Editor's note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
A memorial made of flowers and stars on the sidewalk outside of the Tree of Life Synagogue, in remembrance of 11 people killed on Oct. 28, 2018.
At a Jewish Bris service on Saturday, 11 Jewish congregants in a synagogue were murdered by an anti-semite. Four police officers were shot as well, according to the Washington Post.
The victims ranged in age from 54 to 97 years old:
- Joyce Fienberg, 75
- Richard Gottfried, 65
- Rose Mallinger, 97
- Jerry Rabinowitz, 66
- Cecil Rosenthal, 59
- David Rosenthal, 54
- Bernice Simon, 84
- Sylvan Simon, 86
- Daniel Stein, 71
- Melvin Wax, 88
- Irving Younger, 69
Shortly thereafter, the story became national news and the world (both Jewish and otherwise) reacted.
My initial gripe about the reactions was the tragedy was painted in many news sources as a lone incident, conveniently forgetting that 54.4 percent of anti-religious hate crimes in 2016 were against Jewish people, per the FBI, and that in 2017 there was a nearly 60 percent increase in antisemitic incidents from that, per the Anti-Defamation League.
My evolved complaint, however, is how the death of Jewish persons being used politically. Suddenly, everyone “cares” about antisemitism. Or at least how they can use antisemitic incidents for their political means.
Most of it has been about gun control, but there has been some criticism of President Donald Trump’s reactions. His initial reaction was deeply insensitive, but he’s deeply insensitive anyways. Two years into the Trump administration and my ability to care about his insensitivity is gone, so long as he doesn't cause physical harm.
According to CNN, Trump said the synagogue should have had armed guards.
On that note, whether or not we should have armed guards at Jewish institutions is an internal issue and I don’t care about gentile opinions on it, presidential or otherwise.
Furthermore, Trump did not invent antisemitism in the US. He has absolutely cultivated an environment conducive to antisemitism, but antisemitism has existed in America for hundreds of years and globally for thousands. No one just cared to notice until it could be an anti-Trump or pro-gun control debate.
Regarding gun control, it is important issue - but if one really cares about antisemitism, they should table gun control for a week or two. Talk about antisemitism first. Robert Bowers, the shooter at the Tree of Life synagogue, was a registered gun owner, according to the New York Times. He was also an open maniac on social media by constantly posting about his hatred of Jewish people and other minorities, so the “catch the nuts who have registered guns before they shoot” argument is kind of moot here either way.
More importantly, if someone's first reaction to an antisemitic tragedy involving guns is “the guns did this” then they don’t really care about the plight of the Jewish people. If that’s someone's reaction, it’s not about the Jewish community - it’s about the advancement of their political causes.
Across the internet I have seen people, who have never previously had a word to say about antisemitism, become suddenly torn up about it, coincidentally when it could be used a gun control argument. While there are certainly people who were genuinely ignorant of antisemitism, I’ve also seen plenty of people who are willfully ignorant of or outright deny antisemitism any other day of the week suddenly decide to talk about it because it’s politically convenient for the advancement of gun control.
Anti-semites have been killing Jewish people since well before firearms existed and will continue to as long as society refuses to tackle the issue directly. While guns were the avenue of destruction this time, it was an anti-semite who killed the Jewish people, just as it has been for thousands of years. Focusing on the firearms or pretending they are the root cause of the deaths is intellectually dishonest and fails to address the issue head-on.
I am now watching people who routinely dismiss antisemitism act like they cared before it could be a could be a gun control platform. The same people who looked the other way when Louis Farrakhan (black nationalist and civil rights activist) called us “termites” or when Linda Sarsour (one of the organizers of the women's march) stiffed a vandalized Jewish cemetery that she had promised raise money in the name of (and collected funds on behalf without giving it to them) now suddenly want to get on trend that they care about antisemitism.
It’s currently in vogue to pretend to care about the Jewish community, but we know how many are faking it.
The same people who said nothing about antisemitism on their campuses, told Jewish people they don’t count as minorities and dismiss antisemitism when they hear of it in other circumstances are now pretending like they’ve cared the whole time. It's inauthentic and I see right through it.
If you’re reading this and thinking in protest, “this isn’t me, I actually care, I just didn’t know” then great. Take that authentic caring and put it to use to learn about antisemitism. Research it and talk to your Jewish friends about it (if they don’t want to right now, ask if you can talk about it in a week or two).
When Jewish people talk about antisemitism, we should be believed. Don’t write passes for anti-semites, don’t dismiss Jewish experiences, even if they conflict with a preferred narrative of the world, and make an effort to learn.
We’ve been excluded from mainstream social justice for a long time, at least when it comes to being recognized as a persecuted people in our right. Talk to us and I promise that most Jewish people would be thrilled to teach and inform, although some may want some time. We want people to care about antisemitism but we want the caring to be genuine.
There are gentiles who cared about antisemitism before this tragedy, and there are some who will care after, but most of this will fade into the night. At the end of the day, this incident has made it deeply clear that a lot of people only care about us as political tools. A month from now, very few of those people will still care. It’ll go back to the way it was last week: most non-Jewish people don’t care about antisemitism.
But go ahead, prove me wrong.
