Leave France or die. As Bret Stephens noted in the Wall Street Journal
recently, it has come down to this choice for French Jews, who are beginning to
stream out of the country as violent Islamic Jew-hatred there grows. They may
certainly take advantage of Israel’s right of return if they choose, but if they
are serious about the vow “Never again,” then it’s time for Jews in France and
elsewhere to get serious about defending themselves.
Over a hundred years ago, long before the
Holocaust, Vladimir Jabotinsky, founder of the Jewish Self-Defense
Organization, advocated that Jews arm themselves (“Jewish youth, learn
to shoot!”). But today, long after
the harsh lessons of the Holocaust, Jews are loathe to take up arms against
their enemies. Instead, too many urge each other simply to flee their homes or
conceal their Jewishness.
For example: for those who dare to stay in France, a French hairdresser has come up with a way to boost “Jews’ feeling of confidence
as they walked on the streets”: a Magic Kippah made of real or synthetic hair that blends
into the wearer’s hair, making it nearly invisible and thus making Jews less of
a public target. This brings to mind British authorities advising soldiers not to wear their uniforms in public, making
them, too, less of a target for Islamic murderers like those who savagely
butchered Lee Rigby. Or American soldiers in Europe being cautioned not to wear their uniforms off-base due to
threats from ISIS.
While downplaying one’s Jewish identity may be a prudent temporary ploy, it
is no guarantee of safety and certainly no solution to actually combating anti-Jewish
violence, in France or anywhere else. Neither is carrying cell phones in case
of emergency, as Orthodox rabbis are now urging observant Jews to do on the
Sabbath, contrary to Jewish law. Attackers bent on knifing you to death are not
going to give you the time to dial the police, give the dispatcher your details,
and wait for the unarmed French cops to arrive.
Magic Kippahs, cell phones, and one-way tickets to another country are
not the answer to genocidal Muslim fundamentalism or other threats to Jews. The
only long-term, dignified solution is to fight
back.
Esther Goldberg at the American
Spectator gets this. In
response to Stephens’ WSJ article
urging Jews to abandon France, Goldberg declared in her article “Jews Need to
Start Packing” (heat, not suitcases) that “Sometimes it gets to where you need
to take the matter of your protection into your own hands.” Although France
doesn’t have the blessing of our Second Amendment, she suggested that
Jews in France should let it be known that
they intend to carry a weapon for defensive purposes. Jewish communities
everywhere should raise money for their legal defense when they get arrested...
They might even start an unstoppable trend. After all, who wants to be a
victim?
Of course, this is no easy matter for Jews in tightly gun-controlled
Europe, but it’s long past time for European citizens as a whole (and Australian, as well) to begin pushing back against those restrictions and their
cultural aversion to private gun ownership if they hope to secure their personal
and national security, and their very civilization.
Here in America we are blessed
with our Second Amendment, which enshrines the natural right to self-defense. Even
unarmed American Jews are safer here than anywhere, but they shouldn’t take
that for granted.
Recently in southern California’s Valley Village, to select one example, Judah
Cohen reported on what the LAPD officially designated a hate crime: several Jewish families
with their children and elderly were harassed, threatened and almost run down
by unidentified Latinos driving in a black SUV with no license
plates. This occurred around noon as Jews were walking home from Shabbat
morning service. The SUV swerved into one Jewish man and struck him with
the passenger-side mirror.
One witness told Cohen, “They
are looking for Jews, driving around the neighborhoods yelling derogatory
anti-Jewish remarks… They
called us ‘f-ing Jews’ and said they were going to ‘f’ing get us’, and I took
them as serious.” Another witness, a grandparent, declared: “They said they will be back, and we are
scared. I’ve never lived in fear like this inside my own home, but my
shotgun is loaded and easily accessible.”
A shotgun – good for that grandparent. Cell phones and Magic Kippahs aren’t quite
as effective at repelling violent savages as a 12-gauge or a concealed-carry
handgun in the hands of a Jew trained to handle it.
But Judah Cohen urged his readers to remember that Jews are not vigilantes: “Don’t start
carrying a gun. Walk in groups and be cautious. Be extra courteous.”
He suggested that Jews protect themselves as they walk by praying or thinking
about the Torah. Unfortunately, walking in groups was little protection for the
Valley Village victims that Cohen had just investigated, and courtesy or
spiritual contemplation won’t spare you from a beating or stabbing or shooting
by Jew-hating thugs.
Cohen did concede that “If you must
carry a gun, know how to use it. One organization that can teach you how
to use a gun is http://cjhsla.org/jewscanshoot/. Own a gun, know how to use it,” he
concluded.
As it happens, I am affiliated with that website. My friend Doris Wise
Montrose, the founder and president of the Los Angeles-based Children
of Jewish Holocaust Survivors
(CJHS), recently created a self-defense offshoot of CJHS called “Jews Can Shoot” (JCS), which prepares and empowers participants
(who don’t necessarily have to be Jewish) to defend themselves and their rights
and freedoms with training in firearms and self-defense. (I interviewed her
about JCS for FrontPage Mag here.)
“Every Jew a .22,” as Meir Kahane put it. It’s time for Jews to take the
targets off their own backs and put Jew-hatred in their sights.
(This article originally appeared here on FrontPage Mag, 1/30/15)
