Over the weekend, some wicked person or a group of wicked people defaced The Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza in Philadelphia. Had it just been some random graffiti, one might be able to chalk it up to the decay and chaos that grips that benighted city. But this was a green swastika. Green, of course, is one of the colors of the Palestinian flag that the latest generation of anti-Semites brandish at their demonstrations.
Earlier this weekend, a vandal drew a large swastika on the wall at the Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway — a disgusting act of antisemitism that comes amid a staggering spike in anti-Jewish hatred across Philadelphia and the country. pic.twitter.com/BB7YOQGwpw
— Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza (@PhillyHolocaust) January 14, 2024
Not to be outdone, thousands of anti-Semites in New York City seized the opportunity to hijack MLK Day to take to the streets to demand a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. American Wire News reports that they targeted the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which they accused of being complicit in genocide. They beat drums and chanted their vitriol right below the windows of the patients, including children who are seeking care in the pediatric center. One of the animals barked into a bullhorn, “Make sure they hear you. They’re in the window.” A 74-year-old woman told The New York Post, "I thought I was in Germany in 1939. I’m astounded. I think it’s horrific.” This was after police led her and her dog away from the mob.
Not a good look as pro-Palestinian protestors target a cancer hospital on New York’s Upper East Side. The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center also houses a paediatric day hospital…
— Danny Morris (@DannyMMorris) January 15, 2024
“Make sure they hear you, they’re in the windows”. pic.twitter.com/qKC7ma1v52
Yes, they are somewhat "young" and impressionable. Yes, they are ill-informed about the war, history, and life in general. But they are also evil. Youth and ignorance are not excuses. They have chosen to inherit the legacy of Hitler and his camps, experiments, and atrocities. They are heirs of Stalin, whose Soviet Union exceeded the death toll of even the Third Reich. They are heirs to Mao, whose bloody revolution included burying people alive and who bragged about the murders his people committed. His political progeny consigned untold numbers of Uyghurs to a living hell, an act that was largely met with a resounding silence. They are the heirs to Pol Pot and his killing fields, where the skulls and bones stacked in memorials still bear mute testimony to the horrific reign of the Khmer Rouge.
Those in power may offer flaccid responses and weak objections. But they do not want to halt such overt displays of wickedness as much as they want to find ways to harness the power of the chaos.
Related: At Harvard, Fatphobia Is a Sin. Antisemitism? Meh.
As young, deluded, and indoctrinated as these people may be, no one with a semblance of a conscience terrorizes pediatric cancer patients and senior citizens. The march was the natural extension of the terror and violence that has been inflicted on Jews on college campuses and elsewhere. These protestors have chosen evil. And that evil will only spread. Read that quote from the Jewish woman again: "I thought I was in Germany in 1939. I’m astounded. I think it’s horrific.”
This is not Germany in 1939. This is America in 2024.
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