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We
are now going through the most virulent anti-Semitic
period since Hitler and Stalin. Nearly 60 years
after the end of World War II almost every country
on the European continent, including England,
France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and the Scandinavian
countries, has seen major outbreaks of physical
violence against their Jewish citizens, and against
Jewish institutions, including synagogues and
cemeteries. At the same time, open hostility toward
the State of Israel is at an all-time high.
Only
in the United States have we seen a full acceptance
of Jews as citizens and the Jewish state treated
as a friend and ally by an overwhelming number
of fellow citizens. In the U.S., Jews have been
permitted to rise and fall based on their individual
talents, virtues and faults. In one elite bastion
after another, Jews have been selected to head
institutions heretofore seen as beyond their reach.
Today the presidents of Harvard and Yale Universities
are Jews, as are recent former presidents of Columbia
and Princeton. Having been elected three times
as mayor of the City of New York, I have been
the beneficiary of this country's generosity and
freedom from bigotry, and I will be eternally
grateful.
Americans
traditionally make New Year's resolutions. Before
I list my own resolutions, I want to thank President
George W. Bush and his advisers, Vice President
Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,
Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security
Adviser Condoleezza Rice for their support of
the State of Israel. They could easily have jettisoned
Israel as a liability in their efforts to forge
an international coalition against worldwide terrorism.
I will be forever grateful to them, and I hope
that many other supporters of the State of Israel
will recognize and appreciate what they have done.
Fortunately
for Jews and the State of Israel, American support
of the Jewish nation has been bipartisan. Particularly
helpful has been the Democratic leadership in
both houses including Senator Tom Daschle, outgoing
Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, as well as former
President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton.
There are many others on both sides of the political
aisle who deserve similar praise..
In
the religious sector, I am grateful to the Reverends
Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, both of whom
have stood up time and again in support and defense
of the Jewish nation... Regrettably, there have
been many clergy who have unfairly attacked Israel
for attempting to defend itself against near-daily
terrorist acts against its citizens. We were made
privy to the true thoughts of Rev. Billy Graham
caught on tape telling President Nixon his real
feelings about Jews and Israel... He has since
apologized, but what is an apology without contrition
and efforts to right the wrong done? Worthless.
Now
to my personal New Year's resolutions. I will
avoid France as a place to vacation. France leads
those countries in the Security Council who are
the enemies of the State of Israel. So too is
Mexico, joining as a consistent supporter of resolutions
unfairly denouncing Israel at the U.N. Security
Council.
I
will not support National Public Radio in any
way. NPR's reporters and management delight in
unfairly attacking Israel.
I
will no longer lend financial support to New York's
Channel Thirteen public television station. That
station recently showed a documentary that was
blatantly biased against Israel and has refused
to acknowledge the bias or to try to correct it.
I
will not watch ABC's World News Tonight anchored
by Peter Jennings. For many years, Jennings has
specialized in vicious and unfair portrayals of
Israel intended to injure the Jewish state and
lionize Palestinians.
BBC
News is horrifically anti-Israel and I will shun
it completely.
Susan
Sontag will occupy the Ninth Circle of Hell for
her outrageous assaults on Israel. I will no longer
read her works.
Regrettably,
there are many others whom I could include on
this list, but I will leave that for another day.
I must confess I got enormous pleasure from the
defeat of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and her
father in the recent primary elections in Georgia.
In my view, both are anti-Semitic and anti-Israel.
No longer able to feed at the public trough, I
doubt that either will make a comparable living
in the private sector.
I
must close now to get ready for my Chanukah and
Christmas shopping. I enjoy celebrating those
holidays with Jewish and Christian friends whose
goodwill and affection I will always cherish
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