The massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh horrified me and many others — 11 worshippers killed by a gunman shouting vicious anti-Semitic hatred. Overt acts of anti-Semitism are on the rise in the United States. The ADL reported an almost 60 percent increase in incidents last year.
The use of anti-Semitism in political campaigns is also on the rise. A Republican political ad in Minnesota portrayed George Soros, a well-known Jewish investor and philanthropist, as a shadowy figure “controlling” the Democratic candidate. Other political and media figures have accused Soros of everything from “rigging” the election and controlling the U.S. State Department, to funding the immigrant caravan from Honduras! This public hate speech led to a pipe bomb being sent to his home.
This is the classic way that anti-Semitism has been used for centuries — blame Jews in order to redirect the legitimate anger of working people about their exploitation by the wealthy and powerful. In this case, the Republicans recently passed a tax bill that transfers more wealth to the wealthy, and they are threatening working people’s health care and social security. Blaming Jews, as well as immigrants and black people, for society’s problems, and manipulating the public’s sentiments of anti-Semitism and racism, is a strategy for protecting the greed and power of the 1 percent, and dividing those who seek justice.
Many of us have become familiar with coded racism in recent years, noting the power of words such as “welfare queens,” “law and order,” “states’ rights,” “freeloaders,” “inner-city crime,” and “illegal aliens” to trigger people’s racial fears, resentments and biases.
Similarly, we must become aware of coded anti-Semitism and the way that words such as “globalist,” “elitist” and “international cabal” are used to refer to Jews, and both signal and trigger anti-Jewish sentiments.
Many good people have stood up as allies to Jews in the aftermath of this horrible shooting. Now we allies need to hone our skills at recognizing anti-Semitism and speak out against it everywhere. This will be vital to ensuring that anti-Semitism cannot take root in our communities, and to winning justice for everyone.
Russ Vernon-Jones
Amherst