The New York Times wrote an article about the massive number of migrants from Latin America coming first into Texas, then New York, and ultimately bused to Canada. It relayed the scary journey in search of a better life.
The harrowing trip concluded with a quote from a woman who traversed the many miles upon arriving in Canada, “‘This is going to be our Israel,’ Mrs. Ramirez said.” I’m sure she meant it in a positive way: that she had finally arrived in a safe haven, away from the tumult that had been her life. She considered herself like the Jews who had escaped the war in Europe, and arrived in the land of Israel.
Her universalizing the Jews and making her trek to her own “Promised Land” was not sinister but her trivialization calls for her education, and a re-education of the world regarding three important differentiators between refugees and migrants generally, and the unique story of the Jews.
Jews Were a Targeted Minority
Tens of millions of people from Latin America are seeking a better life, away from gang violence, broken economies, poverty and political corruption. Almost every citizen from the region is seeking peace and security that their native countries do not provide.
That is in sharp contrast to Jews.
The Jews who came to Israel from Europe around the Holocaust were specifically targeted for annihilation. They were not simply war refugees like millions of others who fled battle grounds but a persecuted minority ear-marked for ethnic cleansing.
The Jews from Arab Muslim lands were persecuted from the 1950s through 1980s, with governmental decrees and street pogroms. The general public did not flee their home countries in search of something better; they sought something better by driving Jews from their midst.
So it was in Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere. Jews were singled out for persecution and had a particular need for salvation.
Israel is The Jewish Homeland
Venezuelans arriving in Canada have no roots in the land. They could have unpacked their bags as easily in Texas or Toronto.
But Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel. They have thousands of years of well-known history, including kings and judges who ruled in the land.
Further, Judaism is a unique religion which is tied to a specific piece of land. It is a particular religion for a specific people with commandments which can only be kept in their holy land.
The Need for Sovereignty
The migrants from around Latin America will be happy to settle in Seattle or Saskatchewan. They have no aspirations to remake their new countries, and will be happy to become Americans or Canadians. They just want rights and self-determination, and have no vision of transforming their new governments.
Not so for Jews in Israel.
Because of the persistence of anti-Semitism around the globe for centuries, modern Zionism concluded that Jews need more than a safe haven. Jews must be able to determine their future under a Jewish flag. History has shown that self determination without sovereignty would only yield a temporary respite from anti-Semitism.
Zionism is not a rally of charged nationalism but the reality born from relentless persecution.
Zionism is not a rally of charged nationalism but the reality born from relentless persecution.
First One Through
The story of the Jewish people and their Promised Land is captured in the most widely read book, replayed globally over the last two millennia. While migrants and refugees echoing those verses for personal reflection might therefore feel natural, remembering the uniqueness of the Jewish journey to the re-established Jewish State might curb the anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism roaring around the world once more.
Related articles:
The Cultural Appropriation of the Jewish ‘Promised Land’
The Lies Conflating the Holocaust and The Promised Land
A Core Tenet of Zionism Is Combatting Anti-Semitism
Related music videos:
Aliyah to Israel (music by The Maccabeats)
Ethiopian Jews Come Home (music by Phillip Phillips)
First One Through 