There is a curious dynamic known as “blaming the victim.” For example, a battered wife may be accused of being difficult or threatening to an abusive spouse — thereby being accused of instigating the conflict and earning her spouse the role of being the victim. She, then, is labelled the perpetrator — her spouse the victim.

For over two millennia, Jews — persecuted and discriminated — have sought protection by (1) accumulating wealth, (2) being clannish and (3) using their shrewdness as a lever against homicidal Jewish hatred and annihilation. These precautionary mechanisms, however, as seen as an offense against the non-Jewish world, make them the perpetrators and non-Jews as the “victims.”

So, literally millions of murdered Jews (pursuing a defense against brutal extinction) are seen as having victimized the non-Jewish world. Israeli Jews defending against the Palestinian chant of “death from the river to the sea” are branded wrongdoers. The Palestinians, sworn to obliterate Judaism, are the victims.

Ironic, is it not?

Mendy Gottesdiener

Boynton Beach, Fla.