HOLDING THIS COMMUNITY TOGETHER NOW AS THIS ENTIRE GROUP SITS
SHIVA AS A NEIGHBORHOOD.
>> THIS SHOOTING IN PITTSBURGH,
PUT THIS IN PERSPECTIVE.
IT COMES AMID WHAT THE
ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE SAYS IS A
RECORD RISE INMANTI-SEMITIC
ATTACKS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
JONATHAN, SATURDAY MORNING, WHEN
YOU FIRST HEARD THESE REPORTS,
WHAT WENT THROUGH YOUR MIND?
>> I WAS IN SYNAGOGUE AND I HAD
MY PHONE WITH ME BUT I’M NOT
LOOKING AT IT OF COURSE AND IT
WAS BUZZING AND BUZZING.
WHEN I WALKED OUT OF THE
SYNAGOGUE, I OPENED IT UP AND I
COULDN’T BELIEVE WHAT I READ.
I WILL TELL YOU AS THE HEAD OF
THE ADL, THE THING THAT KEEPS ME
UP AT NIGHT HAS BEEN THE WORRY
THAT I WOULD WAKE UP ONE MORNING
AND READ ABOUT AN INCIDENT IN
EUROPE, IN PARIS, BELGIUM OR
SWEDEN, WHERE I WOULD SEE A
SYNAGOGUE WAS ATTACKED.
I WOULD ASK MYSELF HAD I DONE
ENOUGH TO PROTECT THOSE PEOPLE?
THERE ARE ARMED GUARDS.
THERE ARE MEN IN UNIFORMS WITH
WEAPONS IN FRONT OF THESE
SYNAGOGUES AND SCHOOLS.
I AM USED TO A SECURITY CORDON.
I USED TO GO TO SECRET SERVICE
EVERY DAY TO GET INTO THE WEST
WING.
WING. THE THINGS I’VE SEEN THERE, YOU
KNOW, HAVE LEFT MY -- MADE MY
HEART SINK.
HEART SINK. AND HERE IT WAS HAPPENING RIGHT
HERE IN THIS COUNTRY AT HOME AT
THE KIND OF SYNAGOGUE I WAS
LITERALLY IN MYSELF.
>> TAKE US THERE.
TEM US ABOUT THE SQUIRREL HILL
NEIGHBORHOOD.
NEIGHBORHOOD. IS THIS A PLACE THAT IT DOESN’T
CERTAINLY SOUND LIKE IT’S A
PLACE THAT HAS A LOT OF
CONFLICT.
CONFLICT. CERTAINLY NOT KNOWN FOR
INTOLERANCE.
INTOLERANCE. IT’S A COMMUNITY.
>> ARE YOU KIDDING, RIGHT.
LIKE THIS IS A NEIGHBORHOOD.
THIS IS WHAT YOU WOULD CALL IN
YIDDISH A HAMASHA NEIGHBORHOOD.
THESE PEOPLE WERE GRANDPARENTS
AND MOTHERS AND FATHERS.
MY PHONE AND MY E-MAIL HAVE BEEN
INUNDATED OVER THE LAST 48 HOURS
WITH PEOPLE TELLING ME I WAS
MARRIED THERE.
MARRIED THERE. I GREW UP THERE.
I WENT TO HEBREW SCHOOL IN THAT
SYNAGOGUE.
SYNAGOGUE. BAR MITZVAH IN THAT VERY PLACE.
LITERALLY A MEMBER OF MY
COMMUNICATIONS TEAM CALLED ME
ALMOST IN TEARS SATURDAY.
SO THIS HITS HOME.
AND I THINK SOMETHING THAT’S
IMPORTANT TO NOTE, YOU KNOW.
RACISM ISN’T ONLY THE PROBLEM OF
BLACK PEOPLE, IT’S ALL OUR
PROBLEMS.
PROBLEMS. HOMOPHOBIA ISN’T ONLY THE
PROBLEM OF GAY PEOPLE, IT’S ALL
OUR PROBLEM.
OUR PROBLEM. ANTI-SEMITISM ONLY ISN’T AN
ISSUE FOR THE JEWISH COMMUNITY,
IT IS EVERYONE’S PROBLEM.
WE KNOW FROM HISTORY THE JEWS
ARE THE CANARY IN THE COAL MINE.
>> WHERE’S THIS COMING FROM?
THE ADL HAS A STATISTIC THERE
HAS BEEN A 57% SPIKE IN
ANTI-SEMITIC INCIDENTS SINCE
2017.
2017. WHERE IS THIS COMING FROM?
>> I THINK THERE ARE A FEW
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND.
