From the Jewish Federation of Lehigh Valley: On Sunday evening, we were notified of an unfortunate event at Christkindlmarkt, a holiday market in Bethlehem organized by ArtsQuest. At least four people were seen wearing T-shirts that read, “It’s Okay to be White. Less than 1% of White US Households Owned Slaves but Every Slave Ship & Auction was Owned by Jews.” These same people were heard telling patrons that “Jews were responsible” for the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, as well as slavery, and that Jews “own and run everything.” According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the “It’s Okay To Be White” slogan became popular with white supremacists several years ago, and it is upsetting to see people wearing these shirts and making these hateful comments in our community.
Within an hour of being notified of the event, Robby Wax, President of JFLV, spoke with Vicki Doule’, the Chair of the Board of Directors for ArtsQuest, as well as Kassie Hilgert, President & CEO of ArtsQuest. Both Vicki and Kassie expressed their disappointment that patrons wore T-shirts with a hateful message and made these statements at an event designed to celebrate the peace and tranquility of the Christmas holiday. Kassie also spoke with Aaron Gorodzinsky, JFLV’s Director of Campaign & Security Planning, to convey her support for the Jewish community and ArtsQuest’s clear position against antisemitism. As a result of this occurrence, ArtsQuest is reviewing its policies to prepare for any similar circumstances that may arise in the future. ArtsQuest also issued a statement on social media on Sunday night condemning antisemitism.
Despite this incident, we should be mindful of the wonderful support we have received and are continuing to receive from the non-Jewish community across the Lehigh Valley in response to increasing antisemitism. For example, the mayors of Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton each signed proclamations this week against antisemitism. We will receive the Easton proclamation on Tuesday at the community menorah lighting ceremony. The Allentown and Bethlehem proclamations are pictured below. In addition, Bethlehem Mayor William Reynolds will join several interfaith leaders on Monday night to help light a Menorah, and our entire community is invited to join as we celebrate Hanukkah. You can find additional information about the event here.
Events like this one are alarming, but we are prepared to respond to antisemitism wherever it arises. We began our “Shine A Light” campaign specifically for this purpose, and we appreciate your support as we continue to partner with organizations and leaders within and outside our community on this important mission.
57 comments:
Isa the "its ok to be white" a separate slogan than the antisemitic comments? That statement in and of itself does not seem off3ensive, while tying it to antisemitism is not good at all.
Wall Street Journal reported this week that NYC had an AntiSemitic (hate crime ) against Jews events on the average of every 17 minutes in November! Now the Jewish people make up less than 20 % of the population in NYC, yet they were targeted somewhere and someway 60% of the hate crimes. What’s wrong with people? I have had this year , a man of the cloth come to our range all the way from NYC to practice his defense and his marksmanship. He was seriously concerned about his safety, and security at his place of prayer. I’m happy to say, that when he was at our range , he’s one of our members and there IS TRUE DIVERSITY amongst our constituents.
Thank you Joe Biden for your leadership leading our beloved country to situations such as this. No law No order
So, four people wearing T-shirts with an antisemitic message is now an EVENT. An event that requires the collective outrage of everyone. Maybe it would be better to demand the collective ignoring of such T-shirt messages. Such messages are there to provoke just such outrage. I guess they got all they hoped for by poking the collective to respond.
Actually I guess the art world has been poking the collective for ever, with outrageous messaging, most of it is a desire for attention. Something that most artists crave, sometimes by any means. Attention gained is a reward, no attention a rebuke.
I remember the crucifix in urine, Oh, what a wonderful expression of art. Of course a first amendment right. So what is the remedy? I expect more censorship and more government action.
It’s unfortunate when people feel a need to present themselves this way. But, to be honest, this group could label themselves White Lives Matter couldn’t they?
I bet their mothers are proud
Of course none of them are Trump supporters, Faux ‘News’ , OAN or Newsmax viewers or fans of Kanye West.
So they called out the anti-semitism but ignored the blatant anti-blackness and racist statements in that exact same t-shirt. Typical Lehigh Valley.
Anyone with half a brain knows the “1% percent owned slaves” assertion to be a myth, and an attempt to downplay and whitewash history. The fact is that more than 20 percent of southern states owned slaves, and states like Mississippi and South Carolina owned as much as 50 percent.
No one is blaming you personally for the atrocities of slavery, but what are you doing going forward to make this country more equitable for EVERYONE living here, not just whites.
If they were indeed going around harassing people as stated, then they should have been taken out by police and charged with at least creating a disturbance and harassment. So yeah, it's an incident. 7:24 Are you an apologist for this group by try to equate them with the BLM movement? Fyi, as you should know our country has systematically valued white people more than black people otherwise there would have been no need to create laws explicitly forbidding that. It's called discrimination.
