This morning, my daughter's pre-school was evacuated due to a phoned-in bomb threat. As this was happening, similar threats today were phoned in at JCCs in Edison, NJ, Boston, Detroit, Connecticut: Hartford and New Haven, Alabama, Florida and as many as 16 JCCs across the country. Before I go on, everybody is fine. Based on early reporting, all JCCs were evacuated by the professional staffs. Law enforcement was called in and, in each case, the buildings were deemed safe, and staff and students were all allowed inside.
First and foremost, when similar threats were called in to other JCCs on January 9, the staff at ours set out to be prepared. Drills were performed in the subsequent weeks, and, I would like to thank the staff at the JCC, their management, and the first-responders, namely the Scotch Plains Police, for taking this issue seriously, and ensuring that the facility was safe to return to.
Now this:
You threatened my daughter and my family and my friends, you spineless, shit-eating, dirt-bag, mother-fuckers! Go fuck yourselves and the horse you rode in on.
Sorry for that. The simple fact is that antisemitism is on the rise. Why? I'll give you one large orange guess. As the New York Times reports: "hundreds of Jewish journalists have been the target of anti-Semitic attacks on Twitter during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to a new report by the Anti-Defamation League." If you're a Jew and you voted for Donald Trump, I, partially, blame you. My 4-year-old daughter stood outside for 40 minutes without her jacket and huddled together with her class while bomb-sniffing dogs were used to ensure that the JCC was safe. Thanks for peripherally supporting the rhetoric that made this possible.
Are there more racists than there were before? No. I would argue that Trump's campaign model only brought them to the forefront. He emboldened them. He made it seem that his bullying rhetoric was appropriate, which is why it's happening now. Ask the Blacks. Ask the Hispanics. Ask the Asians. Ask the Muslims. Maybe I'll be putting my foot in my mouth for making this next statement, but I guarantee that the people who are making these phone calls are white and Trump supporters bordering on being Nazis. When they are caught, and they will be caught once Jared Kushner wakes the fuck up and makes this a priority, you will discover that it's a group of white nationalists who call themselves Christian despite effectuating a wholly un-Christian agenda.
Until law enforcement figures this out, I ask that you think about your consumerism, because what else can we do? In NJ, our elected officials, including our Governor, are sympathetic on this issue. Why? Jews make up over 7% of the State's population according to this well-sourced post by the JVL. That's enough to sway a vote or two and influence and economy. It will be a long 4-years of similar, copy-cat acts, unless we hit our politicians and their war-chests where it hurts them most: in their pockets. Threaten to vote them out...then vote them out. Write to businesses you believe to have influence in Washington. Most of them have a FaceBook presence. Barring that, call them out to the media, who are also married to social media. Patronize businesses that openly support acceptance and diversity.
We need to end this empty threat of domestic terrorism before it becomes real. Today it was my family, and tomorrow it may be yours.
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