Take the Focus off the Haters

At an event last week in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington commemorating the 25th anniversary of the AMIA bombing in Argentina — an attack that killed 85 people and injured 330 — I spoke for a few minutes with Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. The event was sponsored by the Center for a Secure Free Society and featured headline speakers Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Cronan.

We are here commemorating an act of terrorism in Argentina, but lately there has been a rise in attacks on Jews in the United States, especially in New York. How concerned are you?

“It is a very dangerous trend. It’s rising in elementary schools, high schools, and colleges. We see it in communities, we see it in the media, we see it in entertainment, we see it in culture figures, we see it in boycotts of Israel by entertainers. It is manifest in many ways.

“The rise of Jew hatred — which is a more appropriate term than anti-Semitism, which is antiseptic — is of great concern. Next week we are bringing together representatives of more than 50 Jewish organizations to outline a plan on what is being done and what can be done and how we can maximize our resources and reinforce our efforts. It’s clear that people across the board — across all religious, political, ideological lines — get it. Anti-Semitism is a serious threat today.”

Where is this anti-Semitism coming from?

“The sources are many. It’s from the left, it’s from the right, it’s from minority communities, and it’s from the Muslim communities. And you can trace some of it to Iran and to the Palestinian Authority, which is behind a lot of the BDS efforts. It’s a confluence of factors and elements that come together with a common position, and that is hatred of Jews. But it’s not just Jews who will pay the price. We know that from history.