In early July, Israel launched a ground incursion into Gaza in response to sustained Hamas, Fatah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad violence against the Israeli civilian population. This latest conflict between Israel and her neighbors has triggered a new wave of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activity all around the world. In France and Germany, synagogues have been attacked by anti-Israel protesters. In Mexico, a Facebook page was created to call for the forcible expulsion of Jews from the country. In Australia, a school bus full of Jewish children was recently boarded by a group of adults screaming murderous threats.
In CAMERA’s home city of Boston, the physical violence against Israel’s supporters has, so far, not reached such a fever-pitch. However, the sentiments Jews and Zionists have witnessed at anti-Israel gatherings all over the city has been just as poisonous as any in Europe, Mexico, or Australia.
At one such rally, CAMERA’s Christian Media Analyst, Dexter Van Zile, documented the sign-age of the protesters. He found a wealth of hateful, ignorant content, including some claims that if only Zionism and Israel would disappear, all oppression throughout the world would end. Apparently, our friendly neighborhood anti-Semites have never heard of the bloody governmental dispersal of human rights NGOs in Zimbabwe, the Chinese occupation of Tibet, or the flourishing Arab slave trade in Sudanese Muslims. Or maybe they think that those tragedies are all the fault of the Jews.
Whatever the cause behind this ignorance and hate, we know that it is unacceptable in modern, legitimate discourse. Instead, every person of conscience and ability should take the opportunity to speak up and speak out in defense of truth and mutual understanding. CAMERA always will.
