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Behind the Aegis

(53,823 posts)
Mon Sep 11, 2017, 04:45 AM Sep 2017

(JEWISH GROUP) Swastikas and Silence

(THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!! RESPECT!)

As always, they came for the Jews.

I’m watching TV after the riots in Charlottesville. I hear that a girl died after a neo-Nazi hit her with his car, I watch Klansmen perform Nazi salutes, and I listen to reporters talk about the growing “alt-right.” I pick up my phone and scroll down social media. Everyone is talking about protecting people of color and the statements Black Lives Matter activists have made in response to the weekend’s events. As always, none of my friends are talking about anti-Semitism. I have long since stopped being surprised.

See, I’m not afraid of the neo-Nazis. There aren’t enough of them for me to feel like they pose a real threat to my well-being and everyone laughs at them anyway. What I am really, genuinely terrified of is the left’s utter refusal to acknowledge any anti-Semitism, especially when it comes from within their own ranks.

I’m Jewish. As the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, I know the importance of standing up to anti-Semitism. People seem to accept history, acknowledging that my people were the subject of hatred and genocide, but they think that’s all over. Nobody sees Jews as victims of discrimination anymore. Instead, stereotypes portray us as powerful, money-hungry, and manipulative. They say our sons are weak-willed and our daughters are indulged. People believe these claims and argue— look at all their money. How can they be oppressed? That, in itself, feeds into the oppression. If nobody stands up to oppressors, what would make them stop?

As a matter of fact, Jews experience violence at exorbitant rates. In 2015, the FBI reported that more than half of religiously-motivated hate crimes in the U.S. were committed against Jews— two and half times more than were committed against Muslims. Just last year, babies were being rushed out of Jewish Community Centers in their cots for fear of bombs. I became scared to visit my hometown because of its high Jewish population.

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