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[Closed] Recent String of Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes

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(@enkasongwriter)
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I have noticed that there is a string of anti-Semitic hate crimes in New York. One time there were nine consecutive hate crimes. Yesterday, there was a solidarity march against anti-Semitism. A day after, there was an attacked who yelled "Kill Jews."

What are we seeing here? Will it get worse at time passes?


   
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(@laura-f)
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@enkasongwriter

I think we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg so far.

As long as the country is being held hostage by the cryptofascists that claim to be Christian, we can expect more and worse.

You may say: But wait, they seem to support Israel? Yes, but it's all part of their plan to bring about Armageddon and the Rapture. They hate the Jews, but want them to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem (another checklist item for Apocalypse). They want white, Christian supremacy above all. The are engaged in Taliban-esque behaviors. Think Crusades ca. 1100CE, but with frequent flier miles.

I believe that the big false flag/Reichstag Fire event many of us have felt coming for a long time soon will. I believe it will be a mass attack on a place where Jews gather here in the US (in a liberal dominant area for sure), and that Iran will be blamed for it, but it will actually be white supremacists who carry the attack out (or possibly Iranians who got paid to do it - no more suicide attacks, and the Iranians hate the Jews too, so they would do something like that for cash).

 


   
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 PamP
(@pamp)
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Iran does not at like Israel, but as far as the attitudes towards Jews, Iran is rather accepting and the remaining Jewish community feels very safe. (The majority of Persian Jews left after the Islamic Revolution.)

 

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/world/inside-iran/2018/08/29/iran-jewish-population-islamic-state/886790002/


   
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(@lovendures)
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I met one of the most influential women in my life in 2004.  I was attending an international women's forum conference in Russia as a guest of someone who was a member of the forum .   It was an incredible time to be in Russia, especially as a woman who had spent her childhood having bomb drills in school hallways in fear of nuclear war.  There was so much hope, and an incredible lightness filled Moscow.  The churches were finally allowed to be rebuilt or  re-open their doors again after decades of closure.  People could practice their faith again after being denied the chance to do so for so long.  For many decades  to do so could have meant a death sentence.  

And the businesses. Wow.  I wasn't exactly sure it it were a positive thing, but  the West had begun to invade Moscow. Many of the same stores that were in my local mall were also now in  the Russian capital,  Baskin Robbins and Sbarro Pizza were there too and there was even a Hard Rock Cafe which had just opened.  European fashion stores and perfumes were everywhere.  No longer were there long lines for people to get a meager loaf of bread. 

The conference was filled with powerful women from around the world.  As a guest of one of these ladies, I was introduced to former heads of state from different nations and Fortune 500 CEO's.

I was the littlest fish (a stay at home mom),  in the biggest pond on earth and I knew it.

A few days into the conference,  a key note speaker from Iraq was introduced to us.  It was in the early days after the international coalition had invaded and secured Bagdad and had formed the Green Zone. The coalition was putting together the interim Iraqi Governing Council. The woman who was about to speak was a newly appointed member of that council.  

A woman.  Let that sink in for a minute.  

 She was a doctor and head of a women's hospital in Iraq.  She had studied and later practiced medicine in Great Britain from the 1960's through the late 70's before returning home to Iraq.  She had not even allowed herself to dream of the possibility of a time without Saddam ( or his children) in charge, his power and evil was so widespread.  She lived in fear every day under his rule.  But she also lived in fear in her new position.  Perhaps even greater fear.  She was now a HUGE target. Car bombs were being set off for the purpose of killing the members of the Interim Governing Council members.  She was one of 3 women originally appointed as a members of this new council. No woman had ever help such an office in Iraq.  She was the first to sign the new Constitution and so proud to do so, so filled with hope.  

And she was now the only one of the 3 woman remaining alive. The other 2 had been assassinated.

 In fact, during her week in Moscow attending the conference, a male governing council member was also assassinated in Iraq. It shook her to her core.

She was the most fascinating woman I had ever heard speak.  She spoke from the heart and was a true heart warrior.  After her speech  we all were walking back to our hotel .  She was walking with perhaps one other person at the time and I did what I do best.  I went up to her and started chatting.  

We bonded. On the streets of Moscow I formed  a beautiful friendship with this amazing light filled lady.

Over the next few days we would find each other in a room and talk, sit next to each other during speeches, eat lunch or dinner together.   By  the ended of the trip, my parents who had accompanied me on this trip had  also joined in this wonderful bonding experience with Raja .  On our last day in Russia   we  took her on an all day excursion outside of Moscow joining  some other women from the conference.

Here we were, my step-father a Jew, his parents were survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto. I  an Orthodox Christian, and  Raja,   a Muslim woman from a country we had just gone to wa with. And  all of us were laughing and bonding together, in Russia of all places.  I commented on the beauty of it all and how strange it was to be there together.    She then told me a beautiful story of how she was raised, in the old pre-Saddam Iraq.

