WE MUST RESIST IMPLUSE TO FEAR ‘THE OTHER’
While many people commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday, the increasingly negative attitudes about Jews in America should be cause for serious concern. But it must also serve as a call to action — an imperative to mobilize all of us in calling out these attitudes for exactly what they are: age-old antisemitic beliefs.
A recently released survey from the Anti-Defamation League on antisemitic attitudes in America found that 20 percent of participants believe in six or more antisemitic conspiracy theories. These conspiracies range from the fallacy that all Jews control the global media and banks to the falsehood that Jews started the COVID-19 pandemic.
Throughout history, we have seen how once planted, the seeds of hate can quickly grow from biased ideas and attitudes to real-life violence.
For many years, I have worked with refugees who suffered persecution and loss because of their race, religion, nationality or political opinion. My husband’s family survived the Holocaust and still feels the trauma after many generations. While I have always marveled at their resilience and courage, I often wonder how this could have been prevented in the first place.
The Holocaust is one of the most studied examples of genocide, discrimination, racial supremacy and bigotry, and the overall “us versus them” mindset. Each of these describe a slightly different manifestation of a common psychological mechanism — fear of “the other.” The horrors of the Holocaust did not start with extermination camps; they started with antisemitic beliefs and attitudes that became normalized and evolved into unimaginable actions. Unfortunately, humankind struggles to learn these lessons and continues to stumble into these minefields, be it due to incendiary speech from a politician or celebrity or antisemitic banners hung over freeways. Now, thanks to organizations like the ADL, we can identify trends, heed the warning signs and act upon them.
But it is not just antisemitism that is rising; we are witnessing more attacks against members of the Black, Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Muslim and LGBTQ+ communities. In 2021, we saw this in our own community with a notorious member of a White supremacist group harassing an LGBTQ+ man in his own driveway.
We are in the midst of political, economic and societal changes that have historically exacerbated the fear and blaming of “the other.” It is up to us to change the tide. As concerning as these trends are, they also provide a helpful impetus for developing more effective interventions to fight various types of antisemitism and hate in our community. This is why I decided to work for ADL — to stop the defamation of the Jewish people, and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.
Over the past year, ADL has responded to 35 incidents of hate around San Diego and Imperial Counties and provided training on handling hate crimes and violent extremism to the San Diego County Sheriff ’s Department. And because we know that no one is born with bias but rather learns it, we offered training and resources to 161 schools, reaching 150,000 students and teachers in San Diego County
We’ve brought together diverse communities, including joining an interfaith dinner on the 10th anniversary of the 2012 Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting. We also hosted a town hall on antisemitism in October with San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan and a panel of community leaders for an important conversation about how we can address antisemitism in the community and other forms of hate in a collaborative way.
I am frequently reminded of the incredible solidarity the Jewish community sees through the support of educators, elected officials, law enforcement and community members. When we join together this way, we can be louder than those who peddle antisemitic rhetoric.
Last month, ADL and several other Jewish organizations attended a county Board of Supervisors meeting where the board considered and unanimously passed a measure to install a Holocaust Remembrance exhibit on county property.
Among those who testified in support of the measure was Ben Midler, a Holocaust survivor who shared his experience and outstretched his arm to reveal the number still tattooed on his skin.
As I exited the building alongside him, a Latina janitorial employee of the county, who is part of a strike and spoke at the same board meeting, approached us. She thanked him for sharing his Holocaust experience and commended his courage to educate other generations. Moments like these — when communities intertwine and share appreciation for one another — remind me that it’s not just about fighting hate, but about finding hope.
The horrors of the Holocaust started with antisemitic beliefs that became normalized.
is the regional director at the Anti-Defamation League of San Diego and lives in Carmel Valley.