A Matter of Degrees
By Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy on January 12, 2009 at 1:25 PM in Anti-Semitism, Chicago, Current Affairs, Gaza, Germany, Hamas, Hate Speech, Israel, Jews, Muslim
No matter where you fall on the Israel/Gaza issue, and I know people have strong feelings on both sides, two events this past weekend are disturbing. They are disturbing because we have been down this road before. And this is a road down which we never want to go again, not Israel, not Palestine, not against Jews, not against Muslims, not against any group. And so, when events like the following begin to occur, it should give us pause.
First, there was this article in the Chicago Sun Times, Vandals Deface Three Local Synagogues:
Vandals spray-painted the words “Death to Israel’’ on two synagogues and a Jewish school early Saturday in three separate incidents police say could be linked and are being investigated as hate crimes.In each case, the vandals — at times donning masks — used orange-colored paint, also shattering glass windows with bricks and rocks at two of the buildings.
A witness and security cameras identified the perpetrators as two men.
Moshe Perlstein, rabbi at Lubavitch Mesivta of Chicago, said cameras captured video of the men damaging his rabbinical school at 2756 W. Morse starting at around 4:40 a.m. The footage shows one man spray-painting the side of the building while the other ran around to the front and threw rocks at the front door, breaking a glass window, he said. The video has been turned over to police.
That was not the end of it. There was more:
Similar graffiti was found at Anshe Motele Congregation, 6526 N. California, rabbi Alan Abramson said.Lincolnwood police said vandals also scrawled “Death to Israel’’ and “Free Palestine’’ on the outside walls of Lincolnwood Jewish Congregation, 7117 N. Crawford. Mitchell Sandler, past president of the congregation, said they threw at least two bricks at the front doors, damaging four windows.
Lincolnwood Police Lt. Mark Brines said police were notified at 6:10 a.m. that a caretaker in the building heard a brick crash through a window at the temple. The caretaker saw “two unknown males running from the scene,’’ Brines said.
Because all three buildings were used by orthodox Jews, Sandler said it appeared the men were targeting more devout Jews.
“This was a cowardly act in the middle of the night,’’ Sandler said. “Obviously there is dismay because of what’s been happening in the Middle East.’’
Local Jewish leaders were alarmed by what they see as a “rash’’ of incidents targeting Jews.
“It’s disturbing,’’ said Jay Tcath, senior vice president of the Chicago Jewish Federation.
Disturbing, indeed. Whenever a group is targeted, when a hate crime occurs, it is disturbing. And there is yet more:
The incidents come a little more than a week after Ida Crown Jewish Academy, at 2828 W. Pratt, received a mailed bomb threat that also made reference to other Chicago-area Jewish institutions and day schools, said Jay Tcath, senior vice president of the Chicago Jewish Federation.And police said they are investigating as a hate crime a Dec. 29 incident in which a man hurled a Molotov cocktail at Temple Sholom of Chicago, 3480 N. Lake Shore Dr., after making “derogatory comments’’ to a passerby.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force has been notified, police said.
No arrests have been made.
Next, Jewish Odysseus had this disturbing story via Mugata: German “Police” Join Jew-Hating Muslim Mob:
1:16 AM Received from Muqata Blog Reader in Germany, Sebastian M.Today, 10.000 people demonstrated against Israel here in my hometown Duisburg (Germany) and to express their solidarity with Hamas. So, my girlfriend and me put two Israel flags out of the windows of our flat in the 3rd floor. During the demonstration which went through our street the police broke into our flat and removed the flag of Israel. The statement of the police was to de-escalate the situation, because many youth demonstrators were on the brink of breaking into our apartment house. Before this they threw snowballs, knifes and stones against our windows and the complete building. We both were standing on the other side of the street and were shocked by seeing a police officer standing in our bedroom and opening the window to get the flag. The picture illustrate this situation. The police acquiesced in the demands of the mob.
That’s a police officer removing the flag of Israel, just in case you couldn’t tell.
