America has an antisemitism problem and victims cannot be left to fight it alone, rabbi says

[MyMission]

America has an antisemitism problem and victims cannot be left to fight it alone, rabbi says
Eliott C. McLaughlin

The United States seems awash in antisemitism, and it isn’t just the usual suspects like the White supremacists and the avowed hatemongers. Now it’s spouting forth from its superstar musicians and athletes, as well as its politicians, and it appears to be trickling down...

Whereas in past years the backlash following acts of hate seemed to usher forth a respite – a brief break in the vitriol aimed at Jewish people – lately it seems backlash only fuels animosity.

Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who presides over the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh, where 11 congregants were gunned by a White supremacist four years ago, flatly blamed the country at large.

“Shame on you, America. You let it grow in this petri dish,” Myers said in an interview with Haaretz.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/05/us/antisemitism-in-america?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_msn

[Lovie777]

1. not alone .....

not by a long shot

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Antisemitism is terrorism.

Nothing less.

Not only are the obvious targets affected, but those in sympathy with them. You won't see churches generally make a stand b/c they too will become targets. Same with politicians. Same with civic groups.

The only ones who are ready to assume the status of Jews are the brave ones. To stand for what is right, to speak out against antisemitism.

[The Jungle 1]

3. The right lives in a sewer tank.

The solution,according to the right, is to stop teaching history!

[nycbos]

5. It's not just the right.

The left has an antisemitism problem too. It's part of the horseshoe of politics


https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/06/15/boston-bds-map-antisemitic-denounce/

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2022/09/14/university-vermont-under-investigation-antisemitism

I went to UVM.

[Lonestarblue]

14. I can't completely agree with you that Democrats have an antisemitic problem.

The WaPo article is about BDS, which was formed to object not to Jews or their religion but to their government policies. A few members of BDS may have resorted to calling for more drastic action against Israel, but just criticizing actions of the Israeli government is not antisemitic. Merriam-Webster defines antisemitism as “hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group.” I do not think that most democrats have hostility toward Jews.

The right, however, has definitely become more hostile toward Jews and indeed all minorities. I’m not saying that there are no Democrats who are antisemitic, but to equate the antisemitism on both sides is inaccurate when one side is much more bigoted.

[nycbos]

18. Criticizing the actions of the Israeli government is not in itself antisemitic.

But denying Israel's right to exist is antisemitic. Holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the Israeli government is antisemitic. Calling for the grades of "Zionist" students to be lowered is antisemitic.

When you map out Jewish institutions you make them a target. They are either oblivious to the fact, or they don't care, or want it to happen.

There is an antisemitism problem on the far left. To deny it is to deny reality.

I am now 35. I have been a Democrat since I gathered signatures to get Bill Bradley on the presidential primary ballot in New York in the year 2000.

While we do not have an antisemitism problem in the same way the Republicans, do there are warning signs. When Congresswoman Omar says "support for Israel is about the Benjamins" that is one of the oldest and ugliest antisemitic tropes. When Talib says "supporters of Israel can't be considered progressive" can be taken as a dog whistle for Jews are suspect as progressives and they're not really a part of us. Even though I am a lifelong progressive Democrat I am unsure who I could count on as an ally. I am however more worried about rightwing antisemitism because they have guns.

[Hekate]

21. It's not Democrats per se, and certainly not the Democratic Party, but The Further Left...

During the BushCheney admin I participated in several enormous marches on Washington DC. Of course there were lots of speeches by a variety of organizations and lots of signs. For the anti-war marches I was with my friends in the Veterans for Peace, so I felt grounded.

However, I was really disturbed at the signage and language of some of our fellow-travellers who belonged to other organizations. I know what “Zionist” is code for.

When I got back home to SoCal and talked over my observations with my husband, his complete lack of surprise surprised me. He’s Jewish and grew up in New York City, not in the middle of the Pacific Ocean the way I did. He said then, and I now agree, that the further left you go, the more traits you share with the right — including antisemitism.

[nycbos]

4. What the Trump years made me realized was...

... I would have been one of those comfortable German Jews in the 1920s. "Hitler is a clown, a buffoon, there is no way he could possibly take over a civilized nation like Germany. We fought in the war for the Kaiser, how dare anyone say we are not German." I really thought there was something special about our nation's institutions, that we have this peaceful transfer of power for over 200 years and there was no way it could happen here. The fact that our institutions have been operating on pretty much the honor system for 200 years was a horrifying reality.

