Never Again?

On Saturday, April 27, 2019, the Jewish Sabbath and the last day of Passover, a murdering bastard walked into the Chabad House in Poway, California and started shooting. One woman was killed and three others were injured. The shooting occurred exactly six months after the mass murder at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. The shooter was a 19 year old white male and an apparent adherent to white supremacy. In a manifesto that is believed to be the shooter's, he bemoaned what he alleged to be Jewish control over the economy, Jews killing Christ, and other assorted alleged sins. Here is what this hate-filled man wrote: "Every Jew young and old has contributed to these (alleged sins). For these crimes they deserve nothing but hell. I will send them there." (This blog will not name such evil people, and the expletives I may use in private to describe the shooter would not be appropriately stated here.)

We are not born with hatred towards a particular group of people. It has to be learned. And it has to be spoken and written and taught in order to pass it on to others. As stated in this blog previously, religious hate crimes overwhelmingly target Jews. Yes, Jew-hatred comes from neo-Nazis and white supremacists. It is also seen across the country at numerous colleges and universities - by left-wing student groups, Islamic groups and many left-wing college professors. And, as noted in the last post, we hear the Jew-hatred from members of the United States Congress. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has repeatedly made anti-Semitic comments, from accusing Jews of dual loyalty, to the use of Jewish money in politics, to saying "Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel."

Then, we had the prominent US Senators who are running for president come to Omar's defense, such as Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. And we had the Speaker of the House excusing Omar's anti-Semitic comments with "I think she has a different experience in the use of words." What an odd comment given the articulateness with which Omar speaks. Then we have the mainstream media. The self-described "paper of record," The New York Times, just printed an incredibly anti-Semitic cartoon in their international edition. The cartoon showed a dog with the face of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the Jewish Star of David hanging from its neck, with the dog/Netanyahu pulling on a leash held by a blind President Trump, who is wearing a yarmulke (a Jewish skullcap). The New York Times, the premier paper in the country, depicted the Israeli leader as a dog. What's the difference between that and Arabs depicting Jews as pigs and monkeys, or Nazis describing Jews as rats and animals?

The New York Times issued this "apology": "The image was offensive and it was an error of judgment to publish it." Really? An error of judgment? How many anti-Semites at the paper approved the publication of that cartoon? I have said it before, it matters not to me if the anti-Semitism comes from the left, the right or from Islamists. And given that the anti-Semites share a hatred of Jews, it was not really surprising when the likes of David Duke praised Ilhan Omar with this: "By defiance to Z.O.G. (what Duke calls the "Zionist Occupation Government") Ilhan Omar is NOW the most important member of the US Congress."

The fight against anti-Semitism and Jew-hatred should not be political. But it is. Recall that after another one of Omar's anti-Semitic comments, the House was unable to pass a simple resolution condemning anti-Semitism. Instead, given the push back by the Democrat's "progressive" caucus, the resolution had to condemn all bigotry. Recall the early 2018 Pew Research Center poll finding that Republican support for Israel was at 79%, while Democratic support was at 27%. Then, you have accusations by Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum referring to Israel's "apartheid-like policies." And we have an increasing number of the "progressives" in the Democratic party calling for an end to aid to Israel.

Perhaps Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said it best: "The words, the demonstrators, and the cartoons turn into shootings against worshipers in synagogue." Never again?