Author Topic: Anti-Semitic attacks in New Jersey leave questions, raise worries  (Read 2887 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline IsraelForever

  • Master JTFer
  • ******
  • Posts: 1834
Anti-Semitic attacks in New Jersey leave questions, raise worries
By Ronni Berke, CNN

New York (CNN) – Synagogues firebombed and defaced by graffiti. Windows smashed at shops owned by Jewish merchants. Is anti-Semitism on the rise?

The FBI is investigating a rash of anti-Semitic attacks in northern New Jersey, including the attempted murder of a rabbi after incendiary devices were thrown at his home above a synagogue.

Rabbi Nosson Schuman suffered minor burns in the incident Wednesday at Beth El Synagogue in Rutherford.

It was the fourth anti-Semitic incident in the past month in Bergen County. On January 4, a Paramus synagogue was hit by an arson attack, and in December, two temples were vandalized.

No arrests have been made. "We don't know if we're looking at one person or a group of people," said Bryan Travers of the FBI's Newark division.

In November, vandals smashed windows at five stores owned by Jewish merchants in Middlesex County.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie condemned the recent synagogue attacks. "I will not stand for it, and we will summon all necessary law enforcement resources to identify and prosecute those responsible," Christie said in a statement.

The Anti-Defamation League, which catalogs anti-Semitic incidents nationwide, is urging law enforcement authorities to step up security around synagogues. It's offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest of those involved in the Bergen County attacks.

But Jewish leaders and scholars contacted by CNN could only speculate on why there is a surge in anti-Semitic incidents in the Northeast.

"This year, it did go up, but I'm not ready to draw any conclusions," said Ken Jacobson, the ADL's deputy national director.

But Jacobson said he was concerned about the spike in attacks in New Jersey. "The surge of these incidents in a short period of time in New Jersey is not a conventional kind of thing," Jacobson said.

The type of incident is also alarming, he said. A rabbi attacked in his home is far more worrying than a swastika scrawled on a door. "We are watching very closely," he said.

Economic insecurity and polarization "create the kind of atmosphere where people act out," he said.

According to a November survey by the ADL, 15% of Americans hold deeply anti-Semitic views; that figure stood at 12% in the 2009 survey.

In the poll, 19% of respondents answered "probably true" to the statement: "Jews have too much control/influence on Wall Street." The theme of the "miserly Jew," as personified by Shakespeare's Shylock, is common in anti-Semitism.

"There's a persistent economic theme of the Jew not just as miserly but as economically parasitical," says Derek Penslar, Samuel Zacks Professor of Jewish History at the University of Toronto, and author of "Shylock's Children."

In the 1930s, anti-Semitism was "visible, public and people did not try to hide it," Penslar said. "Jewish bankers were often accused of fomenting wars." Things are much better now, he added. "There seems to be a change in the United States in how Jews are accepted."

Penslar is not convinced that the economic downturn is the main cause of anti-Semitic attacks.

"Things were much worse in 2008 and 2009. I was expecting something then.

"My sense is more often than not what's happening now is related to Middle Eastern politics." Namely, the stalemate about Israel, Penslar says.

Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center cited FBI statistics showing an actual decrease in hate crime incidents against Jews during the current recession.

Nationwide, the FBI reported 887 such incidents in 2010, compared with 1013 in 2008.

"I don't think are any obvious explanations," Potok says. "It may be there is a small number of people who are attacking repeatedly, and that just says you have a few very active anti-Semites out there."

 

Offline muman613

  • Platinum JTF Member
  • **********
  • Posts: 29958
  • All souls praise Hashem, Hallelukah!
    • muman613 Torah Wisdom
Re: Anti-Semitic attacks in New Jersey leave questions, raise worries
« Reply #1 on: January 12, 2012, 10:05:50 PM »
I was going to post about this yesterday...

There is also the story about a Brooklyn, NY jewelry shop selling earrings in the form of Nazi swastikas....

I do believe we are witnessing another rise in antisemitism...

PS: Could you post the link to the original article?
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14


Offline Dr. Dan

  • Forum Administrator
  • Gold Star JTF Member
  • *
  • Posts: 12593
Re: Anti-Semitic attacks in New Jersey leave questions, raise worries
« Reply #3 on: January 12, 2012, 11:09:37 PM »
If the ADL were more like Kahane's JDL, there would be less of these attacks..perhaps none of these attacks.

I don't seem to see mosques being attacked this way even though they deserve it.
If someone says something bad about you, say something nice about them. That way, both of you would be lying.

In your heart you know WE are right and in your guts you know THEY are nuts!

