Tag Archives: Jew Hatred

Terror at Hanukkah 2025

19 Dec

Today is the funeral of Matilda, the 10-year-old girl murdered by terrorists in Hanukkah Massacre on Bondi Beach.  I cannot stop thinking about her.

I woke up Sunday morning knowing that evening would be the first night of Hanukkah.  I went to Facebook to post a happy photo of my dreidel collection, something I do every year.  But instead, I saw the horror that was Bondi Beach in Australia. I was in no mood to post a happy Hanukkah photo.

What really distresses me are those who shout, ‘Globalize the intifada” or “From the River to the Sea.”  Especially when it is a Jewish person who has turned away from supporting the survival of Israel and instead seems to be supporting Hamas.  I really cannot stand their actions anymore.

With a child and her family living in Israel, when I see those words I think, “So you want my family killed.”  “So you want all Jews to be killed.”  Do you realize when you say “Globalize the intifada” that includes you.  Jihadists do not care if you are a Hamas supporting Jew or not.  They will just kill you. 

When people hear that 1250 Israelis were killed on October 7, they assume that they were all Jews.  Not true.  Hamas did not care who they killed or who were the 250 hostages they took. Because they hate.  Among the dead and hostages were other Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus.  But to the world it was Jews.  How ignorant.

When they say Israel was the occupier, they are deluded.  Israel withdrew all its people from Gaza in 2004.  It has stayed outside, just protecting its borders from the constant attacks from Gaza. The missiles and rockets came every year like clockwork on certain Israeli or Jewish holidays.  But the western media never reported on those attacks because Israel built thousands of bomb shelters to protect its people, so most attacks were futile.  The news only reports when people die. But that doesn’t mean the bombings didn’t happen.  The western media only reported when Israel fired back. And then it was Israel bombs Gaza, with no context.  To say the western media is anti-Israel and anti-Semitic is putting it mildly.

So now we have Jewish young adults who are so ignorant of Jewish and Israeli history they are siding with the terrorists.  I guess they think that makes them morally better because they stick up for the ‘underdog’. But honestly, since the global population of Muslims is 2 billion and the global population of Jews is less than 16 million, I think they have the underdog confused.  

Some also say, “I am not Anti-Semitic, I am anti-Zionist.” Is there a difference? NO! Every year we end the Passover seder with these words, “next year in Jerusalem.”  What do they think that means?  It is a prayer and wish for all Jews to return to Israel.  The return to Israel is what Zionism means, to return to the land of our ancestors.

Israel has fought for its survival.  Israel stands up to terror and hatred.  It is time that the world acknowledges the truth.  Hamas started the war; Hamas hid food from the people of Gaza, Hamas built tunnels to care for its terrorists and left the people of Gaza to suffer; Hamas murders innocent Gazans who disagree with their beliefs.  You are a fool if you believe the lies that the media repeats with information from Hamas.  Globalize the intifada means killing you as well.   Finally, some countries, like the United Kingdom are pushing back about this phrase and calling it what it is, a cry for violence.

Even Amnesty International with its pro-Hamas outlook finally had to release its report that acknowledges that what Hamas did was a war crime. They did not want to release it, because it shows their own moral crimes by not standing up for those murdered, raped and brutalized by Hamas on October 7 and after as hostages.  From their website: “Amnesty International research confirms that crimes committed by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups during their attacks on October 7, 2023, and against those they seized and held hostage were part of a systematic and widespread assault against the civilian population and amount to crimes against humanity.“

Gaza could have been a Mediterranean Sea paradise.  Instead, Hamas used the money given to them for the people of Gaza to use for their own interests.  They built tunnels, they purchased rockets, missiles and rocket launchers. They purchased guns and weapons. They did nothing for the people of Gaza. 

Israel provided the people water and electricity.  Gazans went into Israel to work.  They went into Israel for medical care.  In return the schoolbooks in Gaza painted Israelis and Jews as the villains and taught children to be martyrs only by killing Jews.  

Hamas attacked Israel with the intent of killing and destroying as many people and places as possible. They wanted to create fear. They took hostages and brutalized them.  The videoed the horror that they inflected on the those they killed and brutalized. They posted these videos online. They live-streamed.  Then they denied they did what the vidoes showed..  They thought the world would stop the Israelis from fighting back.  For the first time that did not happen. 

I feel for the people of Gaza, the women and children who have been used by Hamas for terror.  I feel for them now with no homes as the rainy season is here. 

Do I think all Muslims are terrorists? Of course not.  We see that with the brave shopkeeper in Australia who risked his life in an effort to stop the gunman.  We see the truth by the many Israeli Muslims who stand up for Israel, their homeland.  We see the truth in the Imams who said the terror attacks are not the true way of Islam.

