New York today is not Berlin in 1933. It is not!
The fear is real. The threats are real, nasty, vicious, and sometimes accompanied by acts of physical violence. Jewish reactions are natural, normal, neither exaggerated nor contrived. New York’s Jews are reacting to real incidents and real hostility. And to real, unadulterated fear.
And the permissive attitudes of a burgeoning number of city leaders, men and women elected to serve the public, are setting the tone. New York’s leadership, principally Mayor Zohran Mamdani, has let the situation fester and spread by hedging his responses to attacks against Jews by speaking in universalities.
When a Jewish institution, synagogue, or person is attacked, he speaks about all hatred. He calls all hatred bad. He speaks about condemning all hatred but never voices condemnation against Jew haters specifically.
He can’t. Mamdani sets a tone, and all else follows.
New York City is exhibiting a serious failure in public safety and civic leadership. It is not only the Jewish population who will pay the price of the Democratic Socialists of America and their fans. The entire city is at risk should their promises of defunding police and abolishing prisons ever be put in place.
An attack against Jews in a synagogue is couched in terms of all citizens in New York deserving of safety.
Any hatred and all attacks that target groups are wrong, he implies. Separating anyone out because of their religion is wrong, Mamdani continues. Attacks against churches, synagogues and mosques are all wrong, he intones. He is a broken record playing an intentionally flawed song.
And yet, New York today is still not Berlin in the 1930’s.
Fear within New York City’s Jewish community
Large swaths of the Jewish community in New York are afraid because the threats are real. The democracy is failing to protect them – a minority that is being openly targeted. It is not a trivial matter. I know too many elderly Jews who do not venture outside their homes after dark.
Too many who have tucked their Star of David necklaces inside their shirts. Too many who have stopped wearing their treasured necklaces with the Hebrew names of their grandchildren displayed when they do go outside. And too many men and boys who now cover their kippot with hats, caps, even bikers’ helmets
And yet, New York today is still not Berlin in the 1930’s.
The answer is not to panic, not to make theatrical comparisons to the rise of Nazism. The answer is to make the city safe for Jews and for the Jewish community. The answer is to provide a safe environment for Jews. Jews who reside in New York and Jews who visit New York. Safe for all Jews.
The Berlin parallel does not work because, despite the Democratic Socialist of America stance on Israel is because of the Law of the Land. The laws of the United States and even the laws of New York have not been turned against the Jew as they were in Germany.
There might be people in power who hate Jews, but the democracy and the power of democratic protections are still in place – even if sometimes ignored or hedged.
The strong media presence in the United States, both traditional and new media, plays a huge role in the lives of New Yorkers. That media is part of the debate. And that media holds leadership to account. It holds their feet to the flame.
Germany in the 1930’s began instituting anti-Jewish laws. They removed Jews from professions. They pushed Jewish children to the back of the classrooms, and then, then they removed students and professors from universities. Germany required businesses to be labeled as Jewish.
None of this can happen in the United States. None of it, not even under Mamdani.
Talk about education as an answer to this plague of Jew hatred is popular, but it lacks a true understanding of Jew hatred. Although education is, in principle, vitally important, those who hate Jews have internalized their hatred.
Changing them would mean deprogramming them. Education can influence only those who are undecided; it will never convince a true Jew hater. That is why converts, people like the son of Hamas who now defend Jews and criticize their heritage, become heroes in the Jewish community. And that is why they have targets on their backs put there by former friends and their families.
A meaningful response must be accompanied by increased visible protection. It must have credible follow-through against threats. It must combine security, police, public messaging, media coverage, partnerships with other communities and civic leadership up and down the line – not only in the Office of the Mayor.
It requires immediate responses to attacks, then investigation and prosecution. Jews need to attend trials and speak to the court before sentencing. Reassurances and slogans are too easy and so empty.
The evil Jew haters will not stop on their own. They must be stopped. When that is successfully accomplished – “when”, not “if” it is accomplished, Jews will feel safer. There will be fewer incidents, real and reported.
It is as simple as that because New York today is not Berlin in the 1930’s.
The writer is a columnist and a social and political commentator. Watch his TV show Thinking Out Loud on JBS.
Source:
www.jpost.com
