Pastor Martin Niemoller famously wrote:
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Now, a video opposing Orthodox Jews moving into a New Jersey community has appropriated the quote for use against the Jews. It begins, “First they came for my house, but I did not speak up. I said I am not willing to sell, and closed my door. … Then they came for my forests, but I did not speak up, because I thought I had no vested interests in the forests.”
The group responsible for the video is called “Rise Up Ocean County.” The leaders of the group, who remain anonymous, wrote in October that they don’t want the quiet New Jersey suburbs to develop a Jewish population like that of Lakewood.
Rise Up Ocean County insists that its objections are about “quality of life” rather than religion but Jewish leaders insist that the group’s rhetoric is anti-Semitic.
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