Would you keep this same energy if I wore a t-shirt that read:
“Why are we celebrating fallen soldiers of the wars, they knew what they were getting into…”
“Why do we care about prisoners of war, they got caught, forget about them…”
What if you read these on a t-shirt during a Christkindlmarkt? Would you be perturbed?
Did ArtsQuest charge them an additional "FEE"?
" Anyone with half a brain knows the “1% percent owned slaves” assertion to be a myth, and an attempt to downplay and whitewash history. The fact is that more than 20 percent of southern states owned slaves, and states like Mississippi and South Carolina owned as much as 50 percent. "
well, not exactly a myth. 1.4 percent of the United States total population were slaveholders in 1860. That is a fact. You can bump that number up a bit, since those folks who owned slaves were the heads of households, and everyone in that household ostensibly had "ownership" over the slaves. Roughly 20% of households in slave states owned slaves.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/07/16/fact-check-social-media-post-underrepresents-slave-ownership-1860/7980243002/
Of course, the above numbers don't contemplate the many immigrants who came to this country during or after the civil war, and had to role whatsoever in slavery, except those, like my great great grandfather, who was conscripted off the boat and fought in the Union Army.
"Fyi, as you should know our country has systematically valued white people more than black people "
and you should know that only in the very recent history have Jewish folks been considered "white"
9.38 , your racism is as evident as the t shirt wearers. Examine yourself for your own hate before condemning others of another race.
If a group of blacks attack whites the excuse is “ they cannot help it as they were raised in a bad home” but if some whites attack blacks then it is “an ugly racial incident”.
I'd have liked to see private citizens organize to confront these idiots and demand they leave or lose their shirts.
All Lives Matter/ White Lives Matter and all other variants were created as a direct response to BLM and often used to derail calls for racial justice, originated from the imagined white victimhood and false accusation that no other lives matter, other than black lives. But that’s not the message.
The Black Lives Matter movement was created to bring awareness to the disproportionate amount of violent incidents involving police against the black and brown communities.
Saying “Black Lives Matter” is neither separatist nor racist. It is not anti-white, and, contrary to what some in the media may say, it is definitely not anti-police. It does not denote, promote, or support hatred of or violence against any ethnic group. Let me say that again: it does not promote or support hatred or violence against any group. It is about promoting the love of self and African-American rights to equal justice and fairness.
The more you know.
Perhaps Kassie Hilgert etc. should also review the apparently now accepted "Drag Queens" at the Musikfest Cafe during Musikfest. What an unbelievably tasteless waste of an expensive venue.
"I'd have liked to see private citizens organize to confront these idiots and demand they leave or lose their shirts."
The most meaningful way to confront this antisemitism is by exposing it. In most case, the antidote to hate speech is with speech that exposes the hate.
If you want to monitor every stupid comment, shirt, hat, look of people, then you better get more police, and a good "freedom of speech" attorney.
Main thing is to ignore them. DO NOT give them a platform, or you will have more kooks out there being even more daring.
We can play semantics with numbers all day long, and your futile attempt to minimize the effects of slavery as a “not all white people” argument is actually perpetuating white supremacy.
You’re eager to play defense when you should be unpacking and dismantling the systems of oppression that your ancestors put in place to suppress marginalized communities.
It’s okay if you don’t want to do the work, but don’t hide behind your supposed “gotcha” response, when all along you just want to continue to uphold white supremacy because it’s been benefiting you all this time.
Their mothers and fathers have all colluded to raise them this way. Not only do they know, they support it.
BLM has morphed into a money laundering scheme. A shakedown of corporations. There may be a disproportion of police violence against people of color, but that is likely due to the fact that blacks commit crimes disproportionally to any other race. They took "Cops" off the air, but in most of those episodes cops were shaking down white criminals. Tackling them. Using choke holds, etc. At times there were black cops bringing down white perps. But I could care less. If a criminal is resisting arrest and the officer feels as though he/she must use force, so be it. It is not a matter of black or white. A dangerous criminal is a dangerous criminal and the use of force may be necessary.
Sounds like something Steve "I said what I said" Lynch would latch on to. Am I right Uhuru guy?
Four idiots perhaps not even from this area chose to do this in our Christmas City. It was purposeful and despicable. We know there are horrible people in this world but those four do not define us. Don't get sucked in that's exactly what they want to further divide us.
Bernie, thanks for calling this to the attention of the community.
Black, Indian and people of color don’t have the privilege, nor should they ever ignore hate and bigotry. It should always be stomped and called out immediately at the source.
Not doing so is perpetuating white supremacy.
Dude. He gave you facts which you chose to call semantics lol. This is how we debate now. Facts are “gotcha” statements. Then you went into a big diatribe basically accusing him of being a supporter of white supremacy. His grandfather fought for the union army for Christ sake how bout thanking him instead.
