Reading the News is Risky

 

That goes particularly should you be Jewish or feel for the Jews in this world going insane. Everyday in virtually every major world news publication there will be at least one article where Jews have been attacked for being Jews. Be the attack be a Synagogue in Germany, a Jew walking in their own neighborhoods in the New York City metropolitan area, wearing the Jewish Yarmulke (Kippah), walking in London or just about anywhere on the globe. To be honest, we feel safer as Jews in Israel than anywhere else in the world. Sure, we have continued rioting along the Gaza border despite assurances by Hamas that this would end after the last agreement, the terror threats emanating from the Palestinian Arab areas in the Shomron (West Bank) resulting from the Palestinian Authority (PA) policy of “Pay to Slay” where Arab families are paid for every Israeli they are able to murder by their government, and there is always the threat of Iran using Hezballah for attacks along the northern border; but here in Israel we know the government acts proactively to prevent as much terrorist violence as possible. Throughout the rest of the world, when Jews are attacked the governing bodies go through motions for a few days, perhaps a week, and then they go back to ignoring the problem. The attacks in the New York neighborhoods have become almost daily occurrences with there being at least three or four every week. But the New York mayor and other state and city officials are pretending that these attacks never happen as they do not serve their agenda where they can blame President Trump. These attacks in New York are being perpetrated by minorities who are far more favored than are those Jews being attacked. As mentioned in our article, “Has the World Gone Crazy Again?,” Israel truly is one, if not the only, place where Jews can expect to be kept safe by their government and its institutions. What makes Israel even more special is that they provide the same protections for all her citizens, Jewish or not.

 

The question which needs to be addressed would require an honest and completely unbiased assessment intending to find the reasons behind such attacks and what can and should be done to educate away from hate and towards bringing societies together. What is unfortunate is that such an assessment is currently impossible as there are numerous politicians, political parties and other such interests who are the ones stoking the flames of hatred and often initiating these Judeophobic attacks. The media and most politicians along with analysts and other pontificators all have a dog in this fight and that growling beast needs a target for setting blame, spite and hate and, as has been the case throughout history, the Jews are their favorite targets. The current bend in the stream of American society is being centered on President Trump and the efforts to Impeach him or make very sure he fails to be reelected in the 2020 elections. In Europe, the realities are much the same with the majority of the political establishment and media being bent either to the far right or, as is largely the case, to the far left. Of course, they never present the facts realistically, thus all the various views claim that their view is the centrist view and everyone else is on the lunatic fringe. This has led to the polarization of much of Western society.

 

The other reality which we must recognize is that the majority of news reporting on television, in print and on the Internet is slanted well to the left. This has led to a view of reality which has become skewed and slanted and nowhere near to reality. This is evidenced particularly in the United States to every mass shooter initially being reported as a Trump supporter and the only far right individuals making attacks on Jews because President Trump is reportedly an anti-Semite and is secretly sending messages coordinating these racist attacks. Allow us to let you in on a little secret, well, not really much of a secret but requires mentioning; when some crazed Judeophobic moron has attacked what they perceived to be a Jew and it was initially reported that they were a white supremacist who received their marching orders from the bigot in the White House and then nothing further is in the news for the following week, you can bet that it turned out the attacker was most likely a far left person who hates the President almost as much as they do Jews. Attacks on Jews, be they from white supremacists or neo-Nazis, fits the media presentation of Trump the racist monster while attacks by leftists are covered up and excused as sacrifices required to reach their socialist and often tyrannical destinations. When the blame cannot be placed with the President, the next culprit driving these attacks is, of course, Israel. Should Israel defend herself from terrorist attacks, rocket barrages and other forms of violent disruptions including the Gaza rioting and launching of incendiary aerial attacks using kites, balloons and drones; for weeks afterwards all Judeophobic violence is simply the obvious reaction of any normal person to the Israeli acts of violence against Palestinian Arabs which were unprovoked. This requires our mentioning violence between the Arabs and Israel, by definitions of the media, is always initiated by Israel launching the first attack as any and all attacks on Israel previous to the Israeli response are never reported painting Israel as the aggressor. Another truism is that minority perpetrated attacks on Jews are seldom reported more than once, and that once is often painted as an unknown assailant who acted in a criminal assault such as attempted robbery and there was no Judeophobic purpose driving the attack. This allows for the Judeophobia committed by those favored by leftist politicians and media to be cast aside as just an instance of mindless violence having merely criminal traits and the fact that it was a Jew who was attacked and further had their ears insulted with Judeophobic taunts was irrelevant.

