Why don't Jews flock to Israel???
I mean that's what they always wanted, isn't it? Their holy land back...
WTF? Always wanted?
Man, read some stuff before you write about problematic and difficult issues. Zionism started in 19th century and has always been controversial among Jews. There are still many Jews who disagree with Zionism and do not accept the state of Israel.
What they always wanted is for the Messiah to come and get their land WITH Messiah, not by secular political actions.
Some Jews got an idea to create a Jewish state, and many Jews went there because they had nowhere to go (like Polish Jews in '68) or they could expect better life there (like Ethiopian Jews). But that doesn't mean that all the Jews in the world support Zionism and the State of Israel.
There still live more Jews in the US than in Israel, not to mention that many want to leave their hard fought for land again!
Maybe they want live more like the Jews lived in Europe before the war? It's much easier in the US than in Israel, you know...
Excuse me, maybe my impression is wrong but in short jewish history seems to be one of suffering, persecution, pogroms, death, banishment, isolation, expulsion, oppression and some more suffering...
Reading your post I get the impression you don't know too much of the Jewish history.
[quotw]Does nobody ever ask why?[/quote]
Why Jews were often persecuted? I can give you several simple reasons.
1. They were always different.
People usually persecute anyone who is different. Jews didn't have their own land, so wherever they went, they were in the minority.
2. They lived in communities that were isolated from the rest of the society.
The laws of Judaism forces Jews to keep together. If you want to observe the law, you have to live close to a ritual butcher, you have to live close to a mikvah, you can never expect when you need to ask a rabbi about something and if you are a guy, you need at least 9 other guys to pray with every week or every day if you're in mourning. That forced Jews to live together.
And when they lived together, they became isolated from the outside world and gentiles didn't know about them. So, each time someone needed a scapegoat for some reason, Jews were the easiest target. Someone made up a fairy tale about using Christian blood for matzos and people bought it because they didn't know a s.hit about Jews. If something bad happened, Jews were the easiest to blame.
3. They were successful, so they were a dangerous competition.
Keeping together and supporting each other is something deeply rooted in Jewish culture and religion. Instead of wasting time for stupid conflicts (like Poles, for example), they supported each other so, as a group, they were usually more effective. What is more, the emphasis on intellect in Jewish culture is much stronger than in Christian culture, so Jews in effect were more educated. In the Middle Ages, when only the highest classes in Christian society could write and read, the poorly educated Jews (mainly women), were the ones who could read only Yiddish, not Hebrew. The standard was different.
In effect, Jews as a group were smarter and better organized thanks to their culture - so they were envied and hated.
Of course some other reason can be found as well.