I understand that many people are angry and frustrated with Israel right now. I really do. Larry Johnson had a great piece on this very issue at No Quarter (”This Will Sicken You“). They are not innocent bystanders in this current conflict with Gaza, as they move into deeply populated areas clearly indicates.
That being said, I don’t think it is a stretch to say that for something like this to happen in Germany, for police officers to join in with an anti-Jew mob, raises a pretty ugly specter. We HAVE seen this before, and none of us can allow that to stand. Despite Israel’s incursions into Gaza, we cannot allow the pendulum to swing that far back again. Not in Germany. Not in Israel. Not in Gaza. Not in Bosnia. Not in Serbia. Not in Rwanda. We must be vigilant that this kind of atrocity does not happen again, that groups are not slaughtered for their ethnicity, their religious beliefs, or their political beliefs. We must be brokers for peace.
There is a group who does just that, for Israel and Palestine. For any place where there is war or injustice. Women in Blackis a collective of peace activists who realize that women have a different perspective of war. When I lived in Cambridge, Arabic and Jewish women would hold vigils - together - to call for an end to the violence between Israel and Palestine. They represented the mothers, sisters, daughters of people who had been, or were being killed. They represented the ones who brought forth those who were being killed, or tended to the wounded. Yes, they had a different perspective, indeed. Some of them had seen firsthand the devastation in the Middle East. From their website:
Who are Women in Black?Women in Black… is a world-wide network of women committed to peace with justice and actively opposed to injustice, war, militarism and other forms of violence. As women experiencing these things in different ways in different regions of the world, we support each other’s movements. An important focus is challenging the militarist policies of our own governments. We are not an organisation, but a means of communicating and a formula for action.
It is a start to end the violence, not just in Israel and Gaza, but around the world. Mothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, granddaughters and nieces, working to end injustice in the world, and violence, whether on a whole scale like war, or on the home front, like domestic violence. These women unite for that - peace. And that would be a cause well worth “fighting” for, wouldn’t it?
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The views of Arafat have now gone mainstream, great.
The Pandora’s box of permission being given to hate Jews, that is disguised as concern for Palestinians, will be exploited to it’s fullest.
It’s not personal, it’s political.
I agree ford. And to think that Hamas would turn around and blow their American defenders off the map in a heartbeat is painfully ironic.
Trolling against Israel is the new cool.
I couldn’t agree more. I saw riots over in Europe on TV last weekend and thought WTF? Violence and riots to make a point? I have friends who haven’t a clue about world affairs all of a sudden slam Israel for “starting” a war. Asked why they think that is the case, there’s silence. I’m scared for America. If all it takes is hearing a few talking points on MSM to get people to take sides, then we’re screwed…once again.
Americans are very gullible.
Obama is proof of that.
This will get worse before it gets better. I guess they should allow HAMAS to destroy them entirely.
Yep.
2 favorite Quotes from ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’
“This is the oddest thing I’ve ever heard of. Let’s hope we don’t catch it. I’d hate to wake up some morning and find out that you weren’t you.”
“Keep your eyes a little wide and blank. Show no interest or excitement”
Yes, you’re right, and that is the fear, Israel’s actions in GAZA, and those who stridently refuse to adimt they might be counterproductive, will lead to a backlash, where otherwise sympathetic people simply won’t care what happens, Israel, in effect, becoming Hamas, or Iran.
WE don’t get to hear from or see the groups like Americans for Peace Now, or the synagouges preaching tolerance, (much like those in America who opposed Cheney, or Kissinger).
There is a whole other side to Israel that is appalled by these tactics, why do they have no voice?
Why aren’t they on the news, to remind us this is only the action of a select few, NOT a majority, a neocon POV stretching across faiths.
A woman was attacked after the pro hamas demo in NY yesterday. Atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com has the story.
Her assailants were shouting “kill the Jews, we’re going to kill you.” They were carrying signs saying “bring back the ovens.” I don’t think she was Jewish. Nine people were arrested after that demo.
Another separate pro Israel demo was very peaceful with a large turn out.
I have not seen any of this on the MSM.
These articles were taken from MSM sources, correct?
