Agreement and....

Submitted by Nachum Sorkin (United States), Oct 27, 2003 at 10:08

I wish it were the case that I thought you were being an alarmist in your comments on Mahathir Mohamed's remarks. You are not. In fact, your mentions of major anti-semitic activities could be multiplied manifold. I would like to add, however, an additional plea: during the 30's and 40's the world stood silently while antisemitic butchers prepared the ground and then murdered millions. But while the world stood silently, all too many Jews stood silently also.

Whether because of fear of their own position, because of a lack of understanding of how to express their outrage and pleas for compassion and support, because they did not have adequate access to the levers of power; for whatever combination of reasons the Jewish response was too weak. When we say 'Never again!' is this pious hope or commitment to action? I fear it is too much the former; not enough of the latter. This time we cannot afford to fear, for it is clear we all will hang together; we cannot claim a lack of understanding about how to express ourselves, for we are many of us veterans of protest movements of the 60's and 70's; we cannot claim we have no access to the levers of power, for, while we do not control governments as Mohamed claims, we do have access.

Each Jew must put himself/herself on the line. We must not rest. We must protest publicly and speak privately to our neighbors and those with influence. We must act. This time there may, G-d forbid, be a Holocaust that makes the Shoah of the 30's and 40's pale in comparison; this time the remorse of the world, the remorse of those who stood silently will come in time only to bury corpses. Not only Jews, but the world cannot afford this. The time is overlate for standing and acting in order to make 'Never again!' more than an empty, platitudinous phrase.

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