It was a wonderful discussion, indeed! And such an honor for FAIR to host you, Eli, together with your father and Ildi! Thank you for spending your time and sharing your invaluable insights with all of us and the thousands of viewers on X!
It’s refreshing to read another perspective on the darkest chapter in human history against the backdrop of advancing civil rights in this country.
It is however, a travesty on the part of FAIR leadership to discuss the Holocaust with a one page reference sheet, albeit with good intentions.
While the parallel is drawn between the dangers of segregation and racism here in this country, it does not even come close to shedding light on the Final Solution. The prescription for world-wide extermination of ALL Jews by the Third Reich is completely lost within the scope of your treatment of this human catastrophe. In fact, the conflation of Jim Crow laws and the Final Solution is one of the main reasons why the need for the State of Israel to exist is not appreciated.
The strength of the US Constitution was and has been the backbone of Civil Rights, the difference between enfranchisement and disenfranchisement. During Nazi Germany, Jews were first stripped of all rights and dignity, and then exterminated with Zyklon B cyanide or machine-gunned, or gassed with carbon monoxide, before being burned in the ovens or in mass burials.
Jews fleeing their lives came to every single port a ship could sail to, including British Palestine (only 5000 Jews per year were allowed) - no country provided refuge. There was no constitution to save the Jews.
On October 7th Hamas prepared a campaign to eliminate the State of Israel in conjunction with other Iranian proxies. Hamas attacked life itself and continue to make Israel appear as the aggressor rather than victim- as is evident in your treatment of this subject.
Israel is the ONLY Jewish Nation- preserving its existence is vital to survival of the Jewish People.
It is with this understanding and sensitivity that your treatment of this subject should be considered.
Excellent piece, as usual. I was a little boy living in Athens, Georgia. Everything was segregated, even the tax payment records. (My grandfather was the tax collector.) Our yard man was black. He brought his son, who was my age) with him. We played together in the yard, but he couldn't come in and eat with us. I thought that was terrible, and I asked why. I got the same tired old response, "That's just the way it is."
When I was in high school in CT in the 1960's, I was struck by how white kids and black kids naturally segregated themselves at lunchtime onto tables that were mostly all white or all black. No problem. Birds of a feather flock together. I always sat with my white friends. We (blacks and whites) all played together on the same sports teams with no racial animosity that I could discern. If you played well and were friendly to all, you were equally liked regardless of race. In addition, there was alot of cross-race dating that later I participated in as a white guy dating a black girl at a southern college. My point is that not all segregation, even what occured in WWII, is necessarily racist, but rather an honoring of instinctive and natural preferences to congregate with others who look like you and who share a similar background. These may be superficial differences, but they're enough to incline one to have a preference and I've no shame in admitting it.
It was a wonderful discussion, indeed! And such an honor for FAIR to host you, Eli, together with your father and Ildi! Thank you for spending your time and sharing your invaluable insights with all of us and the thousands of viewers on X!
I was unable to access the conversation on X. Neither the link nor the photograph worked.
It’s refreshing to read another perspective on the darkest chapter in human history against the backdrop of advancing civil rights in this country.
It is however, a travesty on the part of FAIR leadership to discuss the Holocaust with a one page reference sheet, albeit with good intentions.
While the parallel is drawn between the dangers of segregation and racism here in this country, it does not even come close to shedding light on the Final Solution. The prescription for world-wide extermination of ALL Jews by the Third Reich is completely lost within the scope of your treatment of this human catastrophe. In fact, the conflation of Jim Crow laws and the Final Solution is one of the main reasons why the need for the State of Israel to exist is not appreciated.
The strength of the US Constitution was and has been the backbone of Civil Rights, the difference between enfranchisement and disenfranchisement. During Nazi Germany, Jews were first stripped of all rights and dignity, and then exterminated with Zyklon B cyanide or machine-gunned, or gassed with carbon monoxide, before being burned in the ovens or in mass burials.
Jews fleeing their lives came to every single port a ship could sail to, including British Palestine (only 5000 Jews per year were allowed) - no country provided refuge. There was no constitution to save the Jews.
On October 7th Hamas prepared a campaign to eliminate the State of Israel in conjunction with other Iranian proxies. Hamas attacked life itself and continue to make Israel appear as the aggressor rather than victim- as is evident in your treatment of this subject.
Israel is the ONLY Jewish Nation- preserving its existence is vital to survival of the Jewish People.
It is with this understanding and sensitivity that your treatment of this subject should be considered.
Excellent piece, as usual. I was a little boy living in Athens, Georgia. Everything was segregated, even the tax payment records. (My grandfather was the tax collector.) Our yard man was black. He brought his son, who was my age) with him. We played together in the yard, but he couldn't come in and eat with us. I thought that was terrible, and I asked why. I got the same tired old response, "That's just the way it is."
Fortunately, things have changed there.
Al Bowers
Richardson, Texas
When I was in high school in CT in the 1960's, I was struck by how white kids and black kids naturally segregated themselves at lunchtime onto tables that were mostly all white or all black. No problem. Birds of a feather flock together. I always sat with my white friends. We (blacks and whites) all played together on the same sports teams with no racial animosity that I could discern. If you played well and were friendly to all, you were equally liked regardless of race. In addition, there was alot of cross-race dating that later I participated in as a white guy dating a black girl at a southern college. My point is that not all segregation, even what occured in WWII, is necessarily racist, but rather an honoring of instinctive and natural preferences to congregate with others who look like you and who share a similar background. These may be superficial differences, but they're enough to incline one to have a preference and I've no shame in admitting it.