By Daniel Smiechowski
How soon we forget. Let truth be told in no uncertain terms and straight as an arrow.
Flashback to the dark days of late 2002 and early 2003 when “Bring em on,” and “Shock and awe” were all the rage. Americans rallied in the streets like a swarm of locusts in the Western Sahara. Down with the French pansies they chanted while pouring French wine down the gutter.
Former French President Jacques Chirac had admonished President Bush not to invade Iraq and called his decision the worst foreign policy blunder in all of America’s history. The President of the French Republic was burned in effigy by crazed Republicans who renamed the popular French fries “freedom fries.” French flags were stolen from my home and I was routinely insulted by neighbors for supporting the French.
American society knows little if anything about America’s friendship with our oldest ally. Why don’t these elected Republicans mention the fact that French President Francois Hollande and his sixty-six million fellow citizens love the United States more than we love them? Why don’t they mention the fact that Secretary of State John Kerry grew up in Saint Briuec sur Mer, Brittany or that President Kennedy’s press secretary, Pierre Salinger owned a chateau in France? It all started with American Statesman Benjamin Franklin’s visit to Normandy over two hundred years ago.
Indeed, the City of Light came close to burning under the Vichy regime as the German occupation continued between 1940—44. The Maginot Line fell in thirty days and America saved the Republic. The French are thankful and will forever remember our great sacrifice on the Normandy beaches. Despite America not sending a high level official to Paris, the French love the United States.
Daniel Smiechowski has lived and studied in France.
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French hate is still alive and well. Several Jewish friends of mind detest France, its people and culture and are quite vocal about it. I probably should unfriend them for their bigotry but because I’m not Jewish I don’t really want to judge.
I understand why they feel that way, but it’s holding on to the wrongs of 2 generations ago. Some Jews still won’t buy German automobiles, either. They’re idiots who live in the past. If you unfriend them, do it for those individuals; don’t judge all Jews by them.
There’s a new article in the New Yorker about current antisemitism in France.
I fully agree not all Jews feel the same way as them. That being said, there has been a major uptick in anti-Semitism in Europe and especially France. Read the article Peter posted below me. In recent years there has been a HUGE exodus of Jews from France. One of the guys I’m talking about actually lived there while going to school and on more than one occasion has felt his life threatened. I’m sure he doesn’t feel all French citizens are anti Sematic but enough do (in his opinion) that he pretty much has developed a disdain for France and the French in general. Is it right to think that way? Probably not but again I’m Jewish and I have never had to deal with what he has. Another person was a girl I dated for a short while (early 2000’s) who herself had served in the IDF. Perhaps the anti Semitism is because of the large Muslim population (largest in Europe) and also because of a large anger towards Israel’s foreign policy amongst the general French population both Muslim and non Muslim?
Distaining France and French culture, as you first posted, isn’t nearly the same as decrying the real anti-Semitism growing in Eurpoe. Yes, it’s wrong to give up on an entire nation because of the actions of some. It’s a prejudice just like anti-Semitism. That’s what Mr. Smiechowski wrote this article about.
France also has the 3rd largest Jewish population, after only Israel and US. Of course, the actual numbers are lower, though.
BTW, you dropped a word in your second post making it sound like you ARE jewish. I had to look twice at your first post to be sure :-).
I definitely am not Jewish. But yes I agree with you that distaining an entire country and it’s culture is very wrong and that’s why I used the term bigoted to describe their distain. I guess in a way though I’m being more forgiving of that than I would if it was some white hooded redneck whose never been a victim of any type of oppression and prejudice.
More forgivness is always a good thing.
Jacques Chirac was totally right. Invading Iraq was the worst foreign policy blunder in all of America’s history. It destabilized the Middle East and created enemies such as al Quaeda and ISIS. Instead if we had spent the same amount of money on creating peace in the Middle East, we would have no enemies there today – only friends.
Most people I know who fought over there are the first to admit it was a blunder to ever invade that place. Surprisingly many even thought that at the very time they were there.
Seems like yet another CIA false flag operation to me to bring the French back in line with US interests (Russian embargo, etc.). All the “Je suis Charlie” memes popping up EVERYWHERE you look in the media only help to reinforce it. Or . . . what about the current pedophilia scandal? Anyone remember “Wag the Dog”? :-/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120885/