Clinton’s remarks two weeks ago, singling out Russian immigrants to Israel as the primary obstacle to peace made me cringe. Literally. Classifying ethnic groups into policy or regime supporters and troublemakers is so reminiscent of Stalin-era “resettlement programs,” that I am starting to wonder whether there might be some truth to the Republican rhetoric of Marxist leanings within the Democratic Party
Beyond creating bad blood in the Israeli cabinet, I cannot fathom what Clinton actually planned to achieve by publicly marginalizing almost a quarter of Israeli citizens. Did he actually think we would care enough to conveniently ship out to Birobidjan, so as not to get in his way of creating an idyllic Arab-ruled utopia in the Middle East?
Clinton is right in that Russian-born Israelis do not buy into the offerings of peaceful coexistence. As Alexander Maistrovoy explained in his perceptive analysis, years of totalitarian repressions have taught us enough to see through the empty promises of multiculturalism and brotherly love.
THE MAIN issue is not politics. It is the cult of national dignity, mistrust of universalist theories and resistance to any trespassing on their living space, both geographical and spiritual.
It is impossible to imagine a Ukrainian leader bowing to a Middle Eastern sheikh, or a Polish prime minister kissing the hand of an African despot.
Hindus will not build a mosque near the site of one of the bloodiest terrorist attacks; Serbs don’t feel guilty toward the Albanians of Kosovo who deprived them of their heritage; Russian intellectuals, actors and academics don’t wish to “understand” the Chechen insurgents, who carried out terrible acts of terrorism in their country.
Several commenters to this post claimed that Russian Israelis refuse to believe the peacenik propaganda, because they are just more educated and have better critical thinking skills than the average Israelis. I don’t think that’s the issue. American Jews are among the best educated population groups in the world, yet they have become so enamored with Obama’s multicultural liberalism that several people have reported being asked to leave their synagogues over their opposition to the administration’s policies.
This brings me right back to Clinton’s remarks. When considered in conjunction with Obama’s targeted preaching to the American Jewish community on issues of policy, does this statement reveal something about the Democrat’s modus vivendi of quietly mapping population groups into helpful and problematic? May be it is just my long historical memory, but the slope sure feels slippery to me.