 

Many are asking why, all of a sudden, we are seeing Judeophobic driven attacks. The answer is probably not something most normal people care to admit, but it is the truth just the same. These Judeophobic driven attacks, formerly referred to as anti-Semitic assaults, are the result of two main factors, a general increase in politically and racially motivated attacks and the media and political assaults upon Israel which give the appearance that Jews are fair game once more. Trust us when we tell you that these Judeophobic incidents are merely an increase as these attacks upon Jews for being Jews never truly ended. The concept that after the Holocaust the world had learned that there was a monster within which needed to be eradicated and that anti-Semitism was defeated and would never again be a problem was and is being proven to be an absolute falsehood. The Judeophobia did not begin with the Nazis and did not end with their defeat. Yes, for a while it was not acceptable to give evidence of Judeophobic thoughts, and acts, was considered unacceptable in modern society. Unacceptable does not equate with defeated and permanently erased. Hating Jews never actually disappeared and was grossly unreported as often such attacks were addressed in the Jewish neighborhood by forming security patrols which cities loved as it meant that area would not require as heavy a police presence as their job was being done by neighborhood volunteers. This was of little help to those Jews residing in areas where there were no identifiable Jewish neighborhoods or they resided outside those areas. Growing up in the presumed idyllic 1950’s and 60’s, this commentator can assure you that anti-Semitism was alive and well in my predominantly Christian neighborhood. Simply remember all the accusations and taunts you have ever heard which reek of Judeophobic hatred and they were most likely hurled while attempting to catch the fastest Jew in the neighborhood. Judeophobia never disappeared, not even immediately after World War II as many Jews who attempted to return to their former neighborhoods found their former homes occupied, their former stores under new ownership and if they protested, they would, more often than we would like to admit, be killed by their former neighbors. Sometimes they would murder entire groups of returning Jews simply to avoid the embarrassment of having to tell them that all of their possessions had been divvied-up on a first come-first served basis starting right after the Nazis took them. Even today these events are largely covered up, sometimes through legal restrictions on speech.

 

How did this renewed Judeophobia arise is a question often asked but rarely answered honestly? Partially the rise is related to the apparent passive permission granted such acts as they are often explained away either as due to mental conditions to political motivations, but only if they can be tied to right-wing origins. But the largest contributing factor has been the acceptable left-wing driven Judeophobia which target the Jewish State of Israel blaming her for many of the worldly problems. On further inspection, one can find many of the identical Judeophobic accusations which were formerly used blaming Jews have been adapted to now blame the only Jewish homelands of Israel. Israel is often blamed for the wars in the Middle East, or the entire globe, despite the majority of these wars in the Middle East being Arab on Arab wars along with Sunni-Shiite wars such as the civil wars in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and beyond. Even had Israel never been born, these internal Arab and Islamic wars would have occurred and likely been ignored by the Western media as they were for centuries during the Caliphate through Ottoman rulers of the MENA* region. But there is far more to the coming tsunami of Judeophobia throughout much if not all of our world than what drove traditional anti-Semitism. The first truth which need be understood is that despite the far greater attention to historic anti-Semitism which took place in Europe and their colonial efforts, ignored the identical anti-Semitism which occurred in the Islamic world. Western historians would read histories told by Islamic and Arab sources which hardly if ever even mentioned their treatment of Dhimmis: Jews, Zoroastrians Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, Animists and other non-Islamic religions or even Muslims following a different sect of Islam than those in power; and simply took their idealistic renditions of reality as fact instead of the fiction it actually was based upon. Almost no Western historian of the Arab and Islamic worlds ever actually lived as part of the general population in order to find the reality instead taking the lazy-man’s approach of simply taking hearsay as their facts for their history of these societies. But this is currently being partially true and especially true when it comes to Israel.