Smaller hate acts are rarely reported on the networks, has to be a big one, like 9.11 (hate against Americans, really).
A rise in this type of activity will be reported, at that point people will either care, or not, a possible backlash.
And if a true backlash develops, Obama will have to remind Americans not to displace their anger.
Meaning if those attacking are no longer the usual suspects, Israel is suffering a backlash.
Thanks! It is truly disgusting that the thugs leading the pro-Hamas crowds are mixed with decent people protesting Israel’s overly zealous and certainly not ‘measured response’.
Have you noticed that since Obamarama became fashionable, the pro-Hamas forces are multiplying and gaining “legitimacy” in mainstream media!? It’s a new world out there. The Bushleague butchers and clowns are giving way to the Puppetteers and their Dummy–imperialism gets a FACE LIFT in the presence of Obama. George Soros’ boy is ready to go to War in Afganistan and provoke Russia. Anything to please his Brezinsky mentor and mealticket Sorros!
Watch for a horrible, losing war in Afganistan to landlock the Russian intentions for build/instal pipelines in area. The Afganistan “war” will drag on forever–that’s the goal, to get Russia at the throat of China and to get China out of Africa to get their rich resources!
Obama’s plan is Soros’ and Brezinksy’s. Very simple. Bush exported ‘democracy’ to preserve the American dollar. Sadam had threatened to quite pegging his currency to the U.S. Dollar, remember? 10% goes to American financian institutions as result of the worldwide habit of pegging oil import-export transactions to the US$.
Ah dear Sweetie will be spending more on military brass than anyone beforer Him! Big interests get a new face lift! That’s Obie boy! Maybe he’ll get JOn Farveau to be SOS after he sabotages Hillary’s run. This jerk is duplicitous. As Alice Palmer has learned the hard way. Obambi is a Chicago political sewer RAT! His narcissistic ways are not be trusted. I just hope HIllary has got the goods on this Fraud!
Women in Black are the only Hope to end the carnage. But who listens to women? GREAT POST BY REV. AMY. THANK YOU! Please try to post more info on this group. It spells H-O-P-E delivered by Women who care!
And MS MAGAZINE had the audacity and cluelessness supreme to …..put Obama wearing a “I am a feminist” sweater! I discontinued my subscription after decades! Some women will never learn!
No way I’ll support a woman-basher who wins the nomination with dirty tactics like this PERV-ELECT!
Amazing to me is the number of Hamas trolls on NQ.
Thanks Amy for a balanced piece of thinking.
You’re not very witty, are you?
I have NOT seen any Hamas trolls here.
What I have seen is individuals who want a balanced report of the truth.
This article shows that violence begets violence. There are peace groups on both sides who are working toward peace.
I am saddened to see ANY violence directed toward any group based on violence somewhere else.
The people being targeted are innocent.
Thanks, Medusa. That means a lot to me coming from you!
One of the articles is from the Chicago Sun Times - the one on the synagogues in Chicago. But the NATIONAL MSM has not picked it up.
The other piece came from a blog referenced at memeorandum.com, so not exactly MSM. I had not heard anything abt it by the national media.
Same with the story NYMom told - one would think that something major like that in NYC would make it to the national news. Apparently not.
Honestly, it is hard for many of us to make an accurate assessment of what is actually going on in the ME because of our news sources. Media sources abroad are much better - and provide MORE information than we get. Just sayin’…
Medussa
Yes! please! WE NEED A BALANCED PERSPECTIVE ON THIS HAMAS-ISRAELI CONFLLICT. BIASED PERSPECTIVES DO NOT ADD VALUE NOR HOPE…..BALANCED PERSPECTIVE THAT SPEAKS TRUTH, AND NOT PREACH IDEOLOGY, IS VITAL! OR ELSE, LET’S INVITE BUSH BACK….Obambi, of course, is far more dangerous….
This is exactly why I have been saying we need to be evenhanded in our condemnations. The result of the one-sided accusatory hysteria about the IDF both in the MSM and in the blogosphere is that we have given tacit permission to the anti-semites to crawl out of their cesspools and spew their filth in public.
