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May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review Sept. 7, 2006 / 14 Elul, 5766

Feeding the crocodile

By Suzanne Fields


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who likes historical analogies, compares the appeasers of Germany in the run-up to World War II to his critics who stubbornly refuse to see in full the terrorists who want to destroy the civilized way of life, and us along with it.


The 1930s were "a time when a certain cynicism and moral confusion set in among the Western democracies." Men and women who should have known better refused to see what was writ large and plain before their eyes, and what Winston Churchill meant when he said that accommodating Hitler was "a bit like feeding a crocodile, hoping it would eat you last." The analogy to modern appeasement is not exact, but the faint-hearted who demand a quick withdrawal from Iraq are trying to appease a hungry crocodile. The French, as the Germans of the Weimar Republic had before them, wore blinkers looking at the crocodile. Those most blinded to the evil threat of Hitler were exactly those with the most to lose.


Many intellectuals and Democratic politicians of our own time resemble the Germans so soothed by rhetoric and intoxicated by the creativity of the 1920s and early 1930s that they could not see how all they held dear could be destroyed by Hitler. The Germans were afflicted with a terminal naivete, confronting the emerging fascists in their country, just as many Americans are confronting the "new fascism."


When Walter Rathenau, the Jewish foreign minister for the Weimar Republic, was assassinated in 1922 by right-wing thugs, an outpouring of grief enveloped one of the largest funerals in German memory. Thousands of fascists at that very moment raised their beer mugs in celebration of his death. Those in the liberal press of Weimar who called for stern measures against the fascists conspiring against the republic were ignored or discounted as unreasoning hysterics. The government did nothing to curb the anti-republican forces in the judiciary, the police or the state bureaucracies; all would contribute to the rise of Nazism.


When Hitler famously marched into Munich in 1923 with like-minded thugs calling for the dissolution of the "criminal government" of Germany, the minimum sentence for high treason was five years, the maximum, life. A sympathetic judge saw that Hitler served less than a year. When "Mein Kampf" was published in 1925, it was largely ignored, and the few who publicly noted his plans for the Jews and the republic were largely ignored as well. Not even the German Communists, who despised the fascists, deigned to unite against him, calculating that he was a mere minor threat. They could wait him out.


The Bush administration now concedes errors in Iraq, foremost among them failure to understand the reluctance of so many Iraqis to support a democratic government. While historical parallels are always imperfect, it's fair to observe that the Germans who supported Weimar also failed to understand how fragile their republican government could be. The Western democracies were slow to perceive that, too.


Just as anti-Semitism was harnessed to bring down Weimar, hatred of the Jews keeps trouble on the boil today in the Middle East. Anti-Semitism is the refuge of cowards who are eager to exploit the appetite for hatred of the Jews. Anti-Semitism in the '20s and '30s was respectable in Germany, just as it is fashionable today among certain intellectuals and creative artists, including some Jews. Describing the Israelis as the "new Nazis" invites no outrage among certain bright young (and old) things who decry bigotry in others.


Martin Heidegger, the German philosopher of the 1930s, complained about the "Judaization" of the German university. He defended himself, saying that he was no more anti-Semitic than many of his Jewish colleagues. It was a glib observation not entirely wrong, but few took on Heidegger for his outspoken anti-Semitism.


Noam Chomsky is widely respected today for his linguistic theories, but he is willing to join forces with those who deny the Holocaust. He wrote the foreword to the standard French-language textbook of Holocaust denial. He praises "Jewish History, Jewish Religion," a book by Israel Shalak, one of the most outspoken Jewish anti-Semites. Gore Vidal, who insists he's not an anti-Semite, wrote the foreword for that one.


"The appearance of political anti-Semitism in the Arab and Muslim world is of relatively recent date," writes Walter Laqueur in "The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism." He observes how the Muslims who preach hatred of the Jews have found friends in Europe: "Islamist anti-Semites have collaborated with European anti-Semites of the left and with the neo-fascist anti-Semites in convening various conferences, protest meetings, demonstrations and declarations."


Those who assisted the Nazi rise to power held diverse views and were motivated by different influences, both inside and outside Germany, and the rest of the world recognized the peril of Nazism only slowly and reluctantly. Islamo-fascism poses a similar danger for us now.

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