A call for leadership in the face of rising antisemitism

As a Jewish resident of Squirrel Hill and a faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh, I have watched with shock and trepidation over the past several months as anti-Israel agitators have invaded my neighborhood and communities.

Since Oct. 7, Jewish communities across the United States and other “Westernized” countries have faced a rising tide of antisemitism reflected in hateful and threatening speech, calls for the dismantling of Jewish community spaces and organizations, and even physical aggression toward community members and law enforcement officers.

In Pittsburgh, we have witnessed vandalism and destruction of property (expressed most recently in the defacement of the Chabad of Squirrel Hill building, a sacred house of worship and hub of Jewish life in Squirrel Hill, featuring a red inverted triangle — a symbol used by Hamas to mark Israeli military targets), several illegal encampments on Pitt’s campus, attempts to intimidate a local business that sells Israeli products and thinly veiled “anti-Zionist” propaganda targeting Jews and Israelis based on nothing more than those identities.

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It is no wonder that I and many other community members are feeling on edge. We are told over and over that Pittsburgh is “stronger than hate,” that the community won’t tolerate antisemitism and that we must be proactive in countering hateful tropes that could lead to a repeat of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting — yet many of our public officials refuse to call these acts antisemitism, implying that we should wait forebodingly until what we all know are harbingers of violence culminate in actual violence.

I have paid careful attention to the escalation in tactics used by the “protesters” over the preceding months, and this most recent round of vandalism is the natural consequence of a lukewarm (at best) response from our elected officials. The city set a dangerous precedent during the first illegal anti-Israel encampment in Schenley Plaza in April in which protesters were permitted to engage in a dayslong takeover of a public park, free of charge, after a post-hoc waiver of the permit application fee, in clear violation of a city ordinance.

Whether the actors in the more recent acts of vandalism, or the second round of illegal encampments in June, were the same individuals who camped on Schenley Plaza a few months earlier, I am certain they were emboldened and empowered by what they saw: a clear signal that certain community members may freely impinge upon and cause destruction to public spaces with no regard for the law (not only overlooked by, but actively encouraged by the city, including local elected officials), choose when they are ready to leave and face no consequences whatsoever.
I am a liberal Democrat who firmly believes in and values free speech. However, free speech needs to be exercised within the bounds of the law. It is the local government’s job to enforce that expectation, and our local government has repeatedly failed.

As a taxpayer, I rely on the city to keep my neighborhood safe, but as a Jewish community member, I don’t feel any safer knowing that individuals who would vandalize property, call for violence and forcefully take over shared community spaces continue to be at large and face no consequences for their lawlessness.

While some of our elected officials have stood up loudly and forcefully to condemn discrimination against the Jewish community — notably, almost all of them Jews themselves —most have issued weak, conciliatory statements and many have actively encouraged the agitators. This sends the message that we are on our own.

I urge my fellow Jews, and all Jewish allies, to demand from our elected officials the same treatment we would expect for any other group facing intimidation and bigotry — that our concerns are taken seriously; that there is no preferential treatment for those who break the law, no matter what their political views may be; and that the city leadership ensures the protection of all of its citizens, not just those whose messages may conveniently align with its own political agenda.PJC

Andrea Beth Goldschmidt is an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.