Bluejay's Journal - Day

12:13PM

I just received an email from an aunt asking that I sign this petition. It asks the United Nations to adopt an "Anti-Semitism Resolution" that basically says, "We've already adopted all these resolutions prohibiting intolerance based on religion. They apply extra specially to Jews." Sounds pretty redundant to me. Possibly counter-productive: why are hate crimes against Jews worse than hate crimes against other groups? I have seen reports of rising anti-semitism, but I haven't seen any that say that law enforcement has been reluctant to prosecute those who commit anti-semitic crimes. That says to me that governments aren't doing anything wrong, and the UN doesn't need to get involved.

Instead, maybe we need to look at some root causes. And get a thicker skin. Criticizing Israel is not anti-semitism. Even comparing Sharon to Hitler isn't anti-semitic. (Sure, it's anti-Sharon.) It's pretty standard fare to compare war criminals to Nazis.

Saying that all Jews are evil because of Israel's crimes is anti-semitic, but this over-generalization is in good company. How many Jews have you heard saying that Arabs can't be trusted or are violent because they've seen some suicide bombers on the news? The World Jewish Congress's motto doesn't help: "All Jews are responsible for one another." Well then, they admitted it. I'm responsible for Sharon's and Israel's war crimes. Can we really be surprised when some street thug decides to punish me for them?

Current mood: annoyed