The Case of a Castle, and Other ‘Incidents’

There are many incidents — you know: “incidents” — every day. You can’t take note of all of them. But this one caught my attention. The incident occurred in Australia. It says something about . . . well, antisemitism.

When someone says, “Anti-Zionism, not antisemitism!” you may want to ask, “Are you sure?”

• Here is an episode, an incident — a story — that caught my attention. It could be because I hail from southeastern Michigan. In any event, I will quote from WXYZ (Channel 7), in Detroit:

On Tuesday, tens of thousands gathered in Washington, D.C., to march in support of Israel . . .

Hundreds of metro Detroiters were also expected to be in attendance but were stranded on their chartered planes. The buses that the Jewish Federation of Detroit organized never showed up.

Huh. Why’s that?

Representatives with the federation say they received a call from the company [saying] that, once drivers learned of the assignment, many called [in] sick.

Ah.

A little more:

Metro Detroiters still tried to make the most of their time despite not being able to attend the rally or only attending a small portion, waving flags and singing songs.

For that full report, go here. I would like to point out two things, two further passages: “7 Action News has tried multiple times to learn which bus company was in charge. The federation refuses to disclose that information.” And: “The Jewish Federation of Detroit says they are not seeking legal action at this time.”

You know? Maybe too nice, too polite.

• Michael Oren is a very interesting person to hear from: the American-born scholar and writer (Ph.D., Princeton) who was Israel’s ambassador to the United States. But the University of North Florida . . . Well, here’s Oren:

• About life on campus — mania on campus, madness on campus — there are a thousand things to say, and a thousand incidents to highlight. But I thought this letter had particular salience and poignancy:

• This was inevitable — written in stone. And where there’s Finkelstein, David Irving can’t be far behind. They have long gone together like peas and carrots (or choose your simile).

• To see this on American soil is chilling. On any soil, yes, but here in the land of the free and the home of the brave . . . Obviously, Wisconsin has seen Nazis before. And Communists. So have other states. Still, chilling.

(For an article on this ghastly band, from NBC News, go here.)

• The president of France wrote a good letter. You could argue it’s not true (the part about what France is, and is not). But it’s a good and right letter nonetheless:

In one month, more than a thousand antisemitic acts were committed on our soil. . . .

Our Jewish compatriots therefore experience legitimate anguish. Fear to take their children to school. Fear of returning home alone. Fear to the point of hiding their name to protect themselves. . . .

A France where our Jewish fellow citizens are afraid is not France. A France where French people are afraid because of their religion or their origin is not France.

• A final thought in a brief post: The story is told of the Jewish man in 1930s Europe who liked to read the antisemitic press. He read it every day. A friend of his asked, in bewilderment, “Why?” He said, “Well, it tells me how powerful we are. How we control everything: the banks, the press, the universities, the movies . . .”

Something I read a few days ago reminded me of that. And I will repeat something that many of us have already observed: If the case for Zionism needed to be made, before October 7, 2023, Hamas has made it abundantly, and so have its supporters ’round the world. The goodwill of people such as Macron is wonderful — magnifique. And nécessaire. But the goodwill of many — even of most — is not quite enough.