Intentional redundancy

Marina Berkovich JHSSWF President

By now you are all tired of reading and hearing about everything related to the escalating worldwide antisemitism. It is much easier to set that aside and spend a relaxing, leisurely summer not thinking about adversity and the ugliness of that harsh reality we all, as Jews, are (or will be) going through.

Historically, once this escalation cycle begins, it has proven to run its course to the great, or greatest, detriment for the majority of us. No other gradations. Great or greatest detriment.

This summer, athletes and fans will gather in France for the 2024 Paris Olympics, technically the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad. The International Olympic Committee has not made clear whether it allocated extra security resources, most likely unwilling to further strain itself or participating members. The IOC said it has “full confidence” in the French authorities' ability to secure the 2024 Paris Games against growing global protests over the Israel-Hamas conflict. Let us keep that hope with us throughout the summer.

This is France’s sixth time hosting the Olympic Games. France is no stranger to terrorism, as many of us have witnessed. The heinous attacks, many of which are directed specifically against Jews, are ongoing. In a May 2024 attack, a synagogue was set afire in Rouen. Not since late last century have the Jews of France felt safe to be openly Jewish in France. The country where Captain Alfred Dreyfus became an easy target a century before that, just because he made a conveniently easy target as a Jew, France has once again become just as antisemitic as it was back then, but with no modern-day Emile Zola in sight.

Moreover, let’s face it, even if another Emile Zola emerged, the present-day French are no longer filled with the same revolutionary spirit. The revolution they are most frequently cheering in the streets these days will ensure the demise of Jews.

“We have not had so many geopolitical questions in the Games since the Cold War. This time around, security might be the biggest issue,” said Jean-Baptiste Guégan, a specialist in sports geopolitics, in March 2024. “All current tensions, such as Israeli-Hamas conflict, will be projected onto the Olympics. Thinking that sport is apolitical is a myth.”

So, who then will secure the Jewish athletes, coaches and tourists in the streets of Paris and other Olympic locations this summer? Israel is always the most vulnerable of all teams.

History is also not apolitical, since the winner controls the narrative. I am often asked why people historically blame the Jews for worldwide problems. The answer I often give is “We are all Dreyfus.” No matter how difficult our journeys, how much effort we expended to overcome our individual obstacles, or how high we were able to rise, to a traditional antisemite, we are one rich, super-powerful Jew, who needs to be humiliated and destroyed. Or, at the very least, converted.

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