When she was growing up, on her street lived families of diverse backgrounds,   On one side of her home lived an Iraqi  Christian family.  On the other, a Jewish family.  Her Muslim family was in the middle.  This was not so unusual back in the day apparently.  They all had a deep respect for each other.  The kids played together, went to school together and the families celebrated holidays, together.  On Christmas and Easter, the Christian family invited the other two families together to join in their traditional celebrations.  The Jewish family did the same for High Holidays and Hanukkah, and her family did the same for Muslim traditions and holidays,    

I was stunned.  Most Iraqi Christians and Jews had either been killed, jailed or fled the country under Saddam's reign and the aftermath.  Those remaining had a difficult life indeed. I had no idea there had been such a different Iraq during the time Raja was a child.

 It was the most beautiful story I had heard.

Raja's light and humor ( such warmth and humor)  touched every person on that bus.  We laughed and laughed, ate tougher and shared so many stories while bonding over new experiences.  When we got off the bus that evening, we all hugged and cried.  I loved my new friend and didn't want to say goodbye,  I didn't know if we would ever meet again and I surely didn't know if she would survive in her deadly new world.  

And like seeds planted in good soil and a gentle rain, friendships grew.

Many women from that bus ride in eluding my mom  (and my Step-dad) regularly corresponded with Raja.

She lived. 

There were in multiple assignation attempts and even a few random car bombings outside the Green Zone where she would  wait to enter to go work. But she survived.  

She no longer lives in Iraq, it would have been and still would be a death sentence.  But she did some amazing things for the women of Iraq.

 She also forever changed  how I look at people.  Especially those from backgrounds I know little about.  

She is the reason I came to truly believe and understand we are all connected.  I experienced it. She taught me that most important of  lessons.  We truly can love one another no matter what our differences,

I believe that the more we can interact with others from different faiths, different races and different backgrounds, the more  we can learn to appreciate our diversity, celebrate what binds us together and learn from one another.  We can find the joy and light we all have to offer.  Without having those experiences together, without learning how to celebrate and respect one another, the  greater difficulty we will have in seeing each other as connected beings of light, joy and hope.  Raja is the single most important  person (outside my family) to have taught me about  love without boundaries. 

You never know what type of impact you will have upon someone else. It can happen in the strangest of places.  For me, the loveliest of impacts happened in Russia, during a window of hope and optimism.  It happened between people whose countries had just had a war, inside a country I had always thought could instigate a war with that would end the world. 

If Raja can build bridges of love late in her life from her experiences as a child, so can we all.  If you  don't have your own experiences to build upon, perhaps  you can consider using  her story to guide you.  

 

 


   
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 CC21
(@cc21)
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@lovendures

What an absolutely beautiful experience! I can feel the love radiating from your post. And she lived - such hope in that statement alone given what we see in the news all the time. Thank you.


   
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(@thebeast)
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@lovendures

Such a beautiful person. Such a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing.


   
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(@lovendures)
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Thank you! @thebeast and @cc21. I did in fact feel a great love in my soul as I wrote my story and reflections.  It was nice to realize the impact she had on my life all these years later.  We don't know how much one person, one act, can effect us, change our course of life.  

Today during Congressional hearings,   Jewish advocates called on social media companies and Congress to take more steps to regulate online anti-Semitic speech after the number of anti-Semitic incidents has increased in the past year. 

What I found interesting is that they are hoping to actually us AI against hate speech.  

Nathan Diament, the executive director of public policy for the Orthodox Union, one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the country, mentioned how artificial intelligence has been used to flag and take down content related to sex trafficking, and could be used to fight anti-Semitism, as well. 

“There's no reason why that AI technology can't also be utilized in combating anti-Semitism and racism and the other kinds of pernicious things that we're trying to oppose,” he told the subcommittee.

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/department-of-homeland-security/478497-jewish-advocates-pressure-social


   
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(@coyote)
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@lovendures

Wow, Lovendures. My eyes were moist and I was smiling ear to ear by the time I finished reading your post about meeting Raja. Seriously, you should write a formal essay about that trip to Russia and submit it to a magazine or literary journal. People need to hear stories like yours.


   
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(@lovendures)
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@coyote

Thanks Coyote, how thoughtful of you to say,  I appreciate your words.  I do think the world needs to hear more things like this too.  

So I discovered this hopeful article today.  It is so beautiful!  It is about a young high school girl and her quest to try to combat anti- semitism.  Our youth are leading us for sure. 

@Jeanne-Mayell,  I think you will like this.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/religion/article239271848.html?fbclid=IwAR2XQeAw6tIQ8o0HYrFd4RN_e7IOcxTqeIYB9rp_O9LL9r8Seb5Do-goCeg


   
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