The New Furies of the Oldest Hatred:  Peter Savotnik, Bari Weiss, Substack, May 21, 2021

“The furies have been unleashed. They were everywhere you looked these past two weeks, though you won’t read about them much in the papers.”

We saw them on Thursday, when pro-Palestinian protesters threw an explosive device into a crowd of Jews in New York’s Diamond District. 

We saw them on Wednesday, when two men were attacked outside a bagel shop in midtown Manhattan.

We saw them on Tuesday, at a sushi restaurant in West Hollywood, when a group of men draped in keffiyehs asked the diners who was Jewish, and then pummeled them. And in a parking lot not far away, when two cars draped in Palestinian flags roared after an Orthodox man fleeing for his life. And in the story of the American soccer player Luca Lewis, cornered by a band of men in New York demanding to know if he was a Jew. 

Then there was the caravan careening through Jewish neighborhoods in North London carrying people screaming: “Fuck the Jews! Rape their daughters!” 

And the rabbi, outside London, who was hospitalized after being attacked by two teenagers. 

And the demonstrator in Vienna shouting, “Shove your Holocaust up your ass!” — the crowd of young people, mostly women, cheering. 

The Jews Lied to Me at Summer Camp!; Suzy Weiss, Tablet, May 21, 2021

“In this new telling, our Jewish day schools, our summer camps, our synagogues, and youth groups were all well-oiled lie and propaganda machines covering up the dark truth about the Jewish nation: namely, that Israel is a villainous colonial project that is barbarous toward its true natives and probably the worst abuser of human rights in the world.”

There’s a new line of thinking going around within the American Jewish circles I find myself in (young, urban, mostly progressive). It’s memeified, infographic-heavy, and shared in viral Twitter threads. It goes like this: Young Jews have been lied to about Israel by our families and our communities.

It says that our Jewish day schools, our summer camps, our synagogues, and our youth groups intentionally told us something untrue: that the state of Israel is beyond reproach; that when the country was established it was on barren, empty land; that the Palestinian people are nothing but a band of bloodthirsty terrorists. This line of thought maintains that, while we were raised to think Israel is good and gentle, a Jewish safe space, in truth the country is actually evil and committing myriad war crimes, and it’s, like, totally apartheid. In this new telling, our Jewish day schools, our summer camps, our synagogues, and youth groups were all well-oiled lie and propaganda machines covering up the dark truth about the Jewish nation: namely, that Israel is a villainous colonial project that is barbarous toward its true natives and probably the worst abuser of human rights in the world.

How Many Jews Need to Be Attacked in America Before Progressives Speak Up? | Opinion; Steffi Kogan, Newsweek, May 21, 2021

“At least, it was in Israel and Gaza. But around the world, Jews were paying the price.”

Perhaps it’s fitting that May is Jewish American Heritage Month. After all, despite our success in America and the richness and beauty of our faith and culture, there may be no more consistent part of our heritage as Jews than to be violently attacked, viciously demeaned, and utterly disregarded as we cry out for support. In that respect, some of our fellow Americans have been doing an excellent job marking the month.

On May 10, after years of relative quiet between Israel and Gaza, the Hamas terrorists who rule that enclave exploited a long-running legal dispute in Jerusalem as a pretext to launch a barrage of rockets at Israel, unprecedented in its size. The Israel Defense Forces responded with air strikes to knock out terror targets, and one of those micro-wars that periodically spring up in this conflict ensued. As of Thursday night, May 20, a ceasefire had begun; the worst of the fighting is hopefully over.

Media Silence: Hamas Rockets Prevent Israel-approved Aid From Entering Gaza, Honest Reporting

15 Israel-related Whoppers:  David Harris, The Times of Israel, May 22, 2021

“Unable or unwilling to distinguish between a terrorist organization, Hamas, seeking Israel’s destruction, and a democratic country trying to deny the group’s wish, they went for the jugular.”

As Hamas fired deadly missiles at Israel for 11 straight days, Israel’s critics fired one verbal salvo after another.

Unable or unwilling to distinguish between a terrorist organization, Hamas, seeking Israel’s destruction, and a democratic country trying to deny the group’s wish, they went for the jugular.

Here are 15 of the most memorably outrageous accusations:

• Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, discussing Israel’s actions in Gaza on CNN, stated, “They’re losing the media war despite their connections…” CNN anchor Bianna Golodryga laudably pushed back, “What are their connections?” The minister laughed and said, “Deep pockets.” The anchor followed up: “What does that mean?” The minister replied, “Well, they’re very influential people, they control media.” (May 20)

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For Further Reference

Responding to Senator Bernie Sanders:  David Harris, The Times of Israel, May 16, 2021 — In The New York Times (May 14), U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders wrote an essay entitled “The U.S. Must Support an Evenhanded Approach in the Middle East” (and, unusually, 24 hours later, retitled “The U.S. Must Stop Being an Apologist for the Netanyahu Government”).

With Israel under Attack, Watch for Progressive Anti-Semitism | Opinion:  Abraham Cooper and Johnnie Moore, Newsweek, May 13, 2021 — When George Washington wrote to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island, in 1790, he declared that America should give “bigotry no sanction.”

Militia-Like Pro-Palestinian Gangs Attack Jews Across US, West – Analysis:  Seth J. Frantzman, Jerusalem Post, May 24, 2021 — Attacks on Jews from London to California now appear to revolve around a series of systematic assaults by groups of pro-Palestinian men organized in militia-like groups. 

Five Leading US Jewish Groups Send Letter To Biden Calling For Action On anti-Semitism:  Benjamin Kerstein, WIN, May 23, 2021 — Five of America’s largest and most prominent Jewish organizations sent a letter on Friday to President Joe Biden asking for immediate action on anti-Semitism, as hate crimes against Jews have skyrocketed over the past two weeks amid the backdrop of the conflict between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group.

Canada’s Jewish Students Feel ‘Deluge’ Of Hate On Social Media:  Ellin Bessner, The CJN, May 21, 2021 — Rafi Matchen was at his family home in Thornhill, Ont. Thursday evening when he learned that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire that would go into effect later that night.

German Police Downplaying Antisemitism From Muslim Community, Say Experts, Following Latest Outburst of Jew Hatred: Ben Cohen, Algemeiner, May 21, 2021 —  Antisemitic acts committed by Muslims or left-wing activists are under-represented in the records of the German police, Germany’s top antisemitism official has admitted, amid continuing antisemitic demonstrations in German cities sparked by the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas.