eeding this upsurge in hate is the toxic soup of anti-Semitism found online. According to a report that the A.D.L. released just a day before the Pittsburgh attack, far-right extremists and the so-called alt-right have stepped up their efforts on social media to attack and intimidate Jews, and especially Jewish journalists, in the run up to the midterm elections. These radicals engaged in “Twitter bombing” of Jews, barraging our community with an estimated five million highly politicized and anti-Semitic tweets per day. Social media creates its own realities for individuals, where people feed off the anonymity and tailor what they read and whom they speak with so that it can feel that everyone thinks and talks as you do. As much as this is distorting, it also can be empowering. Similarly emboldening is when anti-Semitism and hateful rhetoric is elevated or tolerated, either through appropriating the anti-Semites’ rhetoric outright, “dog-whistling” to them, or allowing their hate to go unanswered. And this is what has accelerated over the past few years. Anti-Semitism is being normalized in public life.
Category Archives: racism
The ADL warned of antisemitic harassment. Then Pittsburgh happened | Cas Mudde | Opinion | The Guardian
Responses to the three attacks have been predictable. Far-right pundits and websites claimed the pipe bombings were a “false flag” operation, continuing to spread bizarre conspiracy theories even after the suspect was arrested. Conservatives pulled out their usual “crazy person” defense, calling attack after attack an “incident”. Trump functioned, as always, as the amplifier-in-chief, initially suggesting a false flag operation with regard to the pipe bomber and calling the Pittsburgh shooter “a maniac”, before using the tragedy to call upon houses of worship to arm themselves and to openly muse about the importance of reinstating the death penalty – nationwide, I assume. Advertisement The media played its usual role, too. Don’t even try to look for the words “terror” or “terrorist”. The suspects are “attackers” or “shooters” and journalists bend over backwards to not “jump to conclusions” on their motives. Instead, they are happily speculating about their mental health, as if that would exclude the possibility of far-right terrorism.
Opinion | The Barbarians Are Within – The New York Times
There comes a moment, when the barbarian is within, to draw a line, to say enough, to speak out, to make a stand whatever the cost. The desperation of mortality can also yield the lucidity of courage.
Trump Turns Tragedy of Migrant Caravan into Fake Terrorism Threat | La Prensa San Diego
The caravan is still thousands of miles from the U.S. but that hasn’t stopped Trump and his friends from declaring a new threat to the U.S. Without citing any evidence, and in complete contradiction of his own Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Trump this week claimed that ISIS and other terrorist groups have embedded themselves within the caravan, adding that “Middle Easterners” were mixed in among the refugees. No evidence exists to support that claim, and, when pressed for proof of his claims by a reporter, Trump finally admitted “there is no proof of anything”.
Source: Trump Turns Tragedy of Migrant Caravan into Fake Terrorism Threat | La Prensa San Diego
Opinion | ‘There’s a Black Man in the Children’s Area’ and Other Baseless Accusations – The New York Times
I’m white, but I’ll never forget the time my son and his black friend — they were both about 8 or 9 at the time — went to an art store in Noe Valley, San Francisco, to get some markers. They came home empty-handed and told the same story: A salesperson in the store followed my son’s friend around and then told him to get out. I brought them back to the store and sent them in first. Then I casually walked in, not acknowledging them, and pretended to shop. Immediately, the salesperson started following my son’s friend. You should have seen her face when I said they were with me. The horror of this racism is that it starts when children are so young. It’s insidious and thoroughly rooted in our society. The amount of hurt it causes is incalculable and it has to stop
2 Dead After Gunman Opens Fire at Kentucky Kroger, Police Say – The New York Times – Racism is pretty clear as the basis for the shooting.
Steve Zinninger told Wave 3 News that his father confronted the gunman at one point during the encounter, brandishing a gun of his own and telling him that he would not shoot if the gunman did not shoot. Mr. Zinninger said the gunman told his father, “Whites don’t kill whites,” and moved on.
Racial abuse on Ryanair: this is like Rosa Parks in reverse | Hugh Muir | Opinion | The Guardian
Those who sat and did nothing might also reflect. One man, David Lawrence, filmed the abuse and posted on social media. Good for him. That is why the case became a cause celebre. But others sat by – keener to get home perhaps than to stand up for an elderly woman being racially abused. They also owed her the duty of care we all owe each other, not least the vulnerable. If we lose sight of that, all is lost.
Source: Racial abuse on Ryanair: this is like Rosa Parks in reverse | Hugh Muir | Opinion | The Guardian
The Issues That Russian Operatives Used to Divide Americans, in Their Own Words – The New York Times – Our own hunger to reinforce our biases – they just fed them with lies we wanted to hear.
A criminal complaint offered a rare view into how Russian operatives tried to disrupt the American political process, including the midterm elections.
bellingcat – Did Far-Right Internet Chatter Inspire An Arson Attack on Refugees in Toronto? – bellingcat
The “Campaign” Begins in Earnest On July 25, 2018, The Daily Caller, a right-wing news site part-owned by Tucker Carlson, published an article: “Trudeau’s Border Control Plan: Place Illegals in Hotels.” The next day Tucker Carlson himself covered the refugee situation at the Toronto East Radisson on Fox News. The video clip of the coverage uploaded to Fox’s YouTube account titles the segment, “Trudeau’s immigration solution: put illegals in hotels.”
A President Who Believes He Is Entitled to His Own Facts – The New York Times – Similar to a Bavarian Clown
Mr. Trump has appeared to grow noticeably more comfortable in the role of president, according to advisers, and that comfort level has reinforced his confidence in his own instincts, including what he regards as facts. Mr. Trump often points to a key moment — his election in 2016, which defied the polls — as proof that agreed-upon data can be wrong. His long career in the New York real estate world convinced Mr. Trump that all people are prone to shading their views according to their own self-interest. Objectivity is not something he expects of people, and he long ago came to believe that “facts” are really arbitrary.
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