The shooter “at the U.S. Holocaust Museum is not a Muslim but a White guy, James W. Von Brunn, who is a neo-Nazi. But that is a distinction without a difference.n fact, it is because of Muslims–who are the biggest contributor to the worldwide rise in anti-Semitism to Holocaust-eve levels–that neo-Nazis feel comfortable–far more comfortable!–manifesting their views about Jews.” – Debbie Schlussel
Huh?
I don’t blame Christianity or Christian leaders or even white supremacists generally for Von Brunn’s murderous action. He is, so far as we know, a lone kook and part of no organized conspiracy. But, really, it’s the Muslims’ fault?!
Schlussel explains,
Until 9/11 and our resulting new tolerance for Islam, the neo-Nazi types were marginalized and howling at the wind. We know who has been targeting Jewish museums and centers affiliated with Jews in recent years. And it hasn’t been, in general, 89-year-old White guys telling people at churches worldwide and in religious schools that the Jews are the devil incarnate, a filthy tribe, the sons of pigs and monkeys, subhuman, etc.
No, it’s guys with names like Mohammed and Ahmed on our own American streets who make Mr. Von Brunn far more at ease in 2009 than he was even in 1999 to attack places associated with the Jews. They created the comfort zone for James W. Brunn to engage in today’s shooting.
The rash of anti-Semitic attacks in America, with a frequency unheard of in previous contemporary U.S. history–on synagogues all over the country, a Jewish community center in Seattle, and now this Holocaust museum–have all happened since 9/11 and our new tolerance for Islam and all of its intolerant extremism. This is no coincidence. It is a correlation.
Unless I’ve missed something, neo-Nazi types are still marginalized and howling at the wind. This is made abundantly clear by the fact that there has in fact not been a “rash” of attacks on Jews in the United States since 9/11. Wikipedia devotes an entire category page to this subject and I count nine domestic attacks over a span of nine years, including yesterday’s incident. Almost all of them have been by neo-Nazis, white racists, or ordinary vandals.
Further, if you click through to the individual entries, we see that some of these places, such as Temple Beth Israel (Eugene, Oregon), were attacked multiple times before the 9/11 attacks. All by non-Muslim white anti-Semites or ordinary vandals seeking to create mischief. It’s hard to argue that the 1994 attacks were caused by George W. Bush being too nice to Muslims seven years later.
DougJ makes a similar point:
I hate to bring Hitler into this, though, as T Paine points out, it’s hard to avoid bringing up Hitler when you’re talking about Nazis, but I have to wonder, does Schlussel believe it was the presence of Islam in Germany that created the comfort zone for Hitler to begin perpetrating the Holocaust? After all, he had been on the planet for over 40 years before he felt comfortable doing it. And what about the pogroms that went on in Europe for hundreds of years? Were they also caused by tolerance for Islam?
Indeed. And, is it just me, or should people who toss around ” the JOOOOOS” to make fun of anti-Semitic views be careful about ascribing views to entire religious and ethnic populations?
Photo by Flickr user Accent on Ecclectic under Creative Commons license.