Do I like Netanyahu or Ben Gvir. NO. I think both are bad for Israel in the long run. Should there be an inquiry as to what happened on the lead up to October 7.  Absolutely.  But on the other hand, should they have sat back and let Hamas kill more Jews. Never. Never.

It is time for the Western media, politicians and all Jews to face the reality of extremist jihadists.  To look at what is happening in Sudan, Nigeria, and other areas of the world where Jihadists are killing people and realize that this horror could come to all countries.  

Those who continue to support the violence and hate of Hamas and chant Globalize the intifada, you are just as evil as the ones who kill, murder, rape, brutalize all in the name of a false view of religion.

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Keep Reporting Online Hate Speech!

8 Jul

At times I think I have reached my limit dealing with online hatred, especially Jew Hatred.  I have viewed so many nasty comments under posts about Israel, especially posts about IDF soldiers who died, or under articles published in national news services, or articles about Jewish people in general, not even Israeli.

While the article itself might be positive, or perhaps sad about someone who died, the comments are often horrendous.  AI graphics showing Jews looking similar to propaganda from the Nazi era. Spewing hatred for the death of a Jew and wishing all Jews would die.  Spreading false information.  Calling for the mass murder of Jews throughout the world.

I report them all.  I take screen shots of those comments, and as I get messages from META, I checked to see what evilness they are still allowing to stay on Facebook or Instagram.  I honestly cannot believe the ones that they say do not go against their community standards!

After I sent an image to reviewed two times. This is what you see. So disappointing.

They ALMOST ALWAYS DENY any post I tag goes against the community standards the first time I report it, except for one that was so violent and horrific, it came down immediately. I was even thanked for helping them get it off social media, and if I ever saw anything like it again, I should immediately contact them.

Over my three years of reporting only eight posts I reported actually have been taken down, the one I mentioned and seven others, but those came after I sent it back for review.  Honestly, I send every single one I report back for review.  You can see in the above image that I actually got another horrible Jew Hating comment taken down in June. I put it here so you can see that it does happen!!! Sometimes the hate is so bad that they cannot leave it up.

An additional nine times I was told I can go to the oversight board.  I have attempted to do that several times.  In fact, I received one of these invitations last week.  I was trying to decide whether to take the time to do it, as sometimes I think it just goes into an abyss, since nothing seems to change.

The invitation to explain my belief to the Oversight Board.

Since the Jew Hatred is so filled of vitriol these days, I decided I had to send a report to the oversight board. I let them know exactly what I believed about their continuing to let Jew Hatred be present on META social media platforms. I wrote that Facebook was created for people to keep in touch with friends, not to be overwhelmed by hatred. That this was morally and ethically wrong, and that it needed to end. That hate speech was not free speech when it led to violence. And that the many, many instances of online Jew Hatred was leading to violence.

I tell everyone I know to keep reporting.  I was recently at an event for older retired Jewish women, where a speaker spoke about online Jew Hatred and how she works to get these horrible posts offline. I then reminded them that we as Jews are small in number, just 16 million worldwide.  If we want to make an impact, we all must work together.  I told them how to report a comment or image, by clinking on the three little dots on the right of a comment.  That they must use them to report!  Click on the 3 dots; then click the part that says report this comment, this photo, etc.; then go ahead and report it as spreading violence or hate!!!

There are several groups on social media working to stop online Jew hatred.  Some are asking us to report the Jew Hatred.  There are two that I know of: CyberWell and Digital Dome. Also Combat Anti-Semitism works to stop this hatred. It doesn’t hurt to report what you are seeing. And it might help.  This is a job that every Jewish person who is online should be doing.

If we do not speak up and work against Jew Hatred we are part of the problem. In the 1930s many were afraid to say anything, while others did stand up to hate. We have learned our lessons.  Never stay silent when hate is around.

At the same time, META must realize that leaving these expressions of Jew Hatred online opens the door to all others hate speech directed at other racial groups and, as we have seen, the LGBTQ and immigrant communities.  No hate speech should be tolerated online. These are private companies, they have the right to eliminate anything they don’t think is right. And they promise to provide a safe place for users!

I have read that some consider the Jew Hatred like the canary in the mine.  When the bird dies, you know that is bad air.  When online Jew Hatred gets this bad, perhaps it is the end of social media and a wake up call to all other groups to stop it.

Dante wrote in The Inferno: “The darkest place in Hell is reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis”

Don’t stay silent.  Speak out against online hate speech of any kind.

