| |
”An internet announcement is troubling, but the idea of Jews cowering in response and the
mainstreaming of antisemitism by the corporate media is the real problem.”
(Ref. 1)
Far-right hate groups have got the Jewish community scared and, in many cases, with good reason.
After the murderous synagogue shootings in Pittsburgh in 2018 and Poway in 2019, extremist anti-Semitic hate ceased being
just a theoretical problem.
Random viral videos of hateful acts and speech, vandalism as well as those public events in which
white supremacists and their allies are able to generate publicity - like the August 2017 neo-Nazi “Unite the Right” rally
in Charlottesville, Va. - have all combined to create the impression that such groups not only present a credible threat to
Jewish security but that they have considerable support.
In this context, the effort by a network of neo-Nazi groups to promote a “National Day of Hate”
aimed at harassing and threatening Jews on Saturday, 25 February 2023 attracted the notice of both the organized Jewish
world as well as law enforcement throughout the U.S.
But, in the end, thankfully, nothing actually happened on that day.
The problem with the worries about the existence of these groups and threats like the one
surrounding the “Day of Hate” is twofold.
First, we have the spectacle of Jews responding with fear rather than resolve to directly confront
the neo-Nazis. This gives these vile creatures an undeserved victory. Second, is the largely misleading
impression that such outliers are a major force in American society. This helps obscure a more important challenge: the
daily mainstreaming of anti-Semitic hate from the intersectional left by leading media outlets, and the way Jew-hatred has
become normative in much of the Muslim and African-American communities.
Although the “Day of Hate” did not turn out the way it was feared, the sad truth is that the furor
it generated had to be counted as a success for hate groups even before the start of that Saturday.
By generating such publicity and alarm, the neo-Nazis demonstrated their ability to project the
false impression of strength that their paltry numbers and utter lack of mainstream support should have prevented them
from attaining.
We already know that, these days, the Internet and social media have given extremists of all stripes
tools they lacked before these modern tools of propaganda existed.
Though they remain the primary focus of the efforts to counter anti-Semitism on the part of various
Jewish organizations, there is no evidence that the number of those involved in white-supremacist or neo-Nazi groups is great.
On the contrary, they appear to have only a tiny number of actual supporters. However, their ability to bring together small,
isolated and disparate cells of extremists makes them seem not only louder but more numerous.
Indeed, all it takes is for an individual to post a video of a few of them acting out their hateful
beliefs, even if it involves nothing more than waving a sign or yelling insults on a street corner to freak out a community
that is primed to believe that such outliers are a major threat to Jewish life in America.
Worse, the entirely justified efforts of police to step up protection of Jewish institutions in
response to the Internet threats of a day of hate allows those involved to both claim a public-relations triumph and to
further depict Jews as cowering in fear in response to what almost always prove to be empty threats.
A proper response to this sort of internet-inspired attempt at intimidation is for Jews to choose to
gather on that day specifically to demonstrate their contempt for anti-Semites and solidarity in the face of such threats.
American Jews need to demonstrate a healthy unwillingness to be terrorized by a tiny cadre of neo-Nazis. Americans, in
general, need to mostly ignore these miserable creatures and ensure they do not receive the undeserved attention that they
seek.
Sadly, anti-Semitism is today not only practiced by extremist groups such as those calling for
"A Day of Hate”, but also by those less inclined to extremist actions. The demonization of Israel and its supporters in
mainstream political discourse and in national publications and broadcast networks are so commonplace as to become routine.
In academia or even in popular culture, the acceptance of toxic left-wing ideologies rooted in intersectional myths about
Jews being the embodiment of “white privilege” who assist in the oppression of “Palestinian” people and people of color is
rarely even challenged.
Such charges have the support of many progressives with real political clout.
A Jewish community that is petrified about vague threats from politically isolated extremists but is
largely indifferent to anti-Semitism throughout American society is one that needs to revisit its priorities. Likewise,
all Americans need to see anti-Semitic extremists for what they are – blowhards and cowards. Calls for “Days of Hate” and
other similar attempts to gain attention should mostly be ignored unless credible evidence is available to necessitate
action. When a spoiled child cries for attention, we don’t respond by rewarding that child with the undeserved attention
he/she is seeking.[1]
In February of 2023, several schools in Massachusetts received phoned-in shooting threats.
Authorities investigated what Massachusetts State Police described as false “swatting calls” across the
country.
Early in the morning, a threat came into Boston Police about a possible shooter on his/her way
to a Boston school. Police searched the school but nothing suspicious was found. Similar threats were made at East Boston
High, and in Amesbury where police say they got a call about a man with a gun near the high school, and what sounded like
gunshots could be heard in the background. “Officers went door to door ensuring all the students were safe and secure in
their classrooms,” said the Amesbury police chief.
It’s believed these were all swatting incidents, prank calls that send swarms of police to a
specific location. Just a week earlier, schools in Vermont and Michigan were targeted as well, with fake calls also
threatening school violence.
Nobody was injured, but it did bring the school day to a halt. In a statement, Boston’s school
superintendent said in part, that these calls created anxiety and stress. There were similar pranks that day at schools in
Westfield, North Attleboro and Chelmsford.[2]
It's evident that phoned-in threats are nearly all hoaxes. We constantly
hear/read/see about anonymous threats being made. How many of these threats turn out to be real? My personal observation is:
ESSENTIALLY NONE! Nearly all actual shootings and bombings take place without any prior warning! I have yet to see any
statistics that show a correlation between warnings and actual shooting/bombing occurrences.
Did the perpetrator of the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 call in a warning before he detonated the
bomb? – NO!
Did the perpetrator of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York City call in a warning
before he detonated his bomb? – NO!
Did the perpetrators of the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013 call in a
warning before they detonated their bombs? – NO!
Does anyone know of a mass shooting where the culprit
called in an advance warning? – I DON’T!
If a person really wanted to inflict harm, why would he/she give warning? I personally believe that
nearly all phoned-in warnings, whether for shootings or bombings, are nothing more than a desire on the part of the caller to
obtain publicity. By publicizing the threat, we are giving the hoaxer what he/she wants – PUBLICITY! Like the child taking a
temper tantrum, giving him/her what he/she wants is totally counterproductive. In retrospect, we should have given absolutely
no publicity to the scum who called for "A Day of Hate"! In the future, we should consider doing the same for all the shooting
and bomb hoaxes -
NO PUBLICITY!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References:
- How worrying was the neo-Nazi ‘Day of Hate’ stunt?, Jonathan S. Tobin, World Israel News,
25 February 2023.
- Multiple Massachusetts Schools Receive Threats Amid Swatting Calls Across the Country,
Thea DiGiammerino and Michael Rosenfield, nbcboston.com, 23 February 2023.
|
|
