THE COLD SPOT IN TOO MANY HEARTS

"In the warmest of hearts, too often there is a cold spot for the Jews."
Irving Howe

How many among my gentile readers of Abrahamian background (whatever beliefs they may have or have discarded at this point) will spout vehement and violent negatives to this statement?
True, some among these deniers are also ones who, with equal vehemence, deny any racism in them whatsoever. And we all know what such denials often indicate, don't we?
On the other hand, there are those who, while they will vehemently argue with Irving Howe's observation, will also patiently nod when they are told how deep racism and/or racist structures are within themselves and how much work, both external and internal, needs to be done before they, and the rest of us, are free of such pernicious tropes.
How now?
I could hardly agree more heartily with the urgent necessity for such work to proceed with each and all of us, but tell me this: isn't at least an equal amount of work necessary to rid ourselves of tropes which have been with us for not four or five, but fifteen or sixteen, centuries concerning the Jews?
Are so many of us that deceived by 1) Israel's current military strength, all of which is still necessary to prevent a second Shoah and/or 2) the purportedly high socioeconomic standing of most Western, especially North American, Jews today and 3) the rate at which the latter have been intermarrying with Gentiles? Be not deceived: the Jews of Germany were starting to intermarry and many Christian clerics (there were Nuremberg Laws aimed at them, so there were more than a handful) had some Jewish ancestry. And not only those Jews, but the Jews of Spain in 1492 were also thought to be better off than their hosts. Remember what happened to them? Just about everyone conscious of Jewish DNA in their family tree knows these facts and will never, never forget them.
Allow me to ask a potentially highly explosive question, especially to those who see themselves as 'enlightened'. Are you sure your mind and heart are free of ancient anti-Jewish tropes? How many of you feel seriously uncomfortable knowing that Jews have their state again and that it is a prosperous and militarily powerful state--but one with potentially mortal enemies close at hand?
Let me say here that I've no great liking, or indeed much liking at all, for Bibi and his governments. On the other hand, so long as an Arab plurality dreams of finishing the Shoah, the 'two-state solution' is and will remain unrealizable. And to those who will say with vehemence that they don't dream so, at least not anymore, I say: read the records of what they tell each other when they know, or believe, that no liberal Westerners are listening. (If neo-Nazis are listening, they won't care.) Once you do, I think most of you will be appalled and ashamed.
Jews and other peoples of color--remember, the Shoah gave the lie to any 'whiteness' Jews or others might claim for Jews--need to do a lot of honest airing (which I hope can stay reasonably civil; that's important) of feelings about each other and histories both shared and different. And to look at the Middle East through 'American' lenses is to turn things upside down; remember Arabs have been, and mostly still are, the 'whites' of the Middle East.
Wealth, prestige and non-military power did not protect the Jews of Iberia in 1492 nor those of Germany in the 1930s. If anyone thinks those things will protect Jews in the Diaspora this time, tell me why you think that. I'll probably tell you why you're mistaken, but I'll ask the question anyway and I will expect an answer!
Finally, to all who really do want peace in the Holy Land. The best thing you can do is help those organizations which seek to build real peace from the ground up. Especially those who encourage Jews and Arabs to work together and are doing God's work of giving hearts of flesh for those of stone for both sides. But id we are to be serious about ending racism in ourselves, our society and in our world, I think we'd better start with attacking the very oldest bigotry and the racist tropes that prop it up. I say we're all better off without that cold spot in too many hearts.