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Social Media Must Stop Jew Hatred

10 Jan

I am so frustrated with Meta’s policies concerning anti-Semitism and attacks on Jews, Israel, Zionism, Judaism, etc.   I realize that we are just 16 million people in the world. Truly a minority. Truly without much of a voice on social media when you consider the total population of the world.

So I was extremely aggravated when I read that Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote a letter to Meta saying that the rights of Palestinians to voice their concerns have been suppressed:

“Reports of Meta’s suppression of Palestinian voices raise serious questions about Meta’s content moderation practices and anti-discrimination protections,” Senator Warren continued. “Social media users deserve to know when and why their accounts and posts are restricted, particularly on the largest platforms where vital information-sharing occurs. Users also deserve protection against discrimination based on their national origin, religion, and other protected characteristics.” (Warren.senate.gov.)

Personally, I do not want anyone’s rights to be abused. But what disgusts me about her letter is that it was totally one sided. Nowhere in her letter, that I have been able to see, does she mention the horrible anti-Semetic and anti-Israel, actually just outright Jew Hatred attacks on social media.  Nowhere does she acknowledge that many of these attacks are in Arabic or come from Palestinian areas.

So once again we have a double standard. I agree with her sentiment that users of social medial must be protected. But that means all users, including all the Jewish users.  Elizabeth Warren had the opportunity to demand that social media must be better for  both groups.  Instead she chose to focus only on one side and totally ignore the hate that Jewish users are facing.

It is as if she said, ‘Hey, let’s protect the rights of the 1.7 billion and all others in Moslems and Palestinians. But let us not protect the rights of the 16 million Jews and Israelis.  Let us not mention what is happening to them on social media, which is in fact why meta changed the algorithms, to help filter out some of the hate and violence against Jews and Israelis that is all over social media.

I am not saying this from a very personal level.  I have seen the hatred against Jews everywhere.

For the past three months I have been overwhelmed at times by the amount of pure hatred and threats and lies and disgusting comments about Jews or Israelis that are on Facebook. As a volunteer for CyberWell, I have reported many comments and cartoons on Meta social media platforms attacking Jewish people and Israelis.  My reporting feels as if it goes nowhere. And now Senator Warren wants Meta to ease up so more violence can be posted on social media.

Of the many reports I have sent in and then re-reported, only two have been officially taken down.   I have had multiple notifications that I can take my complaints to the oversight review board.  I have submitted five such comments to the review board. 

And I am not talking about little issues.  I am talking about veiled violence:
“Imagine a world without Zionism,” A reference to Oct 7, as “The Best Day Ever”; False information saying the IDF attacked the Nova concert; “Hamas was created and funding by Israel”; “Hitler was right.”  And these are the nicer ones that I reported. I will admit that two were so bad that Meta immediately took them down and told me that if I ever saw anything by these two people again, I should report them immediately.

No group deserved to be annihilated.  “Free Palestine from the River to the Sea,” IS a call for the destruction of all Jews in Israel.   Calling for the destruction of Israel is a threat.  Saying things like. “All J3w$ should die.”  Is not a joke.  Using letters and numbers and dollar signs should be recognized. Lies from Hamas and Hezbollah and Bots under the control of these terrorist groups should be recognized and kicked off Facebook. 

These inactions are hurting people.  College students are being terrorized on campus.  Terrorist and hate groups are using social media to emotionally and psychologically hurt people.   It is time that Meta stops this behavior.   I should not be reading an article from the New York Times and see hundreds of comments that are filled with hate and many times filled with lies.  Think of it, I have made many reports, and only two were removed!

So why didn’t Senator Warren make mention of any of these issues. Why didn’t she write that she understands that much of the hatred on social media is coming from Bots and comments from the Middle East and Palestinian areas.  I know that Terrorist groups have people purposely putting up hate.  But the rights of people who are being attacked also have to be protected. 

I believe that those who make constructive criticism without calling for the annihilation of Jews and Israel should be allowed.  I can handle that.  I also do not agree with everything Israeli government has done.

Meta can tell when song that is under copyright is used and delete it.  Meta should be able to recognize when lies and misinformation and disgusting cartoons are posted.  It must do better, be part of the solution, and stop any hatred from spreading.

At the same time it has to respect the rights of all people to have the right to express their opinion.  As long as their opinion does not include destruction of Israel and all of the Jews..

I wish Senator Warren has said emphasized that as well. Here is Senator Warren’s entire   letter.  As you can read, not once does she mention that Israel has been attacked both physically and on social media.  Not once, even when she writes about the restriction on live streaming, does she mention the horrendous live streaming during the attack on October 7 by the Hamas.: https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Meta%20Letter.pdf

Once again, I have to say there is a major double standard here.  And Senator Warren’s letter is evidence of what the Jewish community in the United States is facing.

