How to Preserve European Union Unity

 Written by; Aurimas Guoga, Noahide Community of Lithuania

European Union, Soviet Union and more – Mood for separation

The British were saying for years that they did not want to be a member state of the European Union in its present form and that they would gladly secede. No one paid sufficient attention to their discontent and beheld! The United Kingdom pulls out of the European Union! Since then there have been all kinds of scaremongering that the British will soon perish and plead to be accepted back into the EU. But I remember full well how the Russians spoke the same when Lithuania declared independence from the Soviet Union. It is naive to think Great Britain will do much worse without the dictates of the eurocrats.

As if that were not warning enough, we have Exit movements in many Western European countries. The French president Emmanuel Macron reluctantly acknowledged that were a referendum to leave the European Union held in his country the people of France would vote for it. The mood for separation is severe enough to be reckoned with in the Netherlands, Italy, and even Germany. The Catalonian declaration of independence shook Spain. We also have a Eurosceptic country in Central Europe – the Czech Republic.

The separatist tendencies are getting only stronger. Therefore, let us not be too surprised that if we do not do something about it soon, one day we may find ourselves put before the fact: the EU will have ceased to exist! It is unlikely that many would rejoice at this course of events. European history suggests that a generation that has experienced such a fallout remains traumatized by it for the rest of their lives. Conversely, generations which lived to see the unification of the continent were conspicuously self-confident and upbeat.

So, what can we do to preserve European Union unity?

The Roman Empire
Let us take a brief look and see how this principle has manifested itself throughout world history. In 63 BCE Roman General Pompey seized Jerusalem during his Syrian campaign and Judea was incorporated into the empire as an autonomous unit. At first, Jews could go about their affairs as they saw fit. A decade later Julius Caesar, declared Judaism a religion recognized by the empire. All this suited the Jews very well, and the Roman Empire relentlessly expanded until it reached its peak following the incorporation of Britannia in 43 CE. Then relations with the Jewish province deteriorated which resulted in the quelled Judea uprising in 66-70 CE. After this the empire no longer expanded; on the contrary, it started to crack, was plagued by persistent civil strife and eventually broke down.

Arab world
The next center of civilization was the Arab world (9th–13th centuries). At first, they were very tolerant of the Jews in their lands and were happy to exploit their talents. Jews gravitated to senior positions in society becoming international merchants, doctors, scientists and even advisors to the sultans. The most important cities, the hubs of a culture of the time were Alexandria in Egypt and Cordoba in Spain. Neighboring Christian countries were happy to adopt Arab style architecture, secrets of medicine, geometry and many other achievements of the Arab civilization. All this went very well for the Arabs until they started to discriminate against the Jews in an attempt to convert them to Islam. Then things deteriorated for the Arabs and ever since they have sought in vain to regain the shine of their culture.

Europe & Lithuania
The flagship of world civilization moved to Europe. Flanders became the new favorite of the world; it accepted more significant numbers of Jews who were fleeing persecution in Spain. The Protestant Flanders sympathized with the Jews because they both – they and the Jews – were in the Pope’s list of enemies. Jews brought their skills from Spain, and soon Flanders became the workshop of Europe. Nobility from all over Europe sought Flandrian furniture, tapestry, and other luxury goods. Europeans learned to trade big – the Dutch East India Company was established.

Lithuania too lived through a period of upheaval at this time. At the end of the 15th century, the king of Poland and Lithuania invited persecuted Jews of Europe to settle in the kingdom. Soon after, the country enjoyed a surge in crafts and trade, the standard of living significantly improved. On the other hand, Jews were not admitted to government affairs..

Age of enlightenment
Then it was France’s turn. With the age of enlightenment, the French granted Jews full citizen rights and accepted them as their peers, provided they shared a sign of loyalty to the French state. Soon after, the French Republic became an inspiration for the intellectuals of Europe who wanted to overthrow the monarchies in their countries. Throughout much of the 19th century, France was considered the epicenter of the world’s civilization. However, this all disintegrated with the rise of nationalism and anti-Semitism at the end of the century which culminated in the Dreyfus affair in 1894. After this, the favor of the world moved to the Anglo-Saxon civilization – first to Britain, then to America. Not only were they both favorable towards Jews but the former helped to create Israel, and the latter granted the Jews of Europe refuge from persecution.

Holocaust
However, the most vivid example of how the favor of the Jewish people translates into the support of the world is Germany. In the early 20th century the Jews of Europe deemed Germany the best country for them. It was quite similar in language and culture. Many texts from this period reveal that Jews thought this country was their final destination and threw their opulent talent behind beloved Germany. This country emerged as a world leader in culture and technologies. However, the fascination of the world turned into an equally deep resentment after Hitler took charge.

Connect yourself to the most blessed nation!

Thus, the pattern of the development of the world is as follows: a country which extends hospitality and favor to the Jewish people is rewarded with admiration by the world. Foreigners seek to get closer to this nation, embrace their cultural influence, engage in trade and other relations.

There, in my opinion, lies the key to the preservation of the unity of Europe. As far as Jews go, the continent is split at the moment: Western Europeans sympathize with the Palestinians and deem the Israelis to be the aggressors. Hence their sympathy for Muslims who want to settle in Europe. Western Europeans believe that their kindness to those “disadvantaged” people will be rewarded, compassion will enable migrants from the Middle East and North Africa to merge into Western society, and all will live in one peaceful community.

On the other hand, Central Europe, which predominantly supports the Israelis, sees the Arabs as a wild force set against civilization. Most of us think that should we admit these migrants it would cause a never-ending problem.

Now, who is right? There are not many signs of an idyllic co-existence in Western Europe. On the contrary, immigrants from the Muslim countries are segregated and have become a burden on welfare systems, not to mention the occasional terror attacks that have become a characteristic of life in Western European countries.

Our situation is the opposite of that. Life is improving; the economy is growing, Western Europeans at times even compare Central Europe favorably to themselves – unheard of since at least the beginning of the 20th century.

But the most vivid case in point is the Arab world. According to their belief, Arab Muslims should all live in a united country. They call this vision Uma (Arab for a nation), but the dream has escaped them ever since the glory days of Islam. If we consider anti-Semitism a factor that gets in the way of unity of countries, then the picture sets in anti-Semites hate each other therefore they cannot stay together, and each goes their way.

There is a line is the Torah (Gen. 12:3): ‘I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.’ History serves as a guide that the attractive ones are those who bless the Jews. This verse of the Torah is in my opinion key to preserving the unity of European countries.

Written by; Aurimas Guoga, Noahide Community of Lithuania