I THINK NUMBER ONE ANTI-SEMITISM
HAS ALWAYS BEEN WITH US.
THEY CALL IT THE OLDEST HATRED
FOR A REASON.
JEWS HAVE BEEN AS A MINORITY
LIVING IN OTHER SOCIETIES.
JEWS HAVE BEEN TARGETED AND
PERSECUTE AND VICTIMIZED OVER
THE AGES.
THE AGES. SO THERE’S NOTHING NEW.
THERE HAVE BEEN ANTI-SEMITIC
ATTITUDES IN THIS COUNTRY SINCE
IT WAS FOUNDED.
HOWEVER --
HOWEVER -- >> BUT WHY NOW?
>> YES, WHY NOT, THE MOST LETHAL
AND VIOLENT ATTACK ON OUR
COMMUNITY IN THE HISTORY OF THE
UNITED STATES.
UNITED STATES. NUMBER ONE, I THINK THE
POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT ABSOLUTELY
LY CONTRIBUTES TO IT.
WE HAVE PEOPLE AT THE HIGHEST
LEVEL OF AUTHORITY.
WE HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO USES THE
PHRASE AMERICA FIRST.
A PHRASE DEVELOPED BY LINDBERGH
IN THE ’30s --
>> YES, BUT HE COULD MAKE THE
ARGUMENT, JEWS ARE AMERICANS
TOO, WE’RE ALL AMERICANS.
>> BUT WHEN YOU GO ON ABOUT
CONSPIRACY THEORYS THAT
LITERALLY LEAP OFTEN THE PAGES
OF WHITE SUPREMACIST PAGE BOOKS
ABOUT GEORGE SORROS AND WHEN YOU
TALK ABOUT GLOBALISTS AND OTHER
PHRASES USED BY EXTREMISTS.
WE HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE IN THE
CHARGED ENVIRONMENT, THERE’S A
REASON WHY DAVID DUKE FEELS A
LICENSE TO OPERATE.
>> WE WATCH OUR PRESIDENT TALK
BADLY ABOUT GLOBALISTS, THE
MEDIA, INTERNATIONAL BANKS AND
WE KNOW WHAT THAT’S CODE FOR.
WHY DON’T LEADERS TODAY -- WE’VE
HEARD THIS, WHY DON’T LEADERS
TODAY STAND UP AND SAY THIS
ISN’T RIGHT?
ISN’T RIGHT? >> IT’S A SAD STATE WHEN
ANTI-SEMITISM’S ALMOST BECOMING
NORMALIZED.
NORMALIZED. WHEN WE ROLL OUR EYES AT THE
ABNORMAL.
ABNORMAL. YOU’VE SEEN IT INFEST AND TAKE
HOLD IN THE POLITICAL
CONVERSATION.
CONVERSATION. WE’VE BEEN CALLING OUT CANADA
TRUMP AND PRESIDENT TRUMP AGAIN
AND AGAIN.
AND AGAIN. BUT I NEED TO TELL YOU SOMETHING
ELSE AS WELL.
SO THIS ISSUE’S BIGGER THAN ANY
ONE PERSON, RIGHT.
SO THE PRESIDENT HAS A ROLE TO
PLAY.
PLAY. HE HAS THE BIGGEST MEGAPHONE.
MAKE NO MISTAKE.
PEOPLE IN ALL POSITION, OF
AUTHORITY AND HERE’S WHAT I
MEAN, THAT 57% INCREASE WHICH IS
VERY REAL, THESE ARE ACTS OF
HARASSMENT, VANITYDALISM AND
VIOLENCE.
VIOLENCE. ALMOST A 90% INCREASE OF ACTS ON
COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES.
ANTI-SEMITISM ON CAMPUS AND
UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS ARE SLOW
TO CALL IT OUT.
WE SAW ALMOST A DOUBLING, A
DOUBLING OF ANTI-SEMITIC ABUSE
AND BULLYING HARASSMENT AT K
THROUGH 12 SCHOOLS.
LITERALLY 94% YEAR ON YEAR.
TOO OFTEN PRINCIPALS AND EVEN
PARENTS ROLL THEIR EYES AND SAY
"KIDS WILL BE KIDS."
I WOULD SUGGEST THAT EVERYBODY
HAS A RESPONSIBILITY, EVERYBODY
HAS A POSITION WHO HAS A
POSITION OF INFLUENCE, TO
INTERRUPT ANTI-SEMITISM WHEN IT
HAPPENS.
HAPPENS. TAKE IT AS DEADLY SERIOUSLY AS
WE SAW WHAT THE DEADLY