Racial and Religious Hatred in the United States

TENSIONS BETWEEN BLACKS AND JEWS
by Nadene Goldfoot

This was written before Obama became president.

Along with Pastor Jeremiah Wright’s racist problems in the United States are the problems I see of antisemitism.

The first thing I notice is from a recent report from The Anti-Demfamation League (ADL)’s October 2007 national telephone survey which found that 32% of African-Americans hold strong anti-Semitic beliefs, which is three times more than the 10% for whites. This has been shown from castigations by Al Sharpten, Farrakhan, and even Pastor Jeremiah Wright himself.   Jews make up only 1.7% of the American population. We certainly do get a lot of hatred from our fellow Americans who complain about racism in America.

I salute Sammi Davis Jr who not only was a Black entertainer, but chose to convert to Judaism. Instead of a double mitzva,"good deed' he took upon him a double surrus 'trouble'.

It was found that 18% of men hold strong anti-semitic views.
13% of women do.
29% of foreign-born Hispanics living in America hold hardcore anti-Semitic beliefs.
15% of Hispanics born in the U.S. are anti-Semitic.
21% of Americans with high school degrees or less hold strong anti-Semitic views.
10% of college graduates are anti-Semitic.
8% of the post-graduate degreed are anti-Semitic.

By 2007 the ADL found that 15% of Americans are anti-Semitic. That’s an improvement from 1992 which found 20% of Americans were anti-Semitic. What is the complaint of Americans?

27% believe that Jews were responsible for the death of Christ. They hold it against Jews of today.31% of Americans believe Jews are more loyal to Israel than to America.15% of Americans believe that Jews have "Too much power in the U.S."20% of Americans believe Jews have "Too much power in the business world."18% of Americans believe Jews have "Too much control/influence on Wall Street."In other words, they find Jews very influential in the business world and they resent it.

One thing they may not understand is how small a group we are. Our sermons in synagogues are not about damning the USA for hurts, but about doing good deeds. We were the first liberals interested in the good of all. We believe in education. Our parents sacrificed by pinching their hard earned pennies so that their children could gain not only an education, but an outstanding education. Jews have had to run for their lives so often that they have learned the hard way that the thing most prized to take with you are your brains. That’s what’s needed for survival. So many of our few Jews are well educated and become lawyers, doctors, educators and businessmen in their communities. I imagine we are noticed and envied by others. Our romance with education began thousands of years ago and just hasn't stopped.

In the 60's some Jewish young adults worked very hard on racist problems in the South with their Black friends. A few even died in the cause. I believe the Black leadership felt the Jews were running their organization and asked them to leave it. I fear that stymied the relationship between the two groups. It must continue at some level.

Whether or not Obama becomes the president of the USA, it seems to me that we have more repairing to do between the Jewish and the Black Community. My thought is an interchange of culture education. We’ve got to understand where each other is coming from more. We have to study the history of the 60's and find out why our Black-Jewish Alliance fell apart.

Religion has its share of responsibility to repairing the relationship between Jews and others. Damning Jews in church for killing Jesus is not helpful today. We’re on the defensive because we know we didn’t do that even though we do not accept Jesus as G-d. We feel our ancestors didn’t do it then and we wouldn’t do it today. We feel that every religion has its merits and fits that particular group of people. I would like to see respect of all religions as long as a religion is not out to hurt, maim or kill others who do not belong to it.

We feel that all good people will go to "heaven." It’s not restrictive to sex, race, color or religion. It’s sad to see that religion has been the cause to divide and kill people for so long. You’d think that people would be wiser by now.

I propose a council to commence between Rabbis and Church leaders that will talk about reasons why people are anti-Semitic and what they can do to rectify the situation. The same thing could happen between the Black Community and the White Community and the Jewish Community.
Where should all this start? I feel it should start with parents and their children. Children learn to hate from their parents. The environment they live in should reflect the goals of a loving community. Obama aptly showed us this with his white grandmother’s reaction to Black men on the street. A few cutting words have lasted forever in his mind and have colored his feelings for whites.
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Imagine a time in the future where children learn to judge others on their merits and not on the past judgements of their family’s hatreds. Just how long will it take to reach this utopia? One generation could do it. Let’s try.

Reference: Anti-Semitism in America in 2007-Anti-Defamation League surveys

1930's Values Popular Again: Hatred For Jews

Stuart H. Schwartz, Ph.D., is alarmed that the world is turning against us and tells it like it is in his article in American Thinker, "We are all anti-Semites now". He points this out in many ways.

1. Young higher educated people have shown signs of being against older American values: the free economic market. They are more socialistic now.
a. Campuses demonstrating anti-semitism: Boston College "Palestinian terrorists demonstrating courage and wisdom."
b. Columbia U, financial support from Arab States
c. Harvard: new Middle Eastern studies, using Israel as codeword for Jew, cheer Hamas terrorists/destruction of Jews

2. It's Israel's fault that there is terrorism, like Jimmy Carter's writings in his book.
a. Joining the Human Rights Council who denounce Israel.
b. Feelings: Jews and Israel out of step with the world.
c. Feelings: Israelis/Jews morally and politically inferior to the worst terrorist groups in world.
d. World accepting persecution of Jews and maybe 2nd genocide.
e. Golden Globe award winner: Paradise Now-exploring human side of terrorists recruited to kill Jews.

