Pogroms for Dummies (and Dhimmis)

“What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” — Ecclesiastes, 1:19

I have not seen such fury, such cold, implacable hatred, unreasoning vitriol, venom-dripping hostility and implied violence towards Jews since the 1967 combined Arab armies’ war against Israel. That was when I was barely 18. The antisemitic hysteria in the Soviet press was so virulent that the Jewish population of Odessa, where my family and I were living, expected pogroms to break out any day. My days were divided between a search for a weapon with which to defend myself and my family and trying to find a shelter where we could hide during the pogrom. One of my Gentile friends offered to hide me, but not the rest of my family. I told him where to go.

And then the news of the devastating Arab defeat started to seep through. Instantly, the atmosphere ‘on the street’ changed. Only yesterday, I was a sure-fire candidate for a pogrom by “enraged Soviet anti-Zionist patriots”, as these thugs were euphemistically called by the propaganda machine. Instead, almost overnight, I and other Odessa Jews were suddenly seen, in the eyes of the profoundly impressed Gentiles, as some kind of biblical warriors, capable of superman feats of strength, ingenuity and bravery. The change was so sudden and irrational that it was dizzying. All we were left with was bitter-sweet laughter through tears of relief.

Rogues’ outrage

The Soviet media was hysterical, spewing hatred and anti-semitic propaganda. The amount of anti-semitic literature coming from the Soviet presses was staggering – and increasing all the time. This vitriol was immediately picked up and faithfully reproduced, as if on cue, in the streets of Western capitals through mass ‘peace’ and anti-Zionist marches. Sympathetic liberal media outlets were spreading Soviet propaganda far and wide, earnestly seeing themselves on the side of the angels.

Inside the Soviet Union, the plethora of Politburo-approved “experts” on all things Jewish explained that the “basis of Jewish exclusivity and contempt for the non-Jewish world” is based on “the inbuilt racism of the Jews”. They dusted off the good old Protocols of the Elders of Zion, despite common knowledge that this crap was a fabrication by the Russian Imperial Police. They enlightened the unaware of the danger of the Jewish bankers’ plot to rule the world, as well as many other things useful for the potential pogrom foot soldier to know. One of the most revealing theories was ‘an oldie but a psychological goodie’ – the Jewish thirst for the use of Christian children’s blood in preparing Passover matzos, the ritual unleavened bread of flour and water, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt.

Today, the fury unleashed on Israel for daring to defend its citizens from the terrorist assault of Hamas, the soulmates of Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, Boko Haram, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, al-Qaida, al-Shabab, the Islamic State and their ilk, looks and feels exactly like the Soviet campaigns against the “Israeli aggressors” of yesteryear.

Similar to gatherings we observe today, these anti-Jewish marches, TV commentaries, newspaper articles and such were populated by the eternally misguided and habitually unemployed, by hip progressives yearning to occupy high moral ground, and by Lenin’s ever-proliferating, proverbial “useful idiots”. Most of all, these ‘protest actions’ were, and still are, populated by leftists of all hues and colours, craving the wholesale destruction of the society they live in, strictly in accordance with their program song, The Internationale. Looking at this crowd of always-angry-no-matter-what Centrelink “clients”, boiling over with the everlasting  indignation that speaks of personality disorders, spewing anti-Semitic and anti-capitalist hatred, one cannot imagine them being responsible for too much productive work or generating the taxation revenue associated with the sane and industrious. Apparently, it is our sacred duty to support those who do not wish to work while spouting ‘progressive’ political ideas.

In 1967, these heroes of unemployment by choice, expanding their political awareness with the help of marijuana and LSD, were demanding Western unilateral disarmament and withdrawal of the American military from Europe while simultaneously accusing Israel of aggression, oppression, neglect, and genocide. Those mass demonstrations and media campaigns were financed, supported and directed by Moscow’s puppeteers, hiding behind ‘peace, disarmament and social justice’ fronts, societies and associations. These organisations — like, for example, PND,  People for Nuclear Disarmament — were ubiquitous. They appealed to ‘the best in human nature’, demanding the kingdom of heaven here on Earth. Now. Without any delay. Preferably yesterday.

None of their members knew or cared that these organisations were shop windows for the loathsome KGB, with its nefarious aims. Their juvenile, defiant, oppose-everything view of the world prevented these ‘seekers of social justice’ from openly and honestly acknowledging who and what they did support.

