01-03 Antisemitism

On our family trip to Ireland in 1947, on the famous Queen Elizabeth cruise ship, I was introduced to John David Eaton, the President of the T Eaton Company, or Eaton’s, as it was called. It was Canada’s major employer at the time. He and my father seemed to be great friends. I was only 13. I later learned that in 1931, when John David was my father’s boss in the clothing department, he told him that if he married my mother, who was Jewish, he would never be promoted. My father later left and started his own business.
Years later I asked him about John David, and he said that he turned out to be a great man, and his antisemitism was no different than public attitudes about the Irish when they emigrated to Canada after the potato famine around 1850. He called it ignorance.
Another scary lesson was learned on that cruise, and it was the story of a German Jew sitting next to us on deck, who inherited a fortune in paintings which he sent to New York when Hitler came to power in the early 1930s. But during the war, the Germans tortured him to find out where he had hidden his wealth. They even threw his wife and child into an oven while he was strapped to a chair to force him to disclose his secret.
So, I guess I had a bias when the United Nations approved the creation of Israel in 1948 out of what was called British Palestine. But a lot of what is called unfairness or cruelty to the remaining Palestinians has its own ugly history.
The invasion of Israel by a military coalition of Iraq, Egypt, Jordan and Syria hours after Israel was created was the first Arab-Israel war. Then there was the war in 1957 when Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal. Then there was the six-day war in 1967 when Israel took control of so much territory.
My way of dealing with antisemitism and the criticism of Israel is to ask if what Israel is doing is any different that what other nations do. And if it is something unique to Israel than ask what is happening in Israel politics. And with conservative coalition governments that include far right religious parties, expect some cruelty.
Unfortunately, the issue of Israel and the Palestinians has become politicized in the West. Both the far left of Canada and the United States are sympathetic to the Palestinians and want to see two different states created with lots of financial support from the west. The far right, and especially Israel, consider opposition to Israel policies modern-day antisemitism, just as depicted in the cartoon.
And if a political solution is not easily achieved, people must figure out how to survive. Over the years, Israel has prospered because their culture is adaptable, entrepreneurial and international. Something foundational to economic development. At the level of the average citizen, look for people who are self-disciplined and have organizational skills.
If you have women in Saudi Arabia that cannot drive a car and women in Israel that can repair and service military armaments, then you know were some of the problem lies. It is not antisemitism. It is wealth from resources compared to wealth from innovation.
The suggestion from the bible that the Jews are “chosen people” is a bit of a joke to my Jewish relatives. And do they act that differently from non-Jews? No! I went to a high school in Forest Hill in Toronto that was 85% Jewish. Most of the protestant gals went to private schools so their daughters would not marry Jewish boys. Well who was the big opponent to the marriage of my mother and father? The Jewish grandfather.
And why did Forest Hill have such a high academic standing during the days of uniform Ontario Grade 13 examinations? Not because the Jewish kids were smarter but because Forest Hill had its own school board and paid the highest salaries to attract the best teachers. All the teachers were non-Jewish.
I do not know whether I love Israel or just admire people who find innovative ways to solve their problems and make contributions to the lives of others. Is there a scary religious right in Israel? Yes, and I saw them throw stones at people driving their car on Saturday, their holy day.
But not more extreme than the Plymouth Brethren, I lived with as a boy, that forced my father to tear out the radio in his car leaving a gaping hole. Mustn’t be worldly.
It would be my hope that we could erase antisemitism and replace it with “anti fundamentalism”. I refer here to religious faith that ignores history, facts and science.