animosity cannot be mitigated. Israel must go to war to survive. The world can only seem to accept that up to a point. Support for Israel quickly deteriorates into ‘same-as ism’ whereby support for terrorism is acceptable to a leadership bent on puppet string behavior, keeping Israel tethered to a leash. Witness the 11 months prior in Gaza, a war that should have taken 30-60 days. “Can’t go into Rafah!” So….no bombs for you. Well, the first rule of war is cut off the lines of supply of the enemy, and their retreat. Right? I am sure Gallant and Bibi knew this, but the puppet strings in Washington told a different story. Result, we went anyway, 10 months too late. The low civilian death rate contradicted the warnings. The world is still upset that Israel was successful here. Not supposed to happen that way…same-as- ism, remember? OK to mourn dead Jews, but not happy with strong ones who defend themselves, remember?

This policy, official or otherwise, has existed for 3500 years. Now rearing its ugly head on the Lebanon front. The U.S. is quietly impressed with Israel’s new strategy to combat Hezbollah, but publicly belly-aching about a ‘wider regional conflict’. The last two weeks of exploding pagers, targeted assassinations, and precise air attacks on launchers is brilliant! Too much so for those who want ‘same-as-ism’. Jews aren’t supposed to do this are they?

No word from anyone about the Israelis who are homeless, property destroyed, or those killed up north. Not a word! From anyone! The outcry will be about the ‘poor Lebanese’.

Yes, the world is upside down. Perhaps that’s the tune we will hear for another 3500 years. I hope not.