Good morning, Threaders, Threadheads, and all in between. Black coffee helps.
Yesterday the GOP campaign got another gift with which to direct most people’s attention away from what really matters. Not that gun regulations don’t matter or crazy white people with guns don’t matter or fear mongering doesn’t matter, but this “assasination attempt 2.0” is as weird as it’s a distraction. So focus.
Just like the “pet eating Haitians” nonsense this “shrub assassin” deal is a short lived joke. Put aside all gun related issues it evokes and the pathetic state the Secret Service is in, it only stokes the flames of hate higher. So no joke. As expected this news eclipses a lot that is going on we should be paying attention to, making many of us wonder if that’s its purpose but we don’t need more conspiracy theories to waste time on.
Yesterday I mentioned how the spreading of hate for “the other” is hurting our urgent need to face the real problems affecting us, creating more layers on the already thick blanket of immunity bad actors hide under. Just as Hamas seeks credibility and vindication hiding in the hate directed at all Muslims so do their minions who hide among us. They go about doing their business and when caught quickly point out they’re just “victims of Islamophobia”.
Islamophobia is their warm blanket; it allows them to carry on untouched, protected by our tolerance and skewed notions of moral equivalence. But that’s not the only blanket that protects them. They are also encouraged by the antisemitism that keeps growing unchecked amongst us. And ignorance. Always ignorance. The very ignorant simps who had nothing to say when Egypt was occupying Gaza, Jordan occupying the West Bank or becoming a state on Palestinian land, for that matter.
I firmly believe their “ignorance” is fake. They know very well the Kingdom of Jordan was established on Palestinian land, but the Jordanians are not Jews so it’s perfectly fine. They even know the British created it, as many other Arab nations, but they’re not Jewish nations so it’s all good. They’re also aware of the existing conflicts among Arabs and the flagrant human rights violations in the Arab World but they’re not Jewish so it’s all good.
Saturday night, a University of Michigan student was attacked by six men. The reason for the aggression was the student is a Jew. They overheard him saying something to that effect, asked him if he was a Jew and when he replied in the affirmative they knocked him to the ground, spat on him and kicked him. For all they knew that kid could be against Netanyahu. No matter. He is a Jew. That’s the only reason they attacked him. Jewish parents are fearful of sending their kids to college.
They know what will happen to them, it’s no longer a possibility. It’s a certainty. Best case scenario they will endure a hostile environment where they will be forced to hear their fellow students call for their death; worst case scenario is a nightmare better left unmentioned. But they are “just Jews” so why bother. As long as the other kids are fine it’s all but a “nuisance”, a passing phase hardly worthy of mention in the news. And so it keeps growing.
Some Colleges started fighting back this year, banning Students for Justice in Palestine from campus, creating stronger rules and even penalizing those who use Zionism to target Jewish students. It’s a start but it’s not enough. The reason I know it’s not enough is that I can imagine what their reaction would be if instead of breaking Mezuzahs on Jewish students dorm room doors they were hanging nooses on the ones of black students; instead of “Zionist” they were using the “N word”.
I know what would happen if they were chanting “white power” and “white America” instead of “free Palestine” and “globalize the intifada”. They wouldn’t last 5 minutes on campus. Yet they keep tolerating calls for the eradication of Jewish organizations from campuses and even Jewish students. I am pleased some are starting to do something about it but it’s not enough. Allowing this to go on without punishment will only make it worse and normalize hate.
Where are the peaceful protests? Where are the people calling for peace and the end of violence? I tell you where: in every Jewish demonstration I have seen. While the so called “pro-Palestinian” protests call for the end of a nation and her people the Jewish demonstrations call for the return of the hostages and the end of war. And only one side calls for the end of Hamas and all radical Islamic terrorist organizations.
I am all for Colleges being places of discussion and exchange of ideas, that’s what they should be, but when that translates into shoving kids around, spitting on them and kicking them it’s time to put a stop to it in no uncertain terms. We are witnessing antisemitism in action and we can’t ignore it. Any university faculty or manager who ignores it is an accomplice. No excuses. Their inaction will lead to dreadful results I don’t even want to mention.
There’s a lot we are being distracted from right now but we must remain focused on what really matters. Among the most urgent is the steady rise of antisemitism in Colleges - because it presents a real danger to Jewish kids AND it’s the incubator for this kind of hatred all others come from. Keep it front and center, don’t look away and demand action. Before it’s too late.
Never Again.
