Category Archives: Jews

Liberals Blame Orthodox Jews’ Unfounded Fear For Loss of Congress

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In New York’s 17th congressional district, Democratic incumbent Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney lost his seat to a Republican challenger, Mike Lawler. The pundits – and Maloney himself – offered their opinions as to why the five-term incumbent who spent 5.6 times more than his opponent, lost.

Their conclusion is disheartening, as it further underscores how liberals simply refuse to acknowledge the rampant anti-Semitism and attacks against Jews in society.

The New York Times asked the question directly in its headline “A Powerful N.Y. Democrat Was a Shoo-In for Re-election. What happened?” It offered some ideas including that Maloney opted for running in the wrong district after his historic contours were redrawn. The article wrote that it may have appeared like a safe choice in “diverse, left-leaning places like Peekskill and Ossining,” it neglected to consider the “significant population of right-leaning ultra-Orthodox Jews.“

Jews were the only ethnic group mentioned in the article. Not Hispanics, Blacks, Asians nor any others. Jews were the thorn in the side which helped lead to this congressman’s demise, and possibly Democratic control of the House of Representatives.

In another Times’ article, Maloney was asked why some of his constituents voted against him. He blamed media fear-mongering.

Maloney said that people in the suburbs of New York City are fed lies by conservative media about crime. “New York is home to the fiercest outlet in the News Corporation fear machine. In fairness to the governor, she and the rest of us have to contend with the hysteria of The New York Post and of Fox News… you have these suburban voters who are experiencing those messages coming out of New York City outlets, which were heavily focused on crime.”

The outgoing congressman said that the media cooked up “messages” about crime to manufacture “fear” and “hysteria.” The issue for this New York politician who’s been serving in congress for ten years was media spin, not actual crime.

Hate crimes against Jews – particularly in New York – is not a fiction concocted to make Democrats look weak on crime. It is an alarming reality, and the scourge is reported by all media outlets, whether CBSNews, CNN or Reuters.

Jews are being harassed, assaulted and murdered with increasing frequency and rather than acknowledge the serious problem, liberals are treating it like false news.

And if that’s not bad enough, they are now blaming Orthodox Jews for flipping congress and thereby hurting the Democratic agenda in the entire country. A little more fuel for liberal Jew hatred for the coming years.

Related articles:

Why Does the New York Times Delete Stories of Attacks on Jews?

New York Times Finds Racism When it Wants

New York Times’ Small Anti-Semitism

What Do The New York Times And Vladimir Putin Have In Common? Both Accuse Jews Of Meddling In Elections

The New York Times Excuses Palestinian “Localized Expressions of Impatience.” I Mean Rockets.

Kanye’s And Palestinian Arabs’ Antisemitism

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Kanye / Ye has a large following, including 31.8 million on Twitter and millions more on other social media platforms. His espousal of Jewish hatred and incitement to antisemitism finally cost him in some manner, with Adidas and several other companies finally severing lucrative commercial deals with him.

Alas, not so with Palestinian Arabs.

Denying and Stealing Jewish Identity

Kanye said that Jews are imposters and not really descendants of the Children of Israel from the Bible. He claimed that those are actually Black people, with “When I say Jew, I mean the 12 lost tribes of Judah, the blood of Christ, who the people known as the race Black really are. This is who our people are.” He also offered “I can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew.” In an interview with Chris Cuomo he said “You’re saying it’s anti-Semitic, but I don’t believe in that term. One thing is, Black people are also Jew. I classify as Jew also, so I actually can’t be an anti-Semite. So the term is actually, it’s not factual.“

Palestinian Arabs say much the same.

The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas falsely stated “this land [Israel] belongs to the people who live on it. It belongs to the Canaanites, who lived here 5,000 years ago. We are the Canaanites!” His “mainstream” Palestinian party Fatah has posted frequently that Jesus was the first Palestinian martyr. Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American “activist” often promoted by leftists, tweeted that “Jesus was a Palestinian of Nazareth.” Nicolas Massard, a Palestinian-American professor at Columbia University calls the ancient Jews “Palestinian Hebrews.” Supermodel Bella Hadid with over 100 million Instagram followers tweeted that “Jesus was a Palestinian” with a hashtag to keep it an ongoing movement.

Palestinians and Kanye are not simply trying to claim a piece of history for themselves and embracing cultural appropriation of Jews. They are simultaneously trying to rob Jews of their history, and libel them as cheaters, imposters and thieves.

Assertion of Jewish Control

During Ye’s interview with Cuomo on October 17 he alleged that the “Jewish underground media mafia” run the entertainment industry and that “every celebrity has Jewish people in their contract.” He tweeted that “You guys [Jews] have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda.” He added “Ima use you [Diddy] as an example to show the Jewish people that told you to call me that no one can threaten or influence me.“

Palestinian Arabs have long complained that Jews seek to control them, denying their own ongoing violent rejection of coexistence. The very term “occupation” Arabs throw about carries with it the claim that Israel is unfairly controlling “Arab land,” as if the land isn’t the heartland of the Jewish people and that Jews have no right to live there. The Palestinian Arabs assert that Israel has an illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip, as if Hamas, the terrorist group sworn to the destruction of Israel, doesn’t rule the area. The ADL conducted a poll in Gaza and the West Bank in 2014 which showed that almost every single Arab believed that Jews control the global media, financial institutions and the US government.

Ye and Palestinian tropes about Jewish control are lifted from the notorious forgery Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which in turn fed Henry Ford’s The International Jew and Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. It led to millions of Jews being slaughtered.

Claiming Jews Just Want To Make Money Off Of People

Ye offered that “I prefer my kids knew Hannukah from Kwanzaa. At least it will come with some financial engineering.” He said that Jared Kushner put together the Abraham Accords in order “to make money” for himself, and “I think that’s what they’re about. I don’t think that they have the ability to make anything on their own. I think they were born into money.”

