(Photo: Flowers left at Tree of Life Synagogue after White Supremacist massacred 11 Jewish worshippers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 2018)
Blaming Jewish Americans for the actions of the Israeli military perpetuates the same evil that has led to the Jews being persecuted in centuries past.
Harassing Jewish college students, vandalizing synagogues and Jewish cemeteries reinforces the fear that Jews are not safe anywhere, except in their own nation-state, Israel.
In Europe up into the 1940s, Jews found that their very religion and existence was a crime itself, punishable by expulsion or death. In Israel, being Jewish is not a crime. It’s the one place where violence against Jews is guaranteed to be punished.
Unfortunately, being a Palestinian has been declared a crime by the current Israeli government. Media outlets in the UK and the US equate Palestinian people’s right to live and breathe as somehow a crime against the Jewish people. For them, to be Palestinian is to be a terrorist, even if you are a premature baby.
At times, in the US, it was illegal for American Indians to practice their religion or raise their children in their traditions. It was illegal for non-reservation and mixed ancestry Indians to call themselves Indian.
The existence of another’s culture and life should not threaten yours. Even with grievances against governments and armed groups, activists should not attack an entire people for the actions of the few.
Being alive in your own traditions is not a crime. Respect that same right for others.
STOP THE HATE
