QUESTION: Is America experiencing Europe’s growing anti-Semitism? That was the center of discussion at a conference hosted earlier this month by the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, featuring experts on anti-Semitism in Europe and results from a May 2019 poll of Americans. 1
While the article, as usual, failed to provide a list of questions and how they were phrased, and also, as usual, failed to provide any demographic information, the writer noted that the poll found that instead of anti-Semitism becoming normalized, most Americans think anti-Semitism is increasing in the U.S. (and see it as a problem in society). But 20% don’t believe 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust, and those respondents are more likely to be young.
It is this scrivener’s opinion that one reason, perhaps the main reason “20% don’t believe 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust is because we — Jews — constantly ignore the other 6 million non-Jews who were slaughtered by the nazis — and that is not counting military casualties.
Romas were murdered; Communists were murdered; the mentally and physically weak were murdered, along with a few Christians.
The article continues quoting Elan Carr, the U.S. Department of State’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, who spoke eloquently about the rather deceptive idea that there is a “new” anti-Semitism. He shook his head. “It’s just the same old thing,” he explained.
Ancient accusations against Jews, such as the infamous “blood libel,” are newly packaged in such twisted guises as “Israelis are child murderers,” and “Jews have infected Palestinian children with the AIDS virus.”
Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, who serves as director of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in Europe, told the group “Listen to the victims and don’t make excuses for the perpetrators. Build coalitions and pay attention to hate speech, and learn from what’s happening in Europe!”
THE POLL
Some of McLaughlin’s major findings
* Most of the 1,000 registered U.S. voters polled are familiar with anti-Semitism and believe it is increasing. In an open-ended question, 62% of participants described anti-Semitism as a hatred of Jews or bigotry.
* Religious intolerance is seen as the leading cause of anti-Semitism (25%), followed by Muslim extremism (19%)
* Attempts on college campuses to shut down pro-Israel speakers is viewed by a majority (54%) of likely voters as anti-Semitic.
* The BDS movement is seen as anti-Semitic by a majority of likely voters by a nearly 3-to-1 ratio.
* The Democratic party is not doing enough to combat anti-Semitism within its own party, respondents noted by a 2-to-1 ratio (48% to 22%).
ANTI-SEMITISM IN U.S. vs. ELSEWHERE
Excluding left-wing Jews, particularly those affiliated with the Democrat party, most American Jews have the opportunity to defend themselves. Sadly, Jews in New York and California, where gun laws allow only criminals to have firearms, are less able to defend their lives and the lives of their fellow Jews.
What is needed, in this scrivener’s opinion, is for a resurgence of the Jewish Defense League, anathema to the leftists, to bring together like-minded Jews and to train these Jews in self-defense tactics, including the use (where legal) of firearms.
In many cases, anti-Semites are cowards.
If they know they might be injured or killed in an attack on Jews or Jewish institutions, they might be less inclined to physically attack us. Not knowing who is armed and trained to use the weapon can be a significant deterrent to an anti-Semite.
Part of the training is to know when not to use the weapon.
I am not proposing that Jews form a vigilante force, but even police — if they are honest — will admit that they cannot be everywhere at once; people need o know how to protect — defend — themselves until help arrives.
While blatant anti-Semitism — outside of the U.S. House of Representatives — is rare in the U.S., but given the example of Europe, it still has a threat.
Unlike Europe which has a long, sad history of bigotry and hatred of anything or anyone who is different — and in the case of the nazis and their psychopath followers.
An obvious Jew — obvious by his haberdashery — has three choices:
* Discard the clothes that “make the man”
* Avoid areas where anti-Semites are known to congregate
* Travel only in large groups of people willing to defend themselves
* Prepare to defend himself sans aid from others.
Remember,, if you dare, the fate of Kitty Genovese2 964, 28-year-old Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death across the street from where she lived in an apartment in New York City. The New York Times published an article claiming that 38 witnesses saw or heard the attack, but none of them called the police or came to her aid.
While deliberate anti-Semitism is rare in the U.S. — rare, but not unknown — “innocuous” anti-Semitism — the unthinking remark — is not. We need to “correct” such remarks or actions when they occur in the manner in which they occur. I cringe when I hear someone refer to a person as a “little Jew.” My two sons are both more than six feet tall, which I hasten to tell people who mouth that comment.
BOTTOM LINE
We also must be active at the polls to prevent more anti-Semites — Jews or not &mdash from winning seats in government — ANY government
But that’s just my opinion.
Another voice that seems to agree about arming Jews is that of Dr. Mordechai Kedar.
In an op ed on the Arutz 7/Israel National News site3, Kedar opines that while on a tour of Jewish organizations in the U.S. (A) good many Jews of all cultural types spoke clearly and openly of their fears with regard to two things: the rise in Jew-hatred and the deteriorating security situation.
The growing hatred towards Jews is evident in worrying reports of a dramatic rise in the number of incidents where this hatred is expressed, the most shocking being shooting sprees: One, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on the Succot holiday this year, was the work of a murderer named Robert Bowers who broke into the Tree of Life Synagogue murdering 11 worshippers in cold blood and wounding six. The second happened this past Passover when a murderer named John Ernest broke into the Poway, California Chabad House, killed a worshipper and wounded three others. In both cases the perpetrators cited the anti-Jewish Turner Diaries written in 1978 by an American Nazi named William Luther Pierce who also writes under the pseudonym Andrew MacDonald.
Twentieth century history teaches that the more Jews were integrated into the society in which they lived, the greater the threat they were perceived to pose to that society, therefore the greater the hatred they inspire.
Until recently, most American Jews felt that the US is intrinsically different than Europe, that "it can't happen here." That feeling has begun to erode.
A number of Jews have established an organization called Jews Can Shoot. Their kippahs are embroidered with the words: "Nothing Says Never Again Like an Armed Jew." Printed on the lining of the kippah is a saying by the Jewish Sages: "If someone is coming to kill you, rise against him and kill him first."
The above are excerpts from Kedar’s op ed.
It is worth reading the entire article.
Sources
1. http://tinyurl.com/y2u2hyun
2. http://tinyurl.com/q2tpvox
3. http://tinyurl.com/y5dhc3wn
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