Steve Pieczenik – Ironic, that the egotistical leader of a country that was created entirely by refugees (Jews, Muslims, Druze, Christians and even VietNamese Buddhists) will not open the doors to a single soul in one of the worst refugee crisis in history. No Israeli leader has shown less compassion, empathy or historical knowledge than the son of a Cornell Professor whose family was granted refugee status by America as Jews fleeing the Holocaust. No Israeli understood less about the beneficent nature of many Muslim Countries who gave many of us, Ashkenazy Jews, sanctuary during the WWII Holocaust.

Part of my family comes from Algeria, where they had lived in the African Muslim culture for hundreds of years before they were thrown out during the French/Algerian War. At that time, there were thousands of Jews who lived in Morocco under the direct protection of the Royal Family. Even when the Sephardic Jews were chased out of Morocco because the nascent state of Israel created conflict points to force the Jews to leave to Israel; King Hassan always wanted to make certain that ‘his Jewish children’ would be well taken care of in this new state. Distant cousins in Turkey came from the Ladino refugees who were protected by Turkey for over 500 years. I can go on about how different Muslim countries, even ones that are perceived as hostile to Israel, have welcomed Jews throughout centuries of wandering about this earth seeking a homeland. Only a few years ago, I remember that in Isfahan, Iran, I encountered thousands of young and old Jews praying on a Friday morning under the bridge that was called in Farsi, “The Bridge of Jews.” Continue reading →