“A man was arrested in an antisemitic attack outside a D.C. synagogue on Sunday.” I was interested in that report. I mean, I would be interested in any such report, but I was especially interested because I once lived near that synagogue. I would see the men dance in the street, in celebration of Simchat Torah.
The report continued,
Officers arrested Brent Wood for allegedly shouting an antisemitic phrase and spraying a foul-smelling substance on two people outside the Kesher Israel Congregation on N Street in Georgetown just before 9:30 a.m.
Sources told News4 that the suspect was yelling, “Gas the Jews.”
Ah. Another entry in the annals of “Anti-Zionism, Not Antisemitism.”
• Have a look at this, in another American city, in another famous neighborhood:
The pro-Hamas mob are in NYC's West Village screaming: "NYPD, KKK, IDF, they’re all the same." pic.twitter.com/qLdqa5pZlD
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) December 19, 2023
I realize these people are hateful and dangerous. That is not to be downplayed, at all. But it also must be said: They’re as dumb as rocks.
• A message from a movie star:
Growing up in NY I was sheltered from most #antisemitism. Today what is happening- the recent 400 percent spike — is undeniable and incredibly disturbing and has to be called out and denounced by institutions and individuals. https://t.co/6EVsA57nVs
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) December 17, 2023
(Years ago, I met his late parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. What a delightful couple.)
• From the New York Times, a chilling story: “Feeling Alone and Estranged, Many Jews at Harvard Wonder What’s Next.” The opening paragraphs:
At Harvard University, the rabbi at a menorah lighting ceremony was unusually blunt.
“It pains me to have to say, sadly, that Jew hate and antisemitism is thriving on this campus,” Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi of Harvard Chabad said on Wednesday.
“Twenty-six years I’ve given my life to this community,” he said. “I’ve never felt so alone.”
• This one is very, very painful to read: “My Son Faced Antisemitism. His School Tried to Buy Our Silence.” I will quote just one paragraph:
One student, whom my son considered a friend, invited my son to sign up for his “camp” which had “great showers” — “Camp Auschwitz.” He said another Jewish classmate of theirs had already signed up.
• I want to say two things that sound contradictory: “LOL” and “Horrifying”:
Zara is a brand owned by a Spanish retail giant, but admittedly the name does sound somewhat Jewish, so naturally that attracts the Brownshirt element in Toronto. https://t.co/7Z4X9ut5g5
— David Frum (@davidfrum) December 17, 2023
• A report from the JTA begins,
When Stars of David began appearing on Jewish homes and institutions in Paris’ 10th arrondissement late last month, as well as on a Jewish woman’s home in Berlin, many were quick to bring up comparisons to the Nazi era.
But French authorities pointed to a surprising culprit: Russia.
Surprising? “Quelle surprise”? I don’t think so.
Another paragraph:
As antisemitism has spiked in Europe in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, multiple investigations have pointed to Russian involvement in stoking an already tense situation. While motives remain unclear, experts have noted that fomenting already brewing divisions and chaos in the West has been a tradition of Russia’s security services since the Cold War.
NSS. (The first initial stands for “No” and the third one stands for “Sherlock.”) (Actually, the fomenting of divisions and chaos has been a tradition of Kremlin operatives for over a century now.)