Palin claims 'blood libel'

Sarah Palin: "America's Enduring Strength" from Sarah Palin on Vimeo.

In a video posted on her facebook page, Palin claims: "Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn.”

Noam Neusner, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, writes: “The term ‘blood libel’ is so unique, and so tinged with the context of anti-Semitism, that its use in this case -- even when Ms. Palin has a legitimate gripe -- is either cynically calculated to stimulate media interest or historically illiterate. It is therefore distracting to Ms. Palin’s underlying message, which is one of sympathy for the victims and outrage that she and others are being accused of inspiring a mass murderer.”

See Shirat Devorah for one take on the Sarah Palin phenomenon.

Anti-Semitic graffiti in Arizona predates shooting

On Friday, a day prior to the shooting of an openly Jewish congresswoman, anti-Semitic graffiti was discovered in Tartesso, AZ, 40 miles west of Phoenix. The shooting took place in Tuscon, AZ, 150 miles Southeast.

So far, no press is covering this story from Friday's The West Valley View, which was posted by the Canary in the Cole Mine blog. From the View, it sounds like police treated the graffiti as 'another case of those darn bored kids', rather than as a dangerous and serious hate crime, which happened one day before a deadly shooting of a Jewish congresswoman.

Where is the press?

The View reports: 

The resident, who asked that her name not be published because she fears retaliation, said she called police after unknown vandals "hit my neighborhood really hard" in late December.

"They broke street lights and several bricks in the wall," she said, claiming that police, in her opinion, have failed to give serious attention to the matter...

No suspects have been identified and criminal investigators have been assigned to look into the matter, Griffith added...

"Graffiti is a problem throughout the Valley and one the Buckeye Police Department has worked hard to overcome," he said. "This type of hate-based graffiti is particularly troublesome and will not be tolerated."

Griffith also conjectured the damage may have been sparked by juveniles who had too much free time because of the break from school for the holidays.

"Increased vandalism and other issues generally occur during times school is out of session," Griffith said.

Meanwhile, on Google News

Giffords: Outed her Jewish identity after a 2001 trip to Israel

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

According to JTA, Giffords, who grew up in a mixed religious environment, took interest in her Jewish roots and identity after a 2001 trip to Israel. During her campaign she openly recounted her Jewish upbringing and Jewish tradition among her strengths for the job:

“If you want something done, your best bet is to ask a Jewish woman to do it...Jewish women — by our tradition and by the way we were raised — have an ability to cut through all the reasons why something should, shouldn’t or can’t be done and pull people together to be successful.”

JTA also points out that in one of her last photos, Giffords posed with the new U.S. House of Representatives speaker, Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) at her swearing in, with her hand on the  Five Books of Moses.

In October 2006, Giffords published an op-ed in the Arizona Jewish Post which celebrated her Jewish upbringing and identity:

My grandfather, Akiba Hornstein, was the son of a Lithuanian rabbi. My grandfather changed his name to Giff Giffords for reasons of anti-Semitism and moved to Southern Arizona from New York more than a half century ago. In the 1940s, he founded my family’s tire and automotive business, El Campo Tire, which grew into a successful and thriving business for 50 years, which I ran for several years before serving in the Arizona Legislature.

Growing up, my family’s Jewish roots and tradition played an important role in shaping my values. The women in my family served as strong role models for me as a girl. In my family, if you want to get something done, you take it to the women relatives! Like my grandmother, I am a lifetime member of Hadassah and now a member of Congregation Chaverim.

When I served in the State Senate in Arizona, I had the opportunity to visit Jerusalem. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I had the opportunity to meet with the then-mayor of Jeru­salem, Ehud Olmert, and I got to see firsthand the sacrifices that Israelis make in the name of security because of the dangerous state of affairs there.

I will always be a strong supporter of Israel. As the only functioning democracy in the Middle East, Israel is a vital strategic ally of the United States. I believe the United States must do everything possible to secure Israel’s long-term security and achieve a lasting peace in the region. The failure of the current administration to continue the peace process has been a loss to America and Israel. That is why we need a new direction in Washington...

We cannot forget our past. I have worked to protect the rights of Holocaust survivors in our state. In 2002, I sponsored legislation that was signed into law by Governor Jane Hull, and unanimously approved by the Senate, to allow victims of the Holocaust, or their heirs, to collect insurance claims (HB 2541). It re-opened the statute of limitations for these claims. My opponent, Randy Graf, was one of only 13 legislators to oppose this bill.

As a woman and as a Jew, I will always work to insure that the United States stands with Israel to jointly ensure our mutual safety, security, and prosperity.

Combine Giffords' public expressions of her Jewish identity, with the shooter's suspected ties to anti-Semitic hate groups, and it's hard not to cry wolf.

