“We know it is good to be a Jewish American,” said Elana Kahn-Oren, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation on Feb. 12.
Moreover, “This is not Europe,” where rising anti-Semitic incidents have led some European Jews and outside observers to wonder if Jews have a future there, she continued in a conversation with The Chronicle.
Nevertheless, in 2014 there was “a dramatic rise” in Milwaukee-area anti-Semitic incidents, “more than double what they have been for the last two decades,” Kahn-Oren wrote in a Feb. 12 news release.
And this seems “to match a pattern of increased incidents throughout the world,” Kahn-Oren told The Chronicle.
The audit recorded more than 30 separate incidents. As in the past, most have been written and verbal expression — “more people yelling at people,” Kahn-Oren said. Others involved vandalism and harassment, but none involved a violent attack.
Some of the incidents occurred around the time of Operation Protective Edge, Israel’s military action against Palestinian Arabs in the Gaza Strip this past summer. “There was a spike” of incidents during that period and “I think the conflict exacerbated some expression” of anti-Semitism, Kahn-Oren said.
“We are constantly vigilant” to draw careful distinctions between “legitimate criticism of Israeli state and government policies” and expressions of hate, Kahn-Oren said.
Nevertheless, supposed criticism of Israel “is sometimes a cloak for hating Jews” and has “become a socially acceptable expression of anti-Semitism,” she said.
For example, the audit recorded that during a protest of a Jewish community rally in support of Israel this past summer (see August 2014 Chronicle), some demonstrators shouted, “Jews and Nazis are the same, only difference is the name.”
As in past years, Kahn-Oren said she was concerned about anti-Semitic harassment and verbal expression incidents in middle and high schools, “which often takes the form of jokes, pranks, teasing and bullying,” the JCRC wrote in its release.
“Every time we sit down with and talk to young Jews, they tell us about things that happen to them,” Kahn-Oren told The Chronicle. Yet, “often they don’t know what to do with this information; they say it’s just jokes and jokes are OK,” she said.
“We know those incidents are under-reported,” Kahn-Oren said. “We are focused on trying to educate young people in the Jewish community to be able to respond to anti-Jewish activities in ways that doesn’t cost them all their social capital.”
In both the news release and a letter sent to Jewish community officials, Kahn-Oren and JCRC chair Ellis Bromberg urged community members to report all anti-Semitic incidents to the JCRC.
The release states that the JCRC ensures “full confidentiality” and corroborates and reviews events before taking action.
Furthermore, in the letter to community leaders, Kahn-Oren and Bromberg stated, “We are particularly pleased that working collaboratively with schools, law enforcement and national agencies, many of this year’s reported incidents were addressed or resolved with positive outcomes.
“The relationships that the JCRC builds with the broader community are extremely beneficial when intervention is appropriate and necessary.”
To report anti-Semitic incidents or to obtain further information, email ElanaO@MilwaukeeJewish.org or call 414-390-5736.
Editor’s note: On the night of Feb. 13, a spate of vandalisms occurred on Madison’s West Side, some though not all of it anti-Semitic.
The Wisconsin State Journal reported “at least 25 cases of property damaged by graffiti” which “included some swastikas and anti-Semitic expressions, along with derogatory words directed at women and minorities.”
The Arutz Sheva website in Israel picked up on the story on Feb. 15. It quoted Jim Stein, president of the Jewish Federation of Madison, who said he saw an anti-Semitic message on a garage across the street from his home and that this incident “is an important wake-up call for the city of Madison.”
The Milwaukee JCRC issued on Feb. 16 a statement denouncing the incident, praising the “diligence and professionalism” of law enforcement officials and calling “on all people of goodwill to interrupt and denounce hateful speech and actions.”
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