Behind the Aegis
Behind the Aegis's JournalAn Alabama Robocall Invokes Ugly Tropes
Alabama’s Senate race received an ugly new wrinkle on Tuesday night, thanks to an apparent series of robocalls seem to be designed to fan resentments—of the press, of Northerners, and perhaps of Jewish reporters.
Local news station WKRG reported that one of its viewers received a robocall from a man impersonating a Washington Post reporter. In it, the man offers to pay women thousands of dollars if they’ll make false accusations against Roy Moore, the state’s former chief justice and the Republican candidate to replace Jeff Sessions in the Senate.
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Impersonating a journalist to smear the entire profession is a nasty enough maneuver on its own. But the Alabama robocall also seems to draw upon the dark motifs of antisemitism to accomplish its goal. The fake Bernstein’s nasally, high-pitched voice and forced New York accent evoke antisemitic caricatures and stereotypes. (The real Bernstein, for the record, sounds nothing like this.)
There’s a long, ugly history of intertwining anti-Semitism and attacks on media outlets. Historian Victoria Saker Woeste, writing in The Washington Post, described the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a virulent anti-Jewish tract first published in tsarist Russia, as the first modern instance of “fake news.” The pamphlet claimed a cabal of Jewish leaders had taken control of the media as part of a plot for world dominion.
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Yet more possible anti-Semitism rearing its ugly head, met with silence.
(Jewish Group) Jews out shouted by far-right Poles at independence day parade
THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP! RESPECT!!'Jews Out’ was among the chants of choice for 60,000 far-right Poles marching through the streets of Warsaw on Saturday, marking the country’s independence.
While some Polish ministers condemned the scenes, others spoke about the “beautiful” march, as masked men made ‘Sieg Heil’ salutes, called for a “white Europe” and urged authorities to “remove Jewry from power”.
Among those travelling to Warsaw for the march were former English Defence League (EDL) head Tommy Robinson, who denied that it was a “Nazi march,” which he called “slander,” before adding: “Poland is fortress Europe. I’ve never seen pride and patriotism like it.”
Jonny Daniels, a British Jew who founded a Poland-based Holocaust commemoration group, said a small minority had “hijacked” the event, adding: “Poland cannot allow this to happen.”
He wrote: “Sadly, a group of reportedly uninvited participants took this as an opportunity to intimidate and show intolerance, in turn breaking Polish law.”
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Across Wisconsin, recent rises in hate, bias incidents spark concern
Source: Minnesota Public Radio
The reports came in at an alarming pace. A student at a middle school near Milwaukee drew a stick figure with a swastika on its face. The image held a gun pointed at another stick figure, which had the name of the student's Jewish teacher on it.
A voicemail left on the phone of a leader of a local Jewish organization said, "Pack up your bags with all of your other kikes and get the f--- out of our country."
These are just two of dozens of similar incidents compiled since the beginning of 2017 by Elana Kahn, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. She has been collecting information about anti-Semitic incidents in Wisconsin for the past seven years.
The barrage of anti-Semitism in Wisconsin has stunned Kahn.
"I have never had so many reports (about anti-Semitism) as I have had in the last couple months," she said. "There's more fear in our community now than there was even a year ago."
Read more: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/11/12/documenting-hate-across-wisconsin-recent-rises-in-hate-bias-incidents-spark-concern
'Proud Anti-Semite' bumper sticker a sign of the times, ADL says
FARMINGDALE, Long Island (WABC) --
A shocking display of hate on Long Island is just another example of the rise in anti-Semitic incidents nationwide, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
For most people, a bumper sticker reading "Proud Anti-Semite" would be disturbing. But one driver in Farmingdale had no problem proclaiming his stance, after a woman snapped a photo while driving her children home from a Girls Scout event on Route 110.
Police say are aware of who the driver is, but that there is often a fine line between hate speech and free speech.
The ADL reports a dramatic rise in anti-Semitic incidents this year, and New York state now leads the nation with 267 "events" in 2017. That is a whopping 96 percent increase over the 199 incidents reported all last year across the state.
Most of these "events" involve vandalism and harassment, and on Long Island, District Attorney Madeline Singas has launched an innovative new program in which suspects are counseled by Holocaust survivors.
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Selfies wax museum Hitler exhibit sparks outrage
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A leading Jewish organization has called for an Indonesian waxworks museum to remove a Nazi exhibit at which visitors take selfies with a Hitler figure standing before an image of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
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The waxworks and visual effects museum in the city of Yogyakarta has defended the Hitler waxwork as "fun" for teenagers.
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(JEWISH GROUP) Anti-Semitism talk reveals the nasty side of politics
THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP! RESPECT!!)Exactly one year ago last night, on November 8, Erin Schrode, the youngest woman to run for Congress, lost the election to incumbent Jared Huffman. Earlier in the year, four days before the primary election, she became the victim of a storm of online anti-Semitic hate perpetrated by Andrew Anglin, creator of the alt-right newspaper The Daily Stormer, and his followers.
Schrode woke up that day to explicit, sexist and anti-Semitic comments that promoted violence and sexual assault against her.
Last night in the Commonwealth Honors College Events Hall, Erin Schrode gave a lecture titled “Antisemitism in the New Political Climate” sponsored by the University of Massachusetts Hillel House. In the lecture, she talked about her background as an activist, a social entrepreneur and an environmentalist and her experience running for Congress.