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), a Palestinian-American said that Jews, “from Gaza to Detroit… control people… exploit the rest of us for their own profit… look behind the curtain, it’s the same people who make money – yes they do – off of racism.” Mahmoud Abbas said that hatred of Jews “was widespread throughout Europe was not against their religion but against their social function which relates to usury [unscrupulous money-lending] and banking and such.“

Combined with the notion of “Jewish control /power,” Ye and Palestinians foment an us-versus-them mentality. Jews are not part of the broad fabric of society but “others” who cheat, lie and seek to steal from everyone else.

Decrying Holocausts Of Their People

While the Holocaust is a term which is used by almost the entire world to describe the horrible slaughter of European Jewry at the hands of the Nazis and other antisemites, Kanye and the Palestinians use the term about the death of Blacks and Arabs.

“I want you to visit Planned Parenthood. That’s our Holocaust museum,” Kanye said about the millions of unborn Black babies killed in abortions. He blamed Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood and the Ku Klux Klan (all non-Jews) for promoting abortion to slow the birth rate of the Black population.

Mahmoud Abbas was much more disgusting. Standing in Berlin, Germany, at the epicenter of the brutal destruction of European Jewry, the leader of Palestinian Arabs said that the Jewish State had committed “50 massacres, 50 Holocausts, and until today, and every day there are casualties killed by the Israeli military.” The outrageous “monstrous lie” was met with global outrage. For a moment. The world continued to coddle him after a few days.

A Call To Kill Jews

Ye ultimately pressed further and threatened violence against Jews around the world, tweeting “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 [sic] on JEWISH PEOPLE.“

The foundational charter of Hamas not only falsely states that Jews control of the world and destroy decency wherever they go, but specifically calls for every Muslim in the world to kill Jews and destroy Israel. Palestinian Arabs voted Hamas to a majority of parliament with such charter and continue to support the political-terrorist group. The Palestinian Authority incites violence daily with its “pay-to-slay” in which in pays terrorist families salaries.

Ye’s rampant antisemitism was ignored by many, until his call to kill Jews made him impossible to ignore. Not so for Palestinian Arabs, who are being funded by the global community despite their rampant antisemitism and calls to kill Jews and destroy the Jewish State.

Kanye West performing in Israel in 2015 (photo: Yaron Brener)

Related articles:

Antisemitism Includes the Denial of Jewish History

The Joy of Lecturing Jews

Will Palestinians Ever be Taught About the Holocaust?

Black Antisemitism: The Intersectional Hydra

Examining Ilhan Omar’s Point About Muslim Antisemitism

Tlaib Shields Anti-Semitic Murderers, If Not White

Black Lives Matter Is Driving Anti-Semitism

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There is a lot of commentary floating in mainstream and social media about Kanye West’s repeated anti-Semitic comments, and whether he represents much of Black America, right-wing America or the Black entertainment industry. Authors pull an example here and there to make generalizations but no one has done a deeper dive into the matter.

Many of the statements being made are true but are far too narrow. Yes, there are many Black entertainers, athletes and politicians who espouse Jew hatred. Blacks are not immune from the scourge, any more than any racial or ethnic group.

The Kanye comments are vile and should be condemned, as are many others like Washington, D.C. Council member Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8) who said that the Jews control the weather so they can get rich. However, a more detailed analysis is important to consider if there is an overall trend of Blacks attacking Jews, and to evaluate the underlying reason.

I have analyzed two decades of FBI Hate Crime statistics. To summarize:

  • Black people account for 24% of annual hate crimes on average from 2015 to 2020, for situations where the offender’s race or ethnicity is known. That is up from a 20% annual average from 2004 to 2014. These percentages should be considered against the fact that Blacks account for roughly 13.4% of the population, meaning that they are committing a disproportionately high number of hate crimes.
  • Most Black hate crimes are against the LGBT community. Blacks commit many fewer religion-based crimes.
  • Black anti-religion hate crimes did jump significantly in the 2010-2019 decade compared to the 2000-2009 decade. Black hate crimes against Jews jumped by 60% and against Muslims by 50%. That compared to White anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim crimes declining by 24% and growing by 39%, respectively.
  • Much of the shift away from White hate crimes began in 2015. From 2004 to 2014, Whites committed an annual average of 78% and 85% of total hate crimes and anti-Semitic crimes, respectively. Since 2015, that has dropped to about 67% and 77% on average, respectively. The difference comes from the growth in attacks being made by the Black community (first bullet above) and the Hispanic community, growing from about no hate crimes to roughly 6% and 5% of the total and anti-Jewish crimes, respectively. An undisclosed non-Hispanic ethnic group is accounting for an increasingly very large percentage of hate crimes as well – it is likely that many of these are Muslims, Arabs and people from southeast Asia (Pakistan and Asia) which are normally categorized as Asian in the United Kingdom but not in the U.S..

The year 2015 did not suddenly see a growth of Jewish businessmen, media ownership, landlords or any other perceived anti-Semitic tropes to drive the change in patterns. However, that year witnessed the launch of the Black Lives Matter movement after the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO in August 2014, just as Israel’s Gaza war was concluding.

Beyond the protests against White people generally, Blacks sought allies to their cause and turned to the Hispanic and Muslim communities. Black media personalities like CNN’s Marc Lamont Hill produced a “revolutionary” video in January 2015 in Nazareth, which he falsely said was in “Palestine”, and smeared the Jews in “a land stolen by greed and destroyed by hate… we stand by the people who courageously struggle and resist the occupation… From Ferguson to Palestine, the struggle for freedom continues.” A few years later, Rep. Rashida Tlaib would pick up this theme “From Gaza to Detroit“, that Jews in the U.S. and Israel are racist profiteers hiding “behind the curtain” and making a profit off of Black and Brown bodies.

