In the wake of the current Gaza
conflict, the supporters of the “Palestinians” – by which I mean the supporters
of Hamas around the world – have felt emboldened to express openly their
violent Jew-hatred. Throughout Europe, Canada, and even the United States,
protests have turned quickly into riots and assaults on Jews, synagogues, and
Israel’s supporters.
Even before the Gaza conflict,
violent anti-Semitism was proving itself to be on the rise, as this random
selection of incidents here and abroad demonstrates: Near Kansas City this
April, a white supremacist killed three people in attacks at a Jewish community
center and Jewish retirement complex. At the end of May, four people were
murdered by a shooter in the Jewish Museum in Brussels. A few hours after that
in Paris, two young religious Jews were severely beaten
by unknown assailants outside a synagogue. Only days later, a report announced
that Arab attacks on Jews in Jerusalem's Old City were on the rise. Less than
two weeks later, a pack of North African youths attacked
two young Jews with tear gas in a Paris suburb. The next weekend saw a series
of Muslim attacks
on Jews in Paris.
Doris Wise Montrose*, founder and
president of the Los Angeles-based Children of
Jewish Holocaust Survivors (CJHS) is doing something to reverse the tide of
Jewish victimization. Recently Ms. Montrose, whose organization seeks to empower
people to resist today’s threats “to the West and to the Western traditions of
liberal tolerance and individualism,” organized a firearms
instruction class in May largely for beginners. The event inspired such
interest that Montrose decided to take things a step further and establish JewsCanShoot.com,
which focuses on preparing participants to defend themselves. I recently posed
a few questions to Ms. Montrose about this new aspect of her organization’s
mission.
Mark Tapson: What prompted you to take CJHS to the next
level, to go from speakers and newsletters to firearm training and
JewsCanShoot.com?
Doris Montrose: I realized two things: One, educating
people is important but there is no way we will be able to convince everybody
of the threats that face our way of life and our civilization. Two, if we are
not trained and in possession of weapons, merely understanding the threats does
not enable us to resist the threats. JewsCanShoot.com, besides providing
weapons safety and training classes, will also provide information and action
on ensuring that the Second Amendment stays in place, and how to resist
attempts to chip away at the Second Amendment and eliminate it from our Bill of
Rights. Everywhere genocide has prevailed, it was superseded by requiring the registration
of guns followed by the confiscation of guns.
Education – speakers, newsletter, articles, books,
films – is extremely important and must continue by all the organizations that
are doing this, including CJHS. But when people leave a lecture, finish an
article or book, and so on, there is more of an empowerment to what they have
learned if they also possess the ability to defend themselves by being well-trained
in the use of firearms.
Whether it is an attack on our way of life by the
government or being attacked by a criminal in the street or attempting to break
into our homes, the attacker is far less likely to succeed if he knows that
there will be resistance from an armed citizen.
MT: What has been the reaction so far to your shooting event, from the
actual participants to people who have reached out to you after hearing about
it?
DM: I could not believe the reaction to the invitation! The response was
overwhelmingly positive, greater than the response to anything else we have
done. Not just from people wanting to take the class
but from people applauding and praising me for arranging it, for
embracing the very idea of Jews defending themselves with weapons. People actually seemed surprised that a Jewish
organization was doing this. They wanted to know if such classes were available
where they live. I also received emails from Jewish certified instructors with
their contact info should anyone be interested (at some point, I do plan to
offer a directory of certified firearms instructors). It was clear I had struck
a nerve.
There are so many organizations
providing access to information. Mine is one of them, and I will continue to
educate people about the threats we are facing. But we cannot afford to fool
ourselves – just as history has shown how easily and how much we want to be
fooled – into believing that knowledge alone is enough. Education alone will not
save us from an enemy coming at us in such full force. We must be prepared to
defend ourselves as well. If enough people are armed and are trained, and if we
make sure the Second Amendment is in full force, there is hope.
MT: The CJHS website states that your organization believes “that Jews
have a right, codified by the League of Nations and the United Nations, to
flourish in peace and strength in a Jewish State located in their ancestral
homeland of Israel.” What is CJHS’ position on a solution for peace in the
Middle East?
DM: I believe that the
decades of Israel being forced to participate in a “peace process” or the goal
of a “two-state solution” that would result in “peace” puts Israel – and by
extension the Jewish people – in the same position as prior to the Holocaust.
Therefore, CJHS is opposed to even the discussion of a “peace process” or
“two-state solution.” The only two-state solution we support is Jordan and
Israel and not one which carves yet another Muslim nation out of the state of
Israel.
The word “peace” has one meaning to
the Western world, which includes Israel, and a completely different meaning to
the Arabs considered by the international community to be Israel’s “peace
partners” – and that meaning is the complete obliteration of the Jewish state,
which would put Jews back to being a people without a country and a military. This
impossible and absurd objective has brought nothing but terrible suffering and
tragedy to this very day.
MT: The CJHS banner reads “New Holocaust Resistance.” Do you really
believe that the threat of another Holocaust exists?
DM: It’s already happening. While it may not look
the same as the Holocaust in Europe with ghettos and concentration camps, Jews
– and Christians – are targeted by Muslims because of who they are. It is a
slower genocide – but genocide nonetheless. And the Muslims have stated their
goals directly. As they move forward and spread out and find little or no
resistance, they will quicken their pace.
People may say the overused phrase
“Never Again” with conviction but it has no meaning unless we really take
action to prevent another Holocaust. And since Israel – and the Jews – are the
canary in the coal mine, Israel’s survival should be everyone’s goal – because
the next Holocaust will not be limited to Jews.
(This article originally appeared here on FrontPage Mag, 7/31/14)
