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Anti-Semitism, JCCs, St. Louis cemetery: President Trump and Muslim solidarity

The president condemns rising anti-Semitism; indeed, there is a lot to condemn

The bomb threats against JCCs particularly, and the dangerous growth in anti-Semitism more generally, predated Donald Trump’s presidency and campaign. We have been reporting on the reemergence and legitimation of anti-Semitism for years. To cite only one example: the openly anti-Semitic, convicted killer, Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr., who attacked the Kansas City JCC in Overand Park in 2014. Incidents such as this are why President Obama admirably appointed a worldwide monitor of anti-Semitism, a post most recently held by Rabbi David Saperstein, the former longtime head of the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center.

There is no doubt, however, that the rise in anti-Semitism continues to intensify, especially since Trump’s rise and his recent refusals to address the subject. Anti-Semitism must be a clear item on the agenda of the president of the US.

President Trump vigorously denounced anti-Semitism this week. This is welcome, necessary, important, and still not enough. What is required now is a more formal, national mechanism for the investigation of this dangerous development, as requested by the Wiesen- thal Center in LA. A concerted effort must be made to catch those who have threatened dozens of JCCs with bomb threats. They must be caught, prosecuted — and made an example of.

Likewise, the ADL’s effort to counter the anti-Semitism that proliferates online must be pursued — and disclosed. We eagerly await an initial report on this critical effort.

Similarly, we need, from the presidency on down to governors and mayors, communications to local police departments to pursue perpetrators of anti-Semitic incidents with all due rigor and publicity.

The efforts from the bottom up are there. When a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis was seriously vandalized earlier this week, volunteers from across the city came to help with the clean-up. Of particular note, two Muslim activists raised more than $20,000 from the Muslim community to help with the repairs. A very hopeful note on a very bad occasion.

The time to hide anti-Semitic incidents in the US, so as not to give the perpetrators a sense of victory, has long passed.

Copyright © 2017 by the Intermountain Jewish News




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