Thanks to Real News Network for inviting me to do an interview, How Pro-Israel Politics and Anti-Semitism Coexist in the Alt-Right. It deals with the Trump presidency and the ascendancy of the alt-right as a major factor in the rise of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the U.S.
Here in Seattle, a Sikh man was shot and wounded Friday night by a masked white supremacist who yelled that he should go back where he came from. There have been previous attacks on the Sikh community here. There have also been attacks on local mosques and our local JCC had a phoned bomb threat.
It doesn’t matter that the white attackers are so stupid that they can’t tell the difference between an Arab or Muslim and a Sikh. An attack on anyone who is an immigrant or non-white is an attack on all of us; and an attack on our values as a nation.
I’m pleased that the FBI has entered the case and views it as a hate crime. Unfortunately, it refuses to view the shooting of Josh Dukes at the University of Washington as a hate-crime. Apparently, when white supremacists shoot Sikhs it is, but when the same folks shoot anti-fascists it isn’t. While I understand that there are constitutional protections of religion that don’t extend to political groups, when you attempt to murder someone for their political views, that is a hate crime. Further, Marc Hokoana, the shooter still hasn’t been arrested or charged with a crime.
I hope you’ll watch the video and promote it via your social media accounts. My apologies about the synching of the audio and video for the recording. That was the fault of my ISP, Comcast. Thanks to RNN technicians who did a great job of trying to fix the synching issue.
It’s the way things are going. Same in the UK. The whole country has been overwhelmed by xenophobic, near-fascist ideas. Could have an influence on the US.
Thank you for all you terrific work.
One request: I’m on a mission to eradicate the term “alt-right” from our vocabulary. We should call it what it is: White Supremacy.
It should be mentioned that law enforcement now believes the 140+ phone threats to Jewish institutions in the US and Canada, are all the work of one individual.
Add to that, the fact that the one person arrested for copy cat phone threats is an African-American, suggests that the alt Right may not be as actively anti-Semitic as some would choose to believe.
@Seamus: Absolutely false. No one has ever said that. No one has ever claimed Juan Thompson was the sole figure behind the phone threats. In fact, the threats continue to this day, well after Thompson was charged. You are spreading fake news. I take a very dim view of such nonsense. Consider this a warning.
Consider this. You need to read these comments a little more carefully.
I said that Thompson was a COPY CAT, to wit, another person placed the other 140+ phone calls, and Thompson was imitating him/her.
The identity of the person who has placed these other 140+ calls, is unknown.
@ Seamus: No you didn’t say he was a copycat. The media said that two weeks ago. You said that one person made the calls, then immediately after that discussed Juan Thompson, allowing readers to believe you thought he was that person.
You are done in this thread.