Hikind: Stop Scapegoating Trump For Anti-Semitism

amother

Lime

Sun, Feb 26 2017, 12:45 pm

Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) says that blaming President Donald Trump for the rise in anti-Semitic incidents is devious and politically misleading. Hikind asserted that crimes against Jews are a direct result of the negative attitude towards Israel—an attitude that has been embraced by too many members of the Democratic party and their leadership.

“Where are the liberal leaders when Jewish cemeteries are desecrated and campuses are painted with swastikas and racial slurs?” asked Hikind. “How are the leaders of the Democrats communicating with and reigning in their followers when these crimes are committed? It’s simple. They’re not. Instead they’ve found an easy answer: Blame Trump.

“Should the President of the United States do more to stop these crimes? Absolutely. But to blame all of these anti-Semitic incidents on the Trump presidency is absurd. Anti-Semitic crimes were up 9% from 2014 to 2015. Does former President Obama fully own that?

“Suggesting someone as openly anti-Israel as Keith Ellison for the key leadership role in the Democratic Party speaks volumes about what some party leaders consider acceptable. Praising someone as vile as Linda Sarsour—a woman who spoke out in support of an Islamic Jihadist known for recruiting suicide bombers—is a chilling statement on where the Democratic Party has gone.”

Pointing to numerous incidents of swastikas, cemetery desecrations, hate mail and other examples of hate crimes against Jews and Jewish institutions throughout the United States and abroad, Hikind—known for his outspokenness against such crimes—says that the majority of these incidents may be coming from the Left. It was only a week ago that a Texas preschool employee—by no means a Trump supporter—was caught Tweeting hateful messages about killing Jews.

“There’s no question that incidents of anti-Semitism have tremendously increased,” said Hikind. “The real question is who are the people behind these crimes. We know for a fact that in Europe, it’s coming from the Left. We know for a fact that the Obama administration promoted an anti-Israel bias throughout the world. But anti-Israel sentiments have been used as the last half-century’s excuse to spew anti-Jewish rhetoric. Saying that you’re anti-Israel yet support the Jewish people is just a tactic that Jew haters have adopted.”

Assemblyman Hikind noted that rising incidents of anti-Semitism are a national issue. “We can’t count the number of swastikas anymore—there’s too many,” said Hikind, noting that the loathsome Nazi symbol has been scrawled recently on campuses and in communities from California to New York, from Oregon to Mississippi. “But who are the people scrawling these swastikas? Who are the people desecrating cemeteries? At Northwestern University, it was anti-Trump students who were caught spray-painting a swastika and racial slurs. At the State University of New York, it was an anti-Trump message and swastika sprayed in a dorm. At the University of Vermont, a Trump campaign sign was found spray-painted with a swastika near the campus Hillel, and at the University of New Mexico, Nazi-themed graffiti was found denouncing the President.

“These are not isolated incidents,” Hikind continued. “At universities, where anti-Israel rhetoric is regularly espoused by far-Left professors who embrace and promote the BDS movement, that is where you find the highest rate of anti-Semitic hate crimes. Drawing a parallel to those activities is more intellectually honest than blaming the rise of anti-Semitism on President Trump, who has condemned hate crimes against Jews and made it clear that the Obama administration’s eight-year cold war against the State of Israel has finally come to an end.”

http://www.theyeshivaworld.com......html

PinkFridge

Sun, Feb 26 2017, 2:10 pm

Good for him, but as always, when someone shares an article, I'd love to know the context. Can I assume that you're all for this but going amother because you don't want any flack? Or do you think that it's disingenuous of Hikind? (I have no reason to, just throwing out.) Other?

amother

Brunette

Sun, Feb 26 2017, 2:20 pm

PinkFridge wrote:

Ellison is a vile anti-Semite, supporter of bds and long-time Farrakhan supporter.

It's great that he ultimately was turned down for the post of chair of the dnc, but the fact that such a person was even in the running, speaks volumes.

Even more shocking is the complete absence of screeching headlines. This media silence, while at the same time accusing Trump, reveals its hypocrisy.

Hikind is 100% right.

PinkFridge

Sun, Feb 26 2017, 3:13 pm

Can't disagree with you either, though you're not the OP. Chaval that people feel so beleaguered that they have to write such posts as amother.

