Where I Stand — Brian Grenspun: Tolerating intolerance

Friday, Sept. 10, 1999 | 9:17 a.m.

Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun. g

A NEW YEAR is dawning for a people who have commemorated them for the past 5,760 years.

Tonight people of the Jewish faith will begin the celebration of Rosh Hashana, which is the time of renewal when the Book of Life is opened and Jews throughout the world will ask the Almighty for inclusion for another year. Ten days later, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, will end the High Holy Days and life will begin again.

Sounds great, I know, but, like most things in life, it is not as simple as it seems. For us in Las Vegas and across America, it is almost as simple as it sounds for in this country the Jewish people have found a safe haven for themselves, their families and the practice of their religion. One need look just across the ocean -- pick any one -- to see that anti-Semitism is still in full bloom and that what most of us take for granted in America is not so plentiful elsewhere.

In fact, even in our own country, it is no longer a rarity to read about synagogues being bombed and burned and young Jewish people being beaten for just being Jewish. For sure, there are other minorities who have suffered similarly or even worse, but rarely just because of their religion! The question remains, why?

I don't have any better answer than the experts who talk about ignorance and fear as a major cause for intolerance and hate. For lack of anything more definitive, those reasons are good enough for me. But the next question is why -- in 1999 in the United States of America -- does such prejudice and hatred still exist? Surely we have in this country the capacity to rectify the problem. So why don't or can't we?

More good questions. Again I am lacking for the answers, except to say that it is hard to hear the voices of condemnation cry out above the silence that is generated by the vast majority of Americans who either feel powerless to change or are unwilling to exert themselves enough to try. And that allows the haters and the ugly people among us to foster their hatred and grow their legions.

For many decades, the growth of the state of Israel as not only a homeland for the Jewish people but a solid ally -- and the only democratic one in the Middle East -- of our own country helped shape public opinion and force underground those who would preach hate for the sake of hating. The strength and courage of young Israeli men and women who fought for their homeland -- with skill and cunning in the face of unbeatable odds -- rekindled in our own people a belief in ourselves that had gone missing since our last big victory against Nazi Germany. If we weren't going to act the heroes -- went the thinking -- then we would swell our pride through the heroism of our friends in tiny Israel. Not only our friends, but also our only real allies against the dominating desires of the Soviet Union who longed forever for control of that oil-rich part of the world.

Things have changed as we approach a new millennium. For sure, the capacity for violence still exists in the Middle East and, regrettably, is even greater than ever. The number of madmen per country has grown along with their capacity for making big, ugly wars with chemical, biological and nuclear weaponry. If ever we needed strong and reliable allies, now is the time.

But there have also been some undeniable changes for the better. Peace is breaking out among Israel and her neighbors. There are just as many bordering countries with peace treaties as without and that number will change again soon, so that one day there will be peace. The danger, however, will not be lessened because there are countries in that part of the world who continue to yearn for blood.

There is a big difference, though, between the face of new hate and the one we already know. What we are used to is intolerance coupled with ignorance and we see a way out of that mess. But tomorrow's danger comes from leaders who are both intolerant and intelligent. Intolerant of the differences between peoples and intelligent about the way they exploit those differences with the people who follow them.

That is by far the greater danger. And that danger lies not only in the Middle East but around the globe. And that includes the United States of America. We are watching a growing intolerance in this country that is fueled by leaders who have learned how to exploit the peoples' fears. If Julius Caesar were alive he would say that "such men and women are the most dangerous of all."

So as the Jews celebrate a new year and people of good will join in their prayers for peace, let us commit ourselves to acts of good faith and tolerance. For that is the way for inscription of all decent people in the Book of Life. It opens tonight.