 

This brings us to the inbred instinct of much of the world to exhibit, believe or think in a manner which is tainted by Judeophobia. As an example, we will use the BDS** movement. This was not and is not a movement which had its origins in leftist human rights policies. The origins of BDS was the Arab and Islamic refusal to trade, recognize or even communicate with Israel, as they call her, the Zionist Entity. Efforts are traceable back to Yasser Arafat and the Khartoum Resolution of September 1, 1967. The efforts to take what was largely a regional trade and official isolation of the Jewish State into an international movement resulted from huge investments in anti-Israel propaganda propelled by Arab oil monies under organizational control of the Muslim Brotherhood, numerous Arab governments and Islamic organizations worldwide. The largest effort was amongst college and university campuses where Israel was cast as an Apartheid nation oppressing the poor Palestinian Arabs. One was required to ignore the facts which include that the Palestinian Arabs are ruled by either Hamas (Gaza), the PA (Shomron) or other Arab governing entities in refugee camps and not by Israel; the graft, embezzlement and mismanagement by their own leadership and governments; and completely ignoring that Israel is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, free democratic government where equal rights is one of the central ideals of the country. But the comparison of Israel to Apartheid South Africa became a mainstay of the anti-Israel propaganda. One of the main beliefs the BDS movement is centered upon is that no supporter should ever visit Israel unless they are guided by a fellow believer showing them exactly what they expect. The BDS movement demands that they be permitted to be the sole input as to what exactly Israeli society acts and how they treat their citizens. They imply heavily that Israel rules all the Arab Palestinians even if they are in a refugee camp in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and beyond even with some within Gaza under Hamas rule or the Arab regions of the Shomron under PA leadership. The truth is that the Palestinian Arabs are not Israeli citizens and are not ruled by Israel and the sole Israeli provided act is their defense should they come under attack from the outside as the lands they reside upon are legally part of Israel and thus hers to defend.

 

The propaganda casting Israel as the greatest evil known in all of history is based on hatred and is completely fictional. Simply visit Israel for a few weeks on your own, spend the first two taking in all the history which has swept these lands for over four thousand years, and spend the last week realizing that you are in a nation which has total freedom and near total equality where all have the same opportunities for work, education, residence, healthcare and everyday life. There is the little truth that there are numerous checkpoints, similar to those throughout the world in airports. This complaint is about a real truth as the Arab Palestinians to the most religious Jews all are required to pass through checkpoints in order to enter movie theaters, malls, some restaurants, government buildings and anywhere else that crowds of people are likely to be found. We read all about how the Palestinian Arabs need to pass through checkpoints to enter Israel and laugh as they are literally entering a different country under its own separate governance and thus are required to have the proper identification in order to be permitted entrance. Israeli Arabs who are those who remained in their homes ignoring the Mufti’s call for all Arabs to leave Israel before the 1948 Arab initiated war to annihilate Israel and her Jews was launched on May 15, 1948. These Arab Israelis are the above mentioned and their progeny and all have Israeli citizenship and are completely equal. Then there is the restriction for Israelis, specifically Jews and other non-Muslims, which they see and need to comply with should they attempt to enter the Arab Palestinian ruled regions which is pictured below. The sign is written in Hebrew, Arabic and English assuring all are likely able to read the sign which states, “This road leads to Area A under the Palestinian Authority. The entrance for Israeli citizens is forbidden, dangerous to your lives and against the Israeli Law.” The reality for Jews who have entered Area A as defined by the Oslo Accords is very different than the reality for Arabs leaving Area A and entering Israel.

