Following a few bloody weeks in the New York/New Jersey area, there has finally been some outcry over the spate of anti-Semitic attacks on the Jews living there. The belatedness of this outcry can be attributed to the fact that the Democrats in the area are having a tough time finding a way to blame President Trump. Attacks on Jews do not matter unless the attackers fit a beneficial political narrative. It is time to change that.
This is nothing new. In November, the FBI released its Hate Crime Report for 2018. It found that of the 1,617 incidents of anti-religious hate crimes, 56.9% were against Jews. These incidents went mostly without notice, and The New York Times reported why. “If anti-Semitism bypasses consideration as a serious problem in New York,” they reported in October 2018, “it is to some extent because it refuses to conform to an easy narrative with a single ideological enemy. During the past 22 months, not one person caught or identified as the aggressor in an anti-Semitic hate crime has been associated with a far right-wing group...” If the attacks cannot be contributed to a “right-wing group,” then they are not worth reporting. The Times continued, “...obviously, white supremacists are driving anti-Semitic rhetoric online.” The Times is either unaware of the anti-Semitism of the left, like Louis Farrakhan or Linda Sarsour, or they consider those people “white supremacists.”
When the attacks occurred at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh and the Chabad of Poway, a national conversation about anti-Semitism took place. This could have been hopeful for the American Jewish community. Those who believed that Democrats and the media cared about dead Jews were sadly mistaken, as the only thing they care about is the race and political affiliations of the shooters. Both shooters were white and racist, so the media and Democrats could attempt to link them to President Trump and Republicans. When the attackers do not fit that description, the story fades away.
This became abundantly clear when the supermarket in Jersey City was shot up by Black Hebrew Israelites. When Joan Terrell, elected member of the Jersey City Board of Education, posted a vitriolic and hate-filled rant blaming the Jewish community for the shooters targeting them, she had no regrets. “Where was all this faith and hope when Black homeowners were threatened, intimidated, and harassed by I WANT TO BUY YOUR HOUSE brutes of the Jewish community?” Terrell wrote. According to Terrell’s logic, since religious Jews moved into a black neighborhood, they deserved to be shot.
The media, after Jersey City, were no better. When a white shooter attacks a black church, that is national news for weeks, as it should be. There is discussion about racism, guns, and everything in between. Once the Jersey City shooters were identified as non-whites, the national news story faded away. Even when it was revealed that the original target of the shooters were 50 Jewish schoolchildren in the building next door, that was unworthy of national attention.
After Jersey City, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, in a moment of either ignorance or malice, tweeted, “This tragically confirms that a growing pattern of violent anti-Semitism has now turned into a crisis for our nation. And now this threat has reached the doorstep of New York City.” De Blasio is either lying, or too stupid to know that anti-Semitic attacks have occurred in the city that he is the mayor of for years. Then in the wake of the Monsey attacks over Chanukah, de Blasio had the audacity to blame President Trump. “An atmosphere of hate has been developing in this country over the last few years,” de Blasio said. “A lot of it is emanating from Washington, and it’s having an effect on all of us.” So even when the attackers are not white Trump supporters, it’s Trump’s fault.
De Blasio’s blame of Trump is joined by another failed presidential candidate, Eric Swalwell. Writing for the left-wing Jewish publication, The Forward, Swalwell’s headline screams “We Must Hold Trump Accountable For Embracing Anti-Semitism.” He then equated attacks on political enemies, like George Soros and Michael Bloomberg, with the shootings in Pittsburgh and Poway. If criticizing a political opponent who is Jewish is considered anti-Semitic, then every single Democrat who said anything negative about Ben Shapiro, for example, is a rabid anti-Semite. Since that is clearly not true, the only alternative explanation is that anti-Semitism is being used as the hammer against Trump, instead of being taken as a serious threat.
In general, crime is not a serious consideration in New York anymore. The city and state laws that have been pushed in 2019 are releasing suspects without bail, even offering them gift cards and Mets tickets as incentives to come back for the appointed court dates. On Friday, a Flatbush woman cursed at and punched three Orthodox women between the ages of 22 and 31. She was released on Saturday without having to pay any bail. This is due to the state’s new no-cash bail laws, which Mayor de Blasio decided to implement in New York City earlier than the January 1 start date. The woman was black, which only matters because when the attacker is non-white, the story fades quickly. The same woman was arrested in another assault Sunday night. In the last week there have been at least nine anti-Semitic attacks perpetrated by non-white individuals, so the media reports that the motivations are mysterious, not simply due to anti-Semitism.
This has been going on for years. When a kosher supermarket in France was attacked in 2015, Obama said that the attackers “randomly shoot a bunch of folks in a deli,” belittling the deliberate nature of the attack. When there are terrorist attacks in Israel, it is always explained by the media as a justified attack because of Israeli policies. The fact is, if the race of the attacker is driving the coverage more than the victims, you cannot claim to care about the victims. So, when the thoughts and prayers fade away within a matter of days, if not hours, when the perpetrators are non-whites, the American Jewish community will realize that nobody really cares about attacks on Jews. It is incumbent upon that same community to hold those in power accountable to protect all of their constituents, or they will be voted out of office very soon.
Moshe Hill is a political analyst who has written for The Daily Wire, the Queens Jewish Link, The Jewish Link of New Jersey and JNS.org. He is regularly featured on ‘The Josh M Show’ podcast. Subscribe to www.aHillwithaview.com for more content from Moshe Hill. Like him on Facebook at facebook.com/ahillwithaview and follow him on Twitter @TheMoHill.
