By Roger L Simon
What has been called the world’s oldest calumny—antisemitism—has been experiencing an extraordinary revival of late, just in time for the 250th Anniversary of our beloved country this July 4th.
It has gotten so bad that you are beginning to hear talk of Jews leaving the USA, as well as from much of Western Europe and elsewhere, to relocate (make Aliyah) to Israel. Some are already doing it in reality.
I am not one of them.
Although I love Israel, have visited several times, and am certain that its survival is not only necessary for Jews but for modern civilization as we know it, I have no intention of moving there. I would have done so years ago. I love America too much.
I love the idea of America, its Constitution, and, most of all, its Declaration. I love the diversity of people from many ethnicities and religions building a nation, living together in relative—sometimes very relative— harmony under a system that could fairly be called genius.
The results, as detailed in an optimistic essay in The Free Press by Scott Nelson—“America’s Next 250 Years Are Ours To Build” have been astonishing. Mr. Nelson, a former Elon Musk/SpaceX executive, sees a yet more glorious future with one caveat—having sufficient energy to power it. Nelson insists we need nuclear. This is to be expected, since he is the CEO of a fledgling company enriching uranium. Nevertheless, he’s right.
But that’s half the story, or not even that. The more important part of our future depends on the honoring of that amazing Declaration of Independence, which emanates directly from the Judeo-Christian tradition.
The advent of antisemitism across our land is, consciously or unconsciously, aimed at sabotaging that and destroying our nation. I am not going to go on pointing to the contribution of Jews to America from Haym Solomon, who saved the Revolution financially before becoming penniless himself, to Irving Berlin, who wrote “God Bless America,” and who, along with others, wrote so much of our songbook, created so many of our movies, plays and novels, or all the advances from Jewish doctors (now having difficulty getting into medical school) that have saved so many lives, because that is not the point.
The point is bigotry.
All bigotry is evil, bigotry toward any group, and will be the ultimate undoing of our great country if allowed to continue, whether from the left or from the right.
The individuals—I’m not going to name names at this point, but we all know who they are: they’re so obvious— who project this bigotry under whatever guise are disgusting and should be called out and/or shunned. They are the true enemies of the people.
This must be done to save what we all, Jew and Gentile, love about America. As history has shown, we can’t be passive.
I resolve on July 4, 2026, to engage in that crucial struggle with all my might. I hope you will, too.
Meanwhile, as I said above, I ain’t goin’ anywhere. In my heart, “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy,” as Jimmy Cagney sang and danced so brilliantly in the film of the same name. I’m an American boy through and through.
I’ll be out on South Beach Saturday night, braving the crowds, waving away the marijuana smoke (not my thing anymore), watching the fireworks over the ocean, and celebrating 250 years. Look for me there, if you’re around.
As for antisemitism, we don’t need any more of that in the next 250 years. Make that 1000.
First published in American Refugees
