America was one of three major counties in the World that opened the borders to those fleeing religious persecution at the hands of the Nazis. (America, Russia, Mexico).
As Millions fled the Holocaust to various points and the creation of a huge Jewish Diaspora (Once again just like the ten lost tribes of Israel), the Statue of Liberty was a beacon towards a new land, where the previous generation of Jews fleeing the pogroms of Central and Eastern Europe had migrated to, including legendary Labor activist Emma Goldman and many others working in the Textile industry of Manhattan.
Well, I did reference the first major wave of Jewish Immigration to America.....
I'm sure that I am likely repeating facts you already know, but for the benefit of other readers on the Forum, for what is relatively recent history of only a few Generations back.... and I'll post a few links throughout the post for those interested in exploring the history of the Holocaust further.
So, if we look simply at the Jewish population of Germany, which was an estimated 525,000 in January of 1933 roughly 300,000 Jews emigrated prior to Kristallnacht (11/38) where the NAZI thugs finally achieved absolute power in Germany, initially mainly to neighboring countries....
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/german-jewish-refugees-1933-1939https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Germanyhttps://www.britannica.com/event/KristallnachtUnfortunately many of the refugees who fled were caught in the NAZI dragnet, as the Gestapo and the German bureaucracy meticulously chased down Jews in all of the occupied nations of Europe....
Politically active German Jews has much higher rates of emigration from '38 > '40 (Hence my reference to Mexico, the United States, and Russia).
Divided Memory: The NAZI Past in the Two Germanys by Jeffrey Herf published in 1997, goes into extensive detail on this subject with some 26 pages devoted to Mexico City, as well as several pages to thousands of Jewish Immigrants escaping the Holocaust aided by the Jewish-American Community in New York City, as well as many pages to German Communists that immigrated to Moscow....
https://www.amazon.com/Divided-Memory-Nazi-Past-Germanys/dp/0674213041/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=divided+memory&qid=1566162681&s=gateway&sr=8-1Now, you are 100% correct that American Immigration policy, which was reinterpreted by Republican President Herbert Hoover, made it extremely difficult for political asylum seekers to obtain legal residency in the US in the early years of the Great Depression.
https://www.facinghistory.org/defying-nazis/america-and-holocaustCatholic leader Father Charles Coughlin, used his airtime as a major radio host to essentially promote anti-semitic stereotypes and hatred against Jews in the US, while becoming an outspoken supporter of Fascist and Nazi regimes in Germany, Italy, and Japan by the later part of the 1930s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_CoughlinThe "America First" Movement (Sound familiar?) , which included many leading industrialists was not only strongly opposed to US Entry into WW II, but additionally were essentially supporting the equivalent of American Brownshirts.
Woody Gutherie wrote a song called "America First" where he called out the Nazi/Fascist leading supporters in the US....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k83WArW5XU So yes you are correct, in that the Jewish-American experience was long a rocky road of discrimination and racism, although I believe that the US Government can and should have done more in the 1930s, as should have many other countries, FDR's hands were tied from a US population that was increasingly nativist from the time of Palmer Raids and backlash against immigration in the early '20s, as well as increasing isolationalism and Republican gains in Congress shortly after FDR's '32 landslide.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_RaidsThe US enters WW II and proves to be a decisive influence in defeating Fascism and Nazi ideology in both Europe and Asia.
After WW II, the US pushed England and the United Nations to support the creation of an independent Israeli State, with Truman signing off the same day that Ben-Gurion proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel.
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/creation-israelIsrael since it's creation has been assailed by neighboring powers and countries from a wide range of backgrounds, and although I don't want to go into that whole discussion here, it is directly relevant to the topic at hand.
Israel created it's own equivalent "statue of liberty" as a new nation for all Jews fleeing persecution from throughout the world.
Built from scratch, under assault from day one, Israel in it's early decades, was in many ways a Socialist society, with some of the best government programs in the world when it came to housing, education, social services, etc.
Again, Amos Oz (עמוס עוז)
RIP: 12/28/18.....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Ozhttps://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Amos_Ozhttps://www.newyorker.com/culture/postscript/what-israel-meant-to-amos-ozhttps://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-how-amos-oz-became-the-cliche-of-the-good-zionist-1.6791630Still, despite the dramatic change in Israeli population from the original Labor Zionist founders, to now a mixture of secular Jews from throughout the world, combined with a more hard-line settler population many of whom believe in reclaiming the Judea and Samaria, this is not a project that the overwhelming majority of American Jews support.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judea_and_Samaria_AreaThe banning of US Congressional leaders simply because of their political positions regarding the Palestinian situation, and religious affiliation, is simply unreal and unacceptable.
They had meetings scheduled with both Arab and Jewish members of the Knesset...
Bibi is simply once again looking for a scapegoat, knowing that Trump has his back....
That being said, I suspect after the 2020 US General Election attempts to play domestic politics, while meanwhile Bibi is dodging corruption charges within Israel, even if Bibi wins, something tells me that although the US support for Israel will continue to be strong and forceful as it has been since '48, the blank checks are done with....
https://www.npr.org/2019/06/14/732863477/how-possible-corruption-charges-could-threaten-benjamin-netanyahus-tenure