In March of 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke before a joint session of the U.S. Congress asking them to not proceed with the Iranian nuclear deal which created an existential threat for the Jewish State. Leaders of the Black community considered it a racist affront disrespecting the Black president, Barack Obama, as opposed to a desperate plea. The Black Democratic members of congress boycotted the speech.

With this backdrop, the Black Lives Matter movement drafted a manifesto with the assistance of Nadia Ben-Youssef of Adalah, a group dedicated to fighting Israel. The BLM platform singled out Israel and America’s relationship with the Jewish State as “complicit in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people…. Israel is an apartheid state…. Palestinians are forced to walk through military checkpoints along the US-funded apartheid wall.”

Progressive politicians argued that the militarization of U.S. police forces occurred because of training exercises with Israel, although the nature of the training and whether it led to the deaths of any Black people had been discounted for any who bothered to read past the headlines. Regardless, the perception that the Jewish State may have been connected to the deaths of Black Americans was often repeated by Blacks, Muslims and anti-Zionist progressives.

The Southern Poverty Law Center assimilated the narrative. Even though Jews suffered more hate crimes per capita than any other group, SPLC highlighted attacks against Blacks and Muslims, and those committed by Whites. Jewish victims were a small footnote.

The BLM narrative continued to churn whereby it was determined that Black people could not even be considered racist as they lacked power, and any actions taken against White people was simply “punching up.” Hate speech and actions by minorities was thereby given a clean bill of health, a double-“O” license for racism. The power afforded by that twisted reasoning became so ingrained, that SPLC openly stated that it objected to FBI’s Hate Crime numbers for Black people, since “Black separatism was born out of valid anger against very real historical and systemic oppression…. Black separatism is a response to white supremacy and white nationalism,” and therefore could not be counted as a hate crime. SPLC contended that the FBI’s calling out Black racism was “used to justify the over-policing and surveillance of communities of color,” and they would therefore not highlight it.

When Jews were killed in Jersey City, NJ, a Black member of the school board said that the Black killers had a point in killing Jews since they were “brutes” aggressively moving into the neighborhood. Black community leaders rushed to her defense when she was lambasted for her anti-Semitism about murdered Jews. SPLC also tried to come to the defense of the Black killers. And then, with the gas-lighting complete, the city’s un-murdered Jews appallingly handed out gifts to the Black residents of the city on Christmas, apologizing if their blood dirtied the local streets.

Amidst the attacks on Jews, the Democratic Socialists of America called for demonizing Israel and singling it out as a litmus test for endorsement. Not Iran, China, Saudi Arabia or North Korea – but the one liberal and Jewish state in the middle east and north Africa region. The DSA principally endorses non-White and non-Jewish candidates, with the exception of their champion Bernie Sanders, who is completely secular and an anti-Zionist.

So Blacks gather even more allies to the BLM movement. Muslims, progressives and anti-Zionists who all feel victimized by “pushy” White Jews. Validating their victimized status, they can no longer be accused of anti-Semitism or racism, and demand reparations.

This is the storm of Jew hatred that weighs on the Black-Jewish relationship today. The BLM movement and intersectional approach have taken aim at people they perceive as privileged and racist. For them, no group encapsulates having more than their fair share, stealing the fruits of others, than White Jews – both in the U.S. and Israel – in a warped worldview that has infected way too much of the Black community.

Related articles:

Black Antisemitism: The Intersectional Hydra

Under-educated, Liberal, Black Women Know The Least About The Holocaust

Black Hate Crimes of 2018

Don Lemon, Here are Some Uncomfortable Facts about Hate Crimes in America

If a Black Muslim Cop Kills a White Woman, Does it Make a Sound?

David Duke, Ilhan Omar and the Three Lenses of Anti-Semitism

WHY The Progressive Assault on Israel

Now Is The Time For Sabra, An Israeli Superhero, To Join Captain America

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In December 1940, a full year before the United States of America entered World War II in response to Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, two young Jews created a superhero.

Joe Simon and Jack (Kurtzberg) Kirby were young artists who were looking to create a new superhero in the golden age of superheroes. The genre had many Jewish artists and writers, including Superman in 1938 (created by Jerry Siegel and Joe (Shusterowich) Shuster) and Batman in 1939 (by Bob Kane and Bill Finger). Those characters were created at the dawn of the European Holocaust of the Jews, and fought against fictitious bad guys generally.

Simon and Kirby opted for a more direct approach.

In an interview in 2011, a 97-year old Joe Simon relayed that they didn’t need to create a fictitious villain, “We both read the newspapers. We knew what was going on over in Europe. World events gave us the perfect comic-book villain, Adolf Hitler, with his ranting, goose-stepping and ridiculous moustache. So we decided to create the perfect hero who would be his foil.“

First issue of Captain America published in December 1940, featuring Captain America punching Adolph Hitler on its cover

At that time, there were many Americans who proudly considered themselves Nazis. Groups like the German-American Bund marched proudly through public streets and even held an enormous rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City in February 1939. They chanted “Stop Jewish Domination of Christian Americans” and demanded that “our government be returned to the American People who founded it.”

The American Nazis began to lose some popularity when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in September 1939 which launched World War II, with Great Britain and France declaring war on Germany. Still, Americans did not want to go to war in Europe, some being isolationists and others harboring Nazi sympathies.

American Nazis took aim at Simon and Kirby for “propaganda” advocating for America to get into the war to fight Nazi Germany. They accused Jews of wanting to sacrifice Christian blood to save Jews in Europe, a passive-aggressive blood libel. They saw the “Jewish media” controlling America’s foreign policy as puppet-masters.

Much of the same rhetoric is happening today.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is a brutal regime. It is the leading state sponsor of terrorism, backing groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. It hangs gays in public squares. It kills its own Iranian women who do not cover their hair.

This extremist regime has called for the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel, as the Islamic country builds ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. Yet the world says nothing and does nothing.