3. Our government now embracing militant Arab positions (anti-Jewish)
a. Exterminating Jews:
1. Southern Israel rocket attacks: 8 years of rockets
2. Beheading of Reporter Pearl because was Jewish

4. Newspaper Coverage
a. Davis Cup match in Sweden: Islamists screamed for death of Israeli players/all Jews
b. Cartoons; Jews as Nazis eating Palestinians
c. Positioning such cartoons: under newspaper banner "The New York Times."

Be prepared. The tide has turned against us in many ways. Being 1 % of the world's population is a dangerous position. We're still the scapegoats of the world and people are constantly ready to sacrifice us in the name of obtaining their selfish happiness. This is how WWII started and we were on the altar. I never thought it would happen again, but here it is. Take your heads out of the sand and look.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/04/we_are_all_antisemites_now.html

Recent Russian Anti-Semitism

Foreign immigrants have been coming into Russia. The Russian's negative reaction included a hatred for Jews in the capital Sunday, November 4th. By careful manuevers, about 2,000 marchers avoided arrest while chanting slogans against them. They shouted "glory to the Russian nation" and called for the death of Jews but not the foreign immigrants. Other rallies took place within Russia while observing their National Unity Day. President Vladimir Putin was near Red Square, and declared that efforts to divide Russia from the outside were bound to fail. Who does he consider the outside trying to divide Russia?

Jews in Russia have been there for eons. They are not foreign immigrants. Yet when it comes to finding a scapegoat, they are the first to be sacrificed.

Resource: Oregonian, November 5, 2007 page A9

European Anti-Semitism Disclosed in Portland

EVER AGAIN, narrated by Kevin Costner, was shown at Portland State's Smith Memorial Student Union Bldg on Halloween day with a follow-up panel discussion by four professors. The film was made by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. I attended. The film was not sugar coated. It showed the growing anti-semitism in England, Germany, France, Holland and Belgium that was becoming out of control. What frightened me was the viciousness of the anti-semities and their hatred.

This has been brought about by skinheads from Eastern Germany as well as the many Muslims moving into these countries. The Muslims are against Israel, and demonstrate against Jews that they find. They are encouraging the stabbing of Jews. One scene showed about forty adults beating up Jewish children in a demonstration. One moving scene was that of Daniel Pearl and his father.

Professor Aomar Boum, anthropologist, a young Muslim Berber from Morocco, was one of the panelists. He was the most positive of the four in hoping for communication between Israel and Palestinians. He is writing a book about Muslim attitudes towards Jews. Coming from Morocco, his experience with Jews has been good. I just hope he can influence others to rethink their positions towards Jews. Being as old as I am, I am more in agreement with the other more pessimistic panelists, but there is always hope.

We can see that this is the reason that Israel is important to us all. When countries turn against us, we have a haven to flee to called home. The problem that creating this home has caused has also turned people into anti-semites. The fact is that we have suffered anti-semitism in eras when we had no Israel, so that it is not the whole cause. The cause is "who we are."
Today I received an email about the rising anti-semitism in England from my cousin a few miles away. It cited many things happening similar to those in the movie. Suddenly people are aware of what's happening.

Ann Coulter's Speaking Against ADL's Apathy Towards Israel

Then I just received Ann Coulter's article "How Long Before the ADL Kicks out all its Jews? The title is silly but her article is not. I hate to say it, but she makes some valuable points. The fact is that Israel is in danger of being eliminated. The ADL is not facing the truth, and is pussyfooting around with other less important issues. Anti-semitism is rampant (as reported yesterday during the discussion) in Eugene, Oregon on the U. of Oregon campus. A group or groups there are busy villifying Israel, which of course causes Jewish reprocussions. To condemn Israel is the same as condemning any Jew in the USA. The Anti-Defamation League is busying itself with other issues. Our young people are too busy to be concerned with Israel. We haven't stressed its values to our own children. The one group that it matters to happen to be a group we have not identified with in the past: the right-winged Republicans.
It seems that the ADL has chided my favorite radio personality, Dennis Prager because he found fault with Keith Ellison, who wanted to take his congressman's oath on the Koran and not on the bible. Dennis Prager has done more on his now defunct radio show for Israel than any organization I can think of. He discusses, writes, sends information to those interested, and has since been off the air in Gresham/Portland, Oregon. I just found out from Victor Sharpe, historian, writer and musician, that Dennis now has his 3 hour daily radio program on the local am 9.10 station KTLK starting after a 9am news and going till noon. After Dennis is Michael Medved, also another supporter of Israel. So I agree with Ann Coulter in this. ADL, get on the stick and start supporting Israel and those who support it.
Thank you to Hadassah's Portland Chapter and the Harold Schnitzer family Program in Judaic Studies at PSU. Also thank you to Rabbi Aron Heir from LA, and the PSU faculty Linda Maizels, the anthropologist Aomar Boum and Victoria Belco for their panel participation. After viewing such a shocking movie, we needed to talk about it and hear their viewpoints.

