by Richard Baehr
The Democratic Party
and its leader, U.S. President Barack Obama, have spent several years
developing election themes around supposed "wars" directed by
Republicans against particular segments of society.
The war talk has served
to fire up the base among the groups supposedly under attack, and
boost turnout for "progressive" candidates. The most repeated and
ridiculous of the war themes is the alleged "war on women," supposedly
manifested most recently by challenges to the new contraceptive
coverage mandate under Obamacare by owners of businesses opposed to the
new mandate on religious grounds.
Other battles in this
"war" include Republicans refusing to support "equal pay for equal
work" for women workers, though virtually all of the alleged pay gap
can be explained
as having nothing to do with discrimination: "The [American
Association of University Women] has now joined ranks with serious
economists who find that when you control for relevant differences
between men and women (occupations, college majors, length of time in
workplace) the wage gap narrows to the point of vanishing."
There are other wars
the Obama administration is fighting at home, now that it has withdrawn
from pretty much all the real global conflicts, many of which have
become uglier in light of the vacuum created by the increasing absence
of an American presence in the Middle East. The recent flare-up in
Ferguson, Missouri, after an 18-year-old black man was shot by a white
police officer, was used to argue that there is a war in America by
white cops against black men. Although blacks comprise only 13 percent
of the population, they commit or are the victims in about half of all
murders in America, almost all of which are black-on-black murders. Yet
blacks represent barely 30 percent of those killed by police. In
addition, more than half of the shootings and killings of black
suspects were by black police.
If anything, one might argue there is a war on white suspects in
America, since they are disproportionately killed compared to the
number of murders whites commit.
The fake wars dominate
media coverage of campaigns, not a surprise, since well over 90 percent
of Washington journalists support Democrats according to several
surveys, and see their job as a way to advance the causes and
candidates they believe in. Nonetheless, there are actual campaigns, if
not wars, against groups in America that never see the light of day,
and whose various fronts are never connected. One of these, and in some
ways, an ominous, and dangerous new development, has been the
beginnings of what might be called a war on Jews in America.
Jewish history in
America has, by and large, been a very good one, especially compared to
the Jewish experience in any other place on the globe at any time
(other than modern Israel). Nonetheless, for many years, when the FBI
compiles a list of hate crimes by groups, Jews are always atop the list
of those targeted for their religion (66 percent of all cases in one
recent year, though Jews are only 2 percent of the population). Jews
are also targeted disproportionately compared to victims from any other
group (blacks, gays, Hispanics).
When three people were
shot outside a Jewish community center near Kansas City this year, this
confirmed that Jews are targets not only for Middle Easterners or
Muslims in America, but also by the far Right. Hating Jews makes for
strange bedfellows.
In the last two months,
during which Israel's third war with Hamas occurred, the ferocity of
hatred toward Jews has risen to unprecedented levels in America.
Several pro-Israel demonstrators in various cities were attacked by
Muslim counter-demonstrators, with the attacks occurring from coast to
coast (Seattle to Boston). In the past weeks, we have these charming
incidents:
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In New York, a married Jewish couple was attacked with the man (wearing a kippah) beaten by Middle Eastern men who exited cars and motorcycles on the ritzy Upper East Side of Manhattan (the cars were decked out with Palestinian flags), with insults and death threats screamed at the victims.
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At Temple University, a Jewish student involved with the media monitoring group CAMERA was assaulted by a student with the group Students for Justice in Palestine, just the latest in a long line of vile incidents associated with this rapidly growing and viciously anti-Semitic organization. Like all groups on campus that target Israel and attempt to shut off debate on the issue, SJP has some Jewish members, which in their eyes may serve to give them a clean bill of health on the anti-Semitism charge. The reality is that the presence of Jewish SPJ members, as well as those in Jewish Voices for Peace, serves to expose how toxic and conformist the Jewish Left has become, with individuals primarily interested in earning the respect of their Jew-hating colleagues for their breaking from the pro-Israel crowd.
