Donald Trump in a speech to the National Governors Association today, suggested that his own enemies might be behind the series of anti-Semitic threats (including a bomb threat at our local Stroum Jewish Community Center) and attacks on Jewish cemeteries over the past few weeks. In intelligence circles, this is known as a false flag attack (Trump’s weird locution saying the attacks could be credited “in reverse” sounds like a botched version of false flag). That is, someone engineers a terror or sabotage operation and attributes it to a third party in order to deflect blame from itself and attribute blame to an innocent party. These sorts of activities are usually attributed to intelligence agencies of authoritarian regimes, and sometimes even democratic ones. But very rarely have they been attributed to the enemies of U.S. presidents.
When asked by one of the Attorneys General about the attacks, Trump denounced them, but went on to suggest that they could be the work of his enemies. This suggested he might be alluding to any number of possible enemies: Democrats, the media, Jews themselves, or an even more spectrally, to the dead themselves. Perhaps they were rising up to exact their revenge? We Jews can be a pesky lot, you know, even in death.
President Trump, do you think it might be the Jews themselves making these calls to get sympathy to push their ethnic agenda? @POTUS https://t.co/AgeeTKzzLG
— David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) February 21, 2017
Oddly, Trump’s suggestions mirror a far more explicit statement by David Duke, who tweeted to Trump himself, asking whether the anti-semitic threats might be the work of “the Jews themselves, pushing their ethnic agenda.” It strikes me as possible, and even quite likely that alt-right avatar, Steve Bannon, could’ve absorbed this notion from Duke and passed it on like a microbial disease to Trump.
It seems clear now that Trump has a definite Jewish Problem (and a Muslim Problem and a Black Problem, etc.).
On a related matter, Israel’s Opposition leader, Isaac “Bouji” Herzog is so alarmed by the overturning of a few Jewish gravestones that he’s calling for an all out airlift of America’s 4-million Jews a la Operation Moses. The logic is a bit hare-brained. But apparently he believes there are mass pogroms imminent and a full-scale exodus is the only thing to save us. And he believes he can score a few cheap political points on Bibi Netanyahu by out-Zionizing the PM:
…Herzog…expressed outrage on Tuesday over the wave of anti-Semitic incidents and threats in the United States and said Israel should be preparing for the worst – a wave of Diaspora Jews fleeing to the Jewish state.
“I call on the government to urgently prepare and draw up a national emergency plan for the possibility of waves of immigration of our Jewish brothers to Israel.”
All hands on deck. Get the SS Exodus out of mothballs. Full steam ahead for the port of Haifa with thousands of Jews on board fleeing the American Cossacks and anti-Semit’n. The sheer nuttiness of this Zionist hysteria would be humorous if it weren’t so toxic and pathetic. We are quite comfortable here in the Diaspora. At the rate you’re going, Boujie, we’ll probably outlast you as a Jewish community.
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We are quite comfortable here in the Diaspora”
I am not sure you speak on behalf of all Jews in the Diaspora. Many Jews in France will not agree with you (hence, the ongoing stream of immigrants from there to Israel). In other places in many Europe Jews do not feel safe enough to walk around in public wearing Jewish symbols such as a Kipa.
As for the USA, things are of course much better, but still….
I admit I did not expect that the election of a certain president will be enough to raise such wave of antiemetic expressions. One can only conclude that anti-Semitism is still a problem in the USA, even if it has been under the surface for a while. You mention Duke- this guy was popular enough to get elected to a state senate and was not very far from being elected by the GOP to be their candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1990 (he got 43.5% of the primary votes) . That’s another indication that the USA has its fair share of antisemitism.
Most Jews in Germany felt very comfortable prior to the rise of Hitler. They (for the most part) saw themselves as Germans that happen to be also culturally Jewish. Hitler proved that the Germans did not really see them that way.
Currently there is no reason to think that the fate of US Jews will be even remotely similar top that of the Germany’s Jewish community but things can change quite dramatically
@ Amico:
I don’t have to. They vote with their feet. And those feet are not going home to Zion. They’re staying right where they are. As for the so-called “stream” of French immigrants making aliyah: it’s now back down to the normal 1,300 or so who were making aliyah annually before the terror attacks. So overall, no change.
