.
12/22/14, "An Ominous Boycott of Jewish Businesses in New York City," NY Observer, by
"An Anti-Jewish Mob Shouts at Rabbi Shmuley and his Children: “F—ck off!" "Go F—ck yourself!”"
"I saw a nasty thing walking with my children in New York City on the
Sabbath. On Madison Ave in the mid-sixties, we saw a group of people,
chanting, singing. Was it Christmas carolers? As we got closer we saw it
was a protest. An anti-Israel protest.
But this one was not outside an Israeli Consulate or Embassy. It was
outside a commercial, retail store. A diamond store. Owned by Lev
Leviev, the Israeli billionaire businessman and philanthropist. “Glitz and glam. He steals Palestinian land.”
I was appalled. I got closer. The protesters were accusing Leviev,
private Jewish citizens, of stealing Palestinian land, persecuting
Palestinians, and supporting an imperial Israel.
I asked the protesters who Mr. Leviev was and why they were
protesting him. Was he Israel’s Prime Minister or Foreign Minister? At
least the Ambassador. How else to explain why they would be protesting
outside a business simply owned by a Jew.
They told me he was an Israeli who supported Israel’s persecution of
the Palestinians. He was a known, high-profile Jewish businessman. They
were there to discourage customer from buying from his store.
I had had enough.
Amid the protestors, I raised my hands into the air, and said loudly,
“Long Live Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East. The only
country in that dark region that is a bastion of liberty and human
rights. A place where Palestinian women need never fear honor killings. A
place where Israeli Arabs have more guaranteed rights than any Arab
nation. A place where gay Palestinians need not fear being shot in the
head on false charges of collaboration. A place where Arabs can protest
publicly, just like all of you, and not be shot. Long live righteous and
majestic Israel.”
Instantly, all the protestors forgot about Leviev and turned their
ire toward me. I was now the devil.
They were shouting at me: “F—ck
off!” “Go F—ck yourself!”
I got louder.
“How revolting of all of you to protest a business because it’s owned
by a Jew. What is this? Nuremberg 1934? ” Absolutely reprehensible.
My kids were now engaged in the fight, singing “Am Yisrael Chai. The
Jewish people are alive and well.” We were louder than the protestors.
I started saying “Down with Hamas, which allows honor killings of
innocent Palestinian women. Down with Hamas that slaughters innocent
Palestinian gay men. Down with the Palestinian…. ” and I was about to
say “… Authority for refusing to go to elections in 10 years and
creating a dictatorship, robbing the Palestinian people of their
freedom” when I saw that someone was filming me on the Sabbath,
something that goes against Jewish law.
The Israel-hating websites, of which there are an endless number,
lied, as usual, and said I had chanted, “Down with the Palestinians.”
The fraudulence of the charge is readily evident in the video which I
have specifically included [at link] from their own websites. They then
added that I gave an entire speech about the Jews of Hebron, which just
shows the utter brazenness and boldness of Jew-hatred.
The Israel-haters
believe in “the big lie,” and practice it at every turn.
The police came over, trying to quell the confrontation. They have a permit, he said. They have the right to protest.
God bless America. I respect their right for public demonstration. But I also respect my right to write this in a column.
Jews of the world: Wake up. There has never been an assault on us
like this in our lifetimes. And we are allowing it. Through our timidity
and through closing our eyes and pretending not to see, it’s growing.
Our enemies are arraying against us. They have substituted
anti-Israelism for anti-Semitism.
But it’s the same sentiment.
Jew-hatred, pure and simple.
This holiday season the world’s anti-Semites are giving thanks for
the existence of the State of Israel.
If not for Israel they would have
no camouflage for their Jew-hatred. Israel has given them cover.
“It’s
not the Jews we hate, but just the Jewish state.” It’s not because we
have an inherent dislike of Jews. We just hate occupation.
.
But then they call each other on their IPhones, even though they’re made in China, which has been occupying Tibet since 1950.
.
Only a weak community would give these haters a fig leaf to cover over their clear bigotry, prejudice, and hatred.
.
My kids were flabbergasted that a private Jewish business could draw
accusations of Palestinian persecution. It suited the protesters well
that it was a diamond dealer. Perfect stereotype. But which Jewish
business would they target next?
.
A few hours later we went to Chabad’s public Menorah lighting outside the Plaza hotel on 5th
Ave. There was a small protest against Israel there, as well. Joining
the protest was a 20-something man who told us that the Jews owned all
of 5th Avenue. He pointed across the street to the famous Apple 5th Avenue store. “Apple is owned by Jews.”.
I looked at him.
.
“Um, erg, hmmm. Did you know that Steve Jobs was the son of an
Arab-American? So how does that square with the Jews owning Apple?”
.
“Well the Jews bought it from Jobs with the endless money they have.”
.
Aha.
.
Is there no respite from all this Jew-hatred? Can we not get away from them even at a Menorah lighting?
.
The other day Harvard University students voted to eject
SodaStream from its cafeteria for the terrible sin of employing
hundreds of Palestinians at a plant in Maale Adumim that treats Arabs as
the absolute equals of their Israeli counterparts. Without SodaStream
these Palestinian families would be destitute.
But Palestinian activists
at Harvard, animated by hatred of Israel over love for Palestinian
lives, demanded a boycott and the caterer capitulated.
.
And so it goes. Jewish timidity in the United States is allowing more and more of these outrages to take place.
.
I wonder if we recognize the seriousness of what’s happening or will it engulf us before we take decisive action?
.
What is needed is an immediate move to organize Jewish students on
campus to respond publicly to the anti-Israel onslaught at universities.
We need public demonstrations against Israel-hatred, anti-Semitism, and
in favor of freedom and democracy in the Middle East. Jewish students
should not just be fighting BDS but should be going on offense to push
through resolutions in the City Councils sanctioning Hamas and the
Palestinian Authority for not holding elections in a decade and
transforming Palestinian society into dictatorships.
.
Organizations that dare hold ordinary Jews responsible for actions in
the Middle East—the equivalent of protesting an Arab-owned department
store in Detroit for the butchery of Bashar Assad in Syria—should
themselves be targeted for public demonstrations, calling them what they
are: anti-Semites.
.
And let’s honor those brave individuals who have stood up to BDS.
.
Every June our organization hosts the International Champions of
Jewish Values Gala Awards Dinner in New York. Last year the Hollywood
celebrity we honored was Sean Penn for his unrivaled bravery in going to
Bolivia to rescue a Jewish businessman who had been wrongly
incarcerated.
.
The year before, we honored my dear friend Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Muslim,
for his tireless efforts to promote the value of human life by getting
us all to live more healthy lives and for his continued friendship with
the Jewish people. A few months after the award we hosted Mehmet and his
family in Israel.
.
This year we intend to honor Scarlett Johannson for standing up to
the pressure to abandon SodaStream, a company that is a model of
Arab-Israeli brotherhood and fraternity.
.
Scarlett, if you’re out there, please come to New York and accept. The dinner is on June 3, 2015."
"Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is the Founder of This World: The Values
Network, which regularly stages large-scale, values-based debates on the
leading issues of our time. He is the author of Judaism for Everyone. Follow him on Twitter @RabbiShmuley."
.
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