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Anti-Semitism in Virginia

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James A. Bacon
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Source: Anti-Defamation League, as republished by “Combating Antisemitism in Virginia“

by James A. Bacon

Antisemitism in Virginia isn’t as severe as in some other states, but the number of incidents of harassment and vandalism has increased in recent years, according to a report by the Commission to Combat Antisemitism, “Combating Antisemitism in Virginia.”

In 2021, 411 reported antisemitic incidents impacted residents of the Commonwealth, reports the study, based on Anti-Defamation League data. These incidents showed a 71% increase over the 292 reported in 2018. Fortunately, none of these events involved the infliction of physical harm to anyone.

Antisemitism became a high-profile issue in 2017 during the Unite the Right rally of White supremacist groups, which was marked by numerous chants, and signage and sieg heils that singled out Jews for vilification. The vast majority of White Supremacists came from outside the state, but the event gave Virginia a bad name.

“Antisemitism is a wide-ranging problem that cuts across diverse segments of American society and exists on both the extreme left and extreme right sides of the political spectrum, as well as within the gradients in between,” states the report.

Far-right hate can be seen in the distribution of propaganda flyers and pamphlets alleging Jewish allegiances to communist governments, Jewish racial inferiority, and Jewish control over governmental institutions. On the left, antisemitism is a familiar feature on college campuses, where pro-Palestinian sentiment leads many faculty and students to denounce pro-Israeli Jews and enact Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) policies.

Among the commission’s 21 recommendations is one that would update Virginia’s hate crime laws to classify antisemitic hate crimes as an ethnic hate crime in addition to being a religious hate crime. Other proposals would prohibit Virginia universities from adopting anti-Israel BDS measures.

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56 responses to “Anti-Semitism in Virginia”

  1. Lefty665 Avatar
    Lefty665

    The reporting is based on ADL sourcing. The ADL chronically identifies opinion that objects to anti American pro Israel advocacy by Zionists and Jews as antisemitic. There undoubtedly are some real antisemitic events in the US, and those are to be condemned. However, much of “the sky is falling antisemitism is on the rise” hysteria is ADL and AIPAC propaganda.

    The long standing harnessing of US foreign policy in favor of Israel against our own best interests has been both a short and long term detriment to the US.

    There is no reason other than religion the US should be embracing the rabid right wing criminal Netanyahoo and his cohort. Is US policy as expressed by Sec State Blinken in our best interest or Israel’s? Where do his loyalties lie?

    Remember the USS Liberty where Israel murdered US Navy personnel, Marines and civilian NSA employees. Remember Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard who may have been the most damaging spy in US history, and the heroes welcome he got when repatriated to Israel after he got out of jail here. With friends like that, who needs enemies?

    If this be antisemitism make the most of it.

    1. Nathan Avatar
      Nathan

      Questioning the specific numbers may be legitimate, but there’s no question about the problem. There are specific examples cited within the report.

      “Swastikas being drawn on a Jewish family’s home. (May 2022, Burke)”

      “During class, a high school student Airdropped an image of a swastika to classmates and signed
      into an online quiz game using a swastika and a racial slur. (March 2022, Arlington)”

      Antisemitism is alive and well.

      1. Lefty665 Avatar
        Lefty665

        “There undoubtedly are some real antisemitic events in the US, and those are to be condemned.”

        From my comment above. We are in agreement.

        My objection is to the tidal wave of hysterical propaganda about raging antisemitism and our foreign policy that consistently advances Israel over US interests.

        1. Nathan Avatar
          Nathan

          “…our foreign policy that consistently advances Israel over US interests.”

          I strongly disagree, but that’s another topic.

          1. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            That is precisely the issue. You are at best naive.

          2. Nathan Avatar
            Nathan

            I think you have me confused with someone who goes by the name Nancy.

            I have been to the Middle East several times and experienced life first hand in Israel as well as Arab countries. You?

          3. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            At this point there is around a 75 year history of back and forth atrocities. All are horrible. If you fixate on one to justify the next retaliation the tit for tat violence continues endlessly, as we have seen. Israel is in the drivers seat so the casualties are lopsided with multiples of dead Palestinians for every Israeli. That does not make one worse than the other, but does illustrate the balance of power.

            Israel is an apartheid state, like South Africa was. Israel can become a real democracy where all its residents are represented. It has chosen not to do so.

            My objection is to letting the right wing thugs and criminals like Netanyahoo drive US foreign policy to their benefit.

    2. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      Just out of curiosity, why did you ask where Sec. of State Blinken’s loyalties lie?

