By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

Anti-Semitism has been rising for decades, on a global basis.  I used to keep track of and chronicle many of the reported incidents, but they became too numerous.  Some of us grew up with Jewish friends in Los Angeles and elsewhere in the United States; and they remain our friends to this day.  They weren't products of the Holocaust.  Their families came here long before the Holocaust occurred.

Perhaps one example will suffice, which is illustrative of the Jews with whom I grew up:

A Jewish lawyer from the Midwest with whom I was working on a lawsuit . . . came to Washington, D.C. and had never seen the Holocaust Museum, so I took him there.  His family came to the United States in the 1800s, and he told me that none of his relatives were victims of the Holocaust, nor did he know anyone who was affected by it.  In many ways, he did not relate to it, although he was moved emotionally after we toured the museum.  He and the Jews with whom I grew up may not relate to [J Street's Jeremy] Ben-Ami, inter alia, because neither they nor their parents are immigrant Jews.  To them, Israel may be as distant and foreign as the Germany, Ireland, Scotland and England of my ancestors are to me.

I had visited Dachau during a summer in Europe when I was in law school at Berkeley, so I had seen the Nazi horrors firsthand, but my lawyer-friend had not.  I had tried to understand how Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany—the country of my father's ancestors, who came to America in 1849.  What I learned was that anti-Semitism is alive in Germany; and that "the campaign to silence dissent"—as Ben-Ami describes intimidation, fear, invective, division and discrimination in the Jewish community—is what allowed Nazism to flourish.  Dissenters were viewed as traitors, hated and killed.

Contrariwise, dissent and healthy debate must be welcomed and encouraged; and they are the very essence of America's democracy and our freedoms.  Far too often, criticism—for example, of our institutions such as law enforcement or the judiciary—is equated with disloyalty toward either the United States or Israel, which it is not.  "Witch hunts" and "thought police" (Ben-Ami's terms) have no place in democratic societies.[2]

Tragically, Israel was born in violence; and that may undergird how it is viewed in the world today, and foretell its future.  Decades ago, Benjamin Netanyahu morphed into his ancestors' Nazi oppressors; and he is hated in Israel and globally.  Ariel Sharon and the Rabins hated him; and the "Lioness" Leah Rabin blamed him for her husband's tragic assassination.  She believed that peace was impossible with Netanyahu at the helm of Israel; and her views were prescient.

The "Settlers" and rabid Zionists effectively morphed into their ancestors' Nazi oppressors too, by taking the lands of their Palestinian neighbors, and treating them as second-class citizens, if that much.  Perhaps Ben-Ami said it best: "Is this how I wanted to be treated when I was a minority in another people's country?"[3]

Needless to say, any criticisms of Israel are met with threats—some of which are violent—and claims of anti-Semitism.  There are blatant attempts to intimidate, censor and silence the truth, including efforts to damage the futures of college students when they graduate.[4]  It should not surprise anyone that this only increases anti-Semitism in the U.S. and globally.

What is tragic too is that innocent Jews who live outside of Israel and the United States will be targeted, and no one can protect them.  This is what Netanyahu, the Settlers and Zionists have wrought.  What goes around, comes around.  And this is a tragedy that cannot be stopped.  Equally tragic is that efforts will be made to censor and silence the voices of those who dare to discuss it.

Why is any of this important to non-Jews?  Because what is happening in Israel today might spin out of control and lead to a chain of events globally, which would affect each and every one of us in ways we never envisioned—or World War III.

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© 2023, Timothy D. Naegele

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[1]  Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass).  See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele Resume-21-8-6  and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/  He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University.  He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at The Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service).  Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who in Finance and Business.  He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/ and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/articles/), and studied photography with Ansel Adams.  He can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com

[2]  See https://www.amazon.com/review/R2KIT50GPQDUMR/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm ("A wonderful book that should be read by anyone who cares about and wants to understand Israel's past, present and future") and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2023/10/23/sadly-this-book-is-out-of-print-because-its-wisdom-is-needed-now-in-the-middle-east-and-globally-more-than-ever/ ("Sadly, This Book Is Out Of Print, Because Its Wisdom Is Needed Now In The Middle East And Globally More Than Ever")

[3]  See supra n.2.

[4]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2023/10/19/is-free-speech-dead-and-buried-at-berkeley-and-elsewhere/ ("Is Free Speech Dead And Buried At Berkeley, And Elsewhere?")