Civil Unrest In Britain

The civil unrest currently enveloping Britain and tearing the country apart, to me, is simply another reminder of the measure-for-measure nature of God. Though He is long-suffering and quick to forgive AND forget, those who fail to repent for past mistakes will inevitably suffer a measure-for-measure payback.

In case you are wondering what past British mistakes I am referring to, consider the following from rabbiwein.com.

The antisemitism by local Europeans continued even after World War II, especially among the Poles. There were pogroms and Jews were killed, often by people they knew. Emigration to other non-European countries was often not an option, as the quota system instituted against Jews before World War II was still in effect, even after the Holocaust. Only 1500 Jews per month were allowed by the British to enter Palestine, as England did not want to antagonize the Muslim world. The vast majority of survivors were classified as Displaced Persons and were placed in DP camps. Once again, they were living under armed guard, in poverty and unwanted. When U.S. representatives saw the situation in the DP camps, they pressed the British to let in 100,000 Jews to Palestine, to no avail. The American JDC and British JRC led the way in supplying these people with food, medicine and schools.


The sympathy for the Jews in general and for Zionism in particular grew markedly as a result of what the Jews suffered under the Nazis. The British ignoring their legal obligation under the terms of The Mandate illegally restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The political situation was reaching a breaking point. The British “occupiers” were unpopular to both the Arabs and Jews. The Jews were split as to how to deal with the British in Palestine. Some, led by David Ben Gurion and Chaim Weizman believed in negotiations and political pressure, while others led by Menachem Begin believed the only way to create the State was to fight for it – and drive the British out.


The route through and from Europe was treacherous for the Jewish refugees seeking to enter Palestine. Thousands braved the elements and made it to the shores of Palestine, only to see 62 of 63 immigrant ships be turned away by the British blockade. The most famous of these ships, the Exodus, created a standoff between its 4,500 Jewish survivors and the British. Eventually the British sent the refugees back to France, and when the Jews refused to disembark they shipped back to the “death land” - Germany. The inhumanity of the action and the iron will of the survivors swayed world public opinion.


In 1946, the British attempted to defeat any Jewish opposition by arresting 5000 Jews in Palestine, including the leaders of the Hagannah and the Jewish Agency.

Little do most realize that the US was not without blame in its treatment of the Jews.

In the years before and during World War II the United States Congress, the Roosevelt Administration, and public opinion expressed concern about the fate of Jews in Europe but consistently refused to permit large-scale immigration of Jewish refugees.


In a report issued by the State Department, Undersecretary of State Stuart Eizenstat noted that the United States accepted only 21,000 refugees from Europe and did not significantly raise or even fill its restrictive quotas, accepting far fewer Jews per capita than many of the neutral European countries and fewer in absolute terms than Switzerland. http://www.holocaustcenter.org/kinderTransport/PDFS/Immigration.pdf

Though seemingly not as guilty as Britain, we did not allow Jews who were fleeing Hitler, and begging to come to America, to find their way to the shores of the United States until AFTER WWII concluded. Can there be any doubt that troublesome times will eventually find their way to our shores as well?

In addition, though the US claims they did not know the extent of the atrocities being performed on the Jews in Germany during WWII, they DID know the location of each and every Ford Motor Company plant in Germany, and none of these facilities were ever bombed by the allies. Ford Motor Company produced the light infantry trucks for the German army throughout WWII.