      1. Lefty665 Avatar
        Lefty665

        His religion and that of several of his top deputies, including Nuland. It’s the Jonathan Pollard question. As a Jew Pollard placed loyalty to Israel above his oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

        With Kushner it was clear who was driving policy and why. Today we are still executing Israel’s policies but the impetus is generally less obvious.

        After Netanyahoo came to lobby and address Congress to defeat JCPOA Obama got more realistic and tougher. But he was unable to get JCPOA ratified as a treaty thanks to the Israelis, domestic Jewish organizations like AIPAC and politicians like Schumer. That opened the door for Kushner and Trump to withdraw from it and execute local Israeli policy to the detriment of the world.

        The Biden administration’s refusal to reenable the JCPOA is Israel’s policy and not in our interest. Blinken et al have been leading that parade. Where do their loyalties lie?

  2. Eric the half a troll Avatar
    Eric the half a troll

    “These anti- BDS laws include provisions such as prohibiting the state from contracting with an entity that engages in or supports BDS and requiring that state contracts contain a clause that the contractor will not engage in or support BDS during the term of the contract.”

    Seems there might be some 1st amendment rights at play here.

    1. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      Finally!

  3. WayneS Avatar
    WayneS

    In 2021, 411 reported anti-Semitic incidents impacted residents of the Commonwealth, reports the study, based on Anti-Defamation League data. These incidents showed a 71% increase over the 292 reported in 2020.

    This does not match the graph, which shows a slight overall decrease in anti-Semitic incidents between 2020 and 2021.

    Also, the numbers on the y-axis of the graph are a full order of magnitude lower than the numbers cited in the article (tens vs hundreds).

    1. James A. Bacon Avatar
      James A. Bacon

      You’re right! The passage would make more sense if it was comparing 2021 with 2018, not 2o2o.

      1. WayneS Avatar
        WayneS

        Also, please check further, because I think the 292 and 411 numbers are for the entire United States.

        EDIT: Then again, maybe not.

    2. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      There’s that Math-UVa disconnect again…

      1. WayneS Avatar
        WayneS

        Misplaced response moved.

        1. Nancy Naive Avatar
          Nancy Naive

          Well, 411 works nationwide. And, I’m pretty sure that with the possible exception of some Yooper town 911 is too.

    3. James A. Bacon Avatar
      James A. Bacon

      Correction made. The study was comparing 2021 with 2018.

    4. James A. Bacon Avatar
      James A. Bacon

      Correction made. The study was comparing 2021 with 2018.

  4. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    Criticism of Israeli policies towards Palestinians is not anti-Semitism. Don’t know how you got there.

    1. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      “Other proposals would prohibit Virginia universities from adopting anti-Israel BDS measures.”

      Bachelor of Dental Surgery?

      The issue is anti-Israel measures, which is problematic. Would this adversely affect Americans of Palestinian descent? In a Constitutional way, that is.

      1. Lefty665 Avatar
        Lefty665

        Why should efforts like Boycott, Divest and Sanctions to oppose Israel’s brutal repression of Palestinians be “problematic”? They are implemented to reform Israeli policies, not to be confused with opposing Israel itself.

        1. Nancy Naive Avatar
          Nancy Naive

          Oh? Is that what it stands for?

          I have no problem with it. Apparently JAB does. Try reading again.

        2. Nathan Avatar
          Nathan

          About 200,000 Palestinians cross each day into Israel or Jewish settlements for work, earning on average more than twice as much as those employed by Palestinian state bodies and businesses.

          Question: How exactly will BDS improve the situation for Palestinians?

          If they don’t work for Israeli businesses, how will they support their families?

          Here’s one way. Is this the way to peace and security for all?

          “On Dec. 9, 2018 , Shira Ish-ran was shot in the abdomen by a Palestinian terrorist. She was pregnant, and she required an emergency cesarean section to save her life. Tragically, her baby, delivered prematurely, died.”

          “Palestinian Authority law mandates ‘salaries’ for terrorists such as the one who shot Mrs. Ish-ran if he is caught or killed. Such ‘pay-for-slay’ programs, and the incentives they create to perpetuate terrorism, are described in the Taylor Force Act, a U.S. law enacted in March 2018, as well as in more recently enacted Israeli legislation.”

          “After much obfuscation and obstruction by the Palestinian Authority and the media, the existence of these payment programs has finally been exposed. But officials such as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas typically defend these benefits as a form of welfare.”

          https://jcpa.org/article/blood-money-not-benevolence-the-plos-justification-of-pay-for-slay/

          1. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            Have a nice day fanboy.

