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Hate is hate.
Except when that hate targets Jews.
Then it’s legitimate complaint.
Like when you try to burn down a synagogue because you’re angry at Israel.
And don’t you dare call it antisemitism!
We saw that a few years ago when a German court affirmed a ruling that synagogue arson is not anti-Semitic. The case was about 3 men “of Palestinian descent” in July 2014. After the end-of-Ramadan celebration, they threw Molotov cocktails at a synagogue, resulting in minimal damage and no injuries.
The 3 men testified they were high on marijuana — apparently they were just a little ahead of their time. But as it turned out, they did not have to claim diminished capacity. The court ruled there was no antisemitic motive because the men claimed they were taking out their anger on Israel because of the war with Gaza and didn’t intend to hurt anyone.
Considering what has been going on in Jewish communities these past weeks, maybe these men were a little ahead of their time with this excuse as well.
Now, last month, Jewish houses of worship were again targets for vandals who ostensibly are reacting to events in the Middle East. On May 12, it was reported that Israeli flags were burned in front of 2 synagogues in Germany and the words “Free Palestine” were spray-painted on a synagogue in Spain.
Meanwhile, in the US, the words “Free Palestine” were sprayed outside a synagogue in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during protests against the police shooting of Jacob Blake in August 2020. An excuse offered this time was that the synagogue brought the attack upon itself by “blurring the lines” when it flies an Israeli flag.
Jews just have to be careful how they express themselves.
Jewish — and only Jewish — identity has to make sure it does not draw attention to itself.
And that goes for their synagogues too.
What about other synagogues?
Did they “blur the line”?
Did the Jews of the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh blur the line between acceptable and non-acceptable expression of Jewishness and invite that massacre?
How about the Poway Synagogue shooting?
Should we check to make sure there was no Israeli flag outside the synagogue, egging the shooters on?
A 2019 article in Haaretz lists these and other attacks on synagogues:
– Attempted arson at the Anshe Sholom Bnai Israel congregation in Chicago
– Similar attacks on Chabad Houses in Massachusetts
– An arson attack in the West Rogers Park section of Chicago (where 2 visibly Orthodox Jews were shot dead the previous year, possibly by the same gunman)
But if synagogues should not display Israeli flags with Jewish stars, is it at least OK for Jews to wear Jewish stars?
Not if they want to be normal.
Romance novelist Casey McQuiston has a line in her 2019 novel “Red,White & Royal Blue” where the president jokes that the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations “said something idiotic about Israel, and now I have to call Netanyahu and personally apologize.”
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And that one sentence got McQuiston in trouble with the Twitter mob:
A handful of Twitter users wrote that even mentioning Israel in fiction “normalizes” the occupation of Palestine. Their complaints were amplified by a fan account of the book, which prompted McQuiston to say the line would be changed for future printings. McQuiston has a new book coming out this year. [emphasis added]
So while the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco normalize relations with Israel, Israel cannot be mentioned in polite company, lest it be considered like other countries?
And even Jews cannot be accepted as normal unless they remove anything identifying them as Jews — and therefore identifiable with Israel.
Remember that rally Sarsour organized last year, inviting everyone except Zionists and cops?
On the one hand Jews are being told they are not welcome if they identify openly with Israel.
On the other hand, we have to be careful about identifying too openly as Jews.
Jews have to worry that they may be singled out and attacked when:
- wearing a Star of David
- wearing a kippah
- speaking Hebrew
- Having mezuzahs
The “progressive” left has been working overtime to define what Israel is.
They are also working on ‘helping’ Jews define themselves.
Are they undermining Jews in order to undermine Israel?
Or are they undermining Israel in order to undermine Jews?
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