"Science without religion is lame; Religion without science is blind."  - Albert Einstein

Offline Ephraim Ben Noach

  • Silver Star JTF Member
  • ********
  • Posts: 5019
Re: Anti-Semitic attacks in New Jersey leave questions, raise worries
« Reply #4 on: January 12, 2012, 11:19:21 PM »
I really have a gut feeling that its only going to get worse!
Ezekiel 33:6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the horn, and the people be not warned, and the sword do come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

Offline muman613

  • Platinum JTF Member
  • **********
  • Posts: 29958
  • All souls praise Hashem, Hallelukah!
    • muman613 Torah Wisdom
Re: Anti-Semitic attacks in New Jersey leave questions, raise worries
« Reply #5 on: January 12, 2012, 11:58:08 PM »
If the ADL were more like Kahane's JDL, there would be less of these attacks..perhaps none of these attacks.

I don't seem to see mosques being attacked this way even though they deserve it.

If it was Kahanes ADL they would not make pansy statements like:

"My sense is more often than not what's happening now is related to Middle Eastern politics." Namely, the stalemate about Israel, Penslar says.

Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center cited FBI statistics showing an actual decrease in hate crime incidents against Jews during the current recession.


I wonder why nobody has pointed to Ron Paul as an instigator of antisemitic attitudes... All one needs to do is read a news site with Ron Paul articles and see all the antisemitic talkbacks...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline Aces High

  • Ultimate JTFer
  • *******
  • Posts: 3250
Re: Anti-Semitic attacks in New Jersey leave questions, raise worries
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2012, 12:07:08 AM »
If the attackers had to risk getting past a mob of 20 or 30 tough Jews with metal pipes and heavy metal flashlights-I don't the attack would take place.


Offline muman613

  • Platinum JTF Member
  • **********
  • Posts: 29958
  • All souls praise Hashem, Hallelukah!
    • muman613 Torah Wisdom
Re: Anti-Semitic attacks in New Jersey leave questions, raise worries
« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2012, 12:09:46 AM »
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/11/swastika-earrings-latest-example-anti-semitism-in-ny-and-nj-politicans-and/?test=latestnews
Quote

Swastika earrings reportedly no longer for sale at Brooklyn jewelry store
By Joshua Rhett Miller
Published January 12, 2012 | FoxNews.com


The owner of a Brooklyn jewelry store criticized for selling swastika earrings will reportedly stop selling the controversial item.

New York City Councilman Steve Levin, D-Brooklyn, visited Bejeweled in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, on Wednesday and met with owner Young Sook Kim, who agreed to remove them from the shelves, the Daily News reports.

A day earlier, politicians and advocates told FoxNews.com that the earrings were the latest example of anti-Semitism in New York and New Jersey. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer demanded that the store immediately stop selling them.

"Let me be clear -- a swastika is not a fashion statement," Stringer said in a statement to FoxNews.com. "It is the most hateful symbol in our culture, and an insult to any civilized person."

But the store's manager defended the $5.99 earrings, saying the swastika is a symbol of eternity in Tibetan Buddhism, not just a symbol popularized by Nazi Germany.

"It's not a Nazi symbol," Kim told FoxNews.com on Wednesday. "I don't know what's the problem. My earrings are coming from India as a Buddhist symbol."

The swastika -- an equilateral cross with arms bent at right angles -- is an ancient symbol that remains used in Indian religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. It was also used by Native Americans long before it was adopted by Adolf Hitler during his rise to power in the 1930s.

Kim said she had received no complaints about the earrings as of early Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Stringer detailed a rash of anti-Semitic incidents in Manhattan and Brooklyn dating back to October, when two anti-Semitic letters were sent to the Jewish Theological Seminary in Manhattan. Most recently, four swastikas were found scrawled on business storefronts in Manhattan on Sunday. Other incidents include the mugging of a prominent rabbi in Brooklyn on Jan. 4 and a Brooklyn subway station defaced with "Avenue JEW" graffiti on Nov. 11, he said.
.
.
.
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline White Israelite

  • Ultimate JTFer
  • *******
  • Posts: 4535
Re: Anti-Semitic attacks in New Jersey leave questions, raise worries
« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2012, 01:06:14 AM »
If the attackers had to risk getting past a mob of 20 or 30 tough Jews with metal pipes and heavy metal flashlights-I don't the attack would take place.



my answer to anti-semitic thugs who attempt to break into my home




Offline Ulli

  • Honorable Winged Member
  • Gold Star JTF Member
  • *
  • Posts: 10946
Re: Anti-Semitic attacks in New Jersey leave questions, raise worries
« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2012, 09:45:36 AM »
It is shocking. Hopefully they will catch the criminals soon.
"Cities run by progressives don't know how to police. ... Thirty cities went up last night, I went and looked at every one of them. Every one of them has a progressive Democratic mayor." Rudolph Giuliani