Page 34 - Jewish News_January 2022

34A January 2022 COMMENTARY

Antisemitism: Much has been done,

but more is required

By Harold M. Halpern

n October, The New York Times 2% of the population, were 57.5% of as well as other disfavored peoples. sity students exposed to antisemitism.
had a series of columns extreme- those victimized for religious bias. In the 1930s, Father Coughlin However, despite all these im-
Ily critical of Israel. I took a break Antisemitism is an ancient disease spewed antisemitism on his weekly ra- portant actions, antisemitism is on the
from writing about Israel’s domestic which has been inflicted on the Jewish dio report. He supported Hitler as did rise. Data from the Anti-Defamation
and foreign policy concerns to respond people as the “other” from time imme- Charles Lindbergh, a famous American League indicates that for the past 25
to the assertion by the paper that Israel morial. Excavation on the island of El- and international aviator. years there has been a constant 11% of
was a broken and fragmented society ephantine in Egypt in 1967 revealed the At the Evian France conference non-Jews who hold “intensely antise-
of many cultures which did not “melt” remains of a Jewish colony including a in July 1938, the United States, with mitic views.” AJC reports that 40% of
into a unified whole. letter written in 407 BCE appealing for all others, refused to accept any more American Jews, acting from fear, have
In doing so, help to rebuild a temple destroyed by Jews seeking to escape from Nazi Ger- changed their behavior to hide their
I pointed out that an anti-Jewish rampage. We all know many and Austria. Jewishness.
the “melting pot” that the history of the Jewish people is Today, the Jews of America no lon- Clearly, more must be done to end
was no longer an one of expulsions, inquisitions, mur- ger suffer from legal discrimination in this generation-to-generation cycle
enlightened pol- der, pogroms and the Shoah, in which the public sphere as we are protected of antisemitism and hate that is often
icy. It has been six million were killed. by anti-discrimination laws, but we are passed from parents to child. Schools
replaced by the Settlers of the New World did not subject to an appalling rise in antise- can do much to break down this end-
“salad bowl” con- leave behind their antisemitism. Peter mitic incidents, hate speech and crimes less chain, as young children, already
cept of integrating Stuyvesant, Dutch Governor of New across the country and on college cam- prejudiced at home, are not as hard to
Harold M. Halpern immigrants’ cul- Amsterdam (New York City), sought puses. Many colleges are fertile territo- overcome as adults. The Anne Frank
ture as part of the host country’s culture. to expel Jews as “deceitful, very re- ry for support of Boycott, Divestment Center for Mutual Respect has written
Israel and its immigrants are working pugnant and hateful enemies and blas- and Sanctions (BDS), a Palestinian that “children learn from adults how
through the acculturation process with phemers of the son of Christ.” movement seeking to delegitimize Is- to… hate and bully, but despite this”
much success, recognizing that more General Ulysses Grant during the rael’s right to exist. only 25% of states have mandated ed-
needs to be done. Civil War created order 11, which ex- Jewish coalitions have successful- ucation addressing dangers of “reli-
Israel, contrary to being a frag- pelled the “Jews as a class” of people ly advocated for governmental actions gious, racial and other hatred….” The
mented and broken country, is a vibrant from the war zone. Fortunately, it was to attack antisemitism. This includes process, it reports, “of getting legisla-
democracy in which all its citizens overruled by President Lincoln. To his the adoption by the United States, tion passed in a state is complicated but
have full equal rights protected by Is- credit, Grant regretted his action. As many states and local governments not impossible.”
rael’s Supreme Court. president, he appointed more Jews than of the working definition of antisem- We need our Jewish organizations,
Today, I turn to antisemitism and all previous presidents combined. itism as hatred toward Jews reflected national and local, to take on the dif-
hate against the “other” in the United The 1920s and ’30s were a time of by speech and physical actions against ficult task of creating a coalition of
States. Hate crimes have surged to the increasing antisemitism. Henry Ford them and/or their property, community partners of all faiths, creeds and na-
highest level in 12 years. 61.8% of the wrote that Jews were part of a “world- institutions and religious facilities. tionalities to advocate for a mandated
victims were targeted because of race wide conspiracy.” Congress, in 2004, created the po- K-12 curriculum. This will help our
or ethnicity, 20% because of sexual The 1924 immigration act severely sition of U.S. Special Envoy, to combat future generations behave with greater
orientation and 13.3% for religious limited the number of Jewish immi- antisemitism. Deborah Lipstadt, Jew- respect for equality of all regardless of
bias. Jews, despite being no more than grants from central and eastern Europe ish educator and author, was recently difference in race, religion or “other-
nominated to fill this cabinet position. ness.” If successful, Jews and all the
Congress appropriated significant minorities and “others” will be more
funds to help institutions finance safety secure and free from fear of bigotry
measures to protect their property and and hatred.
members. If not now, when?
The American Jewish Committee To those who say it is impossible,
(AJC) contacted governors and mayors let us adopt AJC’s outlook to “reimag-
across the United States to gather their ine what’s impossible.”
support to use their good offices to sup- Harold Halpern is a retired attorney
Have you ever been asked press antisemitism. residing in Lakewood Ranch. He is a
Jewish organizations – national,
board member of the American Asso-
questions about Israel state and local – spearhead programs ciation of Jewish Jurists and Lawyers
or antisemitism that and education to call out and respond and of the West Coast Chapter of the
American Jewish Committee.
to antisemitism and to support univer-
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