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In Miami, a visiting rabbi was shot and murdered on Shabbat, following a series of anti-Semitic incidents in the heavily Jewish North Miami area. While there is no suspect in custody nor a motive yet established, local police seem to be hinting it was a botched robbery, though that may be wishful thinking.
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Then there was this Los Angles incident, which has been repeated in cities across the county in recent weeks -- where anti-Semitic insults and threats were screamed at Jewish residents.
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An American ISIS supporter, now in captivity, threatened to blow up a "Zionist" day care center. In other words, if Jews are part of something, it becomes Zionist, and a target.
The reports of violence
directed against Jews in France, the Netherlands, Britain, Belgium,
Germany, Sweden and other charming European locales in recent weeks,
are not a great surprise. These incidents have been occurring for
years, and there were many violent attacks before the Gaza war,
especially in France and Sweden. These countries are filling up with
Muslims, as immigration continues at high levels, and the birthrate of
the native population declines as its population ages. When 16 percent
of Frenchmen in a survey this week told a pollster they supported ISIS,
that gives you a floor on the real Muslim numbers in the country, not
the 10 percent claimed by the government.
American Jews and
elected officials have condemned the violence against Jews in Europe,
but been very cautious about sounding any alarms in the United States.
Obama has not spoken between rounds of golf about any new problem in
this area, and Attorney-General Eric Holder is too busy visiting
Ferguson and filing lawsuits against communities for racial
discrimination or religious discrimination against Muslims to take notice.
The number of Muslims
in America has risen by over 50 percent in the last decade to around 3
million, now 1 percent of the population. In 15 years, their numbers
are expected to double, given the number of legal immigrants expected
during this period based on family reunification or refugee status.
With the Jewish population having flat-lined for 60 years at 6 million,
the relative political influence of the two groups will change rapidly
and converge. The Democrats, the party of minorities, have the winds
of demographic change at their back, and will attempt to ride these to
dominance in national politics. The concerns of Jewish Americans may
become far less critical.
In Europe, the
authorities have condemned violence against Jews and enhanced security
around Jewish institutions. But when members of the Jewish community
warn fellow members even in ostensibly friendlier countries to not
"provoke attacks" by wearing kippahs, it is well past time to head for
the exits. The authorities and the newspapers will report attacks by
"youths," with the ethnic origin of the assailants often withheld. The
Europeans are too far down the path in their commitment to the
multicultural nightmare they have brought on themselves, that
cowardice, denial, and looking away are all that are left as policy
prescriptions.
In America, the long
history of acceptance of Jews, or at least non-scary secular Jews
(evidenced nowhere more than in the high intermarriage rate, the
ultimate acceptance test), provides some comfort that there may be some
pushback against virulent and violent anti-Semitism. So too, the
deluge of illegal immigrants swamping the southern border, nothing if
not intended by the White House to create pressure on Congress for
immigration reform, or to provide an excuse for executive action ( the
law be damned), has also caused growing concern. Many American realize
that a country without borders is no longer a self-governing country,
and that the wide open borders in recent months not only allow in
fleeing Central Americans, but anybody, including potential jihadist
attackers.
The creeping growth of a
political correctness designed to shield Muslims and their actions has
not yet reached a stage where most Americans see it or are impacted.
College campuses are of course different, and pro-Israel students will
face a very trying year following the Gaza war. Young people were the
least supportive of Israel's efforts in the Gaza war in every opinion
survey. Coupled with the big money universities are earning by
admitting full paying students from the Middle East and opening
campuses in the Gulf states, the administration of universities are
more than just normally gun-shy about addressing hostility and violence
directed toward Jews on campus, mainly by Muslims. They would prefer
to think that nothing more than a serious exchange of viewpoints is on
display. What is happening on campuses is a warning for where America
is headed. And where it is headed is the European model, where Muslim
numbers and threats begin to dictate policy, and make Jewish security
and safety no longer a given. Call it a war on Jews, if you like.
Richard Baehr
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=9805
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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