It happened last week in St Louis and Saturday it happened again in New York. Are the incidents of anti-Semitism that have occurred with increasing regularity since Trump hit the political streets just coincidental. Or is it possible that his divisive rhetoric has actually giving impetus and cover for what we’ve seen happening since his announcement that he was running for president?
To think Trump’s rhetoric does not represent his true beliefs and feelings is naïve. To believe the millions who support and voted for Trump for the presidency don’t approve of his bigoted rhetoric is, to say the least, naïve as well. When the leader of a nation speaks, his words have consequences. The consequence of Trump’s many bigoted, racist, and xenophobic words? To embolden and give rise to the bigotry and hatred we say in St Louis and New York just this past week.
Stacy Silver prayed as she drove with her husband to Mount Carmel Cemetery in Philadelphia’s Wissinoming section Sunday: Please don’t let my mother and great-grandmother be among the victims.
When Silver, 50, of Cherry Hill, N.J., heard about the vandalism at the Jewish cemetery that occurred overnight Saturday, she rushed to her loved ones’ graves.
What she saw when she arrived was worse than she imagined — tombstone after tombstone, story after story, was toppled to the ground — including those belonging to her mother and great-grandmother.
“Your stomach just drops,” Silver said. “I mean it’s just horrible.”
Detectives canvassing the cemetery Sunday afternoon estimated that 75 to 100 headstones had been knocked over.
“It’s criminal. This is beyond vandalism,” said Northeast Detectives Capt. Shawn Thrush, as he walked the cemetery grounds. “It’s beyond belief.”
The vandalism, coming a week after a similar incident in St. Louis, prompted the Anne Frank Center to call for President Trump to make a forceful denunciation of anti-Semitic hate crimes.
“Mr. President, it’s time for you to deliver a prime-time nationally televised speech, live from the Oval Office, on how you intend to combat not only #Antisemitism but also Islamophobia and other rising forms of hate,” the organization posted Sunday on Twitter. “Whether or not your intention, your Presidency has given the oxygen of incitement to some of the most viciously hateful elements of our society.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center recorded 1,372 bias incidents between Trump’s inauguration and Feb. 7, the watchdog group reported. Among those, the group highlighted 57 incidents in 24 states of anonymous bomb threats being called in to Jewish Community Centers. The organization has also recorded that the number of hate groups in the U.S. grew in 2016 for the second straight year, with a threefold increase in the number of anti-Muslim hate groups.
The incident at Mount Carmel prompted support from the national Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA.
“We are deeply troubled by these rising and ongoing attacks on our Jewish sisters and brothers and members from our Philadelphia chapter are in route to assist in clean up,” said Nasim Rehmatullah, the organization’s national vice president. (emphasis mine)
Indeed Mr. Trump. Your words have had an impact. A very dark and sinister one. You can not change or take back your stream of bigoted words and xenophobic utterances. Just as a leopard is incapable of changing its spots your words have defined who and what you are. Simply put Trump, you have zero credibility and anything you say is therefore meaningless. Try as you might to cover your rancid character it will not work in the end.
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