A year has passed since the awful Pittsburgh synagogue attack, the most deadly anti-Semitic attack ever on US soil. Half a year has passed since the shooting attack at the Chabad of Poway, California. What has changed? It seems only the location of the next attack.
According to a report by the Anti-Defamation League, which was published this month, at least 12 racists who adhere to an ideology of white supremacy have been arrested since the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh for allegedly threatening or perpetrating anti-Semitic attacks in the US. The report also details at least 50 other cases in which white supremacists planned to vandalize Jewish institutions. It also notes that the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the US is close to an all-time high.
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A survey conducted and published this week by the American Jewish Committee, shows that every third Jew in the United States avoids wearing Jewish symbols in public, such as a kippah, and every fourth Jew admits to avoiding public events and visiting Jewish places because they don't feel comfortable as Jews. It appears the irrational hatred for Jews, even in places where very few Jews live, is only growing. In the past six months, 12 Jews have been murdered on US soil. Anti-Semitic attacks in New York have become commonplace, an epidemic for all intents and purposes. In Brooklyn – where Jews are often easy to spot due to their clothes – harassment, provocations, arson attempts and physical violence against Jews have become daily occurrences.
The State of Israel doesn't have the authority to take action in foreign countries. But the fact that it lacks such authority doesn't mean we don't have a responsibility. As the Jewish state, any anti-Semitic incident – even if it occurs thousands of miles from our Israel's shores – is a local and domestic issue. It is incumbent upon us to display our solidarity with Jewish communities abroad and stand with them shoulder to shoulder against this scourge.
The Israeli public isn't sufficiently familiar with or interested in US Jewry. Although the younger generation of Jews in the US has distanced itself somewhat from Israel, the establishment Jewish community still ardently supports Israel. At almost every synagogue in the US, an Israeli flag flies alongside the American flag. Despite this alienation, the State of Israel has a responsibility and must redouble its efforts to reach out to these communities and forge ties of solidarity and kinship with them.
Also needed is for the government on all levels (federal, state and municipal) to adopt a policy of zero-tolerance for any form of anti-Semitism. It is our right and duty to demand far more concrete action than we've seen thus far. Anti-Semitism mustn't be met with double standards – it is just as damaging and insidious as other forms of hate and needs to receive the same resonance.
This also must be said: This is not Germany of the 1930s. We are far from that. But the difference is that now we are experienced. Our European brothers and sisters in the 1930s never imagined where the anti-Semitism would lead; today we know.
Modern anti-Semitism is different from its previous manifestations. It doesn't always wave the flags of hatred; rather, it often seeks to conceal its hatred. It doesn't always shout its views from the rooftops; treading lightly and cautiously instead. Occasionally it cloaks itself in terms and ideas that are accepted in the Western world, such as being anti-Zionist or anti-Israel. But these views are just as dangerous as their predecessors, and we must stop them at all costs. "Never again" is right here and now.
