An Open Letter to Jewish Friends

Dear Friends,

French Jews are under the siege, yet again. It is an old old, and disturbing story, so deeply disturbing - precisely because it is so old, and so repetitive. Every hour of her existence, Israel must deal with the threats to her citizens, and with security issues on the national level. We live in a difficult world. So full of hate, so full of prejudices.

These are difficult times. After recent wave of attacks, Jews in France are force to consider hiding their Jewish identities in public, in order to stay safe. Thing unheard of since the dark times of WW2, when innocent Jews everywhere under Nazi Germany occupation, were exterminated in most brutal ways imaginable. 

The loss of sense of security among Jewish citizens of France, and elsewhere in Europe, brings forth all kinds of advert psychological effects on them. We regret this to the highest degree possible. This situation is intolerable, and we feel compelled to oppose it, and to stand in solidarity with the Jewish People. 

Although security of Jews in Poland is so much better then in many other countries of Western Europe, we do not take this for granted, and remain committed to push energetically against any manifestations of antisemitism in Poland. Unfortunately that evil is still present in our country. 

It does not help that the siege mentality permeate thinking of many Polish citizens. Painful history of our nation, dismembering of our country, exile of Poles from their homeland, persecution, extermination attempts, all of these account for the heightened sense of oppression from the outside. Recently, Poland experienced labeling by hypocritical leaders of EU, as a people who need investigation of their lawfully elected government because long overdue internal reforms introduced by it, adversely affected their political alias in Poland. Polish people feel that this singling out is unjustified, and ill motivated. 

Left dominated leadership of EU makes mistake after mistake in its foreign policy, antagonizing friends, and befriending antagonists. Good examples of which are, for instance, a recent decision to label goods produced by Israel in the West Bank, or a call by Swedish FM to investigate “extra judicial executions” of Palestinian terrorists in Israel. Another one is a wave of unmitigated immigration from muslim countries, pushed by Germany on other EU members. The wave which directly contributed to the recent terror attacks in Europe.

Poland does not appear very often in Israeli press, and when it does, it is usualy  in the context of Holocaust. It is unfortunate fact. But still, we the Polish people, could not help but notice that there is a marked difference between the way Poland is mentioned in this context in Israel’s press, from how it is done elsewhere in the world. And we are very grateful for it. Extremely seldom do we see historically inaccurate expression like “polish concentration camps” in israeli press, or hear them from the mouth of Jewish leaders. So it that much harder to hear Joël Mergui stating on French Television that, “...  Jewish People never called for destruction o Spain, which exiled them, or destruction of Poland , which gassed them...”.

Yes, he said that, and should not have. It is only to easy to go from justified pain, and outrage caused by real wrongs done to us, to stereotyping, and stigmatization. Labeling is wrong, singling out is wrong, generalization is wrong. It is wrong to publicly utter harmful words about others, because, as beloved by everyone Jewish writer Isaac Singer ones said, you can’t just whistle, and call back harmful words, like if they were some kind obedient dogs”. Can’t be done. A wise rabbi said to man bagging him for forgiveness for spreading harmful rumors about him: I will if you bring me back every feather from a pillow I cut open on the hill, on a windy day... Lashon Ha-Ra is spoken against in very strong ways in the Holy Torah. And rightly so.

Dear Friends, please consider writing to the Polish People with a simple massage, that Jewish People do not condone badmouthing of the whole nations, that what Monsieur Joël Mergui have said was just a slip of a tong, or a lapsus, as the French say.