Something remarkable happens when you read two pieces of
Jewish writing back to back. You find yourself traveling inter-dimensionally.
That is, you move from one three-dimensional space to another three-dimensional
space as if going from one reality to another through a doorway they share
between them.
One piece of writing came under the title: “No submission to
Islam” and the subtitle: “Viktor Orban outlines explicitly conservative goals
for Hungary.” It was written by Daniel Pipes and published on August 13, 2018
in The Washington Times. The other piece came under the title: “Jeremy Corbyn,
Anti-Semite” and the subtitle: “He has a long history of honoring and
supporting those who libel Jews, deny the Holocaust, and vow to destroy
Israel.” It was written by Julie Lenarz and published on August 14, 2018 in
National Review Online.
Because to move from one reality to the other, you need a
doorway that connects both realities, you'll find that a common passage is
doing just that for the two Jewish pieces. Here is the Daniel Pipes side of the
doorway:
“[Hungarian Prime Minister] Viktor Orban and his Fidesz
party encourage voters in Poland, Austria, Italy and Germany to resist
uncontrolled migration. Criticisms against the government are unfair.
Anti-Semitic incidents have declined and Hungary is the safest place in Europe
for observant Jews. Hungary has Europe's best relations with Israel. Jewish
institutions in Budapest operate in the open”.
In this passage, Daniel Pipes is saying that the Jews and
Israel are popular all over Europe, if not all over the world. This is
happening, he says, thanks to the work of Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party. As
to the Julie Lenarz side of the doorway, it goes like this:
“Owen Jones and his fellow travelers pretend that Corbyn is
just the unluckiest, most misunderstood man on the planet. An
avid Corbyn supporter, he dismissed Labour's racism problem days after the
National Executive Committee's rejection of the International Holocaust
Remembrance Alliance's [IHRA] definition of anti-Semitism. The only major
European party not to accept the IHRA's definition of anti-Semistism is Viktor
Orban's populist Fidesz party in Hungary”.
In charging that Jeremy Corbyn is the “most misunderstood
man on the planet,” Julie Lenarz says he is isolated in the world. It also
means he is unpopular compared to the Jews who are popular. This last part
agrees with what Pipes is saying, which makes sense given that the two
realities are separated by one and the same doorway.
But where the two Jewish writers differ –– as if living in
two different realities –– is in their assessment of Prime Minister Viktor
Orban and his Fidesz party. Daniel Pipes sees him and his party as good for the
Jews and for Israel. By contrast, Julie Lenarz sees them both as bad for the
Jews and for Israel.
How can it be that Viktor Orban of Hungary, a former
autocratic country –– now democratic and conservative, at least in name –– is
responsible for giving two different impressions to two Jewish writers? Well,
to answer this question, it helps to begin with the observation that Jeremy
Corbyn, the aspiring Prime Minister of Britain, which is a solidly democratic
country, holds views opposite to what Britain used to stand for in the past. It
is as if one Jewish writer likes what Britain used to be, and the other writer
likes what Britain is becoming.
Britain used to be a colonial power whose legacy is not
cherished by many in the world. Also, most of its people, like those of other
colonial powers, regret their past and would do what they can to alleviate the
pain they imposed on innocent peoples throughout the world. Jeremy Corbyn is
one of those Brits.
Whereas the Brits of olden days developed the art of the
double-talk to make it look like their evil deeds were good deeds, the Corbyn
generation has rejected that approach, and replaced it with the honest and
simple talk of a Britain that's eager to reform.
Enter stage right the leader of a former Communist country
who grew up in the belief that when democracy will come to his country, the sky
will rain wealth on the people, whether they choose to work or they don't.
Well, democracy not only came to his country; he was elected to make the sky
rain wealth on the people. Because he discovered that things are not as easy as
he thought they were, he studied how the Brits did it to rise to the apex of
power. He learned that the double-talk was their way to success; and so, he
adopted it.