Lesson of spirit bears

Editorial

The spirit bears that have enlivened Vancouver's cityscape were recently defaced with graffiti consisting of Stars of David intertwined with swastikas. This abominable act, taking place at a time when another Jewish school in Montreal was being firebombed, is presumably a statement by a few deranged Canadians on the Israeli-Arab conflict.

The swastika/Magen David juxtaposition is a particularly common one. There is a certain glee critics of Israel take in equating the Jewish state with the Nazi Third Reich. It is a heartless and despicable comparison, and it is by no means limited to extremists. It is an accusation that has been heard repeatedly over the last several years even among mainstream Canadian activists and publications. Just go online to the organs of the Canadian and international left and see the popularity of this monstrous declaration.

But what is it about this hot poker in the eye of Jewish experience that holds such delight for those who detest Israel?

It is a confirmation of contemporary cynicism that the victims, given the chance, will become the victimizers; the oppressed, the oppressor. Perhaps it grants some absolution to citizens of an exploitative society to know that, if the tables were turned, others would do unto us as we are doing unto them.

The Israeli-Arab conflict is infinitely more complex than many people allow and our identification of exploiter-exploited is probably exactly incorrect. Moreover, the use of Israel as an archetype for our societal or individual ills is no different from centuries of Jewish scapegoating. In short, the equation of the swastika with the Star of David reveals far more about those who use the comparison than it does about us.

^TOP