Ann Coulter Says Jews Imperfect

Ann Coulter called Jews "Imperfect" on a Cable TV program. Interviewing her was Donny Deutsch, who happened to be Jewish. He gave her a chance to alter her statement, but she stuck with her comments. When reported on Fox News by James Carvill, one of the men he was talking to thought she wasn't being anti-semitic. However, I and other Jews feel insulted by this comment. The commentator doesn't understand that this is an inuendo and clearly gives the implication that Jews need to become Christians in order to be "perfect." Does he have to be hit over the head to understand this?

ANTISEMITISM ABOUNDS by Nadene Goldfoot

Where is antisemitism today? Right in the Irvington district in Portland, Oregon. Painted in large, clear red letters was the word JEWS on the side of a neighbor's home. The Portland Police Bureau refused to designate this action as a hate crime. However, they will be keeping a watch on further developments. Writing this on a home is an antisemitic act. Those who have experienced antisemitism know. What's happened in Portland was the convention of hate-mongers called The Hammerskin Nation that are out to get Jews and Blacks. I'm sure we'll see more activities of this type.

On NE Alberta Street "Jews"was written on storefronts. This happened before the Hammerskins had their convention. People there understood that this act was antisemitic.

Last week a children's show "Between the Lions," from Iowa Public TV aired on OPB. The segment of "Here come The Aliens" had an outer space alien lurking around described as "sickly green" It had a long nose and a Jewish star on its body. Allen Chalfen was in horror as he viewed this program, called OPB and cancelled his membership. This type of antisemitism happened in the 40's. Now it's happening again.

Let's start with more frequent and sharper attacks on Israel where the attacks are singling out Israel out of all proportion to any other country in the Middle East. Natan Sharasky said that legitimate criticism becomes antisemitism when in turns into demonization, double standards and deligitimization, which is happening right now. British National Union of Journalists voted to boycott Israeli goods. They did not criticize any Palestinian group or action. The same thing occured with academics in England. A few American academics countered and they finally dropped their boycott plans.

Words can sway people into false knowledge. Jimmy Carter's new book accused Israel of apartheid. The reason was the wall. He forgets the fact that the wall was constructed when the West Bank towns sent suicide bombers to kills Jews and called their terrorists "martyrs". Yet, the wall between Mexico and the US is bigger and is keeping out people who only want jobs. Israel has many Arab citizens, but no Jew can become a Jordanian, let alone enter their country. No Jew can ever enter the future state of Palestine, and no Jew can ever visit Saudi Arabia as a tourist. Carter gave Israel a black eye with his name calling, and the idea sticks with people and shapes their attitude towards us.

Professors Walt and Mearsheimer's new book about the "Israel Lobby" has brought about an anti Israel movement on many campuses. Jews make up between 1-2% of the population in the USA and have AIPAC as the spokesperson for Israel. AIPAC does not fund their campaigns, but though they do not have voting power or money, these professors say they control the US foreign policy. It couldn't be that congress has listened to the speakers and found they were in agreement with them.

In the Muslim world "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" and "Mein Kampf" are best sellers. These books are as antisemitic as possible, the latter being written by Hitler himself. Hamas has a charter against Israel that cites the Hadith:"The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews, when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say "O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." Hezbollah's leader Nasrallah in 2002 said: "If Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide."

Antisemitism didn't come about because of "occupation" of land legally acquired in 1967 after being attacked first and then winning after that attack. It's because we are Jews. During Rosh Hashanah, the shofar (ram's horn) plays a melody that is like a code. The message is: Wake up! We just hope that Olmert is awake when he agrees with the US to give away the West Bank; some of us think he's asleep. Many Christians in the USA agree with us.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN moderator's recent 3 part program segment, "God's Jewish Warriors" contained sprinklings of Palestinian propaganda against Israel. She is Iranian, and I'm afraid her personal prejustice was showing.

This is why when many of us hear criticism about Israel, our shackles rise. We are waiting for the other shoe to fall. It's almost like a conditioned reflex. Antisemitism declined when Israel was born again and victorious, but after 1967, the situation changed. Palestinians became nationalistic and terroristic against Israel, I'm sure being urged on by the very Muslim nations that told them to flee from the territory in 1948. With the continuence of terrorism comes antisemitism.

Condensed mostly from Gary D. Acheatel of Ashland, Oregon's article in the Jewish Review October 1, 2007, "Today's headlines motivate concerned Jew's call to activism." Letter to the Editor from Allen Chalfen of Portland, Sunday's Oregonian Opinion "When hate and fear come to the neighborhood" by Whitney Otto, and my input.