          2. Lefty665 Avatar
            Lefty665

            Here’s a less flattering and more realistic look at Israel’s brutality:

            https://original.antiwar.com/cook/2022/12/07/how-ben-gvir-blows-apart-the-security-story-of-israels-occupation/

          3. Nathan Avatar
            Nathan

            “Less flattering” is correct, “more realistic” is not.

            Anyone who calls the need for defensible borders a “security pretext” is not dealing with reality.

            Do you have any memory or understanding of what happened to bring about the war in 1948, the Six-Day War in 1967, or the Yom Kipper War? Security concerns are very real, and they didn’t start with “occupied territory” or any of the other excuses for trying to kill the Jews and prevent the existance of a Jewish state.

    2. DJRippert Avatar
      DJRippert

      This seems like a fairly good description of the situation.

      https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/the-anti-israel-movement-on-us-campuses-2020-2021

      1. LarrytheG Avatar
        LarrytheG

        You’re also confusing “anti-Israel” with anti-Semitism.

        Israel is a government. anti-semitism is racism towards a race of people regardless of where they live.

        are ya’ll just dense or what?

        1. James A. Bacon Avatar
          James A. Bacon

          Yeah? Too bad the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was so confused. Good thing we have you to correct the historical record.
          https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/30e4b1e8be67f05ed01fd783043a3e437a92218b348784fdd55b9252b2854184.jpg

          What Time wrote about his 1941 meeting with Hitler:

          Al-Husseini began the conversation by declaring that the Germans and the Arabs had the same enemies: “the English, the Jews, and the Communists.” He proposed an Arab revolt all across the Middle East to fight the Jews; the English, who still ruled Palestine and controlled Iraq and Egypt; and even the French, who controlled Syria and Lebanon. (The British had secured a mandate for Palestine at the Paris peace conference in 1919, and made halting attempts to create a “Jewish national home” there without prejudicing the rights of the Arab population.) He also wanted to form an Arab legion, using Arab prisoners from the French Empire who were then POWs inside Germany. He also asked Hitler to declare publicly, as the German government had privately, that it favored “the elimination of the Jewish national home” in Palestine.

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            You still are confusing criticism of a govt policy towards another country with hate of a race of people no matter the country they live in.

            And you amp it up further by equivalencing it to genocide.

            You guys can’t seem to recognize racism and hate no matter the country.

          2. Nathan Avatar
            Nathan

            You oppose Israel, and insist it has nothing to do with bigotry. Okay, fine.

            What nations in the Middle East do you support? Would you like to compare those nations point by point with conditions in Israel? Have you ever been to the Middle East?

            Jews from all over the world have fled from oppression to Israel. If they are wiped out, how is that not genocide?

          3. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            How do you get that I oppose Israel? If I oppose the policies of some other country, that’s “bigotry”?

            Racists who hate Jews don’t care where they live or what country they are from.

            Genocide, ethnic cleansing is usually the work of a nation state as opposed to individuals who hate others because of their race.

            Are Palestinians threatening to commit genocide to all Jews or even the Jews living Israel?

            There is confusion here IMO and I’m not convinced it’s not on purpose to divert attention away from the basic individual haters in this country who seem to hate not only Jew but Blacks and others who are not their kind.

          4. Turbocohen Avatar
            Turbocohen

            Uh.. what race is Jew?

          5. Nathan Avatar
            Nathan

            LarrytheG:
            “There is confusion here IMO and I’m not convinced it’s not on purpose to divert attention away from the basic individual haters in this country who seem to hate not only Jew but Blacks and others who are not their kind.”

            I am merely responding to comments you and others have made. If that has drawn attention away from “individual haters” you might examine your own role in that.

        2. DJRippert Avatar
          DJRippert

          First of all, I’m not confusing anything with anything. My sole comment on this matter was to post a report by the ADL about the Anti-Israel movement on US college campuses.

          The report I posted contains comments like this … “The campus anti-Israel movement’s rhetoric and actions span from legitimate criticism of Israeli government policies to expressions of antisemitism from some activists.”

          It also included this … “At Pomona College in April 2021, a BDS resolution passed by the student government would have forced Jewish and pro-Israel student groups to pledge support for BDS before being eligible for university funding.”

          It seems to me that the latter resolution (from Pomona College) goes well beyond anti-Israel sentiment by mandating adherence to BDS before a group could receive university funding.

          The only person dense around here, Larry, is you.

          Read the damn report and then either post specific criticisms of the report or STFU.

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            You posted a report about opposition to a govt and are equivalencing it to a race of people no matter where they live or their govt.

          2. DJRippert Avatar
            DJRippert

            I posted a report about anti-Israel actions and comments on college campuses that sometimes (often?) spill over to become Anti-Semitic.

