The incidents of the past few weeks have served as a stark reminder that the world remains a dangerous place to be a Jew, especially a practicing one. The murder of Lori Gilbert-Kaye at the hands of a white nationalist in a Chabad, new figures that showed 2018 to be the most dangerous for Jews in decades, and multiple other stories have garnered widespread condemnation from political, religious, and social leaders.
For several days now, Jews in Israel have been under constant fire from rockets being volleyed at them from terrorists in Gaza. Over a dozen innocent Jews have been killed, and as of this writing, there has been an average of one rocket attack every three minutes in Israel over the past 36 hours. But in this case we are not hearing the same condemnations we heard after the shooting in the Chabad. Many of the same people who came out showing righteous indignation at the terror inflicted upon synagogue worshippers are completely silent regarding rockets being fired at children, or worse, condemning Israel for responding to these deadly attacks.
Make no mistake – the terror we saw in Poway and the attacks on civilians in Israel stem from the same bigotry and anti-Semitism. The hate may manifest itself differently, those wishing evil upon Jews may have different “reasons” for their hatred, but they are all the same in that they are banal – the hatred boils down to pure anti-Semitism. So when you hear a politician condemn the Poway attacker and then turn around and attack Israel for their response in Gaza, know that such an individual is not serious about their condemnation of bigotry or of their interest in protecting Jews. Instead, they are using the spilling of Jewish blood as a political weapon to advance their own interests.
These politicians and pundits are all over the place. They invariably proclaim that they are the most pro-Semitic people you will ever find and that even questioning their commitment to the safety of Jews is offensive. But know who they are and remember them. When they come to you requesting your vote, go the other way.