 

Sign Warning Israelis it is Illegal to Enter Arab Region for Safety Reasons

 

If you were to visit Israel and for a moment forgot that you had left anywhere else, you could easily believe that you were in any other of the world’s metropolitan or rural areas depending on where you are standing. The Galilee has farms for as far as one can see, there are rural parks and wildlife reserves and it is framed by hills and the heights. On the other hand, if you are in one of the cities such as Tel Aviv, you would believe you were in Los Angeles or London depending on the weather. The media will never admit to such, but we invite all to make such decision for themselves. If only we could arrange trips, unsupervised trips so the truth can be found, and bring all who have open minds to see reality and thus, just maybe, be inspired to refute the virtually uncountable lies told by the propogandists such as those of the BDS movement. Is Israel perfect? No, but where is any place which could be said to be perfect as should it exist, we might wish to move there. Honestly, it would take more than we can imagine to have us leave Israel. With the news reporting attacks on Jews, mostly in the developed world, almost daily currently, there are serious doubts as to the safety of anywhere other than here in Israel. The fact that Synagogues require armed security whenever they have services (especially during the recent High Holidays when larger than usual attendance is expected) and Jewish daycares and schools also requiring armed security as well as Jewish agencies, we will remain here where security is provided for all the citizens and no violent act is tolerated no matter the ethnicity, race, religion or other form of designation of the victim or the perpetrator. Yes, Israel has many of the same difficulties faced by any democratic governance and society leaving room for improvement, but Israel largely is one of the best places to live and especially to raise a family. Israel has been experiencing a building boom over the past few years partially in anticipation of increasing influx of Jews from Europe and the Americas and also due to the positive population growth numbers. The increasing violence due to Judeophobia is very likely to increase and within the next decade this will become an accepted part of many countries as their Jews flee. The Jews fleeing Europe (mostly western Europe) divide into two main camps, those making Aliyah coming home to Israel and those leaving for North America (mostly Canada and the United States). Those heading for anywhere other than Israel, our advice is not to unpack any more than absolutely necessary as you may be moving again sooner rather than later. Many of us in Israel are aware that the time is coming when all Jews will live in Israel only leaving briefly when business or other needs require. Yes, Israel as a nation will continue to be amongst the first to arrive and the last to leave wherever disasters occur. The returning of the Jews to their ancestral lands, revivifying a long dead language (Hebrew) and building a modern marvel for those who are willing to know truth over propaganda. In all honesty, there are moments where it is easiest to simply look around, listen to the people conversing and be amazed at what this little country that could has grown and become. Israel is a just over seventy-years-old, is about the size of New Jersey and despite all the supposed horrors, is ranked as the thirteenth happiest country. We were surprised with this ranking as we believed it to be rating Israel far too low but then we realized by looking at the top six nations that this was a heavily weighted Eurocentric report.

 

World Happiness Chart 2016-2018

Source and Entire Chart

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

* MENA = Middle East and North Africa

 

** BDS = Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (against only Israel and Israeli owned companies)

 

Why Leftists Love to Hate Israel

 

With the General Assembly of the United Nations holding its annual opening ceremonies, we are once more likely to have Israel condemned in any number of resolutions between now and the start of 2020. These condemnations will be voted on in the General Assembly during their opening ceremonies, as they have done almost every year, then again on November 29th as the day that the United Nations proposed in the General Assembly to divide the lands left west of the Jordan River between Arabs and Jews evenly with the United Nations retaining the regions around Jerusalem. This day has become a festive period celebrating the Palestinian Arabs in their efforts to destroy Israel. This should strike anybody who knows history as quite absurd as the Zionist Jews accepted this division and it was the Arabs who refused. Their reason was simple, they intended to invade Israel at her birth and destroy the country and kill as many Jews as they were able. There was one flaw in the Arab plans by which more than six Arab nation’s forces made that attack on the morning of May 15, 1948, but failed to destroy the Jewish State. Instead they took control of Gaza and the Shomron, what Jordan renamed the West Bank. These two areas have been used by Arab forces ever since to launch terror attacks and wars against Israel. During this period leading up to the next year, the United Nations will also denounce some of the Arab and Islamic nations but in total, less than the number of articles leveled against Israel. This includes nations such as Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the many others who have abhorrent civil liberties and human rights.