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Illinois Holocaust Museum: A Response to Jew Hatred

12 Dec

During Covid, I tried to do as many activities that I could from the confines of my home.  I took online classes, I attended family life events, I even toured museums and their special exhibits.  One of the best ones I toured was the Ruth Bader Ginsburg exhibit at the Illinois Holocaust Museum located in Skokie, Illinois.  So when I knew my husband and I were going to Evanston, Illinois, for a wedding, I put visiting this museum in person at the top of my list.  It did not disappoint.

The museum opened in 2009.  It was a work in process for 40 years after the Skokie Jewish community was the object of a neo-Nazi group who decided to march through Skokie, a suburb of Chicago that is home to many Jewish residents.  The Jewish community started with a small space.  But their aim was to fight against anti-Semitism and hatred through education.  It looks like they are succeeding in their mission. 

The Illinois Holocaust Museum is worth the visit. It was designed by architect Stanley Tigerman. The building is made is to bring the visitor through the darkness of the Shoah and then back out to the light. As we went through the exhibit we could see this change. The entrance to the exhibit is dark and moody with narrow halls lined with photos, videos and memorabilia. But by the end, when we learned about the resistance and the survivors, the light increased.

While we were there on a Friday morning, there were four different school groups also going through the museum with docents.  Every so often the group would fill the space available, so we would stop to hear the discussion.  In this time of great turmoil and rise of Jew Hatred, seeing these students and their teachers learning about and basically experiencing what happened was important. 

There are many short films/videos and photographs throughout the museum that were taken by the Nazis during their killing spree as well as films taken after the war by survivors and rescuers. 

The films are difficult to watch.   I saw several students holding their hands and sweaters over their faces as they tried to block the view. I did not want to see it either, even though I have seen these images or ones like them many times.

But this time, I imagined the children on October 7 trying to block the view as they saw the terrorist of Hamas reenacting the hatred of the Nazis and they saw their loved ones murdered and waited for their own deaths.  It created harrowing moments for me.  I envisioned being held hostage by Hamas underground as if in a camp barracks waiting without food and little hope.

The Holocaust exhibit itself Is well thought out and takes you through all the stages of the Shoah.  The moment I saw the Krystal Nacht exhibit, which has a clear floor you walk over with shards of glass underneath, in front is the edifice of a synagogue with broken windows, I knew exactly what you will see next.  You can walk into a real cattle car from 1930s Europe.  It is an eerie feeling to be standing in that darkened wooden container and think about what it was like for those who were stuffed in and perished.  This is not a museum for someone who wants to avoid the past.  It puts it right into your vision.

After you weave your way through the seemingly endless horrors of the Shoah, you see a small exhibit about what happened when the Nazis came to Skokie.  It puts into ‘context’ what is happening now throughout the USA on college campuses and in some cities.  And I will say that calling for the annihilation and extermination of any people is always wrong. No matter what a college president says.

This is emphasized with the movie at the end that discusses both the genocide of the Jews and the continued times others have been targeted like the Tutsi people in Rwanda. We sat with two student groups as we watched the film.  It was not easy to watch as people testified about what happened to them during this more recent horror. Many of the students lowered their heads.  I think I spent as much time watching the students as I did watching the film.

After we finished the exhibit, we went to the Hologram theater where we spoke with the Hologram of Pinchas Gutter.  This is an excellent way to learn about the Shoah.  Those brave survivors who spent a week being interviewed and videoed while they told their story have created a way to keep the memory alive. 

The museum is not all gloom and depression.  There is the good of those who survived.  But also when we were there the special exhibit was about delis, “I’ll Have What She’s Having” The Jewish Deli.  It was a great way to wash away some of the somber emotions we were having after going through the Shoah. 

As a teenager and college student, I worked in a Jewish deli.  So for me this was especially joyful as I remember my time behind the counter making sandwiches, cutting lox, deboning white fish and making catering trays.  I would almost smell the corned beef, feel the texture of sable fish as I prepared some for a customer, and felt the smooth taste of a potato knish in my mouth.

It was good to end the visit on an upbeat note. But throughout it all I remembered that this museum was founded in response to Jew Hatred. Once again, we are experiencing a major rise Jew Hatred throughout the United States and the rest of the world. There are many who support us. However, when I look at college campuses, I know the work to end anti-semitism and Jew Hatred is far from done. What will be our response globally? In Skokie a museum was created. I am not sure it is enough.

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“I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli

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