My relationship with Judaism is complicated. I'm a non-observant secular Jew. I identify with the culture not the faith. I don't believe in god. I don't keep kosher. On one hand there's a big part of me that believes religion itself has a negative impact on humanity. But on the other hand my great grandfather came here fleeing antisemitic programs in Poland. And my grandfather went to medical school in Scotland because medical schools in America a quota on the number of Jews they would accept. So it's still important for me to identify as Jewish because it's middle finger to the people who have been trying to kill us for 5000 years. It's a message we're still here.

I am worried because I know full well that the Nazis did not make the distinction between the observant and non observant. And I don't know where I could go if things got bad including Israel.

[mountain grammy]

13. Excellent post.

Most accurate description of me and most American Jews I know.

My grandparents left Warsaw in 1911 with two children and a few suitcases. In 1912, my mom became the first American born Jew in our family. The fact that we've been here more than 100 years means nothing and I was raised to understand that and also that we're still here!!!

I'll be 75 this month so doubtful I'll be going anywhere.

[IrishAfricanAmerican]

6. K&R

[Baitball Blogger]

7. America has an anti-minority problem.

We either learn to work together against Anglo-White Supremacists, or we'll fight weaker battles on several fronts against them

[AZLD4Candidate]

10. Getting into a pissing match over who is more oppressed works in the enemy's favor

The enemy are straight, white, Anglo-saxon conservative followers of Jesus Christ, gender be damned. Yes, that includes the Amish.

The only Christians in my eyes that have gotten it right are the 7th Day Adventists, the Universalist Unitarians, and the Society of Friends.

Straight
White
Anglo-saxon
Conservative
Bible Thumpers

If you aren't at least four of those, you're the enemy no matter what.

[Hekate]

17. You're absolutely right on this one

[Buckeye_Democrat]

11. When the article stated, "Now it's spouting..."

"... forth from its superstar musicians and athletes", it was referencing Kanye West and Kyrie Irving.

Both of whom recently indicated their support for the nonsense of radical Black Hebrew Israelites: https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/radical-hebrew-israelites

Appropriately, Kanye West lost business opportunities and Kyrie Irving was suspended indefinitely from the NBA.

[Farmer-Rick]

8. This is horrible

I can't believe our country, that beat the Nazis in WWII, is supporting Nazis now.

This is so disgusting.

Be safe out there folks.

[lonely bird]

19. I can

Humans are stupid in the aggregate. Tribalism is inherent and easily exploitable.

Americans are no different and no better than citizens of other countries. Exceptionalism is a cancer.

[Hekate]

20. If you can get Rachel Maddow's podcast, I recommend Ultra. What I thought had been a flirtation...

… with American Nazism in the 1930s and 1940s turns out to have been a real love affair for a whole lot of people. I’m only half-way thru the 5 episodes, but it makes my skin crawl how deeply they infiltrated the American psyche and the US Congress.

Sound familiar? Sound like Trumpistas? We have been here before.

I’m beginning to think that entering WWII didn’t just save the world (as we like to believe) — I think getting off our own continent and fighting the Axis went a long way toward saving America itself.

[AZLD4Candidate]

9. In High School, I was beaten up and left for dead by six people because

"hitler missed one" and they wanted to "finish the job hitler started." The school and the police did NOTHING.

We Jews have been discriminated against for so long, it is wired into the fabric of Western Civilization's DNA.

As Tom Lehrer said in the 1960s in his song "National Brotherhood Week:"

The white folks and the black folks
and the black folks hate the white folks
And Muslims hate the Hindus
And everybody hates the Jews

[AllaN01Bear]

12. we have a another race problem too also but we got ur back

[jaxexpat]

15. This free speech thing is poor at self-policing and susceptible to perversion.

It's not totally surprising how so much of it is squandered on hate speech. It's just another facet of the "America, love it or leave it" bullshit that played to big crowds in the late 60's. Even though we've had 77 years to learn it, we've yet to come to grips with the fact, relentless cheer-leading erodes the truth, leaving only cynicism hidden in plain sight. We've been telling ourselves how we're special for so long, most of us have come to accept it as our right to believe it, thus defining our bullying nature.

[Rocknation]

16. And this latest round is just in time for the midterm elections

-- I don't think it's a coincidence.


Rocknation

[Hekate]

22. "It takes a lot of work to create a coincidence" -- my favorite Malcolm Nance quote