Orchid

Sun, Feb 26 2017, 3:23 pm

1000%!!
It's like the mainstream media/democrat party/liberals just discovered antisemitism.

Jews have been harassed/bullied/ injured on campus for many years now. They need armed guards to have small monthly gatherings, while Students for Justice in Palestine groups hold boisterous rallies calling for Hamas to "resist," ie, continue its deadly activities.

amother

Lime

Sun, Feb 26 2017, 9:36 pm

Why I went Amother? Because I posted it elsewhere with identifying signs!

amother

Emerald

Sun, Feb 26 2017, 10:26 pm

I think we have more than one variety of antisemitism here and there is one variety that has nothing to do with Israel. IMO there is a distinction between garden variety "left wing" which is anti Israel. There is also garden variety "right wing" which is white nationalist/supremacist. I've seen a lot of both as I grew up in a liberal Protestant family in the south. they're quite distinct to me.

There are also the crazy worldwide Jewish conspiracy theory folks - some left and some right wing. I've encountered both of those.

I don't think Trump has done a lot to fuel the left wing BDS folks, but has done a lot to fuel the right wing white nationalists. This is just based on my own observations of people I know and from my reading of some of the white nationalist media. They're excited that Trump will make America white again (oy).

amother

Lime

Sun, Feb 26 2017, 10:43 pm

amother wrote:

They're excited that Trump will make America white again (oy).

Despite having a Jewish sil that everyone knows he L O V E S and grandchildren, and most of his long time buddies and professionals he employs are Jewish? How does this make sense?

Laiya

Sun, Feb 26 2017, 10:54 pm

amother wrote:

Regarding the white spremacists. It's disturbing that there are people who hate us, but white supremacists are not a meaningful political force. There are only 5,000 people in America affiliated with KKK chapters (according to my quick googling).

They've carried out a few lone wolf hate crimes, but they are not nearly as concerning as the Islamists, who are supported by the left.

DrMom

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 1:06 am

Anti-semitism from the Left has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past decade infecting the mainstream Democratic Party as it lurches toward the far left. I agree with Hikind on this.

wondergirl

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 10:41 am

amother wrote:

Its easy and acceptable to attack white people these days and call them racist and white supremacists simply because they are white. But is that okay?

The left has been trying to silence white people by telling them they have "white privilege". That is taken directly from Hitlers playbook in what he called "Jew Privilege". He considered Jews to be privileged and worked on removing their privileges from society which is exactly what the liberal left is attempting to do to white people.

The liberal left also believes that only white people can be racists and that anyone considered to be POC cannot be racists. That means that its perfectly acceptable to discriminate against white people in the same way it was acceptable to discriminate against Jews in Nazi Germany.

The liberal left is proposing a "white privilege tax" for white people despite the fact that there are more white people receiving food stamps so it is abusive to tax them for their so called "white privilege" when they can barely afford food. Nazi Germany also had a "Jew tax" for Jews as well simply bc they were Jews and perceived to be privileged.
http://www.wesplain.com/privil.....-tax/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/......html

The liberal left narrative claims that black people get killed by cops, there are hardly any reports about white people being killed by cops. That is despite the fact that there are more whites killed by cops in America than black people.
http://www.dailywire.com/news/.....dler#

The liberal left has a problem with religious/conservative people who are not as accepting of trans-gendered people or allow them to use bathrooms in accordance to their self-identified gender. Yet the liberal left was angry that Rachel Dolezal self-identified as black and actually benefited from being black (she had previously filed a lawsuit against Howard University for discriminating against her as a white person so it seems as though she had more privileges as a black person than a white person). Now she is on food stamps and facing homelessness. Why couldn't the liberal left accept her as a self-identified black person in the same way they want religious/conservative people to accept self-identified transgendered people? http://www.nydailynews.com/new.....82138

Colleges are mostly controlled by the liberal left, they are not very accepting or open to anyone who disagrees with them. And yes, they are anti-Israel but also anti-Semitic but they don't believe they are discriminating against Jews because they consider Jews to be white who benefit from "white privilege". So if its not racists to discriminate against white people, and Jews are considered white, then anti-Semitism doesn't exist and Jews are white supremacists, racists who want the country to be white again just like your white relatives.

