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Olivier Jack Melnick

Will BDS lead to the next Kristallnacht?

On November 10, 1938, simultaneous violent attacks on Jewish businesses, Synagogues and properties occurred all over Germany. Kristallnacht or “The Night of Broken Glass” was a new phase in anti-Semitism and it helped it to reach a point of no return. As the civilized world voiced its outrage at the violent pogroms, Hitler ignored it all and grouped world Jewry and Bolsheviks together to justify to the world the need to eliminate them all. Over 1,600 synagogues were ransacked and almost 300 set on fire in one night. A turning point in European Jewry had been reached.

As he progressed throughout Europe, he would systematically introduce his anti-Semitic agenda. The 200,000 Jews of Austria ended up in more danger than those of Germany if at all possible. Czechoslovakia was taken over in March of 1939, and within weeks the Nazi agenda was implemented.

The League of Nations did complain, which forced Germany to withdraw their membership. Britain and the U.S joined the ranks of the few who wanted to control the damage, but it was too little, too late.

Scholars and historians almost always refer to Kristallnacht as the beginning of the Holocaust. As a matter of fact, Hermann Göring (Hitler’s second in command) met with other Nazi leaders two days afterKristallnacht and set the stage for the “Final Solution”. Minutes from the meeting revealed Nazi Germany’s intention clearly:
I have received a letter written on the Führer’s orders requesting that the Jewish question be now, once and for all, coordinated and solved one way or another… I should not want to leave any doubt, gentlemen, as to the aim of today’s meeting. We have not come together merely to talk again, but to make decisions, and I implore competent agencies to take all measures for the elimination of the Jew from the German economy, and to submit them to me.[1]

Kristallnacht was the first major boycott attempt in the history of the Jewish people and it resulted into the killing of 6,000,000 Jews. It is almost certain that not all those who bought into the boycott and the destructive pogroms organized by Hitler actually foresaw where it was going.

While not many are willing to admit it, the modern Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement (BDS) started in 2005, could very possibly lead to what took place during AND after Kristallnacht. I have written several times about the hypocrisy of the Boycott on Israeli products and corporations, while many of the other products that the very boycotters are using are either manufactured or invented in Israel. This hasn’t changed, but what concerns me even more now is the real motive behind the support for BDS.

As erroneous as they might have been up to now, supporters of BDS are starting to show their true colors. The reason why I say that they are mistaken at the core of their fight is because they choose to boycott Israeli products based on the false premise that Israel is guilty of apartheid, occupation and even crimes against humanity. So in the name of social justice and world peace, Israel must be stopped! Of course if it can be proven that Israel is as guilty as South Africa was a few decades ago, then the logical next step will be to sanction them, and the world is going along with that lie. Yet, the correlation between the two is purely fabricated by Jew haters.

PCUSA (Presbyterian Church USA) has been at the forefront of the BDS movement for several years now, and they certainly made the headlines in 2012 when they almost passed a resolution to Boycott Motorola, Hewlett-Packard and Caterpillar, Inc (333/331 with two abstentions). They have never publicly claimed that they desire the end of Israel, but we must not forget that the BDS movement was started by the Palestinian Civil Society who clearly wants the end of Israel and all Jews. PCUSA are preparing their return in June 2014 when they plan to pass that same resolution. In preparing for such a task, they have published a booklet and DVD entitled: “Zionism Unsettled”.

In it, PCUSA is promoting the delegitimization of the Jewish State and in a sense the very end of Israel. So much so that some within PCUSA have expressed major concerns. The group known as Presbyterians for Middle East Peace (PMEP) is distancing itself from the mainline position of PCUSA on Israel and is asking for “Zionism Unsettled” to be reviewed and possibly modified. Knowing that the agenda laid out in the booklet has recently garnered the praise of ex- KKK leader David Duke and much of the Iranian media should suffice to prove its anti-Semitic agenda.

Presbyterians have always been considered Christians. While various denominations can agree to disagree on the minors and be in concert on the majors, some of the leadership of PCUSA seems now to have gone too far. To be sure, not all Presbyterians adhere to the anti-Israel approach of some of their leaders. Nevertheless, it is clear that BDS is not simply interested in imposing economic sanctions to cripple Israel into changing its policies in the region. BDS is one of the many tentacles of the most recent monster bred from two other beasts: Classic Anti-Semitism and the New Anti-Semitism. I call this new monster: “Eschatological Anti-Semitism” and I believe that it is yet the most dangerous one against my people because it is completely irrational, beyond anything ever attempted against the Jewish people. Eschatological Anti-Semitism is the enemy’s (Satan) last campaign against the Jews and he is going full force pulling factions from all corners of the world, all ideologies and all races.

BDS isn’t going to stop now and will most likely spread to other denominations. So what are believers who still see Israel in the center of God’s program to do? Should we remain silent and just pray? Should we do our own boycotting and if yes who do we really boycott, Presbyterians?

I find it a little bit of an embarrassment for PCUSA to display such antagonism and anti-Israel sentiment while at the same time, using Leviticus 19:18 “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” as their denominational verse.

Whatever we decide to do, we must base it on the firm foundation given to us from the Bible and we must remember that Kristallnacht didn’t happen in a vacuum. People were conditioned into believing that Jews were inherently evil and needed to be destroyed. Bible believers who support Israel’s right to exist are becoming a minority. I am part of that minority and I will continue to fight for my people’s right to exist. Some do their fighting with the sword, I choose to do mine with a pen, but in the age of social media, the pen has already proven that it can be mightier than the sword! I usually give people the benefit of the doubt because often people need to be taught the truth and sometimes they can actually change their mind. All this being said, it is reassuring to know that God is on our side!

In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them. And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. (Zechariah 12:8-9)

About the Author
Olivier was born in Paris, France in 1959 to a Jewish family whose mother had escaped and survived the Holocaust. He has a background in Fine Arts and Graphic Design from Paris. Moved to the United States in 1985 after getting married. Olivier settled on the West coast with his wife where both of their children were born. He joined Chosen People Ministries in 1997 where he currently serves as the Southwest Regional Director as well as Vice-President of the "Berger d'Israël" association in France. Olivier is the author of five books, three of them on anti-Semitism available at www.newantisemitism.com and Amazon.com.
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