No, Israeli journalists seeking to make a scene in Arab neighborhoods deliberately flaunt their kipot, videotape the encounters & then sell it to their publishers to arouse a bit of anti-Semitism shadenfraude in Israeli readers. That’s not “many European Jews” feeling too afraid to wear kipot. Further, if Israel would stop equating itself with Jewishness and stop pretending to speak for all Jews, maybe Arabs in these countries would learn that Jews & Israel are separate.
No, fascism is still a problem in the USA. Not anti-Semitism. Fascism, which your leader supported by the way in supporting Trump, has given license to all the anti-Semites. They are not a danger. But fascism IS. And you’re aligned with it.
You don’t have to be “popular” to be elected to state senate in the U.S. It’s a very low bar in terms of popularity. Not to mention that in one of the most racist states in the U.S., 26 yrs ago, David Duke came within 7% of winning a GOP primary. First, 7% is a U.S. election is a landslide loss. Second, in 1990 the GOP controlled nothing in Louisiana. The GOP couldn’t be elected dog catcher back then (things have changed since obviously). Finally, boasting about his “success” is akin to saying that if I’d been standing in the exact spot where a comet struck the earth, I’d be the first human being killed by a celestial object. IT would be quite a ‘feat,’ wouldn’t it?
I am sure you are aware of the fact that many people stay in bad, even abusive, relationships. They do so because getting out is scary, hard, and sometimes even seem impossible. Not to mention the false hopes that things will change for the better. I am also sure you are awear of the fact the in Nazi Germany thousands of Jews did not try to leave up to the last moment. People can be very uncomfortable and still not leave so the argument does not hold water.
Moreover, your numbers are wrong. 5,000 Jews immigrated to Israel from France in 2016 (and 7,900 the previous year). link to timesofisrael.com
Given that 465,000 Jews live in France, these are substantial numbers, similar to more than 7 million Americans living the USA in just two years.
Now, there is plenty of evidence for the fear many Jews in Europe live with. I suggest reading this article that was published in the Atlantic link to theatlantic.com
Blaming Israel for antisemitism is quite pathetic. Hate towards Jews in general was always “explained” by the actions of some Jews. it goes back for blaming “the Jews” for killing Jesus many centuries back, it continued with blaming “the Jews” for communism because some Jews were prominent communists, blaming “the Jews” for liberalism because some Jews are prominent liberals, blaming “the Jews” for being vicious capitalists because some Jews (the Rotchilds in particular) are rich and influential etc.
The fact that Jews in different parts of the world are personally targeted because of the actions of Israel is precisely what racism is. Antisemitism always find excuses because the reasons for racism in general have more to do with the dark side of human nature and needs rather than with any actual actions of any group.
As for fascism: Just to remind you-I wrote here against Trump. Tens of millions of your countrymen voted for this guy, not me. Your fellow Americans voted for a fascist and the problem is my government or me? give me a break.
Last, you were the one who brought up David Duke. He is prominent enough.
@ Amico: France’s relationship with its Jewish population is not abusive & I resent your analogy. It is offensive. Deeply so.
Here is the history of French emigration to Israel going back to 2010. In the 10 yrs between 2000-2009 a little over 1,000 emigrated each yr. A substantial number of these (20-30% eventually returned to France):
In 2015, it rose to 8,000. In 2016, 4,500. Each year thereafter it will drop further till it returns to the previous levels mentioned above. In recent months, it has dropped even further.
The Atlantic article you link to is 2 years old & written amid the anti-Semitism scare & the ensuring hysteria. It’s worth about as much as the paper it’s not written on. It was garbage when written & is even worse garbage now.
That might be true if Israel permitted world Jewry to be a separate entity from Israel. But Israel’s leadership presume to speak on behalf of world Jewry & equate Israel’s interests with those of Diaspora Jews. No one asked them to do this. And it’s true that Diaspora leaders don’t protest strongly enough when Bibi & others claim to represent us. But he doesn’t. Not at all. Interests of Israel are totally divergent from those of the Diaspora. At least on issues related to peace with the Arab states.
So, while it hurts me to say this, Islamists who conflate Israel with Jews are doing so largely because you haven’t told your own leaders to knock it off. Spend less time trying to be a Jewish state and more being an Israeli state. Then I would denounce Islamist conflation of the two as earnestly as you would wish. Till then, you have only yourself to blame.