 

But there are reasons that Israel, and also the United States, are also chosen for the locations for large and extensive protests and so many other places are left as untouchable. For example, there are often gay pride parades in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the capital and largest cities in Israel but one has never heard of gay pride parades in Damascus or Aleppo in Syria, Bagdad or Mosul in Iraq, Tehran or Qom in Iran, Riyadh or Mecca or Medina in Saudi Arabia, Cairo or Alexandria in Egypt or any capital or largest city in any of the Arab and Islamic states in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Going one step further, in Israel there are the beaches of Tel Aviv, the coffee bistros, fine dining, great night life, five-star hotels, personal freedoms, security from crime and all the amenities which make the liberal and modern life more enjoyable. In Israel there are no dress codes as long as you actually are dressed and all the modern civilities first world protesters have become so comfortable enjoying. These things are not so easily, if even attainable at all, found throughout the MENA world. There is one thing these leftist protesters demand for the privilege of being made to appear evil, restrictive and closeminded regardless of how open and accommodating the society is in reality; that they have all their creature social comforts. Further, for the European leftists, Israel is relatively close by and can be reached on a Mediterranean cruise.

 

When it comes to protesting of and often in Israel, it often appears that all the stops are taken out. According to United Nations Watch through their Executive Director Hillel Neuer in his reported Tweet, Israel will be condemned twenty times against the remainder of the world amassing a mere six (see tweet pictured below). For a deeper look into the biases against Israel in the United Nations, the European Union and the world, there is this article by the JCPA*. Many pro-Israel and Zionists have met the all too common accusation that the facts do not bear out their complaints about the specifying Israel for scorn and condemnation above and beyond all others by these agencies while they never produce any actual data. The claim remains resting on the old canard that the Jews are whiny liars who play on other people’s emotions to excuse their criminal behavior. This was a principle argument against Jews who were relegated to being money changers, the ones who made trade and economic growth throughout much of Europe, Jewish merchants accused of placing a thumb on the scale and overcharging the non-Jews while treating their fellow Jews honestly and numerous other items and libels. Take all the mistreatment the Jews have suffered over the millennia and one can now see how Israel has become the Jew amongst the nations and must practice all the horrid things which the Jews were accused.

 

United Nations Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer Tweet

 

There is another reason why such misrepresentations continue and is also contingent to Israel for not going forward with a strong counter propaganda campaign based on the truths about the Jewish state. This is a common complaint coming from many sources including numerous confounded and confused Jews over this lack of national gumption. The problem is easily explained, though many refuse to accept such reasoning. The anti-Israel conglomerate of various agencies, NGO’s, international agencies, United Nations and their agencies and far too many nations and individuals spend hundreds of millions if not billions annually financing their propaganda and directed efforts against Israel. Israel does not have the financing to counter such an insurmountable effort backed by such financing. Israel had made efforts against these defamations attempting to get more of the truth out before the world, but much of the world does not wish to even hear the reality that is Israel. Then there are the efforts of numerous personal efforts, such as many of our articles tracing the basis for international law, another bit of reality being ignored by all the anti-Israel condemnations and demands of Israel to surrender lands west of the Jordan River as they do not belong to Israel. We advise those believing this read the San Remo Conference reports and the League of Nations Mandate System and all the rest of the supporting treaties and agreements through the Anglo-American Treaty and Article 80 of the United Nations Charter (we wrote about much of this here). These efforts against Israel will eventually fail and potentially damage the nations taking positions within the anti-Israel condemnations and other efforts with them. There is one thing about Israel which will eventually erode and quell the condemnations against her through her efforts to better the planet and her work in Africa and often Israeli help being amongst the first to arrive and the last to leave after disasters almost anywhere around the world, from Haiti to the Philippines and elsewhere in-between. Also, much of the world has benefitted and seek out Israeli innovations, inventions, medical cures, agricultural developments and expertise in almost every field imaginable. The good that Israel performs often without receiving even the slightest amount of thanks while other times rave reviews come from the oddest places such as the below from a report by CNN. The Israeli efforts in Haiti was not the exception, it is the rule when it comes to assisting in the recovery and rebuilding anywhere in the world where they are permitted to do their best for any nation absorbing the costs herself.

