The town I grew up in was 90% Jewish at the time of the last census. Myself, being one of the very few Christians in the town, but it really did not affect me. Instead, this just gave me a very unique perspective. Every weekend, mostly on Friday nights and Saturday mornings, you would see many Orthodox Jews crowding the streets and sidewalks, walking to temple. I always admired the Orthodox Jews, they were so strong on traditions, were extremely kind to everyone, and wanted to live simply. Recently though, the town and their world were rocked. Prior to five years ago, I can’t recall a single anti-Semitic attack on my town. Sure, I’ve heard the common phrases and slurs during sporting event, but they were always brushed off. But then things starting changing, a swastika was spray painted on local Jewish businesses in my town. The community was strong, tons of families had connections to the Holocaust. They knew what discrimination was, but they have done a great job preventing it in past generations. It was not the swastika itself that hurt everyone, it was the idea that anti-Semitism was in the air. It put a huge cloud of nervousness over the city. This one incident affected the entire community. There was someone who wanted to attack them. The system allowed this to become regular. Anti-Semitism is seen differently than other types of discrimination. I have no idea why this is, but its commonly over looked. As of recently, anti-Semitic attacks are on the rise. This needs to stop, people are becoming way to comfortable with their anti-Semitic remarks. This comfortability allows these actions to happen, and unless something is done at a top level they will continue. In Martin Luther King’s letter from Birmingham jail, Dr. King says Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” We can not ignore something like this. A marginalized group being targeted affects everyone in the community. The people that are committing these anti-Semitic attacks are committing other hate crimes as well. We need to do what we can to end this. Anti-Semitic attacks are often overlooked, for whatever reason. Since it’s overlooked, it continues to happen. Justice was found, as the person who committed the hate crimes was arrested. This is a small win in a huge battle in the fight against anti-Semitism. If an attack like that can affect the whole community negatively, then a small win for justice can affect the community positively.
https://www.cleveland.com/crime/2020/08/beachwood-man-charged-in-painting-swastikas-anti-semitic-images-on-university-heights-businesses.html
