Article in The Times of Israel by Andy Blumenthal: What is striking to me is that when it comes to hate against the Jews as opposed to hate against other groups, we continually see that “their” rights are immediately supported, while we have to prove that it’s really hate.

1. 11/16/22, 6:16 AM From Outrage to Action on Anti-Semitism | Andy Blumenthal | The Blogs
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/from-outrage-to-action-on-anti-semitism/ 1/6
THE BLOGS
Andy Blumenthal
Leadership With Heart
From Outrage to Action
on Anti-Semitism
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2. 11/16/22, 6:16 AM From Outrage to Action on Anti-Semitism | Andy Blumenthal | The Blogs
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/from-outrage-to-action-on-anti-semitism/ 2/6
Credit Photo: Laura Rosenberg Hosid
Yesterday, anti-Semitism took another bold step in Bethesda, Maryland, right
outside our nation’s capital of Washington, DC.
Laura Rosenberg Hosid had just dropped off her children at their Jewish day
school and was meeting a friend from an Israel trip for what they thought would
be a nice walk along the Bethesda Trolley Trail, an otherwise four mile quaint,
tree-lined walking trail. Instead of a friendly and relaxing walk, they ran into
this horrifying neo-Nazi display of hatred toward Jews.
Along the path, there was spray-painted graffiti of three gallows, where Jews
were presumably being hung, and the ominous words:
At the far right end was their “signature,” with the Nazi swastika and the codes
131 and 1488. The 131 is the National Socialist Club (NSC) 131, a neo-Nazi
group based in New England. And 1488 is a combination of two white
NO MERCY FOR JEWS”
“

3. 11/16/22, 6:16 AM From Outrage to Action on Anti-Semitism | Andy Blumenthal | The Blogs
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/from-outrage-to-action-on-anti-semitism/ 3/6
supremacist hate symbols: The first two numbers are code for their 14-word
slogan:
The second pair of numbers, 88, stands for Heil Hitler (since H is the 8th letter
of the alphabet).
I asked Laura about her experience, and she said:
While I am sure we can all appreciate the protection of free speech under the
First Amendment, certain things may be considered not protected, such as
incitement, threats of serious bodily harm, and “fighting words.” I’ll leave it to
the legal experts to figure out the technicalities of all this and how it applies to
various situations.
We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.”
“
I was obviously horrified to see it, and wonder how many people had already
walked by it yesterday morning without doing anything. But even more
disturbing is when I called the county to report it, the person who answered
the phone told me it was not a police matter because it is free speech, and I
should contact the Parks Department about having it cleaned up. Obviously he
was wrong, and the police have since been investigating!
“
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4. 11/16/22, 6:16 AM From Outrage to Action on Anti-Semitism | Andy Blumenthal | The Blogs
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/from-outrage-to-action-on-anti-semitism/ 4/6
What is striking to me is that when it comes to hate against the Jews as opposed
to hate against other groups, we continually see that “their” rights are
immediately supported, while we have to prove that it’s really hate.
It doesn’t take much imagination to think about what would happen if, instead
of Jews, any of a number of other minorities were being targeted here. There
could be anger, demonstrations, and even different levels of chaos in our cities
and across the country.
Unfortunately, while there will be some people who always hate on others, we
need to carefully monitor for when words spill over into deeds of hate,
discrimination, intimidation, and violence. As the amount of verbal hate goes
up, it is only common sense that these other ugly displays of racism will soon
follow.
Hopefully, our community leaders, police, FBI, and Homeland Security are
paying close attention and will take appropriate preventive action so that we
can avoid another incident like the shooting just four years ago at the Tree of
Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. We need more intelligence, surveillance, officers,
patrols, data-driven policing, self-defense and emergency medical training,
synagogue protection, community outreach, beefed-up reporting systems, and
tougher penalties to start with. We can’t expect the people who hate to stop, but
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5. 11/16/22, 6:16 AM From Outrage to Action on Anti-Semitism | Andy Blumenthal | The Blogs
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/from-outrage-to-action-on-anti-semitism/ 5/6
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andy Blumenthal is a dynamic, award-winning leader who writes frequently about Jewish life,
culture, and security. All opinions are his own.
we do need to keep raising the bar on how to keep our communities safe and
stop hate crimes.
Laura’s experience is a lesson that we can’t just rely on others to sympathize
with us, and even if they do, so what?
Israel has the right idea that “Never Again” requires a strong practical legal
response and not just passive complaining about hate.
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6. 11/16/22, 6:16 AM From Outrage to Action on Anti-Semitism | Andy Blumenthal | The Blogs
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/from-outrage-to-action-on-anti-semitism/ 6/6
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CS Colin R Stephenson
1 hour ago
Dispicable & truly sad
YES “when it comes to hate against the Jews as opposed to hate against other
groups, we continually see that “their” rights are immediately supported, while we
have to prove that it’s really hate.”
The exact same as with demonization of Israel
Every empathy & all good wishes the author of this blog & his community – take
heart & be of good cheer in the hope the world will come to it’s senses
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