Making amends

Yes, the world should react and not remain silent when a murderer snatches away the lives of unsuspecting human beings (“Quebec City: The mosque murders that have shocked the world,” Comment & Features, February 1).

Was the world shocked when unsuspecting Jewish men praying in a synagogue in a Jerusalem neighborhood were hacked to death by two young men who worked in a local grocery store? Or was it silent, except to make excuses rationalizing the killings because of a nonexistent “occupation”?

Was the world shocked when, during the Holocaust, Canada turned away the MS St. Louis, A German ship carrying Jewish refugees? How about the anonymous Canadian immigration official who declared about admitting Jewish refugees that “None is too many”? (See None is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe 1933-1948, by the Canadian historians Irving Abella and Harold Troper, published in 1983.)

It seems that the world is determined to make amends for its lack of humanity toward Jews seeking refuge during the Holocaust by showing concern for the fair treatment of Muslim immigrants. However, is the situation of Muslim immigrants the same as the plight of the Jews in the 1930s and 1940s?

While it is good that Jews are sensitive to the plight of other refugee groups, it does not constitute making amends or, better yet, the Jewish practice of tikkun olam (repairing the world). For the rest of the world, if people really wanted to make amends to the Jewish people, they would refute the BDS Movement and recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, with Jerusalem as its capital.

ELISHEVA BORENSON

Jerusalem