I am always surprised when I hear Jews repeat some of the rhetoric of the liberal left bc the liberal left is openly anti-Semitic and racists but get away with it bc they are considered to be POC for the most part. So while its nice that Hikind is speaking up about it, I don't think that he is doing anything to change things. When will he actually take a stand against anti-Semitism that is not related to Israel and do something about it? When will he take a stand against liberal colleges who discriminate against Jews and white people under the pretenses that they are "privileged"? Is he planning on taking any actions or is he all talk like the rest of the politicians in NY?

dancingqueen

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 10:59 am

[quote="amother"]Despite having a Jewish sil that everyone knows he L O V E S and grandchildren, and most of his long time buddies and professionals he employs are Jewish? How does this make sense?[/quote

Last edited by dancingqueen on Mon, Feb 27 2017, 11:02 am; edited 1 time in total

dancingqueen

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 11:01 am

amother wrote:

Despite having a Jewish sil that everyone knows he L O V E S and grandchildren, and most of his long time buddies and professionals he employs are Jewish? How does this make sense?

I don't think he is actually an anti-semite but some of his closest advisers are known to be anti-Semitic. And see the purim story for the influence an adviser can have on a leader for bad.

Here's a crazy and depressing thought though. There are dangerous anti-semites on both the right and the left.

amother

Vermilion

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 11:14 am

dancingqueen wrote:

I don't think he is actually an anti-semite but some of his closest advisers are known to be anti-Semitic.

Can you be more specific?

ectomorph

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 11:26 am

Bannon is not an anti semites. That charge is based on a statement his ex wife said. As opposed to Ellison, who has made actual anti semitic statements.

amother

Firebrick

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 1:40 pm

amother wrote:

Despite having a Jewish sil that everyone knows he L O V E S and grandchildren, and most of his long time buddies and professionals he employs are Jewish? How does this make sense?

If your daughter converted to Christianity, do you now love all Christians?

This argument that he must love Jews because his daughter converted to Judaism is pretty stupid. It proves absolutely nothing about his own feeling towards Jews.

He has Jewish employees and business advisers because they're good at what they do, and he is nothing if not a shrewd businessman. Once again, proves nothing about his feelings for Jews, in either direction.

WhatFor

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 1:57 pm

I think all this finger pointing at specific parties is a mistake. It's not about a party. There are anti Semites on both sides, and we're all well aware of that.

It is relevant to expect that the leader of the United States, regardless of his party affiliation, would do more than state a small blurb to address the over 70 bomb threats that have been made to Jewish institutions in the past few weeks. I'd like to see a team specifically set up to combat this. I'd like to know what the administration is doing to combat this (other than "investigating").

Anti Semites (from whichever side) clearly feel more emboldened now than before. I'd like to see some action taken against them. I am furious that Jewish preschools have to be evacuated. I want to hear more leaders from both the right and the left speak out about this. I want to hear what the consequences will be to the people who are busted.

MagentaYenta

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 2:11 pm

WhatFor wrote:

Our president has kept silent on any type of domestic terrorism. There were three arrested in just one week in Feb.

FranticFrummie

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 2:30 pm

WhatFor, I understand your frustration. How would you suggest stopping people from making random phone calls?

Anyone, anywhere in the country, could use a disposable cell phone and say something stupid. By the time the FBI got a trace on it, the person would be long gone. It could be one person in Malaysia making those calls, or a whole bunch of individuals across the US, doing it on their own. If it's a bunch of copy cat threats, and none of these people even know each other, then you can't even call it a terror conspiracy.

It's the modern day equivalent of kids calling their neighbors and asking "Is your refrigerator running?" (Well, you'd better go catch it!)

I think that people think that as long as there is no actual bomb, and no harm done to anyone, that it's not a serious crime. It is, of course, but people like that don't think things through very well, or don't care about consequences.

WhatFor

Mon, Feb 27 2017, 2:38 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

Our president has kept silent on any type of domestic terrorism. There were three arrested in just one week in Feb.

Not to mention the Indians murdered last week... (Or is that what you were referencing?)