Today, their funding comes from the Middle East, from the loathsome feudal regimes of oil- and gas-rich sheikhs, instead of Moscow. These Sharia “democrats” and “social justice defenders” continue to spread the same message which the Soviets peddled. Unsurprisingly, these messages are similar, except that Allah has replaced Marx and Lenin. These hydrocarbon philanthropists are extremely generous in establishing Muslim schools and mosques and departments of Qur’anic studies at various universities; in spreading charitable donations among NGO’s and organisations with proven track records of anti-Israeli activities; in supporting Islamic publishing, sports camps, friendly mass media outlets — even to the extent of  establishing their own TV news networks. The infamous Al-Jazeera, the preferred source of world news by our publicly-funded SBS, for example, is financed by the Qatari Government, the known and ardent supporter of terrorism. Together with the West’s increasing Muslim population, this astonishing saturation of the world’s media with the Islamic view is one of today’s most worrisome developments.

The parting gift of the Evil Empire

The parallels between 1967 and 2014 are truly astonishing. Save for the changed source of financing, we see the same anti-capitalist brigade, the same tired slogans, the same ideas, the same stupidity and anger, the same heart-felt conviction that, in the words of Thomas Sowell, “people who have contributed nothing to society feel that society owes them something, apparently just for being nice enough to grace us with their presence.” Pragmatic Australians call such people ‘bludgers’.

Former Soviet tactics are faithfully copied by Arab clients, only too eager to disseminate the bacchanal of anti-semitic hatred, deeply embedded in the cultures of the Middle East. Even the ill-fated Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which triggered the process of an Islamic radicalisation worldwide,  did not prevent this process from succeeding.

Instead of admitting that the despised Jews had defeated them, fair and square, on the field of battle, and learning from this lesson, these countries believed themselves to be powerless victims of a vast international Jewish conspiracy (which, no surprise, secretly rules the world). By attributing their defeat to a mysterious betrayal, the leadership of these countries have successfully avoided their own responsibility for disastrous internal and foreign policies. The peoples of these countries chose to believe cock-and-bull fairy tales of international (read ‘American and Jewish’) conspiracies blocking their societies’ paths to greatness – with all the predictable results of poverty, dysfunction and systemic failure. The most popular conspiracy theories include the widespread belief that the 9/11 attacks were conducted by Israel, plus the staunch belief that Jews engage in black magic and sorcery.

I have experienced the power of this latter belief first-hand. On one memorable occasion, we invited our Muslim medical colleagues, the highly educated parents of two delightful children, to have dinner at our place. Their son, an 11-year-old, adored heir-apparent of the family, kept asking me how much my home cost and where did I get the money to build it. After an elaborate meal, which we had made sure was halal, our lady guest, wearing a multi-coloured dress of her native land, judged that the time was right to ask me about the most common types of black magic Jews do, and would I be kind enough to demonstrate an example?

I misjudged the situation and jokingly responded by quoting some Harry Potter recipes with dragon blood and dried wolfsbane flowers, until I saw the lady’s eyes fill with dread and curiosity. My heart sinking, I understood that she actually meant her question seriously. The situation was saved by my Aussie son-in-law, who had timely appeared on the scene, quickly assessed the situation and had a drink of Scotch with me.

Like a self-destructing deadly bacterium, the demise of the USSR had introduced toxins of resentment and anger towards the West, together with openly anti-semitic hatred, into the bloodstream of susceptible societies. That was the USSR’s bequest to the sick societies of the Middle East. It was the parting gift of a dying totalitarian state to these dysfunctional countries, a gift which has blossomed into vulnerability to extreme forms of Islam. These societies, unable to improve the lot of their profoundly miserable multitudes, witnessed the mass emigration of their citizens, cheap labour to the West.

I doubt that the initial migration of Muslims to the West was a well-planned prelude to a conquest of Europe. However, an uncontrollable increase in the number of poorly educated Muslims has considerably changed Western demographic landscape and voting patterns. Now, the intolerant, xenophobic and easily offended Muslim electorates, living in a state of a perpetual narcissistic rage at the unfairness of it all, influence the local and international policy of their respective governments. These electorates have also brought with them the malice of misogyny, forced marriages, honour killings, female genital mutilation, re-activation of hitherto dormant anti-semitism and seething anger at the perceived humiliation of Islam by infidels. Too often, this spills into implied or even actual violence.

