July 3, 1999

"The Sacramento Fire Bombings -
A Time for Realism"

The vast majority of American Jews, like ostriches with their heads in the sand, believe anti-Semitism is a ghost of the past and should be relegated to oblivion. The game of playing ostrich was resumed at the very moment the fire bombings of three Sacramento synagogues became known. It brought a ready reaction from these apologists who quickly concluded that it had nothing to do with anti-Semitism as the perpetrators were Serbian nationals. And when the FBI said it was more likely a neo-Nazi group operating in that area, the deniers quickly retorted, "Why would anyone take responsibility in the name of Serbia?" Serbians would not choose a small Jewish community in northern California over New York where far more Jews reside. And why would they choose Jews to vent their anger against the American government? In any case, it was a vile act of anti-Semitism, a hate crime.

It is time we face reality. . . we have a hate problem in this great country of ours, and playing ostrich will not make it go away. We need to be militant and place it high on the Jewish agenda where it deserves to be. Organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League deserve maximum support for as long as a Jew lives anywhere but Israel, he/she will be part of a vulnerable minority.

A quick search on the Web reveals hundreds of anti-Jewish spewers of hate. And in the nearby state of Louisiana, seven hundred thousand citizens voted for David Duke in a statewide election; more recently, he received twenty percent of the vote for a congressional seat, though he is known as a slick purveyor of hate.

Few in this country love America more than the Jews. Freeing any society from prejudice is a near impossibility, but anti-Semitism is quite another matter. The long history of anti-Jewish slander and libel makes it easy for the deranged hate mongers to blame Jews for social ills and their own personal failures. It is useless to deal with anti-Semitism with a shrug of the shoulder and a flippant "They’re a bunch of nuts." True as that may be, Jew hatred is a lethal weapon in the hands of a sick mind. There were six million victims of a deranged mind whose poisonous venom infected Europe’s most sophisticated society, Germany.

About a month ago while riding through Warsaw, I saw the Star of David encasing the word "Jude" and next to it "Kill Jews" on many of its walls. In this new Polish democracy which barely has a thousand identifiable Jews left, graffiti artists had no other targets to attack. Jew hatred is endemic to any culture exposed to the worst of all diseases, hate. Our Jewish state was created as a refuge, a place where we would be the majority, strong and armed, but more significantly, a role model nation whose people suffered most from the virus of hate but now should now be a modality of tolerance and respect for all.

Israel came to the aid of the Kosovar refugees, none Jews but Moslems, the dominant religion in the Arab world. And as President Clinton spoke from a refugee camp, an Israeli flag waved behind him as that place was under Israeli jurisdiction and responsibility. Little Israel, with the help of Jews everywhere, provides ten percent of the support for Albanian Moslem refugees from Kosovo. But the media fails to significantly note this. Why?

Pious and devout Jews are incarcerated in Iran, falsely accused of espionage, but the world press has made scant note of it. Whether or not public protest will help save them remains to be determined. But failure to report this event can only be attributed to a simple fact–these men are Jews, and why create tumult on behalf of them? Doesn’t everyone hate Jews? Why then should not the Iranians? Make no mistake, many, many noble and decent people everywhere care regardless of their religious or national identities, but good people as a rule are moderates who speak softly and are often apolitical.

Anti-Semitism is not a Jewish problem alone. Hitler’s rage killed tens of millions of non-Jews. Indifference to hate is a Pandora’s Box and once opened, has no limits. History has taught that being anti-anyone leads to atrocity and catastrophe. Americans have seen hate’s destructive work in Littleton, Colorado; Jonesboro, Arkansas; and Oklahoma City. There should be no tolerance for the burning of black churches or speech that incites violence. The synagogue fire bombings in Sacramento are definite hate crimes. For the sake of all Americans, the perpetrators must be apprehended. . . the disease "nipped in its bud."

The American Civil Liberties Union faces a great challenge. Defending the right of all Americans to enjoy full freedom of speech is essential, but even this great democratic institution has its limits. Accusing Jews of "ritual murder," as I recently read on one Website, has nothing to do with freedom of speech. It’s the old blood libel again. It can lead to violence, destruction and firebombing. In Canada, a democracy such as ours, a man was rightfully imprisoned for Holocaust revisionist talk when he argued, "There was no Holocaust." In fact, libel and slander are illegal and telling lies about Jews has absolutely nothing to do with the First Amendment. Is it conceivable that, for the love of freedom, one should be permitted to cry "fire" in a crowded theater? .

This fire is not in the theater. . .it’s in the mouths and word processors of would-be Hitlers. They are not ghosts. They might be sitting next to you on a flight or your neighbor across the street. Our greatest contribution to this beloved Land of Liberty would be diminution of the "antis." Let freedom ring everywhere, but for the sake of all of us, define it properly. There is no freedom while hateful fires burn.

Shabbat Shalom