On 13 May 1939, more than 900 Jews fled Nazi Germany aboard a luxury cruise liner, the SS St. Louis.
After failing to enter Cuba, the passengers sought entrance into the United States but were rejected again.
Many top U.S. officials in President Roosevelt’s administration warned that there was “Nazi agents” among the passengers.
The SS St. Louis was eventually forced to return to Europe. By war’s end, more than 250 of its passengers were killed by the Nazis.
The journey of the SS St. Louis echoes loudly in the discussion of Syrian refugees following the terrorist attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 that so far has killed 130 people.
Following the attacks, Republican Presidential hopefuls and governors, without any legal authority, rushed to oppose or even defy President Obama’s plan to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees — out of the millions caught between fleeing attacks by Syrian President Assad, Al Qaeda and ISIS that have already claimed more than 200,000 lives.
Thirty-one Republican governors vowed to block entrance into their states.
Almost all the Republican presidential candidates said they also opposed accepting Syrian refugees. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he wouldn’t even accept “3-year-old orphans.” Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Ted Cruz said they would make an exception — for Christians.
By contrast, French President Francois Hollande said after the terror attacks he would continue to honor his pledge to take in 30,000 refuges. In neighboring Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has promised to take in a million.
The Republicans in the House of Representatives then voted for the SAFE Act, which they said would toughen the screening of refugees but would actually bring the process to a halt.
Sadly, they were joined by 47 Democrats, led by Rep. Steve Israel.
In several meetings, according to the Huffington Post, Israel presented fellow Democrats with polling data that showed that voting against it would hurt them politically.
“I present polling data on a weekly basis to inform my colleagues of where the American electorate stands on current issues, and this week was no different,” Israel is quoted as saying. “I also reiterated more than once that I was in no way telling members how to vote and that they should listen to the ranking members with policy expertise on the issue.”
It is hard to believe that at a time when we are witness to images of 3-year-old toddlers washing up on shore that the politics of the refugees even enters the discussion.
The United States has already taken in 1,900 Syrian refugees in the past four years under an application process that takes 18-24 months to complete. Most of the refugees are women and children under the age of 12. None has been arrested. But in a country that calls itself the home of the brave and a beacon of hope symbolized by the Statue of Liberty we cannot take in another 10,000 people?
Facing an Islamic State seeking to undermine western values with acts of terror and recruit disaffected young people drawn by a holy war against non-Muslims, our representatives apparently have more concern for their jobs than the suffering of thousands. Or the good of our nation.
History repeats itself and, if the purpose of terrorism is to intimidate, the Islamic State scores a victory.
