New Exodus

Let Jews leave Europe for America

Brian Doherty | April 2, 2003

"French Jews Tell of a New and Threatening Wave of Anti-Semitism," ran the headline in the March 22 issue of The New York Times. The Times noted, "Swastikas, slogans and physical assaults against Jews in Europe have reached a frequency not seen since the 1930s when Fascism was on the rise." There have been more than 100 anti-Semitic incidents in Paris in the first 3 months of 2003.

And France is not alone; during the election campaign last year, Jurgen Mollemann, deputy chairman of the Free Democrats raised the specter of anti-Semitism by reviving the old canard that German Jews have a dual loyalty.

No doubt, the resurgence of European anti-Semitism is fueled by a growing Muslim population angered by Israel's battle against the new Palestinian intifada, but the germs of that particularly noxious infection of the European body politic have never really gone away.

Consequently, I would like to offer a modest proposal that will partially correct a historic wrong while simultaneously poking a sharp stick in the eyes of European critics of the United States—invite any European Jew who fears anti-Semitic persecution to immigrate here. The historic injustice this would correct was that the United States refused to increase the immigration quota for European Jews trying to escape the Nazis, thus condemning tens of thousands if not millions to death. America should be open to all immigrants, but a cohort of highly educated European Jews would certainly be a plus for our society and our economy.

As for the morally smug European leaders, who wouldn't enjoy the spectacle of Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder trying to explain why so many of their citizens are fleeing their countries?