This is the story of a generation whose ancestors believed they’d had to pull up their roots and relocate their lives and those of their families for the last time. Ever.
Who knew the evil of the 1930s could strike the same continent twice in one century?
Yet 40 percent of all British Jewry is now sitting on tenterhooks, worrying about whether Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn will become the country’s next Prime Minister.
If he does, their bags are already packed, according to an article published Wednesday (Sept. 12) in the British Daily Mail.
Written by political correspondent Kate Ferguson, the article quotes popular Jewish TV doctor Ellie Cannon, who says that she and her husband Adam spent this past Rosh Hashana holiday with their friends discussing ‘the merits and logistics of fleeing.’
Dr. Cannon, who also writes in The Daily Mail, recounted the conversation in an extended tweet on the Twitter social networking site, in a description that rang painfully true to any Jew who has ever faced true anti-Semitism.
A (very personal) thread from me and
So we just spent Jewish new year as we always do – friends, family, eating, honey cake, synagogue…
And it’s all been the same as normal as it has been for the last 40 years that I can remember until last night…
— Dr Ellie (@Dr_Ellie)
“A very personal thread from me and @adam_cannon,” she tweeted. “So we just spent Jewish new year as we always do – friends, family, eating, honey cake, synagogue … And it’s all been the same as normal as it has been for the last 40 years that I can remember until last night … Last night the conversation moved on from schools, and TV, and work to the subject on every Jew’s mind at the moment: Corbyn. And we sat for hours planning with our friends where and how we would leave if he became Prime Minister. We swapped potential passport options.” And the tweet continued from that point on.
The response by one of the users on the site, “I’m reminded of (& i mean no disrespect by this) the boy who cried wolf” [sic], sparked a storm of reactions.
“I hate to say it but we were having exactly the same conversation today at lunch,” tweeted one user. “Where would we go, what would our options be etc. Awful that this is what we are discussing in 2018.”
Another tweet: “Yes, have had the same conversation round our kitchen table. It came with the realisation [sic] that my great great grandparents will have had the same conversation round their kitchen tables in Poland and Lithuania around a century ago.”
And another . . . “Exactly! Have spent many years volunteering for Holocaust education charities and I promise you after hearing their stories I didn’t think we’d ever be repeating the conversations. But here we are …!”
Some were really supportive, like, “This is so sad. Please remember there’s many non-Jewish people who stand with you.”
And, “Insanity. Awful. Just awful!! I’m so sorry. These are, once again, extremely scary times for humanity.”
And then, of course there were the other reactions . . . some printable, and some not. Some totally unclear: “Racist,”
Others beyond contempt:
“Where did you decide in the end?”
The worst, perhaps, was one that reveals why such people come to power in the first place:
“That story is extremely sad. I do not believe that the people of Great Britain would stand for discrimination against our fellow citizens.”
Followed by:
“Good. I assume from your malicious tweets that you support Israel. Go there. I’m sure you will feel right at home with the ethnic cleansers there. I’ll stick with Corbyn thanks and the struggle against oppression and murder that the Palestinians have been under for 70 years.”