In contrast, the radical jihadists in the Palestinian Authority territories get active global assistance. Even with an anti-Semitic foundational charter lifted from Hitler’s Mein Kampf and the forgery Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the political-terrorist group Hamas won the majority of parliament. The active incitement to kill Jews with a pay-to-slay program is ignored (or possibly appreciated) as countries pour money into the terrorist enclave. The United Nations even states that it wants Hamas to join a unity government, praising the recent Algiers Declaration.

The radical jihadists have supporters across the United States. On over 200 college campuses, Students for Justice in Palestine have targeted Jews and the Jewish State. Members of Congress like Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar spew anti-Semitic venom reminiscent of Nazi Germany. Entertainer Kanye West calls out Jews who control Black America and threatens them with violence.

The mainstream media echoes their sentiments, that congress is controlled by Jews. It bemoans the ‘powerful Jew‘ in sick arguments while simultaneously claiming only White supremacists make such anti-Semitic smears.

In this caldron of anti-Semitism and calls for violence against Jews and the only Jewish State, Marvel Comics announced that it will feature a superhero named Sabra, an ex-Israeli Mossad agent, to be featured in a new Captain America movie.

Marvel superhero, Sabra

The timing seems very appropriate as Israel faces genocidal fanatics in the Middle East, and anti-Semitism is spreading like wildfire in the United States and around the world.

As in Captain America’s release in 1940, many Americans are upset by a superhero with real world political roots.

Anti-Zionists fear that if an Israeli is a superhero, Palestinian Arabs will be portrayed as the genocidal villains. Isolationists and jihadists fear that the movie will advocate attacking the Islamic Republic of Iran, launching the United States into another war against a Muslim country. Run-of-the-mill anti-Semites don’t want to see a Jew infiltrate what they perceive as a cohort of Christian American superheroes.

Lost on all of them is that Captain America himself was created by Jews to attack a real genocidal anti-Semite before the magnitude of Hitler’s evil was manifest. Captain America’s relaunch in the 1960’s to a newer audience was also led by a Jew, Stan (Martin Lieber) Lee. The inclusion of an overtly Jewish superhero now, when the United Nations acts like Marvel’s evil Hydra organization seeking to destroy the Jewish State is both warranted and timely.

Alas, the Jew-bashers may yet win. Their loud shrill voices made Marvel issue a statement: “While our characters and stories are inspired by the comics. They are always freshly imagined for the screen and today’s audience, and the filmmakers are taking a new approach with the character Sabra who was first introduced in the comics over 40 years ago.”

Will Marvel give Sabra a new backstory in which she may be Jewish but not Israeli? Only fight against liberals’ perception of the “right kind of anti-Semites” who are Male White Supremacists but not those Brown, Female or Muslim? It remains to be seen.

Jews and the Jewish State are under attack from all sides, and while it would be nice to see a superhero come to their aid in the world of fantasy, we need people and governments in the real world to fight back against the genocidal intentions of today’s growing anti-Jewish war machine.

Related articles:

Hamas’s Willing Executioners

‘The Maiming of the Jew’

Politicians In Their Own Words: Why We Don’t Support Defending Jews

Considering Nazis and Radical Islam on the 75th Anniversary of D-Day

Reuters Can’t Spare Ink on Iranian Anti-Semitism

Hamas And Harvard Proudly Declare Their Anti-Semitism And Anti-Zionism

Lunatics To Love And Loathe

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The New York Times has used the 2022 election year to celebrate left-wing extremists and denounce right-wing political loons. Lost in their “elevated” twisted mindset is that one feeds the other and both are dangerous.

For its Sunday magazine on October 23, 2022, The Times featured Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The cover story with large spread was entitled “The Problem of Marjorie Taylor Greene.” The paper was clear that in their opinion, her insanity is not only bad for the Republican party, but for the nation as well, as her brand of crazy becomes mainstreamed.

The same could not be said of the paper’s handling of another extremist, a member of the left-wing “squad”, Rep. Rashida Tlaib. In March 2022, weeks before the Democratic primary, she was featured in the Times’ Sunday section under “What Rashida Tlaib Represents.” Her story was portrayed as one of courage, referring to her as someone “who has risen from adverse circumstances to play a significant role in American politics, most notably bringing greater awareness to the ongoing conflict over Palestine.” She was hailed as a hero fighting for the underdog, while the paper minimized her noxious anti-Semitism. She was not flagged appropriately as a lunatic nor did the paper convey that her toxic viewpoints are harmfully infecting the Democratic Party.

To be clear, both of these women are vile anti-Semites. Greene calls out the supposed evils of George Soros, the “Rothschilds” and Jew lasers from space starting forest fires. Meanwhile, Tlaib says that Jews in Israel and the United States instigate racism to make a profit. Both are embarrassments to the United States and a threat to the safety of millions.

But the jaundiced media serves red meat to its hungry base, as the vileness becomes so commonplace that congress doesn’t bother to censure it anymore.

The cycle of depravity is in full swing. The election of one extreme feeds the election at the other end of the spectrum in another part of the country. The celebration of Tlaib on the cover section of the Times and her socialist comrade Rep. Ilhan Omar on MSNBC, feeds the extremists of the far right media to their viewers and voters. And vice versa.

We have both Republican and Democratic extremists. Christians and Muslims. Blacks and Whites. Male and Female.

All should be shunned. All should be driven from office and positions of influence.

Alas, decency is in short supply.

Instead, we abandon reality for an exciting fantasy. We’ve allowed the media and social media to manufacture worthy false gods of noble superheroes and evil super-villains supposedly fighting for us and our entertainment, like a script in a Marvel comic book universe. In this version, we get to be avatars in the fiction, with likes and retweets.

To our own crippling detriment.

The adrenaline is now our elixir and desired end-state, as peace and stability have become discarded as outdated fictions that never existed. Tragically, we are woefully watching the destruction of a great society, and rather than demand a sharp pivot to the center, we remain transfixed, scrolling our screens for more.

