“I feel utter disgust for the Jewish people; you are no better than the Nazis. Get out of the occupied lands and stop your damned new settlements then there would be peace. Enough is enough, the Palestinians deserve a fair deal, I wish them every success and to hell with all of you.”
This excerpt from an e-mail received by a Milwaukee Jewish community professional during 2002 is one of 13 instances of anti-Semitic expression listed in the “2002 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents” released last week by the Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations.
The first full year after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States saw “a slight rise” in the reported number of anti-Semitic incidents in Milwaukee, according to Paula Simon, executive director of the MJCCR.
Moreover, the year saw an increase in hate group activity, culminating in the “White Power Rally” held last November on the steps of the federal courthouse in Milwaukee.
According to Simon, these reflected effects of Sept. 11 and of the situation in the Middle East. “Things happening in the world allow people to say things that they might otherwise have repressed,” she said.
In addition, hate groups made national efforts to exploit Sept. 11, such as spreading hate literature in cities including Milwaukee and Madison.
Simon said the MJCCR “tried very hard” to distinguish between anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiments. Though they often blended together, as in the quoted e-mail message, they didn’t always. Therefore, the MJCCR didn’t include in the audit instances in which people said they opposed U.S. foreign policy because it was pro-Israel, said Simon.
Notwithstanding all these factors, as in previous years most anti-Semitic incidents reported to the MJCCR in 2002 involved spoken or written expressions. They included anti-Semitic mail, e-mail and voice messages; hate literature distributed in Milwaukee and Kenosha from such organizations as the World Church of the Creator and the National Alliance; and comments people made in public places.
Only three instances of vandalism were reported: a broken window at a Milwaukee Jewish institution, a knocked down sukkah at a private home and “Get out Jew” painted on the home of a non-Jewish family in the Fox Valley.
“People and community institutions are cautious, which helps prevent vandalism that might otherwise occur,” said Simon. “We’re doing the right things, so things aren’t happening.”
In Madison, “very little happened” in the way of anti-Semitic incidents during 2002, according to Steven H. Morrison, executive director of the Madison Jewish Community Council.
“This continues to be a community that doesn’t accept hate and those kinds of behaviors and attitudes,” said Morrison, who said he would release his official report in March.
Morrison said there had been a spate of vandalism at the Hillel Foundation University of Wisconsin, including painted graffiti and broken windows, but it was difficult to tell if this was anti-Semitism or gang activity.
Two attempts to spread hate literature to the Madison public were reported, one by the National Alliance and one by followers of the anti-Semite Lyndon LaRouche. Morrison also said that at one area Catholic high school a teacher was teaching that the Jews killed Jesus, but this was soon corrected.
No instances of anti-Semitic physical attacks on Jews were reported in either Madison or Milwaukee during 2002.
Both Simon and Morrison said that people in the community, even in Jewish institutions, often don’t report incidents, and they want to encourage people to do so.
“We would rather have more [reporting] than less,” said Simon. “It helps us more accurately assess what is happening.”
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