Just as the left's rhetoric against Israel is heating up, attacks on Jewish Americans are doing the same. New FBI statistics show Jewish people were the targets of nearly 70% of religiously motivated hate crimes in America last year. That is the most of any group, something the Anti-Defamation League calls a "historic and sustained threat to the Jewish community."
The numbers aren't necessarily surprising, since anti-Israel, antisemitic sentiment still runs rampant on college campuses and in major cities across the country. Loud, aggressive, and sometimes violent anti-Israel protests have become an almost daily occurrence, often reported on with a shrug or even a sympathetic tone in much of the news media. For instance, the legacy media frequently cite war casualty numbers from the "Gaza Health Ministry," which is run by Hamas. So essentially the media is reporting Hamas propaganda, which drives more anti-Israel sentiment.
Jake Novak, political analyst and podcast host, has been reporting on this phenomenon for years. He tells KTRH this trend toward antisemitism has been happening for a long time, but has accelerated since the October 7, 2023 attacks. "If you're a radical movement, if you're someone who wants violence, who wants upheaval, it's very alluring to go after Jews physically and in other ways, but especially physically," says Novak. "Because you'll get a lot of support from all sides of the spectrum, especially the radical sides whether far-right or far-left."
As for the media's role, Novak believes they provide an excuse for the antisemitic behavior, which only emboldens and encourages more of it. "If (people) see something on the news that seems to serve as a justification for it, they are more likely to do it," he says. "That's where we are, we are creating a situation where people who've always wanted to commit these violent acts feel like they're getting to a place where they'll be accepted and won't be punished for what they do."
"And that's why it is so dangerous."
Photo: AFP