In the ongoing debate regarding the new immigration policy
that America
is considering for the future, the debaters that favor a liberal approach to
immigration, have followed an established standard formula for presenting their
point of view.
What they did was introduce themselves as descendents of
immigrants that came to America
with little to their name. The newcomers were maligned by the existing
population, said the debaters, but the immigrants worked hard and raised
families that did well, thus proved to be no different from those that came
before them. This being the pattern that every group of immigrants has
encountered, the debaters predicted that the newest groups will be successful
despite the adversity, and will contribute to the nation.
Because the goal of the debaters in such circumstances is
not to talk about themselves or their ancestry but to advocate for the
newcomers, they use the space and spend the time to describe the ways that the
immigrants can succeed. Some debaters even go as far as to suggest the ways that
the newcomers can be helped to adapt them to their new life more quickly, thus
make them more productive sooner.
This approach also serves to reassure the existing
population that even if the newcomers look and act differently from them, they
are fundamentally the same kind of people. In time, they will assimilate and
fully integrate into the society, becoming as indistinguishable from the rest
as anyone else, say the debaters.
But you know what, my friend. There is an exception to that
rule, and Bret Stephens shows how it is played. In the effort to show how
similar the Jews are to everyone else, he handles the discussion about
immigration in a most dissimilar way. That is, instead of talking about today's
newcomers exhaustively, he barely mentions them, and then switches to talk
about his ancestors as well as other Jews at great length.
Also, instead of arguing that today's newcomers from Africa
and Latin America are the same as the existing
population, he does something really weird. He argues that Jews are the same as
everyone else because those that came to America
in the past were treated as badly as today's newcomers from Africa and Latin America . Apparently, this is proof enough for him
that Jews are normal people; as normal as everyone else.
Bret Stephens made that abnormal presentation in a column
that came under the title: “A Modest Immigration Proposal: Ban Jews,” published
on January 19, 2018 in the New York Times. Unfortunately for him, another
publication had come out a day before, supporting the view that Jews are
anything but similar to everyone else. That publication came under the title:
“The anti-Israel BDS Movement seeks the destruction of Israel , not a
two-state peace with Palestinians,” written by Patrick Dunleavy and published
on January 18, 2018 on the website of the Fox News Channel.
To avoid being criticized for trying to prevent others from
exercising their right to free speech, Patrick Dunleavy is accusing demonstrators
in New York City––who advocate for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
Movement––of seeking the destruction of Israel. Given that even if this were
true, it would not violate any law, Dunleavy has decided to accuse the
demonstrators of violating their own stated purpose, which is advocacy for a
two-state solution to end the occupation of Palestine .
How does he know that? He says he knows it because there are
at least two signs that so indicate. First, the demonstrators chant words to
that effect, says Dunleavy. Second, if you scrutinize the background of some
demonstrators, you'll find them to be of the unsavory kind, he goes on to say.
Well, this is something that happens often during political
campaigns when emotions run high. The latest example is the one that took place
in Charlottesville
when demonstrators pretending to support Donald Trump chanted: “Jews will not
replace us” and “Blood and Soil.” Does that convince Patrick Dunleavy that
Donald Trump seeks the destruction of Israel ? Obviously not.
Well then, why does he believe it when it happens to
demonstrations pertaining to Israel ?
There is only one explanation to this question; it is the famous Jewish double
standard.