 

 

The reality of Israel is one of charity and humanitarian efforts leading such work in so many efforts and locations where a need exists. We have written about some of these efforts, and nowhere near even a majority of such efforts, numerous times such as here, here and here. Another achievement for which Israel received more criticism than accolades was a private effort to place a lander on the moon named Beresheet. Israel was the fourth nation to place their spacecraft on the lunar surface even if the final engine firing failed and she crashed, it still hit the moon and this was on the first try by an Israeli company. There are efforts underway for a second attempt and we fully expect that Israel will not need a third try to be the charm, we believe the next launch will succeed. What many people miss about Israel are the number of inventions for which much of the technology and research was and is attributable to Israeli efforts, both public and private. Cell phones, instant messengers, security software, drip irrigation, desalination and other water purification systems, special arid climate crops and so many other advances, techniques, procedures, programs, medical miracles etcetera, etcetera, etcetera (if we may quote Yul Brenner from the movie The King and I). The problem is it is chic to be critical of Israel and numerous college campuses are churning out more and more anti-Israel graduates as they kowtow to Arab petro-dollars receiving endowments and entire departments build with oil monies all with the intent of turning the next generation of American and European leaders against Israel, as if things were not an up-hill battle already. We have seen these efforts pay dividends with the likes of AOC in the House of Representatives along with Omar and Tlaib, though only Tlaib and AOC received her education at western universities. This trend will very probably escalate unless things take an unexpected turn, but for the time being, Israel is here and plans on remaining as one of the most viable democracies in the world representing its people, though currently we find our public very evenly split. The political problems Israel faces are a direct result of her being a democracy with equal rights for Jews and non-Jews alike as well as for Arabs, Druze, Christians, Muslims and Bedouins, and we will together determine the future of Israel, not some dictator or religious fanatic as with too many in our neighborhood. Israel is the country you have heard so much about and still likely know next to nothing of the reality. Come and visit and take in a gay pride parade and see exactly how tolerant Israel actually can be and is. To our Jewish readers, Shana Tova, have a happy new year and may your year be as sweet as the honey we dip our apple slices into.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

*JCPA = Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

 

The Unbelievable is Upon the United States

 

To the Jews of Europe, the United States was the glowing promise of financial opportunity, equality, religious freedom and personal safety. America was their future and many Jews gave up everything they knew, sold the vast majority of their belongings and did whatever else was required in order to reach this land which appeared to them to be their promised land. This is what the United States was in their minds, the promise of everything that Europe was not. America was largely a land which offered a lack of anti-Semitism. That was their vision for which they made their way across the Atlantic Ocean to seek out this land of promise. For close to a century the Jews lived with little fear of persecution as they had faced periodically in the Old Country. The American Jews believed they had found the land where their future would continue filled of acceptance and complete freedom from the threats of anti-Semitism within their communities and the regions in which they settled in larger numbers. These were largely the major cities where the Jews began by starting family businesses with some becoming bedrocks of economic viability. Jewish communities flourished and they envisioned this would continue on into the future without any end in sight. This view is one which many American Jews refuse to admit may be coming to an end. They simply ignore the rising anti-Semitism which has begun to rise beyond its normal home of the extreme right and left of the political spectrum and into the mainstream. This trending is represented by the graph covering anti-Semitic acts from 2008 through 2017 below.

 

 

The rise of the ugly hatred of anti-Semitism has outstripped that of every and any other minority in the United States including the overly-hyped Islamophobia. We believe that the term anti-Semitism has been rejected to such an extent that despite its rapid rise, the political community has decided that some anti-Semitism needs to be understood as sometimes coming from a righteous indignation for which the Jews are largely to blame themselves. This has been the stance by the media whenever such acts are committed by other minorities and only hold those they can trace their imaginary line to President Trump’s actions and speeches. This has been made most evident by the refusal of the Democrat leadership in the House of Representatives to denounce the anti-Semitic antics of a number of their newly elected members. Still, these same Democrat leaders are amongst the first to jump and blame any anti-Semitic act committed by the “alt-right” to President Trump. This is an erroneous blaming of a man who observes Shabbat when visiting his daughter and her husband and his grandchildren, whose Palm Beach Mar-a-Lago Country Club was the first to allow minorities including Blacks and Jews to become members despite protests of the other clubs in the area, has recognized Israeli rightful possession of the Golan Heights and taken numerous other pro-Israel decisions and actions and has never uttered an anti-Semitic slur. These accusations are solely political as all forms and acts of anti-Semitism have become as the media attempts to blame every anti-Semitic act possible on the President while ignoring any which are not attributable to President Trump.