#StopThe Fringes

Related articles:

Magnifying the Margins, and the Rise of the Independents

The Right Number of Anti-Semites in Congress

Being Purple, I’m Neither Anti-Abortion Nor Pro-Abortion. I’m Anti-Infanticide

The Mason-Dixon Plaid

When Only Republicans Trust the Police

First the Attackers Were Radical Islamic Extremists

What Do The New York Times And Vladimir Putin Have In Common? Both Accuse Jews Of Meddling In Elections

Christiane Amanpour is More Anti-Semitic Than Ilhan Omar

Bigots In Power, Checked And Unchecked

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The Los Angeles City Council was rocked when a secret recording was released of various Hispanic members of the Council making highly offensive comments about various groups. They ranged from calling the Black child of one of the other council members a monkey, to lambasting ‘Jewish power.’ President Biden and various community members called for their resignations which were tendered in short order.

It is unclear whether the push to expel the bigots was due to the desire to not have racists represent the city, whether there were concerns that such bigots would actively harm groups because of their prejudice or a combination of both.

The motivation for terminating a racist was more clear in 2019, when an Ohio doctor, Lara Kollab, was fired from her position at the Cleveland Clinic after it was revealed that she posted many anti-Semitic tweets for the whole world to see. Beyond the various insults about Jews, she posted that she would “purposely give all the yahood the wrong meds” using the Arabic word for Jews. This was a woman who broadcast that she was in the Jew-killing business.

Anti-Semitic doctor, Lara Kollob and one of her tweets

In 2021, a teaching assistant at Johns Hopkins said that she would lower the grades of pro-Israel students. After the tweet, she polled her followers as to whether marking down Zionists’ grades was a good idea. While the Office of Institutional Equity investigated the TA, Rasha Anaya, it is unclear if there was any action taken against her.

A similar situation occurred at the University of Vermont where a TA publicly taunted Jewish students by asking on social media whether “Is it unethical for me, a TA, to not give zionists credit for participation??? I feel like its good and funny“. The students protested for her censure and removal, but to no avail. The president of the university, Suresh V. Garimella, sent a letter to the school community that there didn’t appear to be evidence of harm, so decided to take no action. The Brandeis Center For Human Rights Under Law and Jewish On Campus, two non-profits issued a strong rebuke to Garimella’s inaction and complacency in the face of blatant anti-Semitism. The Department of Education is now looking into the matter.

Society has clearly taken a range of actions in dealing with bigots in power. While there are laws in place to protect people from unfair bias, they are typically enforced after an incident happens.

Yet in the case of the Los Angeles City Council, the president of the United States got involved even though no action happened or was even threatened. For the Ohio doctor, no one wanted to wait for her to kill a Jew, and it was easier to fire her immediately as the threat of violence is a crime as well.

But what of the Jews on university campuses today? They are publicly threatened by teachers and student groups, and administrations are loathe to take any action under the guise of free speech – even though threatening to lower the grades of Jews is a threat of the powerful over the weak, with serious personal long term consequences, which has nothing to do with free speech.

President Biden has allowed this anti-Semitism on college campuses to flourish, waiting until after midterm elections to decide on applying the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism to Title VI. Such move could protect the Jewish students from both the bigots and complacent university leadership.

There will always be bigots and racists but society has moved to protect the persecuted with a variety of laws. It is time to finally check the anti-Semites as well.

Related articles:

The Right Number of Anti-Semites in Congress

The Spark And The Fuel Of Anti-Semitism Of The Women’s March

The Re-Introduction of the ‘Powerful’ Jew Smear

Letter To Send To Liberal Members of Congress Attacking Yeshiva University

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On September 23, 2022, six liberal members of Congress wrote a letter to Yeshiva University denouncing its decision to not officially recognize a LGBTQ+ club. The letter is full of inaccuracies and fuels anti-religious hatred at a time that anti-Semitic crimes are already at record highs.

Penned by outgoing Congressman Mondaire Jones, and cosigned by Representatives Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Paul Tonko (D-NY), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), it contends that Yeshiva University prohibited the formation of a Pride Alliance Club which is completely false. The club already exists. YU just did not give it official recognition as it runs counter to the school’s religious mission.

Below is a letter to send to each of the members of congress, whom you can contact by clicking their names here: Mondaire Jones; Adriano Espaillat; Paul Tonko; Carolyn Maloney; Jamaal Bowman; and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. If you do not live in their districts and cannot email them, you can still call them.

LETTER TO MEMBER OF CONGRESS:

I could not disagree more with your letter to Yeshiva University, both in tone and summary of your impressions on the matter.

1. The school does not discriminate against any student, counter to your claims. There is no team, club, class, event or any activity that is available to some students and not others. It is a disgraceful slur to state that the school does not treat some of its students “as full human beings.”

2. There is already a Pride Alliance at the school. There is membership and events that have been going on for years. The school took no actions to ban the group.

3. The existing group asked for official recognition by the school, which the school declined to do – as it does for all groups that run counter to its beliefs as a religious institution. That is not selective discrimination against the LGBT community. It would have rejected a Cheeseburger Club as well. It is outrageous for a member of Congress to suggest, let alone dictate, how and what a religious institution can approve and sanction.

4. The courts sided with the Pride Alliance solely because it does not believe that YU is a religious institution and thinks it a secular one. The fact is that YU is non-binary, being both religious and secular, a situation that does not fall neatly into the legal charter boxes. It is a position that members of the LGBTQ+ community should understand.

5. This case has nothing to do with discrimination but the government’s refusal to recognize the religious character of a leading Jewish modern Orthodox institution. Your letter feeds a false narrative targeting religious Jews as discriminating against LGBT students and fuels anti-Semitic sentiment which is already at terrible levels. In fact, it is the government that has refused to recognize the university’s non-binary status, and now you are attempting to dictate how a religious institution should operate.

