Okay, I am taking some heat here, but I have a plan

A few days ago I wrote a post about my general disappointment in how the Jewish students at York University reacted to the bullying by the anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian hoards who were taunting them earlier in the week.

The following day at lunch, a good friend of mine who is a university professor said that he thought the students did the right thing by calling the police. "They could have been hurt," he said. Okay, I am willing to give him that much ... they could have been hurt. Well so could the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.

My professor friend grew up safely-ensconced in a large Jewish community. I grew up in a place where there were a handful of Jewish families. Everyone knew who we were. The Jewish families were all generally successful. Most of the Jewish kids were good students. Bottom line: I don't think a lot of people liked us much. Of course, at the time I didn't know that. I lived safely sheltered from a lot of nastiness thanks to my parents.

But, eventually you are out there on your own. And that's when you come face-to-face with the hard cold realities. I have heard all the doozers: "Jew Girl", "don't be such a Jew", "all Jews are rich", "your people run the world".

Let me add here that I only wish "my people" ran the world because if they did, I would send them a list of all the idiots who said all those stupid things to me over the years and request someone to exterminate them -- quietly of course. And it wasn't just other kids who said them. It was adults too ... even teachers in front of the entire class.

But the difference for me was that I always took a stand. I have told more than one teacher to F-off. (Yes, I know I have a tendency to resort to that word in times of stress.) I have walked out of classes, and I have confronted every last one of the people who ever said any such anti-semetic thing to me. Oh, and years later, when I bumped into one of the cool guys in high school who had called me Jew Girl, I reminded him of his pathetic-ness and told him that I would go on reminding him and everyone he knew for as long as I lived. That is a promise I intend to keep. It will be my pleasure.

So that is why I don't get these kids at York. Well actually I DO get them. They don't know in their own hearts and minds if Israel is the good guy or the bad guy, so they assume the worst. They are worried that the anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian tormentors might be right. They don't know themselves as Jews. So what do you expect?

So that's enough rhetoric for one day. At the end of all my ranting, my friend and I agreed that we needed a plan.

Actually it was my professor friend who came up with the idea. He said that we should create a little wallet-sized card for every Canadian Jewish university student (I say Canadian, because I don't know what's going on concerning this matter in the U.S.) that gives them 10 important facts about Israel's position. That way, they could check their little cards and get their facts straight. They would have some protective ammunition.

So, what do you think? I like the idea. It's small but it's doable. And it would be a step in the right direction. Let me know if you agree or not.


(For anyone who wants to read the latest installment in the York University incident, you can check JPOst at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304788139&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)

Remember, it can't happen in Canada ... or can it?

I was reading the Canadian newspapers today, as I do most days. And as I have mentioned in previous posts, there is rarely any news in them. Yes, there is information -- things I didn't know before I read the papers -- but real news.... rarely.

Today was different for me. Something actually caught my eye. I wouldn't call it news, but it was attention-grabbing.

I read two articles which reminded me why I live in Israel and why most Canadian Jews have selective vision. I am sorry to say but it reminds me of what I think Germany must have been like in the early days after Hitler's election.

One article in The Globe and Mail. It was about two really nice young guys in Montreal who admitted to (www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090212.wBulphred0212/EmailBNStory/National/home) firebombing Jewish buildings. These guys were so nice, in fact, that it was reported that one of them even had a Jewish fiancee at one point. And as if that wasn't enough, his family was quoted as saying that they have Jewish friends.

Well, thank you for that.

I love those lines and I have heard them all: "Some of my best friends are Jewish" or "You aren't like the other Jews I know." I have no idea what THAT second comment means but if I had a tub of strawberry Haagen Dazs for everyone who has said that to me over the years, I would weigh a ton.

The second article was an opinion piece in The National Post. It was a recount of an on-campus quasi-non-violent attack on the Hillel offices on the campus of York University yesterday. (network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/02/12/an-eyewitness-account-of-this-week-s-aggressive-intimidation-of-jewish-students-at-york-university.aspx)

I will spare you the details. If you want to read them, you have the link noted above. Suffice it to say, it wasn't pretty.

But what struck me the most was how afraid the Jewish students in the Hillel on-campus office were. They were afraid because they didn't have enough information to fight back with words. There are very good counter-arguments to every ridiculous thing the anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian supporters were spouting. Very good arguments. Legitimate arguments that are supported by the Canadian government in fact.

In the end the Jewish students called the police who came and escorted them out of the building while a large group of anti-Israel/pro-Palestinian protesters taunted them. If I was one of the taunters I would have considered that a victory. The Jewish students went home (protected by the police) without a (verbal) fight. They never once made their positions known or took a proactive stance. Talk about an easy win for the other side. Hamas would just love it if the Israelis would do the same -- just pack up and leave. Then they could all get back to important business -- fighting amongst themselves.

There are at least ten times the number of Muslims in Canada as there are Jews. And amongst those Jews, most don't care or care to find out what is really going on. The writing is on the wall. It's not the first time. It's not going to be the last. Jews have never won a popularity contest and they never will. I'm just glad those York students don't live here.