 

 

As reported here, even in the Jewish centers in and around New York City, anti-Semitism has become rampant. They recount the simple truth of acts committed over the last week in August as noted below.

In the last week of August alone we witnessed three vicious attacks on Jews.
On August 27th, 63-year old Abraham Gopin was brutally attacked with a paving stone while exercising in Lincoln Terrace Park in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. The suspect yelled an anti-Semitic slur before blindsiding his victim.
On August 29th, an assailant threw rocks at a Jewish man while the victim was in his truck.
On August 31st, an assailant hit a Jewish man with a belt outside a synagogue.

The acts of anti-Semitism committed in the Crown Heights neighborhood and other nearby Jewish communities have been attacked largely by other minorities in hit and flee type scenarios. These attacks have been attributed to the fact that the Orthodox Jews in these areas wear clothes making their religious affiliations obvious when the media mentions these at all. There has been no additional effort to end these attacks as compared to the excuses and dismissals of these acts as a minor nuisance. Yet, in the same area should a single member of the Islamic faith report that some passerby looked at them sideways, the decrying the horrific problem of Islamophobia must be taken seriously and actions taken to eradicate this menace. Anti-Semitism simply draws excuses and yawns taking minimal if any notice making every attempt to ignore or at least diminish such acts as of no real concern.

 

Many simply claim that anti-Semitism is an old problem which has been addressed and is not something which requires attention in this modern age. There are so many new forms of perceived hatred which require all of our attentions first before we worry about the boogieman of anti-Semitism as it is an old grievance which has already been eradicated except for a few outlier cases. This is only true if one ignores the majority of such instances which is easily done if the problem is blamed on those Jews who dress in a peculiar manner. Perhaps the time has come to bring forth a new terminology for anti-Semitism, a name which has apparently outlived its usefulness and has become an annoyance to be ignored. We are about to steal an idea which has circulated and we feel it need go mainstream. The concept is instead of anti-Semitism, we should bring attention to this scourge as “Judeophobia” and see if with this moniker hatred of Jews can be brought into the central focus it deserves. This is when Jews are largely being singled out for attack to such proportions that they outnumber all other forms of religious hatred combined as told by the graph below. What is more troubling is that the number of Judeophobic events since 2015 have risen with a troubling rate while other forms of religious centric crimes have remained level or decreased making the problem becoming far worse.

 

 

The thought that the United States would remain forever the perfect land was an attitude very prevalent since the later parts of the last century but are now beginning to fray at the edges. The problems which were considered next to impossible are coming true as the American society becomes more fractured. As had been the fear for Jews across much of the world, excepting America, are now coming to America. But this hatred of the Jews will soon spread to include Christians and who knows who else along the way. Will the United States remain a promised land for Jews? Should things continue as the present trends indicate, then the Jews welcome will soon be worn out and be faced with three choices, find a more hospitable place including their relocating to Israel, remain in their communities taking a fortress attitude which these communities become Jewish ghettos, or disbelieve it could happen here much as the German Jews had their disbelief that Germany, the leading nation in so many educational and cultural measures and the Nazis could never take over the country. It is becoming a believable proposition that the Jews time in the United States being accepted and seen as a group which added to the culture and other interests of the society to becoming the reason for blame for every downturn or catastrophe. With time they will be blamed universally for their own condition as violence and other acts of discrimination will become commonplace and acceptable in America. Soon behind such a series of events will be the persecution of Christians. These are the signs that the America many of us have known is rapidly self-destructing. Has the time come for America to fall as has every nation throughout history? That remains to be seen, but the signs are not promising. America will remain as a nation but it will not resemble anything we remember or have ever actually expected. It will be a sad series of events as America held such promise, and it always hurts the most when the things you had hung your hat upon no longer continue and begin to deconstruct. Perhaps the United States will recover from their current threat of decline, but that will be told over time. One thing we know from history is, as go a nation’s Jews, so goes that nation. This is a choice Americans will be required to make, either address and be rid of Judeophobia or face the promise of their coming decline.

 

Beyond the Cusp