I urge you to amend your statement as your actions are impacting the entire modern Orthodox community. Please read the following article for a better understanding of the situation, rather than glossing information from anti-religious media. https://firstonethrough.wordpress.com/2022/10/02/yeshiva-university-and-modern-orthodoxy-are-non-binary/

LETTER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SENT TO YESHIVA UNIVERSITY

Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman

President

Yeshiva University

500 West 185th Street

New York, NY 10033

Dear Dr. Berman:

Over the past weeks, we have followed the Supreme Court’s rulings affecting LGBTQ+ students at Yeshiva University who wish to form a peer support club, the YU Pride Alliance. Many of these students are our constituents.

We write to express our support for these students and for the rights of all LGBTQ+ students to equal treatment in New York State’s educational institutions. We urge the University to do everything possible to care for its LGBTQ+ students as full human beings in the campus community, including to recognize their student group. 

We understand the LGBTQ+ students at Yeshiva University seek to form a student group that provides a safe space for discussion and connection. Research confirms that LGBTQ+ students face discrimination, isolation, higher rates of mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, and other challenges as they navigate their college years. Gay-straight alliances and student-led clubs that provide safe spaces for LGBTQ+ students to support each other and discuss issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity are critical to student health and success. Other proudly religious universities in New York have navigated this terrain, recognizing LGBTQ+ student groups as a critical resource for their students; it is time for Yeshiva University to do the same.

We are disappointed with the University’s recent decision to suspend all student groups in order to avoid recognizing the YU Pride Alliance. This move pits students against each other and risks further isolating LGBTQ+ students at Yeshiva University. We also believe this action to be in tension with your recent statement that Yeshiva University’s “commitment and love for [its] LGBTQ students are unshakeable.”

As members of Congress representing New York, we believe that the equal treatment of LGBTQ+ students and the provision of safe spaces for their well-being are consistent with established federal public policy. We know our concerns for the well-being of LGBTQ+ students at Yeshiva University are shared by many who care deeply about the institution—Jewish clergy, University faculty, alumni, current students, and local elected officials.

We encourage the University to extend its hand to its LGBTQ+ students, and their allies, who have bravely come forward telling you what they need to flourish as students and community members at Yeshiva University. 

Thank you for your time and consideration.

For The Sins Of 5782…

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… for following directions from Waze with more obedience than any Torah commandments;

… for being upset that we don’t skip enough piyutim and selichot in synagogue;

… for coming to synagogue during the week wearing a Mickey Mouse shirt;

… for completing morning services at home in 360 seconds;

… for re-watching Key & Peele skits on my phone during breaks in davening;

for these sins and thoughts related to prayer services, please pardon us

… for the sin of cursing the gardener and coveting my neighbor’s lawn;

… for using COVID as an excuse for not going to shiva visits;

… for not killing lanterbugs on Shabbos;

… for sincerely asking for forgiveness and begrudgingly giving it;

… for taking the final aluminum tins from Amazing Savings right before the holidays;

… for not speaking up loudly against anti-Semites because they were Jews or from my political party;

… for embracing anti-Semites and their positions in the belief that I will be spared while fellow Jews are carted away;

… for not rallying behind institutions that fired anti-Zionist teachers;

… for not calling out anti-Semitism from other minorities, for fear of being called a racist;

… for not visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem;

… for believing that calls for violence are covered under free speech;

… for not doing enough to stop more anti-Semites from becoming members of Congress;

… for not protesting my government’s funding Palestinian agencies that still actively promote terrorism;

… for falsely believing that Tikkun Olam will stop the spread of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism;

… for screaming at ignoramuses like Whoopi Goldberg rather than educating them;

… for continuing to subscribe to anti-Semitic media which peddles the ‘powerful Jew’ myth;

… for deliberately weakening Jewish institutions with lawsuits and public declarations, rather than finding a way to improve them from within the community;

for these sins and thoughts related to community, please pardon us

… for allowing my children to attend colleges with rampant anti-Semitism;

… for visiting countries on vacation that fund anti-Israel NGOs and condemn Israel at the United Nations;

… for not listening to kids’ recommendation to invest alongside Pelosi, and for listening to them about investing in crypto;

… for calling my uncle a crazy racist and my niece a lazy woke-tard;

… for still not having a proper name for my in-laws, after many years of being married;

… for not calling my parents enough, even when they remind me of that fact constantly;

… for pretending I’m preoccupied when my spouse asks for something I’m not interested in;

… for telling my spouse to change attire; for not listening to spouse’s recommendation on attire; for listening to spouse’s recommendation on dress; for being late to events because of attire;

for these sins and thoughts related to family, please pardon us

… for the arrogance of believing that people read my postings including annoying Wordle scores;

… for believing Shabbos calories don’t count;

… for thinking I’m younger than my age, and not living each day fully;

… for internalizing that living my best life means selfish overindulgence;

… for trying to do too much; for trying to do too little;

… for not spending more time with family, friends, community and You;

for all these things, please pardon us

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New York Times’ Muslim Anti-Semitism Washing

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The New York Times decided to print the obituary of Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a fiery leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, an advocate for violence and vocal anti-Semite. The paper opted to use a balanced approach in covering his life saying some thought of him as “a moderate” while others considered him “an extremist.”

The Times did not offer any commentary about his anti-Semitism nor calls for a global jihad against the Jews.

New York Times obituary on fiery anti-Semite never discussed his Jew hatred.

In regards to this violent bigot’s views about Jews, all the Times would offer was “During the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in 2001, he declared that suicide bombings by Palestinians against Israelis were permissible.“

Were permissible? He actively encouraged a global jihad against the Jews, he didn’t simply say killing Jews was allowed during their Arab pogroms.

Here are his statements that the Times ignored:

Los Angeles Times, May 2001

“[Suicide bombings] are heroic martyrdom operations, and the heroes who carry them out … are driven by an overwhelming desire to cast terror and fear into the hearts of the oppressors.“

AFP, June 2001

“These martyr operations led by the Palestinian fighters against Israel spring from resistance and all Muslims who kill to defend their land, honor and religion are martyrs.”

