Here's a thought.
I wonder if the time has come for the United States to offer political asylum to the Jews of Canada, Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and elsewhere in Europe?
Politically that would be a devastating admission of failure by western governments, so I would say no--we'll not have refugee status for Jews. Yet, Jews have in fact, been quietly leaving Europe for years. In 2004, Israeli PM Ariel Sharon angered French leaders by encouraging French Jews to come to Israel after a spate of anti-semitic incidents left them feeling besieged.
While Sharon made public statements to the effect that the Jewish motivation for aliya should be to come "home" to their land, most French emigres acknowledge that rising anti-semitism by an increasingly radicalized Muslim population was a strong factor.
Many recent arrivals say in no uncertain terms that it was primarily anti-Semitism that brought them from France to Israel. Others acknowledge that while anti-Semitism has increased in recent years, the phenomenon has been due largely to the intifada and emanates mainly from young Muslim immigrant men, mostly from North Africa and poorly integrated into French culture and society.Many French olim claim that fervent Zionism and a strong attachment to Israel have impelled them to leave France and establish new roots here. Others appear to be hedging their bets, making what has come to be known as "Airbus aliya," in which the family's wife and children live in Israel, while the husband keeps his job in France and commutes between the countries.
While the reasons for making aliya vary from one family to the next, no one disputes the assertion that being Jewish in France has become more difficult during the past six years. With a tradition of anti-Semitism that dates back to Medieval times and the Crusades, France became a virtual icon of anti-Semitism in the 19th century with the Dreyfus trial - often said to have been Theodor Herzl's inspiration for the creation of modern political Zionism - and the mass round-up of Jews by the Vichy government during World War II.
Unlike the situation in the 1930s--Jews have some place to go these days, so its likely that as circumstances deteriorate in crumbling Europe, Jews will be self-motivated to escape to ironically safer climes.
This may be a case of unintended consequences, as Israel's population of persecuted Jews increases, its alleged "belligerency" will probably increase. People with no place to run, tend to fight.
