'In every generation, they rise up'

From THE JERUSALEM POST Apr. 1, 2007, by Jonathan Tobin.....

...Despite the best intentions of a generation of would-be peacemakers and a host of concessions on the part of the Israelis, Arab and Muslim opinion seems even more set in its determination to depict Israel as an evil oppressor. Indeed, the long record of Israeli peace offers and withdrawals since the signing of the Oslo peace accords in 1993 has, if anything, seemed to encourage the demonization of both the Jews and their state.

The view of this lamentable drift toward further conflict from afar is - though it entails less personal sacrifice - just as dispiriting. For Jews in the Diaspora, even those who care deeply about Israel's welfare, the process by which nothing seems to deflect the Palestinian Arabs from a course set for violence is both perplexing and horrifying.

As the virus of anti-Zionism - a belief that is more often than not merely a thinly veiled New Age intellectual version of classical anti-Semitism - spreads from Europe to America's college campuses, the question of how to answer the challenge has left many Jews confused. A consistent pattern of Israeli peace offers and concessions answered by Palestinian rejection and terrorism ought to have ended serious discussion about American pressure on the Jewish state.
But it hasn't. If anything, the more Israel seeks to give in the name of peace, the worse it is treated.

If affirming their continued support for the right of Israel to defend itself against terror makes them stand out, then many American Jews simply opt out. The reaction from many Jews who don't wish to identify with the side that liberal intellectuals often brand these days as the bad guy of the Middle East is to abandon advocacy for Israel - or at least downplay it.

.....The Haggada speaks of the Divine promise of the redemption of the children of Israel in Egypt by reminding us that "this promise has sustained our fathers and us. For not only one enemy has risen against us, in every generation men rise against us to destroy us."

.... students of all ages, as well as their parents, must recall that the goal of contemporary anti-Semitism is specifically to detach us from our history and our connection to Israel.
The retelling of the story of the Exodus seems to inspire free people everywhere. Yet it also represents the aspirations of countless generations of Jews, who dreamed not merely of universal freedom but of the revival of Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel. We owe it to them - and even more, to ourselves - and to those who will come after us to never forget that.

Refocusing on that narrative is daunting when you consider the rising support for Palestinian dreams of eradicating Israel and the world's willingness to tolerate Iran's faith-based drive for nuclear weapons to help accomplish that horrifying goal. In the face of such hatred, it's possible to lose heart and to stand silent while an intellectual mob bays for Jewish blood.

But as difficult as the times may be, the words of the Haggada.... can still supply us with the courage that we need. It's a lesson we must teach again to our children and ourselves. Like each Jewish generation since the Exodus that preceded us.....

The writer is executive editor of the Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia.