When I set out to write this piece, I was determined to find out whether the antisemitic dual loyalty trope was fact or fiction. It was one of the newer tropes I had been introduced to but never understood. Throughout history, Jews have always tried to assimilate into the dominant society they lived in. However, those cultures rejected them so thoroughly that complete assimilation wasn’t an option. Nowadays, Jews worldwide share a distinct culture and are allowed to live this way – one of the luxuries of living in a democracy; despite this, Jews living in Arab nations don’t have the same liberties. In the 20th and 21st centuries, with the establishment of a state on our ancestral territory, the prejudices towards Jews continue to mutate, undying and inconspicuous to the non-Jewish population.
The dual loyalty stereotype still stands: Jews are more loyal to Israel or the Jewish collective than their nations of residence. Is there any fact to this statement? How does one measure loyalty? Did this trope come from feelings of insecurity? Of these three questions, the third stuck out the most: dual loyalty or insecurity? This question eventually gave birth to my theory: Jewish people feel safest in Israel.
Read the full article on the Times of Israel at: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-plague-of-antisemitism-why-many-young-jews-feel-safer-in-israel/
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