Anti-Semitism on the rise
A few comments about the following LA Times story are in
order.
First, the ADL is not all that objective, it is an advocacy
group
and openly seeks information that supports the views of its
mostly Jewish constituency.
This is not a bad thing, it is normal for any advocacy
group. But it does mean that
their "facts" may not always be kosher --so to speak.
However, the ADL seems to have a point -for a reason it
cannot admit, because much
of its constituency identifies with the political Left.
Hence one important reason for an
increase in anti-Semitic incidents is the increase of
Leftism in some populations, especially
the college-age crowd and everyone ( well, a lot of people
) associated with academia.
Not sure how best to address this problem. But no secret
that most Jews ( most of whom
don't believe in Jewish religion ) are somewhere on the
political Left., a legacy of a time
when most Jews were really on the Left, with a large % of
registered Socialists of various stripes,
and a significant %, mostly in the NYC area, who were
Communists.
In those years the Left was STRONGLY opposed to
anti-Semitism, and most anti-Semitism
was on the Right. Well, guess what ? Most anti-Semitism is
now on the Left. Yet Jews.
for the most part, still cannot accept the facts for what
they are.
This is a classic example of what psychologists call
"denial."
Everyone seems to be susceptible to the phenomenon. This
just happens to be
the Jewish version .I will leave it to others to point out
the Christian version or the
Hindu version or some other ethnic version of their choice.
The point is that this is real, and the point is also that
anti-Semitism is on the rise.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The other thing to say is that the article uses the word
"swastika" as if there was only
one possible meaning, the Nazi meaning. To say the least, I
strongly object to this
kind of exclusive association. It shows ignorance and also
shows bias .
I will never forget an incident in Las Cruces, New Mexico,
in 1983. The new rabbi in
town went into a hissy fit about the name of the NM State
University yearbook,
then called "The Swastika," as it had been since 1907. It
did not matter that
the people of Las Cruces, like many or most other folks in
NM where old American
swastika traditions still live on, or local Native American
Indians , or Hindus, wanted the
yearbook to keep its name. The only thing that mattered to
the rabbi was how
Jews felt about the symbol. No-one else counted, that was
his attitude.
And, it has been my experience, with some notable
exceptions, this
is fairly common among Jews. Maybe understandable, but
justifiable
in the world of 2010 ? Not hardly.
Exactly how does that sort of outlook not generate
resentment ?
Anyway, given the over-representation of Jews in the news
business, which is hardly
some sort of military secret, this kind of stigmatization
of the swastika continues,
year after year, long after it should have been relegated
to oblivion. Very unfortunate and very sad.
My opinion, anyway
Billy
=====================================================
Anti-Semitism in California on the rise, Anti-Defamation
League says
By Mitchell Landsberg
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 27, 2010
The Anti-Defamation League reported a sharp uptick in
anti-Semitic incidents in California last year, many of them
involving taunts, threats and insults by adolescents and
teenagers.
In one typical example, a Jewish middle school teacher in Los
Angeles found swastikas drawn on her classroom door and a
note, also featuring swastikas, that read, "You're next."
"These are not necessarily kids who are filled with hatred in
their hearts and mean to be malicious," said Amanda Susskind,
regional director for the organization. But she said the trend
was still troubling and may reflect the pervasiveness of hate
speech on the Internet
She also blamed the broader increase in anti-Semitic
incidents, some of them violent, on the confluence of three
events: the election of President Obama, the recession and the
Israeli incursion into the
Gaza
Strip. Combined, she said, they had emboldened
extremists and led to a coarsening of the tone of national
debate.
She added that the arrest and conviction of rogue financier
Bernard
Madoff, who is Jewish, contributed to a lot of
anti-Semitic "chatter."
The ADL report, issued Tuesday morning, is somewhat at odds
with a report on hate crime issued last week by California
Atty. Gen.
Jerry
Brown. That report showed that crimes motivated by
anti-Semitism declined in 2009, as did crimes motivated by
hatred against other religious and ethnic groups.
Susskind said the ADL was monitoring a much broader range of
incidents, many of which are not crimes. She also noted that
Brown's report found that 76% of the hate crimes motivated by
religious bias were against Jews. Muslims were next, at 6%.
Although the ADL found that anti-Semitic acts in California
had increased by 20% for the second straight year, the
organization found that anti-Semitic acts nationally had
declined from 1,352 in 2008 to 1,211 last year. However, it
noted that it had raised the bar in some regions for what
counted as anti-Semitism -- for example, including reports of
swastikas only when they were clearly aimed at Jews.
In California, Susskind said, the ADL had already been
applying the stricter standards after finding that swastikas
sometimes reflected hatred for groups other than Jews and
sometimes had no apparent meaning as symbols of hate.