These people are ignorant idiots. They are looking to sue someone for violating their freedom of speech so make policy accordingly so nobody gets sued.
6:16am- I'm sure the next time one (and only one) sports player decides to kneel during the national anthem, your panties would bunch and you would certainly call it a protest. I'm further positive that you wouldn't call to simply ignore such a message. Moreover, you would be call for a collective outrage.
1:29 that’s correct. 4 morons do not define our community.
The point is this latest group to disrupt a function to call attention to their views (at an ArtsQuest event) is no more a heinous act than the multiple distractions by Black Lives Matter all across this nation. Agree, or not, with their views, BOTH need to be either tolerated, ignored for their intrusion. Should either do criminal physical harm to other persons, or damage the property of another, all such groups need to be prosecuted.
Wear whatever t-shirt messages you want, hold your signs, scream for attention, doesn’t matter to me. Most observers of your conduct, however, will find you and your methods less attractive than you would want. I know I’d never be moved in your direction.
"Benefiting from white supremacy" is such a meaningless term. You assume your position actually has merit. What people refer to today as "white supremacy" is actually just Western cultural and social traditions. How many years do you intend on banging the drum on slavery? What percentage of the population has to be non-white before it's good enough? It seems like the only answer good enough for your crowd is when European traditions and ethnicities are totally eliminated in the USA.
Definitely not anti police? Stop. BLM Philly has called for the complete abolition of police, jails, and the criminal justice system as we know it.
http://www.blmphilly.com/campaigns/abolition/
I’d say when you want the police abolished your anti police lol.
I see Justan is on here again trying to get everyone riled up. He’s part of the problem, not part of the solution. Telling people they support white supremacy isn’t a great way to start a productive conversation on race.
Another white supremacy and conservative talking point. Black Lives Matter the movement hasn’t morph into anything. This reality is ever present and plaguing marginalized communities every single day.
The foundation portion of the Black Lives Matter has been criticized by movement members and community organizations for financial disparity and misrepresentation. (You know, very similar to every shell company Sonald Trump has ever created) These actions by this organization is not representative of the movement started by grassroots efforts seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people.
Lastly, your racist tirade about black people committing more crime than whites is simply NOT true and also doesn’t factor in that black and brown communities are over-policed and experience far more aggressive law enforcement encounters that are initiated by mostly white patrol officers that have racist pre-conceived notions about black subjects. Just look at all of the recent white mass shooters have been “softly and gently” taken alive by police, even after actively murdering people minutes before. An unarmed black man is more likely to be killed disproportionately higher by a police officer in a traffic stop, than a white person - that’s a fact.
Freedom of speech AKA “Uhuru!” Is a tenant of Brother Steve’s philosophical framework you are right and welcome to join us for prayer and fellowship in addition to famous 10 egg omelette post workout anytime you put down the Nintendo switch controller in daddies basement
"You’re eager to play defense when you should be unpacking and dismantling the systems of oppression that your ancestors put in place to suppress marginalized communities."
Actually, my ancestors put no systems of oppression in place anywhere. My direct ancestor, however, won the Congressional Medal of Honor in the Battle of the Wilderness freeing (only a guess here) your ancestors. I think the concept of reparations is absurd, but If you insist, contact Bernie, and he'll let you know how I'll accept payment.
@5:19
Where the hell were you on. January 6th insurrection. Are you for jailing Trump?
Bernie 11:11,
So we should go up to the MAGA hat and shirt wearing Neanderthals and demand them to leave or lose the hat or shirt?
12:36
Will you please start reading and learning about the decades of white injustices we caused on the black community so you won’t sound like a white raciest like you are.
They won and will claim victory because we are giving it airtime and newsprint .
I guess their Brown Shirts were in the wash.
They’re anti-police brutality. Unfortunately, being a police officer nowadays is synonymous with abuse of power and corruption that runs so deep, they need to be pulled out from the roots and reorganized.
This blog post is about Our Jew Friend or religious freedom, that is being targeted. My friend just left my home. I an no position person on religious identity would guard his family as they sleep. If they were threatened I will stand in their home with heavy stuff . People have to shut up. Jew,Muslim , Catholic, I don’t care , my dad would say in a funny way “ watch those Methodist ! His mother was a Methodist,haha. Please calm down .
@2:24
I’m not your fucking dude. But YOUR dude forgot to quote the part of the article that states the “1.4% percent figure is misleading and needs to be understood.”
There’s nuances to this conversation and your ignorance is not my burden. You want to have a conversation about this, fuck you, pay me.