Do I wish Islamists would make such a distinction & not attack Diaspora Jews? Certainly. It is a foul distortion. But the truth is that Islamists are not anti-Semites. They are anti-Israel. They merely believe there’s no difference between Jews & Israelis. Of course there is. But you make it impossible to hold them to account for their error. I try to make this distinction every chance I get and many others on the left do as well. But we can’t compete with the full power of the Israeli state claiming it speaks for & in place of Diaspora Jews.
You yourself in your comment are only adding to this confusion by claiming that Islamists attack Jews in the Diaspora because they hate Jews. They attack them because they believe there’s no difference between Jews & Israel. And that’s a very convenient confusion for you. You don’t want to give it up. Because everyone hates anti-Semitism. Anti-Israelism, not so much.
. France’s relationship with its Jewish population is not abusive & I resent your analogy. It is offensive. Deeply so”
offensive??? Pointing to the sad reality of human psychology? The point was that people do not easily leave uncomfortable situations and thus the rate of emigration is not a good indication of how “comfortable” people feel in a certain country. You don’t have to deal with the argument but trying to avoid it this way is ridiculous.
“in 2015, it rose to 8,000. In 2016, 4,500. Each year thereafter it will drop further till it returns to the previous levels mentioned above. In recent months, it has”
Are you a prophet? Given the current political and social climate in France, don’t count on it. I am willing to bet that the numbers will continue to be 3-8 thousand a year for the next 5 years.
“The Atlantic article you link to is 2 years old ….it was garbage when written & is even worse garbage now”
The Atlantic is quite a respectable source. What makes it “garbage”? the fact that it doesn’t support your views? Given that you did not even know the recent rate of Jewish emigration from France, I think I will believe the Atlantic. However, please do continue accepting only the reports that fit your prior views and treat the rest as “garbage”. It worked very well for you in the last elections (i still remember how you ignored the polls I showed here that demonstrated that Trump had substantial support).
As for Antisemitism and Israel: Your argument would maybe have been valid if those targeting Jews or showing hate towards them would not have used classic Jewish stereotypes. Duke is not the only one to use the term “Zionist” when what he really wants to say is “Jew”. Nor is he the only one to talk about “Jewish control of the media/the banks/etc” just changing the term from “Jewish” to “Zionist”. But it doesn’t matter one bit-
A person who targets random people because of their affiliation (true or imagined) to a certain entity is a racist by definition. Its true for Jews as it is true for any other group. And particularly for Jews- Anti-Semites always found actions of certain Jews as a justification to target any Jew. They did that for at least a thousand years and they will do it whether Israel exists or not.
BTW, I refuse to treat Muslims as stupid kids and expect any Muslim exactly what I expect from myself: to be able to realize that actions of certain state does not justify harming random people I think are somehow affiliated with it. My grandfather lost almost his entire family by Nazi Germany. He himself served in the British army in WW2. Towards the end of the war he had to opportunity to kill as many random German non-combatants as he wanted to but it never crossed his mind
@ Amico:
No, I’m an analyst and I base my predictions on facts. The emigration rate has halved in the past year. This decline will continue. It follows similar temporary increases in immigration from countries where Jewish communities feel under temporary threat. Numbers increase till the danger subsides and then return to previous levels. This is human nature as well. But it appears your brand of Zionism seeks to ignore both Jewish Diaspora behavior AND human behavior.
No, it’s not a respectable source. It’s managing editor is Jeffrey “I Was a JDLer” Goldberg. That hit piece claimed European Jewry was doomed by a flood of anti-Semitism and terrorism. Which is total nonsense and never happened. So neither The Atlantic nor that particular article is worth the paper it’s written on. Maybe worth the price of a roll of toilet paper. But that’s it.
In fact, there were Zionist cells which did hunt and kill Nazis after the war.
Trump won due to a total of 70,000 votes in three counties. Clinton won three-million more votes than he did. Substantial support? Not really.
You are done in this thread.
Just cause Trump said it doesnt mean it should be discounted. There have been like 100 different untraceable bomb threats all over the US.This stinks of a state actor like Israel or its proxies trying to unify US Jews around racial identity and make them feel alienated from their country. Or Russia. Modern day terrorists dont warn people ahead of time.
@ Joe Benoliel: I doubt it would be Israel. Bibi needs Trump for far more important domestic reasons (settlements, support for future wars). But Russia, possibly. Though here again, there seems to be a tacit alliance or friendship with Putin & Trump. So that may not be credible. But the IRG or an Arab actor: very possible.
