“Anti-Semitism Is The Remaining Acceptable Bias/Prejudice Within Polite Societal Discourse.” What’s The Proper Response?

STIPULATED, anti-Semitism is as old as time. It is “the remaining acceptable bias/prejudice within polite societal discourse.” Said truth – coined in 2011 by this jihadi expert – has been cited in several scholarly books, one of which is “Israel’s Nightmares: Palestinian and Muslim Zombies Haunting Israel” by Raphael Israeli, a Hebrew University Professor of Middle Eastern, Islamic and Chinese history. 

MORE specifically, numerous scholarly studies have explored this age-old prejudice, therefore, this site defers to others whose expertise is deemed second to none. But if one scholar’s body of work merits the utmost attention, it is that of Robert S. Wistrich, a/k/a S.W. Wistrich. His impeccable scholarship is derived from decades of documented historical research; that which leads to irrefutable conclusions.

SINCE time immemorial, this sickness unto death has yet to be cured. In reality, let’s be intellectually honest enough to admit: it will never be!! As such, once this ugly and depressing truth is internalized for what it is, then and only then, the only rational conclusion becomes self-evident: at the very least, each and every generation has the moral obligation to train the next, if not formally, then to lead (emphasis added) by example.

THIS schooling, at its base, must commence with anti-Semitism’s march throughout history. After said lessons are learned – and, yes, for ensuing practical application purposes – the ability to recognize the symptoms and signals must be part and parcel thereof. Thus, this eradicable disease – though without a cure – will be exposed, hence, “managed.” Depending on the circumstances, push-back is the next step. Tsk, tsking is no longer tenable. Furthermore, it must be taught by adults of conscience who are not of the mindset that maintaining the so-called “high road” – by pretending that what is isn’t – is the way to handle anti-Semitic attacks. In other words, while verbal persuasion is surely the first option, there are moments in time whereby action (direct and indirect via a multiplicity of levels) is required. Mandated.

RESULTANT, it is not for nothing that in one of Judaism’s Biblical texts, The Book of Ecclesiastes, the following can be found in Chapter 3: 

On Appointed Time

1 – To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2-  A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 – A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 – A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 – A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 – A time to get, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 – A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 – A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace……

א – לַכֹּ֖ל זְמָ֑ן וְעֵ֥ת לְכָל־חֵ֖פֶץ תַּ֥חַת הַשָּׁמָֽיִם:

ג – עֵ֤ת לַֽהֲרוֹג֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִרְפּ֔וֹא עֵ֥ת לִפְר֖וֹץ וְעֵ֥ת לִבְנֽוֹת:

ד – עֵ֤ת לִבְכּוֹת֙ וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂח֔וֹק עֵ֥ת סְפ֖וֹד וְעֵ֥ת רְקֽוֹד:

ה – עֵת לְהַשְׁלִ֣יךְ אֲבָנִ֔ים וְעֵ֖ת כְּנ֣וֹס אֲבָנִ֑ים עֵ֣ת לַֽחֲב֔וֹק וְעֵ֖ת לִרְחֹ֥ק מֵֽחַבֵּֽק:

ONE of 24 books of the Tanach, the Hebrew Bible, it was originally written in    c.400-250 BCE by King Solomon. As a book of established Canonical Wisdom, so much so, it is studied in most denominations of Christianity too. To wit, with this in mind, the wisdom of King Solomon must be heeded – by those who encounter the ills of age-old anti-Semitism (almost always, in tandem with attendant blood libels), as well as by the wider public. 

IN this regard, for this discussion, it is hardly necessary to catalog acts of anti-Semitism from as recent as the last decade (never mind, decade upon decade), in so far that new ones crop up all the time, cancer-like. Not only that, most acutely, these attacks are endemic within U.S. academia in specific and the west in general – never mind throughout the Islamic world! Indeed, said poison is an epidemic within leftist bastions, and has been a staple within far-right, Nazi-sympathizing factions. An “equal opportunity” poison. Got that??

(Presenting, tenured English prof, Kaukab Siddique at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania!)

ONTO the latest at Columbia U….a bastion of Jew-hatred!

ALAS, as night follows day, the once upon a time venerable Columbia University (housed on the upper west side in New York City, a/k/a Bir-Zeit-on-the-Hudson) has, for many years, fostered an atmosphere where targeting Jewish students and Jewish professors is not only tolerated, but encouraged. Yes, it is. Mind you, this American-Israeli knows the campus’s terrain very well, and even documented it from the onset of this site. Even more so, the list of terror-tied Muslim profs (and their leftist accomplices) at Columbia U’s campus (and countless others) is too lengthy to cite. But, suffice to state: nothing happens in a vacuum.

{Incontestably, Khalidi, a Columbia U historian – akin to the late, non-lamented,Edward Said – fabricates/falsifies history, as well as current events!}

SO, just consider the bloody trail to Columbia’s “Center For Palestine Studies” – never mind that an actual nation of Palestine is non-existent! Regardless, isn’t it more than noteworthy that its Co-Director is none other than Rashi Khalidi – a terror-tied (Muslim Brotherhood) prof on the Morningside Heights campus, and wifey, Mona Khalidi, is the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and the Assistant Director of Graduate Studies of the School of International and Public Affairs? Columbia Trustees: say it ain’t so.

President Obama’s good friend, former PLO mouthpiece Rashid Khalidi, is back in the news. He has signed an appeal for funds to outfit another ship that, like the “peace flotilla,” would try to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the territory controlled by Hamas — the foreign terrorist organization that is the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinian arm….read the whole terror-tied nexus….

IN any case, the knock-on effect(s) of the above is directly linked to the latest (Nov. 29, 2018) targeting against Jews on campus!

The office of a Jewish professor at Columbia University was spray painted with anti-Semitic graffiti.

Swastikas were spray painted on two walls of the office of Elizabeth Midlarsky, professor of psychology and education, at Columbia Teachers College. The word “YID” also was spray painted on a wall of the office of the professor, who is Jewish and who researches and publishes about the Holocaust. 

The vandalism was discovered on Wednesday afternoon. The New York Police Department is investigating the incident, the Columbia Spectator student newspaper reported about two hours after the graffiti was discovered. All Teachers College academic buildings require an ID for entrance, according to the Spectator.

“I was in shock,” Midlarsky, who is 77 and says she is in poor health, told the newspaper. “I stopped for a moment, because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”

“We unequivocally condemn any expression of hatred, which has no place in our society. We are outraged and horrified by this act of aggression and use of this vile anti-Semitic symbol against a valued member of our community,” Teachers College President Thomas Bailey said in a statement.

In 2007, Midlarsky was the victim of anti-Semitic vandalism at the university, when a swastika was spray painted on her office door and anti-Semitic fliers were left in her mailbox.

KNOW this: the feigned outrage from various administrators and Teachers College President Thomas Bailey is nothing more than reflexive blah, blah, and clucking noises too – in so far that not a damn thing will change to ensure that said “act of aggression…” doesn’t repeat itself. Heaven forfend that the likes of Khalidi and his leftist colleagues are “offended” by any real action taken! Take this assessment to the bank.

NOW, it is not for nothing that it became incumbent to highlight the above during Chanukah, the Jewish festival of lights. What’s the connection? Well, just like in ancient times, the persecution of the Jewish people knows no end. No bounds. But that doesn’t mean that today’s Jews (at least, those who are not wedded to the “religion” of the left, that is, backing every aggrieved, PC, minority group, other than their own) shouldn’t be just as courageous as their fore-bearers. In brief :

…….Joined by a ragtag army of others like them, simple farmers dedicated to the laws of Moses, armed only with spears, bows and arrows, and rocks from the terrain, the Maccabees, as Mattathias’ sons, particularly Judah, came to be known, fought a guerrilla war against the well-trained, well-equipped, seemingly endless forces of the mercenary Syrian army.

In three years, the Maccabees cleared the way back to the Temple Mount, which they reclaimed. They cleaned the Temple and dismantled the defiled altar and constructed a new one in its place. Three years to the day after Antiochus’ mad rampage (Kislev 25, 165 BCE), the Maccabees held a dedication (hanukkah ) of the Temple with proper sacrifice, rekindling of the golden menorah, and eight days of celebration and praise to God. [Proper] Jewish worship had been reestablished.

Perhaps the most famous part of the story is what happened next: a tiny jar of oil kept the candles burning for the full eight days. However, this detail does not appear in any Jewish texts until 600 years later in the Talmud, mentioned in a larger discussion of why Hanukkah observance is so important.

ENOUGH SAID!