The obvious and very public acts of anti-Semitism are on the increase throughout much of the world and have closed in on being an epidemic infecting Europe. In Rome, Italy this past week an act of anti-Semitism hit a new level of crassness bringing to mind memories of the desecration of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem during the period of the Second Temple. The historic insulting and crass act was perpetrated by the priests and governing oppressors of the Jewish people during the Cyrenaic Greek occupation. Boxes containing pigs’ heads were recently delivered to the Israeli Embassy, the Synagogue in the Parioli neighborhood and the Jewish Museum of Rome which is currently hosting an exhibit on the Holocaust. This act goes beyond any simple hatred due to its historical implication of the sacrifice of pigs and other non-kosher animals to the pagan Greek gods which was committed over two thousand years ago and was declared to be being performed by the occupying Cyrenaic Greeks as an intentional desecration and insult intended to belittle the Jews and demonstrate the falseness of the Jewish faith and against G0d. This act now perpetrated in the modern times exemplifies the depth of the depravity of those who hate the Jewish people today with all the raw and unbridled spite as was on display in the ancient world where civility by presumably today’s standards was not generally practiced. The Repubblica daily reported that a letter was inside the boxes contained derogatory comments about the Holocaust and references to Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism. This was not the only sign of the growing anti-Semitism as there was fresh graffiti in one of Rome’s suburbs Saturday which read “Holocaust fake” and “Anne Frank liar”.
Reaction by officials was immediately forthcoming denouncing the barbarous acts with Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino stating, “Those who insult the Jewish community offend Rome. We reject the intimidation outright.” Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge was also quoted declaring, “I want to express my full support to the Jewish community for what has happened. We will do everything possible to find the person behind this unspeakable act.” He further promised to track down those responsible as police are analyzing fingerprints and DNA traces found on the boxes and following up on the lead that all the boxes were delivered by the same postal company. Making these acts of bigotry even worse is their timing coming just three days before an international memorial day for Holocaust victims which falls on Monday, January 27.
This act comes amid rising anti-Semitism across Europe which has already reached levels high enough to be considered a threat to the Jews living in much of Europe and other places as well. This trend has a very long history beginning soon after the end of World War II. The initial wave washed across the Muslim world, particularly the Arab nations, after the founding of Israel in May of 1948. The Jews were dispossessed of their belongings, their businesses confiscated in many cases and sold for a pittance where time permitted. These actions occurred over more than a decade with some of the evictions of the Jews in these nations was committed by the government and was even incorporated into the laws making being Jewish a capital offense. In other instances the cleansing of the Jews almost completely was accomplished by pogroms, riots and other violence forcing the Jews to leave hastily and under duress. We are beginning to witness an increase in anti-Semitism which will likely result in an exodus of the Jews from Europe to the United States and Israel. The numbers of Jews who made Aliyah returning to their ancient homelands in Israel made a marked and significant increase in France by fifty-seven percent last year over the previous year and even larger increase over the average of the previous half a century. There have been reports of mayors of cities flat out stating that they are unable to provide for the safety and security needs of their Jewish citizens with the former Mayor of Malmo, Sweden, Ilmar Reepalu, who had served in that position for seventeen years, not endearing himself to the Jewish community as he laid the blame for the local anti-Semitism on the city’s Jews themselves. At an interview in January 2010 about growing anti-Semitism in Malmo, then Mayor Reepalu responded, “We accept neither anti-Semitism nor Zionism in Malmö.” On another occasion he had stated, “There have been no attacks against Jews, and if Jews want to leave for Israel that is not a concern for Malmo.” When confronted about his apparently anti-Semitic views and statements he blamed it all on the orchestrations by “the Israeli lobby.”
The Mayor of Malmo is far from alone as similar statements have been recorded from previous London Mayor Ken Livingstone. Mr. Livingstone’s hatred of Israel and the contempt he feels for the Jews in general is well documented. In Ken Livingstone’s case the documentation of both disdain for Israel and anti-Semitism removes all doubts that in his case, hatred for Israel is a result of his anti-Semitism. Unfortunately the rising anti-Semitism is not restricted to Europe. Anti-Israel, anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism is alive as growing on the campuses of numerous universities and colleges across North America. In some schools the epidemic has grown so serious as to require court orders to force school officials to address the problem and provide safety in the campus environment for its Jewish students. Two students at the University of California, Jessica Felber and Brian Maissy, filed a suit accusing the University of California system of failure to mitigate a hostile climate against Jewish students in March 2011. The lawsuit was settled out of court and instructed changes to the university’s campus policies regarding campus protests. Despite the settlement, the students’ lawyers, Joel Siegal and Neal Sher, filed a Title VI complaint Justice Department and the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, urging them to investigate what they describe as “a pervasive hostile environment toward Jews” on the campus. Additionally, acts of violence against Jews in particular have surfaced in major cities throughout the United States coming to be referred to as the “Knockout Game” or the more specific name of “Get the Jew.” There has been a marked rise in Nazi and other anti-Semitic graffiti in Jewish neighborhoods and on Jewish buildings including Synagogues, daycare centers, Yeshivas, Jewish owned businesses, and most alarming, Jewish homes. Despite these unarguable facts, most Jews in the United States continue to have a false sense of security claiming using the exact phrase used by assimilated Jews in the Weimar Republic in the early 1930s that, “It cannot happen here and not to me as I am accepted and am respected as I holding high office.” Those denials were soon to be regretted as the truth became obvious, no position, stature in the community or other presumed mitigating factor was of any worth towards saving any Jew as time progressed. The delivery of packaged pigs’ heads to numerous Jewish institutions in Rome has brought the rising atmosphere of anti-Semitism into shocking and immediate attention. This should act as the severe threat that it represents and imparts a strong message to Jews everywhere to examine critically and honestly their position and the growing and visceral hatred brewing within Western societies and address this phenomenon and make arrangements and plans with care and act decisively before the contagion spreads further and becomes unstoppable. Closing one’s eyes and pretending that these are disparate acts with nothing linking them together can only result in tragedy. The history of the Jewish people contains ample examples of similar episodes of dismissible hatred of Jews which inevitably grew accumulating disciples who spread the venom until it became an integrated part of the societal whole leading to tragedies waged against our forefathers. Unaddressed, the current seeds of anti-Semitism will slowly spread and engulf the entire world making victims of all of us. Wake-up please.
Beyond the Cusp
Beyond the Cusp 