The worst thing is that this plays right into the hands of the Islamist fanatics.
But the problem is the Israeli neocons are truthfully commiting atrocities. If we don’t address those, the ME, and America, will slide further into chaos, further into this morass, further into war.
And no amount of PR can hide the truth, despite the illusions of some, Israel has a problem, and is in denial, this denial is affecting the US, strategically, building anti- American sentiment.
It’s very complex though, you know?
Another question, if this act by Israel results in attacks on ME US troops, whose fault do you think it is?
And if you say “the terrorists,” whom should we bomb, or attack?
Should we give more aid to Israel, or should we step up our military attacks in the ME?
(I really want to know your opinion, as this is the net effect, sometimes used as deliberate strategy.)
To answer your question and the comment above, we need to look at the reality of the situation: no one is in the right. Neither Israel nor the Palestinians have any sort of moral high ground here. We can go round and round in circles of accusation and blame and reach back 4000 years for justification of who was where first but this all misses the point:
Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians is in charge of their own destinies any longer. Decisions about who will do what, when are made for them in Tehran, Riyadh, Cairo and Washington.
Blaming Israel and/or the Palestinians for the carnage we’re witnessing is like blaming a pot roast for killing the cow.
The United States will always stand with Israel because they are longstanding friends of the U.S. The day the United States would fight against Israel is the day this country will no longer exist. Israel has never attacked the United States, they have never harmed a United States citizen, they have never attacked any of the allies of the United States, and the only time they fight is to defend themselves. Lets see the other side. Arab/Muslim terrorists have attacked the United States military in Lebanon, Iraq, Afganistan, Pakistan, and countless other bombings of US embassies around the world. They have attacked and killed thousands of innocent American citizens(including children)in the 9/11 massacre.The Palestinians danced in the streets over such a shameful killing of innocent Americans. Arab/muslim terrorists have sworn a Jahad (holy war) everyone who would be friends to Israel. Israel is in a war to protect and bring peace to their people. Death to civilians happens in a war and I believe Israel is doing their best under the circumstances to limit the casualities. No the United States will never support the Arab/Muslim terrorists over Israel. The Arab/Muslim terrorists have killed to many innocent Americans to every find this country a friend. Although you guys may think Obama is a Muslim who supports your bloody cause, he is an American who will support America’s friends. Give it up! We as a world are coming together in peace and we have no more room for the haters. If you are a hater of Israel or Jews you no longer have a positive place in this world.
And I’m grateful that the US is willing to stand with and for Israel, the only democratic state in a sea of sharks. I’m glad that the US Congress voted overwhelmingly on the resolution the other day, naming Hamas for what it is: a terrorist organization.
No apologies, no support.
We can absolutely empathize with the plight of the Palestinian people, question the wisdom of Israel’s current incursion and military strategy and work towards and encourage a peaceful resolution.
But to apologize for terrorists? Never.
Unless we’re willing to slit our own throats, that is.
Sorry, but I’m not there yet.
Good article, Rev. Amy.
Thanks, Peggy Sue.
And thanks everyone else for your thoughtful comments.
whose fault do you think it is?
Fault? I would say it is a failure of imagination more than any human being.
Who do you think is causing the violence in the street. Islamist facists are in this country everywhere. Just because we don’t know them does not mean they are not here.
People who really want peace are non-violent and should be free to protest peacefully. Those who protest violently should be jailed, not coddled by the police.
Women are the true peacekeepers of the world. We have the power simply because there are more of us. We should all ban together as this story suggests, we as women can make all the difference in the world.
We are the largest voting block, yet we continue to elect men who do not have our best interests at heart. Sexist pigs, who will say and do anything to get where they are, including lying, cheating, and intimidation.
We have the means by which to make a difference, those women who would stand behind their sisters and not cow-tow to men, not vote a man on the cover of Ms. magazine, and a man who has done nothing to help women or women’s causes.
We must take our countries back, one by one, we must elect women to the highest offices in our lands, we are the true peacekeepers, and we must and we will be heard!