As far as the cemetery desecrations, it’s hard for me to believe there’s no video or witnesses who saw something. We’ll have to see how this plays out.
How odd. I read this too and I didn’t think Trump was talking about Jews being behind the anti-Semtic attacks.
I took Trump’s remarks to mean that maybe his political enemies, ‘anti-fascists’, or worse, ‘the Deep State’, might be involved. It’s interesting how different our minds work.
@ Seamus Ignoramus:
There have been scores of media articles, statements by Chuck Schumer & the ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt, and blog posts saying just that–that he was referring, at least implicitly, to Jews. And Duke, who he often echoes, made this explicit. So given a choice between your reading comprehension skills and those of other journalists and bloggers I respect, I think I’ll go with them.
At least I know mine’s working. Yours…hmm.
Trump on recent anti-semitic attacks …
NY Daily News: President Trump suggests anti-Semitic threats across U.S. are coming from within Jewish community
Middle East Eye: Trump reportedly says anti-Semitic attacks may be done to make others ‘look bad’
ADL’s Greenblatt: #NeverAgain
Yep, minds work differently, that’s how easily fake news spreads and propaganda is a “hit” in today’s political world of narcissistic people lacking empathy. Trump doesn’t discriminate between Afro-Americans, Jews, Latinos, Muslims … history repeating itself.
The New York Daily News can’t even get it’s idiotic story straight.
“CNN, citing law enforcement sources, said it’s believed many of the threatening calls came from overseas.”
“Law enforcement officers told The News there’s no reason to believe claims Jews are behind the threats.”
So if the calls are coming from overseas, and there’s no reason to believe Jews are behind the threat, than how can Trump be think Jews are responsible? Uh…..duh!
Richard and the Daily News should both be ashamed of themselves.
Shame. Shame. Shame on you.
You forgot to add ‘ring’ as you usually do, juvenile ‘Seamus’.
@ Seamus Ignoramus: Your first mistake is relying on the NY Daily News, the equivalent of Bibiton or worse, as a source. As for CNN, I don’t know what their source is & until I know something about who & where the source is, I don’t credit it as reliable either. Further, just because an anonymous law enforcement source says Jews aren’t behind the threats doesn’t mean Trump believes them. In fact, whenever Trump disagrees with intelligence information he not only discounts it, but calls it fake & even likens it to the Nazis. The weakness of your argument is that you’re assuming Trump believes everything reported in these 2 stories. That’s a dangerous assumption to make for you. Finally, these 2 stories only deal with the JCC threats. They don’t include the cemetery desecration, which clearly couldn’t be done by anyone “overseas.”
I don’t pretend to understand what’s going on in that cesspool Trump calls a mind. But as for whether he would blame Jews for desecrating their own cemeteries–you bet I believe it’s possible. Trump has echoed David Duke’s views scores of times in the past. It seems like have some sort of mind meld. So it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Duke’s ideas creep into those of Trump.
Seamus’ IP address resolves to Dublin, Ireland. I find it interesting that Israel’s hasbara brigades extend all that way. Also, odd that someone in Dublin is so focussed on these matters that they’d be perusing U.S. media in such detail. Seamus’ e mail address isn’t mentioned in a Google search, which indicates it is likely fake–that’s a level of deliberate opacity I expect from someone like him. I smell a rat, a big fat one.
You are done in this thread.
The secret “Tikun” police checks for commenters IP address and search the email provided. Why? In order to shame ppl?
The left justifies any means to persu “justice”
@ Jim: Nothing is secret, JimBoy. When you comment here you must provide an e mail address and your IP address is registered. That’s why lots of people use IP proxies because they wish to conceal themselves because they’re cowards. In fact, you’ve used close to 10 different IP addresses posting comments here. It’s likely you’re using one too, or else posting from public wifi networks/computers.
Seamus appears to be using his own IP, but a fake e mail. All of which raises, if not a red, then a yellow flag about his transparency & authenticity.
If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to move on. But I’ve had so many commenters pull so many tricks & strategems (not to mention the professional hasbara brigade) here that yes, I do investigate their bona fides if they raise my suspicions.
Comment rules indicate that all editorial decisions are mine alone & I frown on commenters questioning them or trying to be snarky about them. All of which you’ve just done. Consider that a “friendly” warning.