            Here’s a simple question from that report – Do you believe that the Poloma College student government vote requiring that any group seeking university funding should be required to endorse BDS policies as a pre-requisite to getting the funding?

            The report draws clear lines between what it considers legitimate anti-Israel commentary and anti-semitic behavior.

            As I said in my introduction, “This seems like a fairly good description of the situation.”

            Some commentary is legitimate anti-Israel rhetoric while some is anti-semitic behavior.

          3. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            “…. that sometimes (often?) spill over to become Anti-Semitic.”

            really?

            I think that’s a real stretch DJ.

            So on that questionable “sometimes” – you’re saying it’s the same – both hate of Jews and opposition to Israel is anti-Semitism?

            What I don’t understand is why you and Jim do this.

            It’s clearly mixing the issue and for what purpose?

        3. Nathan Avatar
          Nathan

          “anti-semitism is racism”

          Jews are a different ethnicity, not race.

          What do you call support for people who openly want to drive all the Jews into the sea?

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            in the context of the hate – they are considered by the haters to be a “race”, they don’t care about ethnic distinctions. In their mind, they’re ALL Jews!

            You’re playing games with the core issue.

      2. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        Substitute Myanmar for Israel, or Sweden for Israel, then apply the same criticism of government policies that you exhibit toward the US Federal government to those of other countries.

        1. LarrytheG Avatar
          LarrytheG

          https://media4.giphy.com/media/EOqkHl6KPWtUpEOrbk/giphy.gif

          1. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            It’s okay to be critical of governments and their policies, as opposed to the people in the country.

          2. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            People have linked the two and associated a race with a country like Japan… “japs”, etc.

            that’s in the same church perhaps but a very different pew.

            The folks in Cville were not raising hell over Israel and it’s treatment of Palestinians.

        2. DJRippert Avatar
          DJRippert

          Even by the low bar of your normal commentary, this is bizarre. What in God’s name are you talking about? The report I posted in my comment on this article describes anti-Israel activities and comments on college campuses. Some of those comments are described as being legitimate dissent while others are held forth as evidence of anti-semitism. It has nothing to do with Myanmar, Sweden or the US Federal government.

          1. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            You’re still seemingly purposely confusing criticism of a govt and it’s policies and hate towards a race of people regardless of what country they live in.

            Not the same.

          2. DJRippert Avatar
            DJRippert

            You obviously have not read the report I posted. Please do so before embarrassing yourself any further.

          3. LarrytheG Avatar
            LarrytheG

            I DID read it. Hatred of Jews no matter what country they live in has nothing to do with Israel and “Zionism”.

            There’s different things.

            ” What is Zionism?
            In brief, it’s Israel’s national ideology, with Judaism serving as both a nationality and religion.”

            It’s like WASPs in the US.

            To me, It’s this kind of equivalencing that helps to enable and encourage the core anti-Semitism. They see this as support for their view.

          4. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Second person plural. Multiple yous. Should have used “one”. I shal endeavor forthwith to use “all y’all”

          5. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            I was agreeing with Larry. If you object to Israeli policies, this is in itself not anti-Semitism. If they are policies or behavior that in any other country would be objectionable, then they are in Israel too. Walks like a duck…

            It’s a clear line that people have no problem blurring for their benefit.

  5. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    “Far-right hate can be seen in the distribution of propaganda flyers…”

    Psst, didn’t you get the email? Such things are supposed to be called AntiFa false flags, like January 6th.

    1. LarrytheG Avatar
      LarrytheG

      don’t be confusing his beliefs…. 😉

  6. killerhertz Avatar
    killerhertz

    Anti-semitism is such a far reaching problem, because just mentioning the word “Jew” gets you labeled an anti-Semite. The ADL is a pox on America.

  7. LarrytheG Avatar
    LarrytheG

    re: ” To address antisemitism in education directly, the Commission recommends methods to increase the availability of antisemitism awareness, training, and instructional materials for K-12 and higher education teachers and include lessons on the history of the Jewish people and Jewish civilization, Holocaust, and antisemitism into the Virginia Department of Education Standards of Learning. ”

    Whoa! talk about those “inherently divisive concepts”!

    Surely if we’re gonna teach kids about the Holocaust, we’d also teach them about Jim Crow , right?

    1. Nathan Avatar
      Nathan

      “Surely if we’re gonna teach kids about the Holocaust, we’d also teach them about Jim Crow , right?”

      VS.8 c of the proposed revised standards below:

      “analyzing the effects of segregation and ‘Jim Crow’ laws on life in Virginia”

      So what’s your beef?

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