John R. Cohn: Europe And The Jews, The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, August 4, 2006

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http://www.theeveningbulletin.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17014343&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=574088&rfi=6

Commentary

Israel will ultimately make its own decisions about the best way to defend itself against existential threats, for it is Israelis who will live with the consequences. Still, European posturing, often critical of America for being too supportive of Israel while they claim the moral high ground of implied impartiality, rings hollow in the context of more than 2000 years of Europe’s relations with Israel and the Jews.
Europe’s first serious interaction with a Jewish state came in 332 B.C., when Greeks, under Alexander the Great, conquered Judea. It took 170 years to throw off Greek rule, but following the rebellion under Judas Maccabeus, Jews regained their sovereignty. In 164 B.C., the Jews rededicated their Temple in Jerusalem, now celebrated with the holiday of Hanukkah.
Jewish control of their homeland was short lived. In 63 B.C., another European army completed its conquest, this time the Roman Empire under Pompey. Roman rule was harsh, including high taxes, control of religion and the brutal murder of those who opposed them. To further blot out the Jews’ relationship to their country, Emperor Hadrian changed the region’s name from “Provincia Judaea” to “Provincia Syria Palaestina”, later shortened to Palaestina or Palestine, the name Europeans preferred for nearly 2000 years (and many still do) until Jewish control resumed in 1948.
Roman methods of dealing with dissidents included crucifixion; a painful death earlier employed by the Greeks which was used throughout the Roman Empire. Romans crucified 6,000 along the Appian Way following the revolt of Spartacus in 71 BCE.
Somewhere around A.D. 33, Roman troops crucified a local Jewish preacher, Jesus. In one of the greatest disinformation campaigns of human history, generations of Europeans were taught that Jesus was killed by the Jews, rather than Europeans, even though the indigenous population of Israel had little control over their lives or even their religion under the iron rule of the most powerful European empire in the history of the planet.
In A.D. 63, the Jews were driven to open revolt by continued Roman brutality. Over the next 100 years, 1 million Jews were killed and more expelled by Roman troops, although some Jews always remained close to their holy sites. Jews were scattered across the Middle East and Europe. Jewish sovereignty did not return until 1948 with the founding of the modern State of Israel.
In the interim, Jews enjoyed periods of limited acceptance in Europe, interspersed with marked brutality. Unlike the United States, which welcomed refugees of diverse backgrounds for their contributions to its vibrancy, Europeans looked askance at the Jews scattered among them.
Unable to own land, Jews were dependant on feudal rulers. By 1096, Crusaders on their way to the Holy Land were practicing murder and mayhem on helpless and unarmed Jews. Over ensuing centuries, Jews were expelled or killed across the continent in countries ranging from England to Spain to Germany to Russia.
The term “ghetto” dates its origin to the often walled section of Italian cities where Jews were forced to live in the Middle Ages. “Pogrom” was initially created as a term to describe “an organized, often officially encouraged massacre or persecution of a minority group, especially one conducted against Jews.” (dictionary.com)
Under doctrines promulgated by Roman Catholic Church councils held in 1179 and 1215, Jews were prohibited from employing Christians and from appearing in public on Easter and other Christian holy days, and Christians were prohibited from living in Jewish neighborhoods.
In the 14th century, during the Black Plague, Jews were accused of poisoning the wells. In the 13th to 16th centuries, Europeans accused the Jews of killing Christian children to obtain blood for Matzah. In later years, Jews were blamed for European bank failures.
Jews were expelled from England in 1290. Anyone who has seen Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice knows that Jews were still looked at disapprovingly in early 17th century England, although they were permitted to return in 1655.
While Europeans prefer to believe that the Holocaust was the result of a few Nazi madmen, the facts show otherwise. As Hitler’s plans became known, Jews attempted to flee, only to be turned back by European states, as well as from their historical homeland in the Middle East, then under British rule. Not just Germans, but French, Poles, Hungarians, Russians and other Europeans contributed to Hitler’s “Final Solution.” In that context, the Holocaust differed from nearly two millennia of European history in its efficiency, not its intent.
Hezbollah forces began the current fighting by invading Israel, killing eight Israelis and taking two others as hostages. That was followed by hundreds of ball bearing-filled missiles fired at Israeli population centers, with the sole purpose of maiming, killing and terrorizing as many Israelis as possible. All of this was in response to nothing. If that is not a disproportionate response (not to mention a clear-cut war crime), what is? Yet, it is Israel Europeans accuse of a disproportionate response.
Europeans destroyed the last Jewish state. They persecuted and often killed the Jews among them for the better part of the next 2000 years. There should be no doubt why Israelis, who know their history, have no interest in trusting their safety to the judgment and good intentions of Europeans today.

