The Forward: One Year Since Pittsburgh: The Danger of False Equivalence on Anti-Semitism

By Halie Soifer

As we remember the 11 lives lost one year ago, it is incumbent on us to also recognize that the primary source of threats to American Jewry come from white nationalists inciting and perpetrating violence. Any suggestion otherwise creates a false equivalence between virulent hatred and incitement to violence on the one hand, and a range of views on Israel – some driven by anti-Semitism – on the other.

President Trump’s repeated use of anti-Semitic, xenophobic and racist rhetoric has emboldened hate groups to become more public in expressing their dangerous vitriol. From the campaign trail to the Oval Office, Trump has publicly appealed to white nationalists and invoked the anti-Semitic tropes, symbols and conspiracy theories tracked here. This has directly corresponded with an increase in anti-Semitic incidents, which rose 60% during Trump’s first year in office, the largest single-year increase on record.

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