‘I’m scared about antisemitism, but my friends just want to talk about the war’

The Israel-Hamas War continues, and so does antisemitism. Continue to reach out to Jewish neighbors to see how they are managing the tension of celebrating Passover while lamenting the hostages, the war and perhaps feeling anxiety about antisemitism.

If you are interested in how Jewish media is covering the deportation of pro-Palestinians protestors, scroll down to the bottom of the review.

These headlines are presented as a snapshot of what our Jewish neighbors are thinking and feeling and to provide data as you pray about these issues. CMJ USA does not necessarily agree with the opinions expressed in these articles.

😩I’m scared about antisemitism, but my friends just want to talk about the war (Forward)

Bintel advises a student who is struggling to discuss her fears with friends who keep bringing the conversation back to politics

🔥Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say (Forward)

Suspect Cody Balmer told investigators he was ‘harboring hatred’ toward the Jewish governor, they say. Arson took place night after Shapiro hosted Passover seder.

Editor’s note: This story is very fresh and the motive remains unclear. I heard an interview on NPR saying that the timing of the attack – just hours after the governor hosted a Passover seder – gives the Jewish community pause, especially when there are other antisemitic attacks against politicians, like the two below. But others say to slow down and don't assume antisemitism.

😧Pennsylvania Jewish groups condemn ‘genocide’ slogan on Gisele Fetterman’s charity (JTA)

The sheet, draped over the Free Store in the town of Braddock, reads “Genocide John, Genocide Gisele, Blood on your hands.”

😩Maine man arrested for threatening posts against Jews, politicians (Jewish Chronicle)

An FBI investigation found numerous posts across social media that “contained threats to Jews, political figures, the Supreme Court and others."

🤬Comedian Mike Glazer Stands Up to an Antisemitic Heckler (Jewish Journal)

The comedian has received his fair share of support from fans and friends; however, antisemites have also targeted him.

🙄 How Coke’s Passover recipe sparked an antisemitic conspiracy theory (Forward)

Soda giant uses cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup for Jewish holiday

🫡101-year-old WWII veteran recalls US Army’s seder night, weeks before liberating Dachau (Times of Israel)

Hilbert Margol still regularly speaks about the atrocities he saw firsthand at the notorious Nazi concentration camp as a young US soldier: ‘We didn’t understand what we were seeing’

🫱🏽‍🫲🏽He went viral for defacing ‘Kidnapped’ hostage posters. Now, he’s attending a rabbi’s Passover seder   (JTA)

Though unlikely circumstances brought Rabbi Sarah Reines and Kurush Mistry together, a “deep friendship” has formed.

😤Anti-Christian incidents in Israel rising: Spitting on clergy, damage to church properties (Christian Post)

Editor’s note: I asked our CMJ Israel colleagues about these reports. Rev. David Pileggi said “This is a problem in Jerusalem and Jerusalem only. The police – after a few years – now take the problem very seriously. Some of what keeps the problem from being resolved is the lack of reporting by Christian clergy.” He also passed along the article below of how Israeli volunteers walked the Palm Sunday procession route this year to report agitators.

🌿On Palm Sunday, Israeli volunteers escort Christian processions to report racist incidents (Times of Israel)

Volunteers from the Religious Freedom Data Center accompany Armenian, Latin, clerics to and from Church of Holy Sepulchre during their annual holy week ritual

 💀To rob the dead: How the Palestinian cause seeks to steal the Shoah (Jewish Chronicle)

We must state this plainly: The Holocaust was global.

👎🏻Most Americans don’t want the US to conquer Gaza, Pew survey finds (JTA)

The only U.S. religious group to demonstrate confidence in Netanyahu is white evangelical Protestants, according to the survey.

 😖Muslim prayer room at NYU vandalized with name of Jewish fraternity (JTA)

The letters AEPI were scrawled on a vulgar image.

📢In UK and Australia, lawmakers are trying to curb protests outside of synagogues (JTA)

“I have listened to your calls for change,” the U.K. home secretary told a Jewish group’s gala on Wednesday.

⏳Dara Horn’s gonzo, time-traveling children’s Passover book wants people to love living Jews (Jewish Chronicle)

Horn has launched a nonprofit, Mosaic Persuasion, to advance her vision.

✡️The new Jewish diaspora: How nearly one million Israelis are reshaping global Jewish communities (All Israel)

🏘️Why Jews were like everyone else — only more so — during slavery and the Civil War (Forward)

Richard Kreitner’s ‘Fear No Pharoah’ takes an unflinching look at how Jews reckoned with America’s founding sin

⬅️ Who Are the People Leaving Their Childhood Religion? (compiled by Jewish Journal)

A new Pew study highlights the rising trend of people leaving their childhood religions.

• Christianity and Buddhism Show Biggest Losses (Pew) In many countries around the world, a fifth or more of all adults have left the religious group in which they were raised. Christianity and Buddhism have experienced especially large losses from this “religious switching,” while rising numbers of adults have no religious affiliation, according to Pew Research Center surveys of nearly 80,000 people in 36 countries.
  
  
• American Jews Leave the Faith at High Rates (Grace Gilson, Jerusalem Post) Almost one in four US adults raised Jewish do not identify as religiously Jewish anymore, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center… Among Americans raised Jewish, 17% now describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated. An additional 2% now identify as Christian while 1% now identify as Muslim. An additional 4% identify with another religion or didn’t answer.
  
  
• Israeli Jews Tend to Stay Put  (JNS) Between 20% and 30% of adults no longer affiliate with the religion which they grew up in many Western countries, including 28% of Americans. But fewer than 1% of adults who were raised as Israeli Jews no longer identify as such, per a new Pew Research Center report on “religious switching.”

✝️US Christians more pro-Israel, less antisemitic than UK Christians; study examines reasons why  (Christian Post)

⛪Christian Zionism hasn’t always been a conservative evangelical creed – churches’ views of Israel have evolved over decades (The Conversation)

👮🏻On student deportations in efforts to combat campus antisemitism

Editor’s note: I find myself in a quandary. Our country, our churches, our families are so politically divided. All actions by the current presidential administration are watched and talked about. Among them are the recent deportations of pro-Palestinian activists, deportations done in the name of fighting antisemitism on college campuses.

Sharing or not share selected headlines, and certainly any comments by me for or against the deportations, will be thought by some to reveal my personal opinions about the current administration.

CMJ USA’s mission is to equip individuals and local congregations to

• Fight antisemitism
• Understand and value the Jewish roots of the Christian faith
• Have authentic conversations with Jewish neighbors about our common and differing beliefs
• Encourage and support the Body of Messiah in Israel.
   
  

This blog is part of our equipping you. The news items shared in this blog are meant to inform readers of what our Jewish neighbors are saying about different current events. I do not share these items to persuade to any side. The Jewish Media Review is meant to broaden your horizons and consider the point of view of our neighbors outside (and inside) the church.

• Trump Is Targeting International Students Over Pro-Palestinian Protests. But Is It Legal? (The Marshall Project)
  After the administration revoked 300 students’ visas, the courts will have to decide if the Constitution protects the free speech of noncitizens.
  
  
• Trump’s Fight Against Antisemitism Has Become Fraught for Many Jews (NY Times) 
  American Jews have watched with both alarm and enthusiasm as strong-arm tactics, including arrests of activists, have been deployed in their name.
  
  
• ADL’s Greenblatt calling out ‘disturbing pattern’ in Trump’s deportation campaign (Jewish Insider) 
  In an interview with JI, the Anti-Defamation League CEO says the protection of Jewish students ‘shouldn't require us to shred the norms that we use to protect other people’
  
  
• Media ignore Mahmoud Khalil’s violations of U.S. immigration laws, promote free speech hoax (JNS) Guests in the United States, on visas or green cards, are not citizens and not entitled to citizenship rights.
  
  
• Hillel CEO says he shares ‘concerns’ over campus deportations, calls for due process (JTA) 
  Adam Lehman worried that Trump’s campus crackdown could unfairly affect Jewish students and fuel antisemitism.
  
  
• The Great Free Speech Pretenders (Jewish Journal) 
  It’s easy to defend a hater whose hateful views against Israel don't bother you one bit. But what about a hater whose views you absolutely abhor?
  
  
• Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy (Forward)
  Former Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt supports parts of the Trump administration’s visa crackdown, but says it must be done ‘thoughtfully’ and with due process