Reflections on Hatred and Prejudice
Today on the Internet, there was a photograph of a twelve-year-old Moslem boy in Melbourne, Australia, bullying a Jewish boy of his own age. He made the Jewish boy lie on the ground and kiss his feet! My God! Has anti-Semitism returned with such vengeance? Did it ever go away, or was it just lying low for a while? I am outraged! I cannot keep my emotions under control! I will express my feelings. The time that a Jew pretended that it was okay not to protest when he was insulted and discriminated against are long gone.
What kind of people are these that teach their children so much hatred? You scare me! You remind me of Nazi Germany. Your hatred is poisonous and unreasonable! Who harmed you? What have we ever done to you? All we want to do is lead peaceful lives and raise our families, just like any normal human being.
What is the reason for the narrow-minded hatred? What is the reason for such malice? I was brought up in Iran. The school I went to was an international one. My friends were and still are from everywhere. We are Jewish, Moslem, Christian, Buddhist, Zoroastrians, everything! Never once did anyone feel inferior to anyone else. We are still friends. Never did religion get in the way of our friendship. We appreciated each other for who we are. Our religious beliefs never mattered. We celebrated each other’s holidays and thoroughly enjoyed them.
Once at work many years ago, a co-worker commented, “You do not look or behave like a Jew.” She believed she was complimenting me and I had to feel flattered! Just how does a Jew look or behave? I became quite irked. I replied nastily, “Do you see how thick my hair is? There is a reason for it. I hide my Jewish horns beneath it!”
Many years ago my father and my uncle had a representative from a German company stay in Tehran for quite a long while, perhaps over a year. His name was Mr. Schmidt. He practically lived in our homes. He dined with us, he went out with my uncle and my parents as their guest to dinners, concerts, or what you will. He became almost part of the family. Mr. Schmidt used to say that he felt part of the family, almost a brother to my father and uncle. Mr. Schmidt, the professed ‘brother’ of my father and uncle, crumpled down into a chair in the middle of our family birthday party. The room was filled with children. Mr. Schmidt sobbed hysterically because they had announced that Eichmann was to be executed. I was one of the children. I remember how we looked at him with astonished and uncertain amazement and wariness.
Until recently, I have been feeling very safe in my Jewishness over here. Peter used to laugh at me because I am in the habit of hoarding things just in case of a revolution. “Stella, you do not have to fear anything here. You are in the United States. You are safe.” Sadly, my darling husband, that is not true. Hatred is very much alive and well. Synagogues have been attacked, and worshippers have been killed. Headstones have been wantonly pulled off graves in Jewish cemeteries and hurled viciously and wantonly aside! That photograph today shook me greatly. It reminded me that the fiery tongue of hatred will never cease. I ask myself why? Why? Why? We are good citizens of the world. We have contributed greatly, yet still, we are hated.