http://www.ocjewishlife.com/site/anti-semitism-hate-crimes-and-bullying-part-one-of-three/
Anti-Semitism, Hate Crimes and Bullying: Part One of Three
by Barbara Boarnet | February 2012 | 2 Comments »"Saturday, January 7, we took down the blue and white lights and Chanukah decorations that adorned the outside of our house from Thanksgiving until New Year’s. Sometime that evening, an ignorant, despicable person desecrated our home by writing foul language with a swastika symbol on our garage door. We were shocked that such a thing would happen in our protected, cohesive, culturally diverse community of Irvine, and astounded that such hate and lack of acceptance is prevalent even in today’s world.
We have been extremely impressed with how quickly the Irvine Police responded and how thoroughly they have been investigating, advising us that they take hate crimes extremely seriously. It is unlikely that the culprit will be found. Since no one in our family has problems of any kind with anyone, we (and the police) assume that it was an isolated instance, most likely a response to how clearly proud we are of being Jewish.
This experience has been a real eye-opener. Unfortunately, we are not the only family that has experienced recent anti-Semitism. Others have experienced even worse. The son of one family at an OC high school has been bullied terribly by a group of other students, because he is Jewish. He has been called horrible names, excluded and even physically assaulted. The family has avoided bringing in the authorities because of the fear of retaliation.
Last night, attorneys from the Anti-Defamation league came to Congregation Shir Ha-Ma’alot in Irvine to moderate an interactive discussion about anti-Semitism with the 10th to 12th graders and their parents. While I was impressed with the mature way these teens discussed the topic, I was shocked by what they said. Almost all the teens reported that swastikas show up repeatedly at their schools, etched into trash cans and people’s shoes. It is almost as if the ignorant kids writing them don’t even realize their significance or how bad they are. One person shared that she had a swastika etched into her music stand, which she knew was personally directed at her, one of the few Jewish students in the whole school. Another shared that someone stuffed a piece of paper with a swastika into his locker. Most admitted to feeling uncomfortable wearing Jewish jewelry at school, because they’d rather not draw attention to being Jewish. The majority agreed that Jewish jokes and “Jew comments” are commonplace. The kids sharing these stories are good students, outgoing kids, who are well liked and involved.
We learned that hate starts with just one word – a seemingly innocent joke or nickname can go way beyond how it was intended and can escalate into individual acts of prejudice (bullying), outright discrimination (segregation, exclusion), bias-motivated violence (threats, assault, vandalism) and ultimately to genocide. Many of the teens indicated that they don’t take offense at the Jewish jokes because “they don’t mean anything,” and, a lot of them (my son included) admitted that they regularly tell such jokes themselves. What we need to realize is that when jokes, insensitive remarks and stereotyping are allowed to exist and go unchecked or, worse, when we participate in them, especially with our non-Jewish friends, people think it is okay and they can lead to other acts of hate and discrimination.
The hurtful words and symbol on our garage were wiped away easily, but what remains in our hearts is sadness. It makes me so angry that today’s youth still has to worry about hate and bullying. It is upsetting that there are still people who attack not just Jews, but so many different groups of people who are perceived as being different. We need to join together to focus on the positive, inclusive, respectful, kind and tolerant people in our communities, our schools, our synagogues, our activities and our lives. Together we can prevail against bullies!
Next month will focus on other types of hate and bullying (including cyberbullying) that are rampant in our schools and among our children, and the final column in the series will address the resources available to us and the many ways to take a stand against anti-Semitism and other hate crimes and protect ourselves and our communities."
Here is my comment in the reader thread, which is pending publication. Since the OCJL is basically funded by my friends in the OC Jewish Federation, it is questionable they will allow it to appear.
"I suggest the writer contact Rusty Kennedy at the OC Human Relations Commission. They get $300,000 a year tax-payer money to deal with these issues. Of course, don't expect much if anything. I wrote to Kennedy a couple of years back about anti-Semitism at UCI and all I got back was a nasty-gram excoriating me for daring to criticize the university for their lack of action. Anti-Semitism issues are not high on Rusty's plate especially since his resume includes attendance at the Durban Conference that singled out Israel as THE violator of human rights in the world. He also reportedly had time to attend an event honoring Yasser Arafat on the occasion of his Noble "peace" prize."
What I find most shocking is that I had not seen anything in the general press about these incidents. Nor I have seen any calls for community rallies or school assemblies to rally against these hate crimes. We know that each time any questionable hate incident towards Muslims occurs, CAIR immediately issues press releases and calls news conferences and demands sensitivity training. Ditto when blacks or Hispanics are targeted. Why is the Jewish leadership in our community not doing the same? Why hasn't the Irvine City Council issued public proclamations against this sort of hateful activity? Have the affected schools held assemblies to educate their students about the meaning of swastikas? Where is the public outcry? These incidents provide "teachable moments". It is very troubling when anti-Semitism become mainstream and tolerated, especially among the youth,
ReplyDeleteWhat I find shocking is the way this family just treated this as if it was a normal occurrence. Swastika on the door, just wash it away. Swastika on a music stand, just ignore it. If it was the 'N' word or a noose what do you think the reaction of the media, of so-called black leaders would be? Maxine Waters would hold Congressional hearings.
ReplyDeleteAmerican Jews are living in a fool's paradise if they believe that if they ignore these incidents it will get better. It is only going to get worse.
Debra,
ReplyDeleteYou know the problems.
1 At UCI, the Federation and Hillel don't want to make waves because they don't want Jewish prospective students to avoid UCI. They also are too embedded with the university and are determined to protect it and their administrators -right up to do-nothing Yudoff. Not only that, they continue to support this asinine Olive Tree Initiative no matter how many red flags are shown.
2 ADL? What have they done at UCI? Abe Foxman dismissed charges of anti-Semitism a year back when he spoke in Newport Beach.
3 The OC HRC is a joke that picks and chooses its issues according to the id of the victims and perps. They are only interested when some white, anglo does something against a minority-and Jews don't count.
3 The Jewish community is so fragmented they are not even united on issues of existential threats. They don't want to make waves or they are sympathetic to the radical left and the Palestinian cause.
4 The news media will not get involved because they don't want to discuss the issue of just who is stirring up the anti-Semitic problems- especially overseas.
What I find most ironic is the fact that I have made so many Jewish enemies while standing up against anti-Semitism and for Israel.
Go figure.