June 10, 2022 | 11 Sivan 5782
Candlelighting 8:32 p.m. | Havdalah 9:40 p.m. | Vol. 65, No. 23 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
A generation of young Jews sees Israel differently, but educators are responding
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL After pandemic pause, Birthright is back
Students strengthen connections to Israel and to each other.
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By Adam Reinherz | Staff Writer “A Torn Emergence”
who also followed pro-Israel accounts.
year ago, Eli Marcus couldn’t avoid videos and posts denigrating Israel. As the Jewish state endured 11 days of rocket fire from Hamas last May, Marcus, 16, saw a bevy of anti-Zionist messaging. “It was all over the place,” he said. On Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, Marcus saw a deluge of content concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He said he spoke with friends about numerous posts — including those repeating the mantra “Israelis are terrorists” — and tried learning more about the sentiments conveyed. What Marcus came to appreciate was that, especially on Instagram, the more pro-Israel accounts he followed, the more pro-Israel messaging he received. Intensifying the echo chamber were friends, he said,
Conversely, those with alternate feeds saw a different narrative. Jess Daninhirsch, 18, said she “distinctly” remembers that period and “how everyone was spewing their thoughts on the matter.” Daninhirsch largely used Instagram last summer and said her feed included so many posts “from different sides” that usage of the platform became “overwhelming.” “I didn’t know what to think,” she said. “I was still trying to do my own research.” Despite wanting to learn more about the conflict, Daninhirsch ultimately stopped commenting about it. “A lot of people were asking me things about Israel, and my opinion, and what I
or the third time in as many months, members of a Pittsburgh-area community woke to find antisemitic flyers distributed in their neighborhood. On Monday, May 30, Pleasant Hills resident Michelle Susa posted to the Facebook group “Jefferson Hills/Pleasant Hills/ Surrounding Areas-What’s Going On” that her family had found a flyer at the end of their driveway. Other neighbors responded to the post saying that they, too, received the hate message and posted photos of what they found. Like other flyers found in both Squirrel Hill and Mt. Lebanon recently, the doublesided messages were packed in a lunch bag filled with rice and included antisemitic messages penned by the hate group Goyim Defense League. It appears that several different messages were distributed as part of the hate campaign. Some Facebook group members posted images of a flyer with the familiar antisemitic trope that Jews control the media. Another post showed a flyer stating that “Every single aspect of the Ukraine-Russia War is Jewish.” A photo Susa posted included the statement that “Every single aspect of the Covid agenda is Jewish.” Susa — who is not Jewish — said that her husband found the flyer in their driveway when he went out around 11 a.m. to cut the grass. “That’s when I contacted Pleasant Hills police because I found it very inappropriate to pass out,” she said. “I looked around the neighborhood, and other people had them, too.” The Pleasant Hills resident said the flyers
Please see Israel, page 14
Please see Flyers, page 15
LOCAL Fertility support comes to Pittsburgh
Jewish Fertility Foundation launches with help of Federation.
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LOCAL
A The Manor Theatre turns 100.
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Hate group distributes antisemitic flyers in South Hills neighborhood By David Rullo | Staff Writer
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A century of films — and memories
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Painting by Jess Daninhirsch
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