…hmmm
More radical peace talk.
If only John Lennon didn’t have a penis.
Although I have to admit that Yoko did
play a role. …look what kind of music that gave us.
who blows up planes? who riots in the streets and yells hate? who has a charter that calls for the end of israel? who blows themselves up and takes as many as then can with them? jew? no for the most part it is muslim extremeists. sad but true! so all the while you call for help for gaza, i sincerely hope you’ll call for an end of this hate and violence. one without the other is not even feasible.
now the jews have made terrible mistakes, the wall, the partition of gaza, lebabon. i could go on. the call for more even handed views is gratefully appreciated.
Don’t think that the Isrealis consider the wall a mistake - it’s drastically cut down the number of suicide bombings. American citizens would have demanded a wall long before, if they had been subjected to such ongoing terror attacks.
Had the US been subjected to such ongoing terror attacks…that country would have been obliterated a long time ago. Israel has taken more than ANY country would even think about taking. That’s just a fact.
ok, well i certainly want our border to be monitored. the coverage of the wall has been negative.
Anti-semitism is ugly, as ugly as racism. But even more deplorable are those who seek to exploit it to silence dissent.
I deplore anti-semitism, and so do all reasonable people. These actions are despicable, contemptible, and loathesome. Each time something like this happens, it happens because ignorant people become so inflamed by bigotry against an entire group of people based on their religion, ethnicity, or heritage, that they cheer on violence against them.
Women in Black, B’tselem, and other organizations speak out in courage against such ideological hatreds.
They put their bodies on the line, so to speak, standing in protest on street corners, or documenting reports of atrocities. They reject the ideologies that lead to the horrors currently going on. They would reject completely some of the epithets being tossed around by Medusa and others here, in reaction to Jews who dissent from Israeli policy.
I wonder where Medusa was when Muslims in this country were being rounded up and imprisoned and even tortured by the thousands after 9/11, separated from their families, losing everything, their stores burned, their churches defiled, their lives torn apart, some of them for up to a year.
Speaking out in dissent of your own government’s policies takes courage. So, remember that, the next time you sling the slur of “anti-semite” at Jews who dissent from Israeli policies.
Remember: There are Muslims who fight anti-semitism as well. Shameful, sweeping generalizations and stereotypes about Palestinians are just as ignorant as sweeping generalizations about Jews and Israelis.
http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2004/issue4/0404p35.html
http://news.haaretz.co.il/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=168205
I actually think the police did the right thing, for the safety of other people living in the building and for the safety of personal property.
Europeans have a sense of collectiveness whereas Americans have a sense of individualism. I think that collectiveness lends itself to fast mobilization of thousands of people. Often there is that fringe group that at some point erupts in violence and destruction….however minor.
Which in the long run might prove the effectiveness of the Maginot Line.
or the success of supranationalism.
No country in the world should aloud Arabs or any other nation to instigate for a blody demonstration on their own country. Those, who choose to live in our country has to respect our rules. No violence, no hooliganism should be aloud. If you won’t and can’t express your disappointment peacefuly, return in your own country and do what they aloud you to do,but not here in America. We want peace and not criminal behavior.
PS. About the german police behavior, I’m more then furious. Their (parents, grandparents) who burn the jews in a gas chambers( children, women, young or old) should not have the right to take the jewish flag from the window. It looks like trowing the ” glove” again to the children of those, Hitler burn alive. BTW, I’m not jewish, just a fair minded human being. Being from Europe, our parents still have in their memory the atrocious years of WWII, and Hitler.
Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy -
Wow! Great informative Post.
New tourism industry in Israel?
Will we see any condemnation of this blood-thirsty hatred for Palestinians? Or will we just have more silence about this particular bigotry because it comes from Israelis?
Hill of Shame where Gaza bombing is spectator sport:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5505390.ece
But where the bombs are actually falling, it’s not so pretty:
Gaza: UN Official Reports
Horrific Hospital Scenes of Casualties
By UN News Centre
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21741.htm
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