Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Letter: anti-Semitism cannot be ignored

(Justin LaBerge/Flickr)

To the Editor:

This past month, the American Jewish community experienced a wave of anti-Semitic attacks in a variety of forms. On Feb. 21, Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery, a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis, had nearly 200 gravestones desecrated and turned over. That same day, over a dozen bomb threats were made at Jewish community centers throughout the United States. For Jews, these are harmful reminders of prejudice in its worst form.

Whether it be through synagogues and temples, or Jewish summer camps and Jewish community centers, Jews everywhere have a rich history of being leaders in the community. It is for this reason that such acts of hate and anti-Semitism cut to the core of Jews throughout this country. When such acts of violence occur, it is incumbent upon Jews everywhere to take a stronger action than reaction. As the Student Alliance for Israel here at the University of Massachusetts, we believe it is our job not only to align ourselves with Zionism, but to encourage both Jews and non-Jews alike to learn, rethink and discover the beauty of equality and the power of culture. We pride ourselves on reaching out to communities beyond our own. In the face of such hatred, the Jews remain strong, and so too do UMass students. We keep going in an effort to break the hate.

SAFI has no tolerance for vicious acts of anti-Semitic fervor. Not only do we not tolerate it, we condemn it, whether it is in St. Louis, St. Paul, Florida or Philadelphia. The contagious complacency within the American public must stop; only then will the tombstones and tumult be fully repaired.

 

Sincerely,

Keren Radbil

President of the Student Alliance for Israel

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    David Hunt 1990Mar 10, 2017 at 10:24 am

    Here’s a question for you:

    https://www.algemeiner.com/2017/03/01/why-were-the-7000-antisemitic-incidents-under-obama-largely-ignored/

    Quote: “When we tally the total number of [anti-Semitic] incidents between 2009 and 2015, the overall number of attacks reaches more than 7,000. However, the number of assaults increased, almost doubling during the Obama administration.”

    Are incidents really rising at a rapid rate, or now that there’s a Republican in the White House, we’re just hearing about them to create a fake news impression of an increase?

    Reply
  • D

    David Hunt 1990Mar 9, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/03/08/the-great-anti-semitism-panic-of-2017/

    I found this quotation very revealing: “I’ve lost track of how many times Jewish friends and acquaintances in my Facebook feed have asserted, as a matter of settled fact, that Bannon’s website Breitbart News is a white-supremacist, anti-Semitic site. I took the liberty of searching for every article published at Breitbart that has the words Jew, Jewish, Israel or anti-Semitism in it, and can vouch for the fact that the website is not only not anti-Semitic, but often criticizes anti-Semitism (though it is quite ideologically selective in which types of anti-Semitism it chooses to focus on). I’ve invited Bannon’s Facebook critics to actually look at Breitbart and do a similar search on the site, and each has declined, generally suggesting that it would be beneath them to look at such a site, when they already know it’s anti-Semitic.”

    Why is this revealing? Because it reveals two things:

    1. A mind not willing to entertain new evidence, i.e., closed.

    2. A mind afraid that their preconceived notions on this one topic might be wrong… which might lead to uncomfortable thoughts that OTHER preconceived notions might be wrong.

    Reply
  • D

    David Hunt 1990Mar 9, 2017 at 9:35 am

    It’s wonderful to see this defense of Israel, Zionism, and condemnation of anti-Semitism! Yasher korach!

    It needs to be noted, though, that there are no people specifically identified as the instigators.

    Could it be white nationalist racists? Yes.

    It could also be Islamist immigrants. (Note that across Europe they’ve forced Synagogues to become armed fortresses; Jews in, for example, Malmo, Sweden are fleeing as the city is turning into a Sharia-controlled zone.)

    It could be Leftists, who are attacking Jews here as a proxy for their ire at Israel in the Israel / Arab conflict.

    And it could be a false flag operation, designed to create an air of anxiety amongst Jews.

    WE. DON’T. KNOW.

    The one thing we do know is that the only arrest made was of a Leftist… and a Leftist Muslim at that.

    Am Yisrael chai!

    Reply