The American Radical Right and Anti-Semitism: The truth comes out

Yikes! Anti-Semitism is alive and well in 22nd America, hiding in the American Radical Right. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' shooters' Youtube videos and Myspace page reference the white nationalist group "American Renaissance" (aka New Century Foundation). While the group's founder may have mixed feelings, American Renaissance is a breeding ground for anti-Semitic hatred and rhetoric. According to the Southern Law Center (via HuffPost):

Since 1994, the New Century Foundation has also played host to American Renaissance conferences, suit-and-tie affairs that attract a broad spectrum of participants from the racist right, including neo-Nazis, white supremacists, Ku Klux Klan members, Holocaust deniers and eugenicists. The conferences even have an international presence. In 2002, for instance, speakers included Nick Griffin, leader of the neofascist British National Party, and Bruno Gollnisch, who was then second in command of Jean Marie Le Pen's immigrant-bashing National Front in France.

One issue that has proven problematic for Taylor and his foundation has been anti-Semitism. Taylor, unlike many on the radical right, is known for his lack of anti-Semitism and for including racist Jews in his events. He told MSNBC-TV interviewer Phil Donahue in 2003 that Jews "are fine by me" and "look white to me." At one point, he even banned discussion of the so-called "Jewish question" from American Renaissance venues, and, by 1997, he had kicked Holocaust deniers and neo-Nazis off his E-mail list. Despite these efforts, Taylor also has continued to allow people like Don Black, the former Klan leader who runs the neo-Nazi Stormfront.org web forum, and Jamie Kelso, a Stormfront moderator, to attend his biannual American Renaissance Conferences. The problem for Taylor is that many of the most active participants at the American Renaissance Conferences and the most committed members of the American radical right are openly and passionately anti-Semitic. To ban them would devastate Taylor's efforts to make his journal and conferences flagship institutions of American radical right.

Despite Taylor's best efforts to keep the internal peace, this long-smoldering issue finally burst into the open when David Duke, the former Klan leader and author of Jewish Supremacism, grabbed the microphone at the 2006 American Renaissance Conference and went on a thinly veiled anti-Semitic rant about "a power in the world that dominates our media, influences our government and that has led to the internal destruction of our will and spirit." In response, Michael Hart, a Jewish astrophysicist and long-time conference attendee, leaped from his seat and declared, "You f*** Nazi, you've disgraced this meeting." What ensued was a testy back and forth in which Duke supporters, including Black and Kelso, jeered Hart's comments and others, who backed Hart, denounced Duke. This incident set off a months-long battle of words, with each side declaring that the other was undermining the broader efforts of the movement.

"These are the makings of a major schism," wrote Shawn Mercer, co-founder and moderator of American Renaissance's AR List, an E-mail group, just after the conference. "If American Renaissance ultimately fails as a result of this donnybrook at the convention, it will be a sad, possibly fatal turn of events for the future of whites." In 2006, Taylor issued what was seen as a weak-kneed statement by his Jewish supporters condemning anti-Semitism but stating clearly that all would be welcome at his conferences regardless of their views and so long as they maintained the proper decorum. That was not enough for many of Taylor's supporters and collaborators, one of whom, Ian Jobling, left to start his own group, Inverted World, which is racist but not anti-Semitic.

Regardless of the dispute, the 2008 American Renaissance conference was well attended, missing from its audience ranks only some former Jewish supporters such as Michael Hart.

Yidden, it's time to make aliyah!

AZ shooter may be tied to anti-Semitic hate group

An internal memo put out by the Department of Homeland Security and obtained by Fox News suggests an anti-Semitic motive behind the AZ shooting.

As posted on Gretawire:

"suspect’s mother works for the Pima County Board of Supervisors* the suspect has multiple arrests ... But no criminal record? Intervention by someone?* no direct connection - but strong suspicion is being directed at AmRen / American Renaissance. Suspect is possibly linked to this group. (through videos posted on his myspace and YouTube account.). The group’s ideology is anti government, anti immigration, anti ZOG (Zionist Occupational Government), anti Semitic. Gabrielle Gifford is the first Jewish female elected to such a high position in the US government. She was also opposite this group’s ideology when it came to immigration debate..." (bold, italics added)

According to JTA, Giffords, who grew up in a mixed religious environment, took interest in her Jewish roots and identity after a 2001 trip to Israel. During her campaign she openly recounted her Jewish upbringing and Jewish tradition among her strengths for the job:

“If you want something done, your best bet is to ask a Jewish woman to do it...Jewish women — by our tradition and by the way we were raised — have an ability to cut through all the reasons why something should, shouldn’t or can’t be done and pull people together to be successful.”

JTA also points out that in one of her last photos, Giffords posed with the new U.S. House of Representatives speaker, Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) at her swearing in, with her hand on the Five Books of Moses.

Combine Giffords' public Jewish identity with the shooter's suspected ties to anti-Semitic hate groups, and it's hard not to cry wolf. This incident begs urgent follow-up questions, which we hope the media are asking: What role does anti-Semitism and Neo-Nazism play in the Tea Party movement? Why are we seeing an anti-Semitic shooting in 22nd-century America? And what is Obama going to do about it?