These migrant masses, unable or unwilling to appreciate and adapt to the better life in the West, have developed a system of parallel existence within their migrant enclaves. Their participation in the life of their host country seems to be mostly limited to an overuse of welfare, a higher-than-average level of criminal activities and periodic attempts to change the political system of the host country to suit their beliefs and cultural norms. Sharia law, albeit on a limited basis, is already operating in some Western countries with sizeable Muslim populations. Relatively recently, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils applied for inclusion of some Sharia laws into legal statute books. Welfare overuse is seen as other than its stated purpose – temporary support to prevent hardship while looking for work. Instead, these payments are treated as “jizzya”, a head tax on non-Muslims in countries functioning under Sharia law and are regarded as entitlements.

The largely self-induced failure to integrate into the host society has led to the worrying phenomenon of Muslim youths’ radicalisation, to the extent that scores of Australian Muslims have joined their co-religionists from other Western nations in  volunteering for violent jihad overseas. The danger these jihadi warriors will bring back to their host societies is difficult to overestimate.

Deja vu

Well-schooled in the art of reading between the lines, I watched the fury of Soviet Communists, fuming with indignation at the 1967 Israeli victory, and knew that, if the troglodytes were angry with someone, than that someone must be doing something right. I now watch the fury of today’s ‘defenders’ of ‘Palestine’ (read Hamas and their terrorist soulmates) and cannot shake off the feeling of deja vu – I have seen it all before. I have seen the red, hate-filled faces of anti-semites, infuriated and not a little frightened that their own safety in unrestrictedly assaulting non-resisting Jews and other infidels has been taken away from them. I have seen pompous, pontificating academics, so full of self-esteem that the possibility of a grievous error of judgement in their support for international terror could not be contemplated. I have seen the radical Left shaking its collective fist with a hatred of freedom and the loathing of anything not fitting the mould of their sanctified beliefs.

However, this time it is also somewhat different. Today, these marches are being joined by angry Muslim immigrants, the second or even the third generation living in the West. These youngsters, welcomed with open arms to join in the prosperity and openness of Western democracy, are radicalised by Islamist propaganda insidiously seeping through the holes of the benevolent, well meaning, but hopelessly naïve concept of multiculturalism. This propaganda is spread by hate-filled mosque sermons which are, astonishingly, ignored by the authorities. This dangerous propaganda is also spread through radical websites, social media and, last but not least, by direct recruitment in prisons.

I see the contorted faces of Muslim protesters, who imported the malicious toxin of their hatred into their host countries — beliefs which have become intertwined with beliefs of the international Left and are acceptable once more in mainstream society, threatening our common freedoms. I cannot help but think that Jewish communities have become hostage to the radical Islamisation of the West, just as Gaza’s population has become hostage to genocidal Hamas and abducted  Nigerian girls to the utterly mad Boko Haram.

The fall of the USSR did not bring about the demise of a malignant ideology implanted in the fertile ground of Third World mentality: the hatred of democracy, of freedom, of gender equality, of tolerance, of the right to disagree and to peacefully oppose differing views – all these freedoms, inimical to a totalitarian society, are anathema to these immigrants. Instead, they have brought the totalitarian mindset from semi-feudal kleptocratic societies and are trying to impose this mindset on everyone.

This is dangerous, and not dangerous only for Jews. This societal sickness, this anti-freedom, Red-and-Green alliance, starts with the Jews, but does not end there. We can expct it to spread. During World War II, the Islamists of the day made common cause with the Nazis. Now they have found new partners. The hatred of Jews is ancient. The technical capacities to spread the poison are new. This is the history lesson we tend to forget. That is what Ecclesiastes tries to tell us in the verse that began this essay.

Should I, as in 1967, look for a place to hide? Or will the Gentile world, seeing the barbarity of Hamas and its allied Islamists, wake up to the threat to itself and appreciate that the defeat of Israel would presage a full-out assult by Islamism on the Christian West? After the 1967 war, philospher Eric Hoffer wrote:

“I have a premonition that will not leave me: As it goes with Israel, so will it go with all of us.  Should Israel perish, the Holocaust will be upon us all.”

The Gentile world must decide: is it on the side of democratic, tolerant, egalitarian Israel or, is it, through ‘political correctness’ and Soviet-style antisemitism, on the side of bloodthirsty, barbarian Islamists?

Dr Michael Galak and his family came to Australia as refugees from the Soviet Union in 1978