Thursday, February 14, 2019
Adam Milstein on Anti-Semitism
The below-linked article appeared in the Jerusalem Post. It is by LA-based philanthropist Adam Milstein, an Israeli-American who is also head of the Milstein Foundation. It is well worth the read.
https://www.adammilstein.org/antisemitism-is-anti-american-now-is-the-time-to-go-on-the-offense-against-hate/
Milstein raises an important point: Today's anti-semitism is coming from the radical left, the radical right, and radical Islam. It is my belief that the greater portion is coming from Islam, especially in the Middle East and Europe.
For years we have tried to alert the public of the anti-semitism on our college campuses masquerading as a human rights movement for Palestinians and against the Jewish state of Israel. On the local level, that effort has centered around UC Irvine, where I was teaching part-time for 18 years. Over the years, it has been a struggle just to get the message to the local Jewish communities. Strangely enough, major Jewish organizations like the Orange County Jewish Federation and the UC Irvine Hillel obstructed us at every turn. They and the UCI administration covered each others' backs. They had a common interest, which was to head off negative publicity about events on campus that might discourage Jewish students from enrolling at UCI.
In the past year, I have detected a change in the US. As I feared, anti-semitism has spread beyond the college campus and into the community-into the mainstream. If there is any positive result of the elections of people like Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) to Congress, it has been to alert the public that anti-semitism is out there and has infected the Democrat party. I firmly believe that now, finally, the average citizen in the US is aware of the problem. It is becoming part of our national discussion, as it should be. The American people have shown time and time again that when exposed to the fact of real injustice, they will do the right thing.
I am also learning. While I have focused much of my attention to Islamic anti-semitism and its leftist allies in America-prinipally academia, I must concede that anti-semitism is also experiencing a resurgence on the radical right. I condemn it. All forms of anti-semitism must be acknowledged and confronted.
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