{Originally posted to the United With Israel website}
College trends are likely an indication of which direction society is taking. In other words, what kind of a world will it be for today’s children, especially Jewish children, in North America when they become adults?
I’m sure you’ve seen many articles in recent years about the hardships for Jewish students on North American campuses today. A recent feature in The Tower Magazine, for example – titled “In the Safe Spaces on Campus, No Jews Allowed” – described the “rude awakening” experienced by two Jewish students who attended an annual Students of Color Conference (SOCC), only to discover that “progressive students and students of color – often themselves targets of hate, bigotry and discrimination, were propagators of ancient hatreds against the Jewish people.”
Arielle Mokhtarzadeh and Ben Rosenberg attended the meeting because they were experiencing profound anti-Semitism on campus, and the meeting supposedly “encouraged [students] to be cognizant of their language while exploring topics that directly affect students from marginalized communities: the school-to-prison pipeline, sexual violence, decreased funding to ethnic and LGBT studies departments, racially insensitive speech, and perhaps most importantly, a ‘disquieting trend’ of hate crimes on university campuses statewide.”
According to the article, “Mokhtarzadeh still painfully remembers that weekend [at SOCC]. ‘I was made to feel uncomfortable and unwanted in a space that was meant to be inclusive and safe,’ she said. ‘It was in that moment, during that conference, that I realized that every identity and every intersection of identity was to be welcomed and championed in progressive spaces—except mine.’”
That experience is far from limited to SOCC.
As a reporter in Toronto, I used to cover some of the most callous anti-Israel events on campus before making Aliyah in 2011, but while back then it seemed just viciously anti-Israel, it has definitely evolved into deep anti-Semitism. (Watch the excellent documentary, Crossing the Line, for in-depth coverage.)
When my husband and I were a young couple and bought our first home in Thornhill in the mid-1980s, a new bedroom community north of Toronto, I remember how thrilled we were that this new neighborhood for young families was being built (and the synagogue – so much materialism, as if it was the Temple in Jerusalem… but that’s beside the point). Everyone was talking about home upgrades, proximity to the new community center, kosher facilities, schools, etc. We were all excited about which of our friends and acquaintances – other young couples – would be our new neighbors, and I remember agonizing over which school (there was abundant choice) to send my kids to. It was very exciting, building a family and a life.
So Much Has Changed
But what’s different today, and what really struck me when I visited recently, was how different the world was only 30 years ago and how most people don’t seem to have internalized the changes. Young Jewish couples are acting as if nothing has changed since their parents went through the same steps a generation ago towards building a home and a community. When we started a family, I myself hadn’t graduated that long ago from university, and I could never have imagined the difference another three decades would make. Our demographics were also very different. The future looked so bright. Our neighborhood was perfect. Not many of us considered moving to Israel.
I think that college trends are an indication of which direction society is taking. In other words, what kind of a world will it be for today’s children, especially Jewish children, in North America when they become adults?
“Anti-Semitism on U.S. college campuses spiked in 2015, with 302 incidents against Jewish students recorded at 109 schools in 28 states, according to a new report warning that the rise of anti-Israel organizations is fueling hatred and making many campuses unsafe for Jews,” the Canadian Blazing Cat Fur blog reported in January. “The array of incidents were recorded at many universities and often included Nazi imagery, slurs calling Jews ‘evil’ and calls for Jews be murdered, according to a report published by the AMCHA Initiative, an organization that seeks to protect Jewish students.”
My late father, who was born in Poland and grew up in France and Belgium, sensed the changes in Europe in the mid-1930s already, when most people didn’t see it and questioned his pessimism. But he left. This is the first time I’m beginning to understand why Jews in Europe didn’t run when they could.
I remember once asking my father, probably about 35 years ago, if he thought a Holocaust could ever happen in North America. His answer was no, because, he said, while the Nazis were obsessed with the Aryan race, Canada was multicultural, with people of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. While he was usually right in his political observations, I think that what he missed in his assessment was that it was precisely the multiculturalism – i.e. the influx of Radical Islamic culture – that would be the source of the new anti-Semitism.
I’m not predicting a Holocaust! But what I am saying is that times have changed and the golden era for Jews in North America seems to be coming to an end. Jews have thrived in so many different places over the centuries – Spain, Germany, and even ancient Egypt before the slavery – but it doesn’t last forever, and it’s not where we’re meant to be. It’s just not likely to be the same wonderful world in North America as it was for my generation. This is not to mention the rampant assimilation.
Initial Challenges vs. Long Term
According to the latest figures, there are another 3,000 Jews making Aliyah in 2016 from the US alone – a very substantial number. Isn’t it incredible? After 2,000 years, they can do it! I know it’s not possible for everybody, but honestly, for those who think they can swing it and deal with some initial hardship and challenges, it’s the best thing you can do in the long run for your children or future children. We have our problems here for sure, but it’s really the best place. I wish I would have done it when I was younger, but life was so good in Toronto…
Oh, and don’t expect the new Canadian government or mainstream Jewish organizations to take any meaningful action regarding a recent non-campus event at the Mississauga-based Palestine House, west of Toronto, honoring 14-year-old Palestinian terrorist Ahmed Manasrah, as reported by cijnews.com. In November, Manasrah and his cousin stabbed and critically wounded a 13-year-old Jewish Israeli boy and moderately injured a 15-year-old in Jerusalem. Palestine House, the site reported, has organized rallies, according to its Arabic-language literature, “in support of the Palestine Intifada.” It was defunded by the previous federal government for aligning itself with terrorist causes.
Also reported by cijnews is a recent editorial in the Windsor, Ontario-based Al Forqan newspaper, which stated that stabbing attacks against Jews are the “sacred duty of Jihad.” Over 10,000 copies of the Arabic-language paper are distributed in the region.
I personally had a wonderful life in Canada and will be forever grateful to that country, which I still love. But if I could do it over again, I would choose to be a pioneer in a new community in Israel – perhaps in Judea and Samaria, or in the north, where numbers really make a difference – instead of a pioneer in the new (and wonderful) community of Thornhill.
This blog was written out of love and in the hope that perhaps some people will take it to heart.