John R. Cohn: Europe And The Jews, The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, August 4, 2006

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AUTHOR

John R. Cohn

John R. Cohn, Thomas Jefferson University, SPME Board of Directors

John R. Cohn, M.D., is a physician at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (TJUH), in Philadelphia, PA, where he is the chief of the adult allergy and immunology section and Professor of Medicine. He is the immediate past president of the medical staff at TJUH.

In his Israel advocacy work he is a prolific letter writer whose letters and columns have been published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, the Philadelphia Daily News, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Haaretz, the Jewish Exponent, Lancet (an international medical journal based in the UK), and others. He was CAMERA’s “Letter Writer of the year” in 2003. He maintains a large email distribution of the original essays which he authors on various Israel-related topics.

He has spoken for numerous Jewish organizations, including Hadassah, the Philadelphia Jewish Federation and to a student group at Oxford University (UK). He and his wife were honored by Israel Bonds.

He wrote the monograph: “Advocating for Israel: A Resource Guide” for the 2010 CAMERA conference. It is valuable resource for all interested in maximizing their effectiveness in correcting the endless errors of fact and omission in our mainstream media. One piece of very valuable advice that he offers to other letter writers is: “Journalists and media are not our enemies, even those we don't agree with". Particularly for those of us in the academic community he urges a respectful and educational approach to journalists who have taken a wayward course.

In addition to the SPME board, Dr. Cohn is a member of a variety of professional and Jewish organizations, including serving on the boards of Hillel of Greater Philadelphia, the CAMERA regional advisory board, and Allergists for Israel (American allergists helping the Israeli allergist community). In the past he served on the board of the Philadelphia ADL. He participated in the 2010 CAMERA conference (“War by Other Means,” Boston University) where he led a panel with students on “Getting the Message Out,” and a break-out session called “Getting Published in the Mainstream Media.”

He is married, has three children and one grandchild. He belongs to two synagogues--he says with a chuckle, "So I always have one not to go to". He has been to Israel many times, including as a visiting professor at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. His first trip was at age 10, when Jerusalem was still a divided city; and he remembers vividly standing before the Mandelbaum Gate, wondering why he could not go through it to the Old City on the other side.

He adroitly balances his wide-ranging volunteer activities on behalf of Israel with his broad and complex medical and teaching practice (including authoring numerous professional publications) while successfully maintaining good relations with a broad spectrum of Jewish community leaders and organizations -- no small feat.

Regarding his involvement with SPME, Dr. Cohn acknowledged first and foremost SPME’s Immediate Past President, Professor Ed Beck. Dr. Cohn has long perceived that under Professor Beck’s guidance, SPME has been doing an essential job on college campuses; so he was honored when Professor Beck invited him to join the board.

He finds it easy to support and be active in SPME because being a Jewish American and a supporter of Israel presents no conflict due to the congruence of both countries’ interests, policies and priorities. It is clear that Israel’s cause is not a parochial issue. It is a just cause and its advocacy is advocacy for justice.

For Dr. Cohn, the need for SPME is clear. The resources of those who speak out on behalf of Israel are dwarfed by the funding sources available to those who seek to denigrate Israel. Israel's supporters don’t have large oil fields to underwrite their work. And the campus is a critical arena for work today on behalf of Israel, because this generation’s students are next generation’s leaders.

For advancing SPME’s work in the future, he would like to see the continued development of academically sound analyses to counter the prevailing anti-Israel ideology of all too much academic research and teaching on campuses and in professional fields today. He points to Lancet’s creation of a “Lancet Palestinian Health Alliance,” which asserts that Israel is to blame for poor health care for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The documented reality, however, is that life expectancy, infant mortality and other measures of health are better for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza than in many of the countries so critical of Israel This is in large part thanks to Israel.

Dr. Cohn asserts that we need more research, analysis and publications to counteract such misleading allegations.


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