Monday, January 22, 2007

Reaction to my Washington Post article on Jimmy Carter

Well, not surprisingly, the responses began rolling in on Saturday as soon as the Washington Post posted my article. Many of them were steaming angry, accusing me of justifying Israel's every wrong, advocating genocide of the Palestinians, and all sorts of other wrongs. [None of which I say of course]

One claimed that the very fact that I could get my article published proved Carter was right, i.e. that Jews control the media.

And than there was the person who told me, in no uncertain terms, that if I believed in Jesus and accepted him in my heart I would not have these troubles... now there's a thought. On some level he's right. If I were a Christian I would not have to worry about being the object of antisemitism.

The response from many Jews was also quite revealing. Many thanked me profusely for saying this and giving voice to their fears and their concerns. Their words were touching.

However, I was struck by how frightened -- on a deep visceral level -- many of these people are. I would be the last person to say that antisemitism is not real and that even people of a stature of a former president are liable to fall back on it to use in their defense. But the deep seated fear so many Jews experience leaves me wondering.

Am I missing something not to be even more worried? Or are they losing sight of the many good things that are happen in Jewish life? More on this later.....

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