At the age of 13, Schrode co-founded the nonprofit organization called Turning Green, which is a campaign dedicated to the opposition of hazardous chemicals in beauty and personal care products. At the age of 18, Schrode attended a conference and became inspired to do more and to be more active in grassroots movements.
At the age of 24, after graduating from New York University, she decided to run for a Congressional spot in her district, the second district of California. Her goals were to redefine civic engagement, reinvigorate a culture of public service and expand the definition of who can be a politician.
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The 9th Of November: From Kristallnacht To Trump
When Hitler moved to Munich from his home country of Austria, he was a loner — a failing artist who had spent his recent years selling painted postcards on the streets of Vienna. It was a perfect storm of events that led him to power in 1933.
World War I had left Germany weak, broke and with a bruised ego. In 1919, Hitler found the German Workers’ Party, a small group of men who spent most of their time talking about how much better life was before the war. He stepped in as leader. In 1923, he was jailed and it was there that he met Rudolf Hess who ghostwrote Hitler’s "Mein Kampf," the infamous Nazi handbook.
When we speak of World War II, we often focus on a story that begins in 1939 and ends in 1945. Looking at history in such a limited scope is counterproductive to learning from the past.
Hitler did not introduce anti-Semitism into Europe. As early as the year 306, there were anti-Jewish decrees. World War I had actually helped Jews assimilate into Germany, similar to the way the world wars helped immigrants and African-Americans in the United States. What Hitler did was change anti-Semitism from religious and cultural prejudice to racism.
November 9, 1938 became known in Germany as Kristallnacht, or "The Night of Broken Glass." This was the first major action of the Holocaust and it was five years after Hitler gained power. By this time, Hitler had spent so many years spewing anti-Semitic rhetoric to the German people that it was easy to encourage the masses to act violently.
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The Eisenach synagogue in Germany, destroyed by the Nazis during Kristallnacht on Nov. 9, 1938. (Wikimedia Commons)
(Jewish Group) Kristallnacht: When America Failed the Jews
(THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP!! RESPECT!!)On November 11, 1938, a front-page story appeared in The New York Times. It read: “A wave of destruction, looting, and incendiarism unparalleled in Germany since the Thirty Years War and in Europe generally since the Bolshevist Revolution swept over Great Germany today as National Socialist cohorts took vengeance on Jewish shops, offices and synagogues for the murder by a young Polish Jew of Ernst vom Rath, third secretary of the German Embassy in Paris.”
Another Times story was headlined, “All Vienna’s Synagogues Attacked.”
These stories refer to Kristallnacht, the rampant violence on November 9-10, 1938, when Nazi storm troopers throughout Germany and Austria ransacked Jewish homes; broke the windows of Jewish-owned stores and looted their merchandise; set fire to synagogues; randomly attacked Jewish men, women and children; and arrested thousands of men.
When the violence ended, at least 96 Jews were dead, 1,300 synagogues and 7,500 businesses were destroyed, and countless Jewish cemeteries and schools were vandalized. A total of 30,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps. The broken glass strewn through the streets from the mayhem led the pogrom to be called “Crystal Night”– or Kristallnacht.
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(Jewish Group) Kristallnacht anniversary is a sobering prompt for a shift in our approach to eradica
(THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP! RESPECT!!)
Kristallnacht anniversary is a sobering prompt for a shift in our approach to eradicating anti-Semitism
On this day 79 years ago, Nazis across Germany and Austria razed Synagogues, smashed windows and murdered almost 100 innocent Jews in a violent pogrom. Kristallnacht – or ‘Night of Broken Glass’ – is so named to describe the shattered glass that littered the streets the next morning. In the weeks that followed, around 30,000 Jews were transported to concentration camps – a sorrow foreshadowing of what would soon ensue.
On Kristallnacht’s 79th anniversary, I am compelled to address the rising tide of anti-Semitism sweeping Europe, reaching levels not seen since the end of this darkest chapter in Europe’s history.
In the first half of 2017, some 767 anti-Semitic attacks were recorded in the UK alone. This represents the highest figure since monitoring began in 1984 and, staggeringly, was a 30 per cent increase on 2016. In the meantime, violent assaults on Jews this year have risen 78 per cent compared with the same period in 2016.
The above figures are broadly replicated in other major Jewish communities throughout Europe, including France and Germany.
Kristallnacht is considered by many to represent the transition from the harassment of Jewish communities to outright violence against them.
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(Jewish Group) New Jewish Democratic group launched in reaction to Trump
(THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP! RESPECT!!)
Jewish and Democratic leaders, including dozens of members of Congress, attended the launch of a group designed to connect the Democratic Party and the Jewish community.
The Jewish Democratic Council of America was launched Wednesday night at an event on Capitol Hill.
“This new organization will provide a strong voice for Jewish Democrats and fill a serious recent void in the national political discussion,” the group said in a statement on its website in August when it announced its formation plans. “It will unify and mobilize Jewish Democrats with other like-minded groups supporting mutually beneficial and agreed upon issues and actions.”
Former U.S. Rep. Ron Klein of Florida will be chairman of the new organization.
“American Jews are one of the Democratic Party’s most reliable constituencies, and more than ever require a new organization to represent their interests, as the Trump administration fans anti-Semitism, nativism, racism and other forms of bigotry,” Klein said at the event.
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