Ghosts of past, present and future issue ominous warnings for Jews
Chokr’s response was to pull down his pants and show his naked backside to the judge.
Hassan Chokr is a ghost of Christmas present. While his family claims he has mental issues, that is of little comfort to Jewish observers, who see the words, “A storm is coming to wipe you all out of our lives,” and think back to a time when sentences like that were uttered with glee by government officials.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, 2021 was the highest year on record for documented reports of antisemitism. New York City last month reported a 125% jump in antisemitic hate crimes from the November before.
A 125% jump?
Violent acts and virulent words happen regularly against Jews today, at the least known and most well-known levels. In recent weeks, Kayne West, one of the most popular recording artists of our time, unleashed a string of hateful and Holocaust-denying statements in one interview after another, saying things like “I like Hitler” and posting plans to “go death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE.”
Supporters dismiss West, once again, as “crazy," but it doesn’t sound crazy to Jewish people. It sounds terribly familiar, like a bad memory that rematerialized.
Ghosts of Christmas present.
When you read about the history of the Holocaust, what jumps out is its insidious roots. It didn’t begin with gas chambers and mass graves. It began more quietly, with:
1. People casually blaming Jews for Germany’s problems. Claiming they ran too many businesses. Had too much power. It advanced to …
2. Accusing Jews of having their own agenda. Not being real citizens of the countries they lived in. Supporting their own issues. That blossomed into …
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