But the fact of the matter is that white people instantly go in the defense when talking about slavery, when they should be using their energy on dismantling the systems of oppression that effect marginalized communities. Your energy is misplaced, my DUUUDE…
FOH
@ 3:02
You want to know how stupid you are?
The Uhuru Movement (Pronounced /ÊŠhÊŠrÊŠ/ is the Swahili word for "freedom")[1] is an American-based SOCIALIST and African internationalist movement founded in 1972 and led by the African People's Socialist Party (APSP),[2] whose chairman is Omali Yeshitela. It is centered on the theory of African internationalism, which it says provides a historical materialist explanation for the social and economic conditions of African people worldwide.
So stop using it for your racist and fascist ideology!
White people can’t come up with anything original, so they steal everything, even if they don’t understand the meaning behind social movements.
What an Idiot you are.
"So we should go up to the MAGA hat and shirt wearing Neanderthals and demand them to leave or lose the hat or shirt?"
I said nothing of the sort. I said the best way to deal with hate speech is with speech that exposes the hate. Incidentally, I have nothing against the MAGA hat or even most of those who sport them, unless they are fascists or hateful.
Pollyanna white guilt talking points. Proportionately blacks commit more crimes than other ethnic groups. That is a fact. How many murders every week in Chicago are black on black crime? How many store mob robberies are clearly that by young blacks? When 70% of black households are single parent, mostly without fathers, it is not surprising that young men gravitate towards gangs and criminal behavior. It would be helpful if black celebrities addressed the root causes of the higher percentage of criminal behavior rather than blame the justice system.
@6:15
Yawn. Please cite your source where black people, not “blacks” commit the most crimes because statistically speaking, Chicago is not even in the top five of most violent states:
1)Louisiana - 12.4 per 100k
2)Missouri - 9.8 per 100k
3)Nevada - 9.1 per 100k
4)Maryland - 9 per 100k
5)Arkansas - 8.6 per 100k
6)Alaska - 8.4 per 100k
7)Alabama - 8.3 per 100k
8)Mississippi - 8.2 per 100k
9)Illinois - 7.8 per 100k
10)South Carolina - 7.8 per 100k
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/most-dangerous-states
Proximity crime (black on black) is irrelevant because people of the same race usually commit more crimes against their own. In other words, white people commit more crimes against other white people based on their proximity to each other. So your indirect attempt to be racist against black people isn't working.
Just say you hate black and brown people and be done with it.
6:15
Bill Cosby was bashing black fathers for not sticking around for the family. But your that is a fact is pure bullshit, proportionally perhaps they are scoped out and wrongly convicted because they lack the funds to fight the charges and take the plea bargaining charge. Remember the Central Park 5. Where the five Black and Latino teens who were falsely accused and convicted of attacking and raping the jogger in 1989. Santana, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, and Yusef Salaam each spent a range of five to 11 years in prison for a crime they did not commit. They were teenagers and the MAGA bullshitter, trump, place a full page as in the New York Times, and he demanded the Death Penalty for the 5 kids who were found innocent after being jailed for many, many years. So I blame the justice system and bigots like you.
Between the Marxist drivel you regurgitate so well and the educational system that spawned you, “marginalized communities” will remain marginalized and oppressed for a very long time.
It’s like you’re doing the racists’ work for them.
I think at this point if you're wearing a MAGA hat, you fall into that category
anon 9:38 and your otter angry remarks. You are one hateful person. It doesn't matter if you are white or not, you are sick and need help. You must have some real problems. Frankly, you are a bigot!
"But YOUR dude forgot to quote the part of the article that states the “1.4% percent figure is misleading and needs to be understood.”
no, I didn't. the facts speak for themselves. I get that they are uncomfortable for your narrative, but there they are.
"There’s nuances to this conversation and your ignorance is not my burden. You want to have a conversation about this, fuck you, pay me.
But the fact of the matter is that white people instantly go in the defense when talking about slavery, when they should be using their energy on dismantling the systems of oppression that effect marginalized communities"
I love a guy that says...theres NUANCE to this conversation, and then falls back on the tired, empty sophistry that progressives wield like a talisman. systems of oppression my old, hairy arse.
funny thing is, this Blog is supposed to be about antisemitism, and it was, until you hijacked it. why don't we just it go back to that hmmm?
7:24- White Lives Matter? Isn't that Kanye West's far right, neo- fascist, movement.
Uncomfortable for who? An entire civil war was fought over slavery, seems like it was a big deal for half of the country back then, so stop attempting to minimize slavery and just accept that it was wrong, and start doing your part to dismantle the systems of oppression that you benefit from, and help level the playing field.
Or not, and keep being a racist bigot that you are, but don’t pretend to be a scholar in a subject you can give two shits about.
there were seven or eight of these guys with masks at the easton farmers market a couple of weeks ago
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