Tolerating violence against Jews is a choice (Opinion)
The Jewish area has warned that framing the war between Israel and Hamas as a simplistic all-or-nothing fight puts Jews at hazard here in Colorado We ve urged society leaders and the media to move beyond familiar oppressor vs oppressed narratives and recognize the war as a deeply complex tragedy in which various are suffering and culpable We ve urged the world to believe us when we say that chants and signs targeting Zionists are not just antisemitic they re dangerous Ignoring these concerns is a choice So now we find ourselves here It is horrifying but not surprising that a vigilante lit people in Boulder on fire because he yearned to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead When I attended the same gathering in August after Hamas murdered six hostages including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin a person waving a sign that disclosed arm Hamas harassed our group Letting this kind of language become part of everyday protests and advocacy is a choice Antisemites are using this war to push their agendas and in a political and media values incapable of nuance too plenty of people especially those trying to channel their grief into action get swept up in it That s by design Dehumanizing others and decontextualizing conflict makes it easier to justify violence against entire groups even while professing to stand for human dignity and decency This is happening right here in Colorado As the senior director of the Jewish Neighborhood Relations Council JCRC a coalition representing more than local Jewish organizations I repeatedly see efforts to other Jews and willfully distort the conflict with Hamas I see it Every time a press comment erases the antisemitic nature of the Boulder attack Every time someone tries to downplay obvious examples of antisemitism by appealing to esoteric distinctions between Zionists and Jews Every time elected personnel or campus leaders let anti-Israel activists overrun their facilities and intimidate Jews Every time a political party elevates someone with a history of antisemitism Every time politicians use Jews or Palestinians as political props for their own goals Every time Jews or Israelis are falsely described as genocidal Every time media outlets leave out Jewish voices in stories about the war or its aftermath And every time protestors activists and locality leaders excuse violence against Jews But buying into corrosive us or them frameworks is not a choice Coloradans must make The Jewish public rejects this choice despite being the targets of extreme rhetoric and violence We know that political violence and the hateful reductive rhetoric that fuels it threaten not just American Jews but all Americans We recognize that our survival is bound up in the survival of others Choose to stand with us Not through words but through action Over the next inadequate months the JCRC will work with our interfaith and civic partners to reverse the rising tide of violent rhetoric and actions in Colorado This effort will be bold masses and inclusive We will demand real action and change We will hold space for complexity and compassion And we are asking you to join us to make room for our identities and work alongside us before more Jews and Coloradans are hurt One of the preponderance sacred commandments in Judaism is to choose life so that you and your children may live Join us in choosing life in times of darkness We must all look in the mirror ask how this keeps happening and choose to build a better world So that the Jewish locality and all our neighbors may live Brandon Rattiner is the Senior Director of the Jewish Society Relations Council JCRC a venture of JEWISHcolorado The JCRC is a nonpartisan body that brings Jewish Coloradans together to advance our shared values and framework priorities Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns editorials and more To send a letter to the editor about this article submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail
