Posted on 05/24/2004 7:36:45 AM PDT by Lando Lincoln
There’s been a lot of talk since 9/11 about anti-Muslim and anti-Arab discrimination, and yet according to actual hate crime statistics, it is Jews who have had the most to fear. According to the FBI’s Hate Crimes Statistics Report for 2002, there were 155 anti-Islamic incidents and 931 anti-Jewish incidents. And as anyone who follows these developments knows, the majority of these anti-Jewish acts were perpetrated by Arabs and/or Muslims.
Of course, the media has remained largely silent on this issue, preferring instead to stick to their usual script of brown victims and white oppressors. But Jews themselves do not have that luxury. In contrast, many young Jews who never before encountered anti-Semitism are now reading daily about synagogue burnings, blood libels, grave defacements, school fire-bombings, and the cold-blooded and deliberate murder of Jews. They are also experiencing hatred on a personal level for the first time.
My own brush with anti-Semitism, in the post-9/11 landscape, first came while counter-protesting at ''peace'' rallies in San Francisco leading up to the war in Iraq. Most of the vitriol was couched in anti-Israel terminology, such as the hysterical accusations of ''genocide'' displayed on signs and the ''Intifada'' T-shirts worn by members of the crowd. On one occasion, I was called a ''Zionist pig'' for daring to wave an Israeli flag. But it was the Arab teenager with the ''Kill the Jews'' sign that made the most lasting impression.
Actually, I became aware of Arab anti-Semitism long before 9/11, mostly through my neighborhood grocery stores. San Francisco has many such corner stores, the nicest of which are owned and run by Arab-Americans.
A former neighbor of mine made the mistake one day of engaging in a political conversation with our local Arab store owner. Somehow the subject of Australians came up and she mentioned in passing their attitude towards the British. Not knowing she was Jewish, the man nodded in agreement, saying how much he hated Jews. Dumbfounded, she simply walked out the door without comment. From then on, the store became known as the ''Jew-Haters.'' We continued patronizing the place, joking about how we were going down to the ''Jew-Haters'' for some milk or a loaf of bread. But our casual indifference concealed a real fear--evident in the fact that we both tucked our Star of David necklaces into our shirts whenever we went in after that.
I later switched neighborhoods and hence corner stores, but in a cruel twist of fate, it turned out the ''Jew-Haters'' owned another store in the vicinity of my new address. A friend of mine, who isn’t even Jewish, ended up in an argument one day with the owner, who blamed Israel for the 9/11 attacks and conjured up the conspiracy theory that 4000 Jews stayed home that day on a tip from Mossad. My friend pointed out how ludicrous these accusations were, but to no avail. Not being able to stomach giving money to the ''Jew-Haters'' any longer, neither of us returned to the store
Years later, I still frequent my local, Arab-owned corner stores, mostly out of necessity, but also because, ironically, they provide the friendliest service in the city. But in the back of my mind, there lingers a nagging question. I can’t help wondering if they would be as friendly if they knew I was a Jew? In fact, I wonder if they would want to slit my throat if they knew I was a Jew? As the young men behind the counter smilingly hand me my change, such are the thoughts that go through my mind.
Having lived most of my life as a tolerant, egalitarian type, I dislike feeling this way, but I’ve read too many passages like the one in the Koran where Muslims are instructed not only to avoid befriending ''disbelievers,'' but to kill them as well. I’ve seen the videos of Daniel Pearl and Nick Berg, both Jews, beheaded like animals by calm, cool, Arab terrorists. I’ve seen the photos of Palestinians triumphantly holding up their Jewish-blood-stained hands, and dancing gleefully in the streets--the heads and remains of Jewish soldiers held aloft. But it is the story of Sébastien Selam, the young Jewish DJ in France who was murdered last year by his Arab neighbor, that haunts me the most. The two young men had been friends, but after slitting Sebastien’s throat and mutilating his face with a fork, the Arab youth simply said, ''I have killed my Jew. I will go to heaven.'' How one reconciles a sense of humanity with such callous indifference to life, is a question I continue to struggle with.
The mundane nature of evil has confounded mankind throughout history and the current situation is no exception. Today’s ''monsters'' could very well be the shopkeeper down the street, a neighbor in your building, or even someone you think is a friend. And for Jews in particular, such realities raise difficult questions. All too often, these concerns go unspoken for fear of giving offense, but the rising bodycount should add some perspective. We have seen where such willful ignorance has led in the past. Can we really afford to go down that path again?
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Cinnamon Stillwell is a contributing editor to ChronWatch. She lives in San Francisco and can be reached at: cstillwell@chronwatch.com.
Yeah, these are the "moderate muslims"
"The two young men had been friends, but after slitting Sebastien’s throat and mutilating his face with a fork, the Arab youth simply said, ''I have killed my Jew. I will go to heaven.''
No doubt one of the "moderate" Muslims.
The Christian God will defend us all. I weep for the fate of Arab nations for their sins.
bump.
The problem is that the philosophy of the American Left is dictated largely by the European socialist elite. And they are almost as rabidly anti-semitic as the Arabs.
This kind of behavior is becoming quite common on college campuses across the country. Charming.
I dunno about that... they're certainly punching far above their weight, but there are still so many more white Christians that the WASPs still probably account for more than half of all hate crimes against Jews.
Noooooooooo! Really -- ?!? < /saracsm>
Didn't this kind of happen many moons ago?
bull
Please excuse the hit-and-run post. I guess I tripped over the word "Christian" in your post. While I'm quite sure that some idiotic neo-nazi's descibe themselves as "WASP's", their actions and attitudes certainly disallow them from being described as "Christian".
True Christians worldwide need to unite against the kind of racial prejudice that fuels the stupidity described in this article.
Very stupid. A punch in the nose would be far more appropriate. Barring that, why in the world they'd keep patronizing the store is beyond me.
"San Francisco has many such corner stores, the nicest of which are owned and run by Arab-Americans.'
Well san fran must have a better class of Arab grocers than we have in NJ, almost all the stores out here run by Arab immigrants are filthy. I wouldn't buy a can of tuna fish in most of them. And I know Arabs have a great reputation for hospitality, but I don't find the shopkeepers particularly friendly. They are pretty good about remembering what you buy, which in my case is only cigaretts.
In fact, I must say a lot of the bodegas (as we call them in NYC) are filthy, the Hindu shopkeepers aren't too swift on the cleaning either. And the one store run by the Jewish guy (definately American, not an immigrant)ain't too clean either. I can't figure out how he arranges for the milk company to give him all leaking cartons every single delivery.
We stick to the quick check mostly, a little more expensive, but I will NOT buy food in a dirty store.
Kudos
I love it when liberal propaganda is debunked.
Not only have we found out that hate crimes against Muslims never did go up the way the libs said they would. But actually it was Muslims COMITTING THEM against others that went up.
Related interesting article:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1141283/posts
Wrong Cinnamon. This Cinnamon is our own SeenTheLight. Not sure how much she freeps nowadays.
Why would anyone - anyone! - continue to buy from a store owned by such hatemongers? Like most NYers, I've had my share of problems with crazy storekeepers and I will walk six blocks out of my way to patronize another shop. The money she pays these creeps may be going to fund terrorism. Off point but what kind of a Jewish girl has a name like CINNAMON?
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