Al Jazeera, January 2009:

  • “Allah lies in wait for [Jews], and He will not forsake [Islam]. He will not allow [Jews] to continue to spread corruption in the land. We wait for the revenge of Allah to descend upon them, and, Allah willing, it will be by our own hands…This is my message to the treacherous Jews, who have never adhered to what is right.“
  • “Oh Allah, take your enemies, the enemies of Islam. Oh Allah, take the Jews, the treacherous aggressors. Oh Allah, take this profligate, cunning, arrogant band of people. Oh Allah, they have spread much tyranny and corruption in the land. Pour Your wrath upon them.“
  • “Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the [Jews] people who would punish them for their corruption. The last punishment was carried out by Hitler. By means of all the things he did to them – even though they [the Jews] exaggerated this issue – he [Hitler] managed to put them in their place. This was divine punishment for them.“

The Atlantic, February 2011

  • “The conquerors [of Palestine, the Jews] are those with the greatest enmity toward the believers [Muslims], and they are supported by the strongest state on earth – the USA, and by the world Jewish community.“
  • “The least the Muslim can do is to boycott the enemies’ goods.”
  • “Receiving enemies in our own countries and visiting them in the occupied lands would remove such a psychological barrier that keeps us away from them, and would bridge the gap that keeps the desire for Jihad against them kindled in the hearts of the Ummah.”
  • “We believe that the battle between us and the Jews is coming … Such a battle is not driven by nationalistic causes; it is rather driven by religious incentives. This battle … is between Muslims and Jews… This battle will occur between the collective body of Muslims and the collective body of Jews.“
  • “It [is] obligatory upon every Muslim wherever he is to defend Jerusalem, and al-Aqsa Mosque. This is an obligation upon all Muslims to participate in defending Jerusalem with their souls, money, and all that they possess, otherwise a punishment from Allah shall descend on the whole nation.“

The New York Times recast a man who praised Hitler’s annihilation of European Jewry and sought a violent religious war of 1.8 billion Muslims against a paltry 15 million Jews, as simply a supporter of the second Palestinian “intifada.” It is a vile recasting of sickening Muslim jihadi anti-Semitism as supporting violent Palestinian national aspirations.

Shame on the Times anti-Semitism washing. #NoAntisemitismWashing

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Criticizing Muslim Antisemitism is Not Islamophobia

80 Years After Wannsee Conference, Arab/Muslim Anti-Semitism Dominates

BBC Welcomes Release of British Muslim Accused of Beheading Daniel Pearl

Examining Ilhan Omar’s Point About Muslim Antisemitism

Yeshiva University – And Modern Orthodoxy – Are Non-Binary

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Yeshiva University is in a lawsuit with some of its gay students in a case about discrimination that rose to the Supreme Court, and is hurting its reputation among progressives. Yet the case has nothing to do with discrimination, as it is about the inherent non-binary nature of modern Orthodoxy, something the progressive and LGBT community should understand.

A Modern Orthodox Institution

Yeshiva University is the flagship university of modern Orthodoxy in the world. Founded in New York City in 1886, the school has grown considerably, and now consists of three undergraduate schools – Yeshiva College for Men, Stern College for Women, and the Sy Syms School of Business – and numerous graduate schools.

While the entire university operates under a mission statement of providing an excellent education coupled with strong ethical and moral values, the undergraduate schools have a particular dual curriculum which stresses “the timeless teachings of Torah“, the Hebrew Bible and associated texts. The students learn Talmud, Mishnah, the Old Testament, the Prophets and various other texts for several hours every morning before focusing on secular studies. The long morning sessions are often rounded out by students with “night seder“, where they continue to study the ancient texts.

All of the discussions and classes are done through a modern Orthodox lens. Even beyond the school walls, the school posts old and new classes (shiurim) online on its YUTorah.org website for students, alumni and others. Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchick (1903-1993) has 525 classes on the site and Rabbi Dr. Aharon Lichtenstein (1933-2015) has 465. The rabbis are all modern Orthodox, many of whom were ordained at the university’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), its rabbinical school. The school even has a rabbinic placement office where it places rabbis in modern Orthodox schools and synagogues around the world.

The school acts as much more than a school for young Jews: it is very much part of the global modern Orthodox world.

No one questions the religious orientation of the school. Its mission statement is clearly laid out: “At Yeshiva University, our mission, Torah Umadda, is to bring wisdom to life through all that we teach, by all that we do and for all those we serve.” The phrase, “Torah Umadda” means Jewish commandments together with worldly knowledge. The term is emblazoned on the university’s logo in Hebrew, atop an outline of a Torah.

All Backgrounds Are Welcome

While the school is modern Orthodox, it does not limit admission to only Jews of that denomination. The Judaic part of the program has four tracks, enabling the students to find a level of study appropriate for their background and interest. For example, the James Striar School is designed “for students less familiar with Hebrew language and textual study.“

Students who attend the school typically come from modern Orthodox high schools and families but not exclusively. All of the students understand that regardless of their backgrounds, the school is run as a modern Orthodox institution. For example, while some students may not be strictly kosher in their homes, they will only find kosher foods in the school cafeteria. Even if they do not observe the Sabbath in their homes, they will be expected to do so in the dormitories.

The students have a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities which specifically calls out freedom of expression, association and from discrimination:

  • “Students have the right to examine and exchange diverse ideas, consistent with the mission of the University, in an orderly, respectful and lawful manner inside and outside the classroom.”
  • “Students have the right to associate and interact freely with other individuals, groups of individuals, organizations and institutions in a manner that does not infringe on the rights of others or interfere with the mission of the University.“
  • “Students who are otherwise qualified have the right to participate fully in the University community without discrimination as defined by federal, state and local law.“

As seen in the selection above, students’ rights are protected, as long as they are consistent with the mission of the university, which is infused and directed by the modern Orthodox interpretation of the Torah. That is further qualified by being able to participate in the community, without discrimination as defined by U.S. law.

