Diamond: The uniquely absurd position of the Jewish people

(Amos Ben Gershon/GPO photo)

We Jews are the chosen people. At times, one may wonder what being “chosen” entails.  In Israel, we were chosen to have two kingdoms wiped out, followed by a 2,000-year hiatus, leading to a return to the land and the formation of the State of Israel. We were chosen to be evicted, attacked, or otherwise eliminated about every 50 years from one place or another.  We were chosen in the late 15th century in Spain, and elsewhere in Europe thereafter, for pogrom after pogrom through the centuries leading up to the Holocaust.

And today, in the Diaspora, we are chosen to be the ethnic group most attacked pro rata, by a large margin (including in Canada). And the Jewish state is the only country in the world that is attacked on a consistent and focused basis at the UN and elsewhere.

When we are weak and powerless, we are attacked because we are weak. When we gain sufficient power, wealth and standing to withstand those kinds of attacks, we are attacked for having “too much” power. In a recent op-ed, Alan Dershowitz suggests that, far from having too much power, Jews do not use their power to the extent we should.

In response to the accusations of U.S. Congress Rep. Ilhan Omar, and her ilk, perhaps we have the right, perhaps the obligation, to use our influence to persuade others in our own countries to appreciate the value we bring to the table, rather than attacking us for having added that value.

Jew hatred/anti-Semitism is uniquely absurd. Jews have added enormous value to our chosen countries in terms of commerce, entrepreneurship, scientific invention, government and justice. Even in Canada, with our small Jewish population, the contribution of the Jewish community in these areas has been considerable.

Typically, in any country Jews reside, we have punched above our weight. In science, education, government and in business, we are represented well above our numbers. Take a look at the major inventions and world-class improvements offered to the world by the startup nation and we should be proud. Ask any major charity, and they will tell you a focus on Jewish donors is critical to their success.

And yet, in this new complex world of left wing dogma, where intersectionality requires a severely limited focus on who is OK and who is not, we have become the outliers.

To the poor, we are the rich, though our own poverty statistics are significant.  To the powerless, we are the powerful, though at first glance we have too little power to protect ourselves. To the conquered, we are the colonizers, though we have merely returned to the land that was originally ours. To too many Muslims, we are the occupiers and killers, when a thousand times more Muslims are killed, maimed and otherwise hurt by fellow Muslims.

To the UN, far from being acknowledged as one of the most successful new nation states in the world, we are the whipping boy. To the white nationalists, we are the hated Jews.  And to the left-wing radicals, we are part of the white oppressive (generally male) power structure  which they are dedicated to attacking.

READ: DIAMOND: THE VALUE OF DIALOGUE…WITH STRINGS ATTACHED

We add value everywhere we go, but increasingly have trouble finding a home within our Diaspora societies, while our fellow Jews continue to have to fight it out in Israel with the surrounding Arab and Iranian world, and those who support them.

We have been “chosen” for this absurd situation. I don’t like it. And yet I cannot imagine being other than Jewish – but that is a subject of another article…