Imagine…
Imagine if the KKK went into South Central Los Angeles and tried to block parishioners from going into the First A.M.E. Church and then got violent. How fast would the police be there to arrest the agitators? How long would it be before cities across the nation were protesting and marching to demand police protection and the arrest of all KKK supporters? How many demonstrations would happen nationwide to empower (justifiably) black churches and demand their protection?
In Los Angeles, we don’t need to imagine it, for on Sunday afternoon, it happened. But there haven’t been loud voices protesting nationwide; the LAPD was ordered to stand down rather than respond forcibly, and the mainstream news is reporting it as just another protest that got a little out of hand.
Why the silence? Because it wasn’t a black church; it was a Jewish synagogue. The violent agitators weren’t the KKK; they were the same pro-Palestinian terrorists who created the illegal encampment at UCLA.
As in many large cities, Los Angeles has a high density of Orthodox Jews in what is called the Pico-Robertson area. Pro-Hamas demonstrators blocked off access to a synagogue there and then started their Jew-hating chants. They physically stopped people from going into the temple, threatened violence, and then acted on those threats. Police were called, but Mayor Karen Bass’ office reportedly told them that they should treat both the Jewish congregants and the pro-Hamas activists the same way and ordered officers to stand down unless absolutely necessary.
Related: Yes, It Can Happen Here
After they were finally dispersed, these violent demonstrators (the same individuals who previously terrorized the UCLA campus) started going through Pico-Robertson, physically attacking any Jew they found, including young families with children. Can you even conceive of Bass and the LAPD remaining stoic if white supremacists were attacking a Black church and neighborhood?
Of course not. But the far-left “progressive” Democrats like Bass (read “Marxist”) hate Jews with such a passion that Los Angeles experienced its first pogrom, a bona fide physical attack on synagogues and individuals, for one reason: they are Jews. What makes Bass’ actions even more despicable is that the synagogue had heard about the planned riot and, for almost a week, had been petitioning the mayor’s office to have a police presence and stop the violent demonstrators before it started. But since it was Jews asking, Bass ignored the requests.
But the time of Jews cowering from bullies is over. Never again really is now. Over 80% of observant Jewish families now own firearms, and more and more secular Jews are following suit. A volunteer organization called Magen Am (Shield of the People) has been training Jews in firearms and self-defense, and it was this group that stopped the riot from getting too far out of hand. These volunteers came in full riot gear and with licensed firearms to protect Jewish gatherings, and at a moment’s notice, they came to the synagogue. And this defense group is growing exponentially.
This past week, the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival opened with a screening of my friend Sal Litvak’s new film “Guns and Moses.” It is about a rabbi who becomes a “gunslinger” after his community is attacked. The liberal Jewish community would never have embraced this movie even a few years ago, but now, many people relate to the need to protect themselves. Never again really is now for the Jewish people.
Jews are finally understanding that the root of many of the antisemitic acts is the policies and attitudes of the Democratic Party. They are leaving the Democratic party in droves as even the most liberal Jews are awakening to the Jew hatred that is permeating our culture from the political left. It may have taken a lot, but they are finally starting to realize that this antisemitism is institutional in the Democratic party. Even traditionally large donors like billionaire film producer Haim Saban are pulling their money away from the Democrats.
This riot in Los Angeles is horrifying, and this type of disgusting behavior has been happening all around the world, usually ignored by the left-wing mainstream media. But this incident showed something different: Jews are now protecting themselves and will not cower ever again. Thanks to Magen Am, as well as synagogues that are offering self-defense classes, the Jewish people will no longer just trust local politicians like Karen Bass. Thanks to President Trump's including antisemitism in Title VI, lawsuits are being filed daily. The Jewish people will never allow this type of pogrom to decimate lives.
But why should this be so important for all non-Jews as well? Why must all Americans take a stand against the increasing Jew hatred?
It has been said that Jews are “the canary in the coal mine." Whether it was Iran 50 years ago, Germany in the last century, or Spain 500 years ago, history has shown that when Jew hatred becomes prevalent in a nation, the nation will soon destroy itself from the inside out. Jews may be the first persecuted, but they are never the last. As Americans, we all need to stop this hatred. Now. Not just because it is ethically wrong, but for the preservation of our nation.
I pray that all Americans will stand up and act so that the fascism we saw in Germany is not repeated here.
Never again is now. For all of us, Jew and non-Jew alike.
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