The following was submitted today by Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean, Simon Wiesenthal Center & Museum of Tolerance.
At a time when the globe reverberated with Nazi jackboots, the poet
William Butler Yeats lamented: “The best lack all conviction, while the
worst are full of passionate intensity.”
We are not back in the dark days of the
1930s, but there is cause for concern both in the U.S. and globally in
the wake of our recent election and the generally unsettled state of the
world.
Following November 8th’s unexpected result, both President-elect Donald Trump and Secretary Hillary Clinton are united in the conviction that, in the sentiments of Abraham Lincoln, the nation must bind up its wounds, begin listening to each other and pursue the common good.
https://pjmedia.com/trending/
But extremists at both ends of America’s political and social divide are pursuing a dangerous and ugly vision for our nation’s future.
On the right, advocates of extremists causes ranging from “alt.right” anti-Semites, to the KKK and Neo-Confederates, to Muslim haters are mounting concerted hate campaigns targeting their usual victims: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-
At San Diego State University, a black student wearing full Islamic dress was attacked by two white men who lauded President-elect Donald Trump and disparaged the Muslim community before stealing her purse, rucksack, and car. http://www.nbcsandiego.com/
At a nearby Walmart, a women shopper was approached by another woman who pulled off her hijab and said: “This is not allowed anymore, so go hang yourself with it around your neck not on your head.”
In schools across the country, incidents were reported of Muslim girls taking off their hijabs for fear of having them forcibly removed, while teachers described comforting Hispanic and other immigrant children crying in fear that their families would be deported.
A Synagogue in Montana asks for police protection after Neo-Nazi flyers are placed outside decrying alleged Jewish control of the media. http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-
Following November 8th’s unexpected result, both President-elect Donald Trump and Secretary Hillary Clinton are united in the conviction that, in the sentiments of Abraham Lincoln, the nation must bind up its wounds, begin listening to each other and pursue the common good.
https://pjmedia.com/trending/
But extremists at both ends of America’s political and social divide are pursuing a dangerous and ugly vision for our nation’s future.
On the right, advocates of extremists causes ranging from “alt.right” anti-Semites, to the KKK and Neo-Confederates, to Muslim haters are mounting concerted hate campaigns targeting their usual victims: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-
At San Diego State University, a black student wearing full Islamic dress was attacked by two white men who lauded President-elect Donald Trump and disparaged the Muslim community before stealing her purse, rucksack, and car. http://www.nbcsandiego.com/
At a nearby Walmart, a women shopper was approached by another woman who pulled off her hijab and said: “This is not allowed anymore, so go hang yourself with it around your neck not on your head.”
In schools across the country, incidents were reported of Muslim girls taking off their hijabs for fear of having them forcibly removed, while teachers described comforting Hispanic and other immigrant children crying in fear that their families would be deported.
A Synagogue in Montana asks for police protection after Neo-Nazi flyers are placed outside decrying alleged Jewish control of the media. http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-
On Breitbart.com on election day,
Fash McQueen posted: “Jews are frothing at the mouth to stop Trump
because he is the only candidates that isn’t owned by the Jewish lobby,
. . . . Jews want to flood America with third-world foreigners in order to displace the founding, White Christian population, whose forefathers built the nation.”
Extremists from the other side of the political and social divide have taken to the streets:
Setting a pattern for many other American cities, at an anti-Trump rally in Portland, a peaceful march of more than 4,000 people quickly turned violent when self-avowed “anarchists” in the crowd assaulted officers, vandalized local businesses, and damaged cars.
In front of the new Trump hotel in Washington, D.C., which opened on Pennsylvania Avenue at the site of the Old Post Office Building, a protester holding a sign reading “Rape Melania,” referring to the Slovenian immigrant wife of Donald Trump, fled when confronted by the sole pro-Trump demonstrator in an anti-Trump crowd. An anti-Trump feminist tweeted in disgust: “#RapeMelania is trending. This is wrong. This is not funny. We believe in women’s rights and equality. Not this. Go High.”
On election day, a “Marilyn Manson Shock Video” showed a Donald Trump effigy wearing a red tie and suit ritually beheaded.
At Woodside High School outside San Francisco, a female student who posted support for Donald Trump on Instagram was attacked by other girls on campus as well as targeted for ongoing social media ostracism.
Isolated outbursts are bad enough, but systematic expressions of hate, whether orchestrated from above or directed from below, cannot go unchallenged.
Every decent American—across the lines of party, ideology, religion, race, national origin, and sexual orientation—must act now together to isolate the haters, reject their gospels of division and violence. We must recommit to a willingness to work together to solve our nation’s problems and to forge a renewed bipartisan spirit to safeguard human rights, personal and religious freedoms. And America still has to confront and defeat the ever-present threat from terrorists and tyrants who are reacting with glee at the sight of the world’s most powerful democracy divided against itself.
We will monitor the words and deeds our elected leaders in Washington. No one can sit on the sidelines. Their stewardship will be judged in large measure for either being part of the problem or part of the solution.
The Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance has challenged over 6 million visitors to sharpen their critical thinking skills and to take personal responsibility for their actions as a basis for building a better society. Today we challenge everyone on social media, our elected officials, and members of our nation’s law enforcement to do the same.
The fate of our beloved democracy and the future of our children and grandchildren hang in the balance.
This essay was co-authored by historian Dr. Harold Brackman
. . . . Jews want to flood America with third-world foreigners in order to displace the founding, White Christian population, whose forefathers built the nation.”
Extremists from the other side of the political and social divide have taken to the streets:
Setting a pattern for many other American cities, at an anti-Trump rally in Portland, a peaceful march of more than 4,000 people quickly turned violent when self-avowed “anarchists” in the crowd assaulted officers, vandalized local businesses, and damaged cars.
In front of the new Trump hotel in Washington, D.C., which opened on Pennsylvania Avenue at the site of the Old Post Office Building, a protester holding a sign reading “Rape Melania,” referring to the Slovenian immigrant wife of Donald Trump, fled when confronted by the sole pro-Trump demonstrator in an anti-Trump crowd. An anti-Trump feminist tweeted in disgust: “#RapeMelania is trending. This is wrong. This is not funny. We believe in women’s rights and equality. Not this. Go High.”
On election day, a “Marilyn Manson Shock Video” showed a Donald Trump effigy wearing a red tie and suit ritually beheaded.
At Woodside High School outside San Francisco, a female student who posted support for Donald Trump on Instagram was attacked by other girls on campus as well as targeted for ongoing social media ostracism.
Isolated outbursts are bad enough, but systematic expressions of hate, whether orchestrated from above or directed from below, cannot go unchallenged.
Every decent American—across the lines of party, ideology, religion, race, national origin, and sexual orientation—must act now together to isolate the haters, reject their gospels of division and violence. We must recommit to a willingness to work together to solve our nation’s problems and to forge a renewed bipartisan spirit to safeguard human rights, personal and religious freedoms. And America still has to confront and defeat the ever-present threat from terrorists and tyrants who are reacting with glee at the sight of the world’s most powerful democracy divided against itself.
We will monitor the words and deeds our elected leaders in Washington. No one can sit on the sidelines. Their stewardship will be judged in large measure for either being part of the problem or part of the solution.
The Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance has challenged over 6 million visitors to sharpen their critical thinking skills and to take personal responsibility for their actions as a basis for building a better society. Today we challenge everyone on social media, our elected officials, and members of our nation’s law enforcement to do the same.
The fate of our beloved democracy and the future of our children and grandchildren hang in the balance.
This essay was co-authored by historian Dr. Harold Brackman
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