LGBT Students

As described above, all students are welcomed at the university. The YU student body does not exclude people because of race, religious denomination, sexual orientation, disability or any other feature. The school has LGBT students and faculty and everyone is allowed to participate in all activities. There is no activity that is open to straight or cisgender students that is not available to others.

The LGBT students at Yeshiva have a club called the Pride Alliance. It is a student run club that decided it wanted to become an officially recognized club by the university, which would enable it to have a small budget and access to email addresses and school facilities. The school declined to give the club official status because it viewed the club’s mission as not in concert with the university’s mission as a modern Orthodox institution. It would have denied officially recognizing the club if straight cisgender students applied for the LGBT club as well. The university rejected the club, not the students.

As there is no bias against any individual in the university, there is no basic argument for discrimination. Any claim for discrimination would therefore rest on an argument that the university singled out the LGBT club while permitting other similar clubs to get official recognition.

Club Recognition and a Torah Mission

The university mission rests on the modern Orthodox interpretation of the 613 mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah. The list is commonly broken down into 248 positive commandments (like honor one’s parents) and 365 negative commandments (do not commit adultery).

The 365 negative commandments include many related to idol worship, to defiling the Temple and religious holidays, financial matters and sexual relationships. The school does not endorse any club that runs afoul of these negative commandments.

For example, if students asked for official recognition of a shatnez club (garments made from wool and linen), the school would decline based on the Torah (Leviticus 19:20). If a group of students wanted to arrange a ghost and sorcery club, the school would have blocked its establishment (Leviticus 19:32, 20:6, 20:27). Similarly for cross-dressing (Deuteronomy 22:5) and various forms of incest (Leviticus 20:10-21).

Some progressive members of the Orthodox community argue that the prohibition in Leviticus 18:22 “Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abhorrence,” relates to male-male sexual relationships only, and has nothing to do with lesbians or passively being gay. As such, the school should allow the club if it abstains from discussing or promoting gay sexual relationships.

That solution is problematic on multiple levels.

The school does not monitor student clubs. Should it allow the club but insist on monitoring it, that action could actually run afoul of U.S. discrimination laws, as the school would uniquely be singling out the club for oversight. If the university just allowed the lesbian club at the women’s school, it might also run afoul of discrimination according to U.S. law, allowing a club for one gender but not the other.

The university’s approach has been to follow the same guidelines it expects from its students: “to associate and interact freely with other individuals, groups of individuals, organizations and institutions in a manner that does not infringe on the rights of others or interfere with the mission of the University.”

Is Yeshiva University Religious or Secular?

The legal case about discrimination seems very straight-forward, which begs why the courts did not dismiss the case quickly in favor of the university.

In June 2022, New York Judge Lynn Kotler said that the university is chartered as a secular organization and is therefore subject to the city’s human rights law barring discrimination based on sexual orientation. The court also said the university offers too many secular degrees to qualify for religious exemptions, and therefore the school must recognize the LGBT club.

Kotler is technically correct that the school did check off the secular box in its charter. However, the choice before the institution was binary, either secular of religious. Had there been a third choice of both, the school would definitely have chosen that, as consistent with its mission of Torah Umaddah, Jewish religious teaching and worldly knowledge.

The non-binary position of YU should be abundantly recognizable to progressives and the LGBT community. The LGBT Foundation has a page on its website for “Non-Binary Inclusion.” It is used for individuals who do not feel that the discrete choices of male/female apply to them: “Non-binary people feel their gender identity cannot be defined within the margins of gender binary. Instead, they understand their gender in a way that goes beyond simply identifying as either a man or woman.“

In a similar way, while secular Jews feel comfortable with the ‘secular’ label and ultra Orthodox / Haredi Jews like to be called ‘religious’, the modern Orthodox community does not fit neatly into either camp. It is both at the same time.

That fact is abundantly clear to the courts which are taking the narrow view of how the institution chose to designate itself according to the U.S. courts’ rigid charter choices, rather than acknowledging the reality that YU is both secular and religious, and cannot be compelled to officially recognize a club that is not in keeping with its reading of religious texts.

Progressive Activists Within Modern Orthodoxy

While the courts should be expected to ultimately understand the non-binary nature of YU, the LGBT students at YU know this better than anyone. Not only were they enrolled in an institution that lives the combined worlds of secular and religious everyday, many of the students live with their own duality of their sexual orientation within the university’s particular duality, like nested matryoshka dolls.

While it is undoubtedly understood, the progressive modern Orthodox community is looking to break the LGBT taboo.

While many non-Orthodox rabbis have begun to recognize gay weddings over the past few years, almost all Orthodox rabbis still do not officiate. Some progressive modern Orthodox rabbis have been trying to dance the line, congratulating gay couples from the synagogue bima, and some attend the wedding services, even when not officiating, in an attempt to welcome the individuals.

By pushing this matter in the courts, the LGBT and progressive communities are trying to force the entire modern Orthodox community to officially recognize the legitimacy of their relationships. It is a outcome that some in the modern Orthodox community are comfortable doing on a secular basis but almost all cannot on a religious basis.

Even more immediate and pressing, a great many socially-conservative members of the modern Orthodox community are appalled that the LGBT students have gone to the U.S. courts to force such a matter, and the progressive members of the community are angered at YU’s stance, as they would like to see a change in the community to accept such unions.

The New York and/or the Supreme Court will most likely decide in favor of YU in this case and that discrete matter will be settled. But the Jewish community must get past their internal anger and grievances on this topic, and appreciate that the modern Orthodox community is itself non-binary, and afford the rabbis and religious institutions the same grace and space it readily gives to non-binary individuals.

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