January 17, 2003/Shevat 14 5763, Vol. 55, No. 21
Incomparable influenceEditorialJoseph Lieberman's presidential campaign announcement marks a milestone for American Jews. No Diaspora community has experienced comparable success since the 12th-century Golden Age of Spain.During the Reconquista at the end of the 11th century, when Christians reacquired Spain from the Muslims, Jews filled a socio-economic cultural vacuum. They became physicians, academics, business owners, government administrators and even military leaders. Judah ben Lavi de la Cabaleria served as finance minister for the entire kingdom, and the Jews who controlled a walled quarter of Tuleda received authorization to defend themselves with impunity. Since then, no Jewish community has matched this sense of power and influence. Until today. In the United States, as during the Golden Age, we work in every profession, have broken through cultural barriers and have gained access to government leadership. Now Lieberman's presidential declaration takes us to the next level of influence. And we can make the declaration that we are the most successful Diaspora community - ever. We must put aside fears that Lieberman's candidacy will empower anti-Semites and bigots to lash out against the Jewish community. We are not a closeted minority. Rather, we are entwined in the national fabric, as American as we are Jewish and as Jewish as we are American. Resuscitating a lieThe Egyptian government recently sanctioned the anti-Semitic TV drama "Horseman without a Horse," based on the infamous book, the "Protocols of Learned Elders of Zion."The "Protocols," though proven a Russian Czarist forgery to justify violence against Jews, accused them of pursuing a plot to rule the world. Later, Nazi leaders used the "Protocols" to condone the Holocaust. The "Protocols" should have been buried in the past, but Egyptian leaders allowed it to be resurrected. Its latest incarnation, "Horsemen Without a Horse," accuses Jews and Israelis of spreading injustice throughout the world. Much of the Arab world is lauding and defending this fiction. In the United States, a Jew is running for president; in too many Arab nations, Jews get blamed for every misfortune. What a contrast. As the United States moves forward into the 21st century, much of the Arab world is stuck in the 19th century, side-by-side with the authors and advocates of the hateful "Protocols." |
