Bill Nye, the engineering student who miraculously became an expert in climate science, is now also an expert in sociology and Jewish history. A guest on Bill Maher’s “Real Time” on HBO, the self-described science guy declared that Israel is not the homeland of the Jewish people and, even worse, said European Jewry was to blame for anti-Semitism on the continent because they don’t get to know their neighbors.
Witness this conversation between Maher, Rob Reiner, and the “Science Guy:”
Maher: Speaking of which, you know, what about this anti-Semitism that’s going on in Europe?
Reiner: It’s never gone away, that’s the thing. You know, thousands and thousands of years we’ve had anti-Semitism. It’s been lowered, it comes back, we had it, you know, obviously during the Second World War and then all of a sudden we have Germany emerging very liberal and all that. But this undercurrent of anti-Semitism has always been there. Just like racism, it’s always there and then it just bubbles up to the surface every once in a while. And it’s horrible now.
Maher: Yeah, I mean, Netanyahu is asking European Jews to come to Israel and …
Nye: Come home to Israel — that’s what he said, right?
Maher: Well, I mean, he is the …
Having no comprehension about Israel being the Jewish homeland, again Nye butted in.
Nye: But you never, the people have never been there. They live, grew up in whatever, in Germany or France.
Maher: It’s a shame that they should have to move, uh …
Nye: Well, they probably won’t either, ’cause it’s not their home, you know.
Reiner: But you can understand it. There were German Jews that lived in Germany during the Second World War and that was their home. And, you know, at a certain point, you know, if your life is in danger, you want to go to someplace where you’re going to be protected.
Nye: So, what do you do about it? I think you get to know your neighbors. And it’s gonna take, what, does it take a century, something.
If only the this man of science took the time to understand why Israeli Prime Minister Bengamin Netanyahu extended an invitation toEuropean Jews to “come home,” perhaps he wouldn’t seem so … ignorant.
It’s a basic tenet of Judaism, that Israel is the home of the Jewish people and that ultimately all Jews will return to the Holy Land. In fact, one of the themes of the Passover Seder is that as Jews we can never be truly free unless they are in Israel. Near the beginning of the Seder we say “today we are slaves, tomorrow may we be free.” It is why we end the Seder with a the prayerful phrase “Next year in Jerusalem!”
During the Holocaust, hundreds of thousands of Jews, maybe even millions could have been saved but no country wanted to take them in — not the U.S. (FDR thought the country had enough Jews) and certainly not the U.K. (which not only banned more Jews from migrating to England, but also banned them from entering the Holy Land).
If only the engineer turned climate expert looked at the history of Europe, he would have discovered that Jews have been living there — and presumably getting to know their neighbors — for over two thousand years.
Watch the video below:
Cross-posted at The Lid
