Itongadol.- Calls for Jews to leave Europe as a response to recent anti-Semitic attacks are unhelpful and simplistic: Most European Jews will stay put, and Europe must defend its Jews – and its deepest values.
David Harris*
A week ago, four people were killed at the Jewish Museum in Brussels. The next day, two kippah-wearing brothers were severely beaten outside Parisen route to a synagogue.
One man has been arrested for the Brussels attack, while the perpetrators in France haven’t yet been found. There is a widespread belief that the attacks were linked to a rising tide of anti-Semitism in Europe. And indeed, the tide has been rising.
There have been some observers who’ve reacted by calling on Jews to leave Europe and dismissing Europe as part of the Jewish past, not future.
Such reactions are not helpful. They take complex issues and reduce them to the level of simplistic slogans.
Should we be outraged by violent attacks on Jews? Absolutely.
Should we be concerned about the electoral success of extremist parties peddling anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and racism? Certainly.
And should we be outspoken about a climate in Europe too slow to acknowledge the magnitude of the growing anti-Semitic threat, and too quick to demonize Israel and its supporters? Unquestionably.
But Europe is important to the Jewish people, the democratic world, and, more specifically, the United States and Israel. Thus, we have a profound stake in Europe’s ability to address its challenges successfully. Those who suggest that Europe is “getting what it deserves” are myopic in the extreme. (…).
*The writer, executive director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC)