Anti Semitism SPRING ISSUE Resistance Style KPOP Schutte Hunger Big Sean Detained COVER
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PUNCHING NAZIS
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ON THE DAY OF DONALD TRUMP’S INAUGURATION, Richard Spencer was punched in the face during an on-camera interview. Spencer, the founder of the term ‘alt-right’ and vicious advocate for white nationalism, is widely considered the leader of the neoNazi community in America. In light of the election’s outcome, Spencer shouted, “Hail Trump!” at a conference in Washington as his supporters rose their arms to a nazi salute. The video of Spencer taking a blow to the head quickly spread across media outlets, spawning the question: Is it okay to punch a Nazi? Many arguments in support reference Captain America and Indiana Jones attacking Nazis, claiming it’s “the American way”, while opposing arguments insist that engaging in violence against Nazis makes one “no better than them.” Both of these approaches are faulty. To compare modern-day resistors to figures in popular culture ignores the many real-life heroes, such as Simon Wiesenthal, a death camp survivor who devoted his life to tracking down Nazis and bringing them to justice, or Vidal Sassoon, the now-successful hair stylist who spent his teenage years fighting Nazis in the streets of East London to combat the fascist movements following World War II. Moreover, comparing those who violently expel bigotry and terror from our country to anti-Semites, racists, and xenophobes is disrespectful. Neglecting to acknowledge the fundamental differences between fascist and humane ideologies reduces protesters from motivations to mere actions. In January and February alone, there have been over 50 bomb threats to Jewish centers in the United States. Anti-Semitism in America is nothing new, but is already rising sharply under our new national leadership. With President Trump encouraging his supporters to attack dissenters and appointing noted anti-Semites to his administration like Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, it is easy to see why neo-Nazis feel emboldened. They are being validated by our government. In fact, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, the White House released a statement that avoided mentioning Jews. Instead, the writing referred to the victims only as “innocent people”, and, in response to public backlash, the White House doubled down on its statement, asserting that they “took into account all of those who suffered.” This unwillingness to identify the Jews as the primary victims of the Holocaust harrowingly mirrors the way leaders around the globe spoke in the decades following the massacre. By excluding Jews and anti-Semitism from its statement, the Holocaust is treated as a common crime rather than a genocide. The White House denies the Holocaust as an act of targeting any specific ethnicity, perhaps to avoid comparison between past governments and the targeting tactics this new administration promotes, such as the Muslim ban and Mexican Border wall. In attempting to universalize the Holocaust, the White House employs an ‘All Lives Matter’ rhetoric that, as we’ve seen, has never been about protecting all lives, but instead promotes taking attention and power away from members of minority groups. As Elie Wiesel said, “I have learned that the Holocaust was a unique and uniquely Jewish event, albeit with universal implications. Not all victims were Jews, but all Jews were victims.” The White House demonstrated no better sensitivity in the following weeks. During a joint press conference with President Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israeli journalist Moav Vardi asked how the administration would comment on the rise in anti-Semitic incidents during the President’s campaign and after his victory. Trump responded by boasting about his electoral college win, and only addressed anti-Semitism by listing the Jewish people he knows. During the following day’s press conference, Orthodox Jewish reporter Jake Turx began to ask what action the administration would take in response to the bomb threats rattling Jewish communities, but was interrupted by Trump, who called the reporter a liar and told him to sit down, finding this a “very insulting question.” CONTINUES ON PAGE 2:
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