‘Genocidal Josh’ and the dangerous normalization of antisemitic rhetoric

Just days after a pro-Palestinian arsonist tried to murder Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family on the first night of Passover by firebombing their residence, a local group called Steel City Food Not Bombs posted a photo of Shapiro on social media, with the caption “Make Genocidal Politicians Afraid Again.” The photo was accompanied by the song “Kill A Politician.”

The irony of a group called “Food Not Bombs” celebrating the actual firebombing of the governor’s home might be almost comical, if it weren’t so abhorrent.

The man who was arrested for attempting to kill the governor told police that he was motivated by anger because of what Shapiro “wants to do to the Palestinian people.”

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It’s unclear exactly what he meant by that, what power he thinks the governor of Pennsylvania has over the lives of people in the Middle East. But it’s not the first time Shapiro has been vilified for reasons connected to Israel’s defensive war against the terrorist group Hamas.

Last summer, Shapiro was a frontrunner to be Kamala Harris’ running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket. There were three other frontrunners at the time — Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who was ultimately chosen. While all four men had pro-Israel records, Shapiro was the only one relentlessly attacked by progressives because of his support for Israel — and the only one who is Jewish.

The campaign to keep Shapiro off the ticket was pushed by the Democratic Socialists of America and a Twitter feed called “No Genocide Josh,” organized in part by “Dear White Staffers,” a social media account that Jewish Insider reported is run by a staffer for Squirrel Hill’s congressional representative, Summer Lee.

As Yair Rosenberg noted in The Atlantic at the time, “There are no viral memes against ‘Killer Kelly’ or ‘War-Crimes Walz.’”

But “Genocidal Josh” was nonetheless all over social media. And now the moniker is being weaponized by a Pittsburgh-based group whose ostensible purpose is to feed the hungry.

It’s hard to say for sure whether the firebomber was motivated by the “Genocidal Josh” campaign of last summer.

But what we do know for sure is that the normalization of online hate can and has inspired antisemites to commit violent and deadly acts. The Pittsburgh synagogue shooter, who murdered 11 people from three congregations in the Tree of Life building in 2018, for example, was radicalized by antisemitic rhetoric online.

Steel City Food Not Bombs is not the only local group posting vile antisemitic content. There are several. A few months ago, for example, one of those groups ran “wanted posters” with the photos of several Jews and allies of Jews, saying they were wanted for complicity in genocide.

Hate speech is generally protected by the First Amendment, unless it incites imminent violence, or could be reasonably interpreted as an immediate threat to do harm. We need those protections to remain in place in order to preserve our democracy.

But that doesn’t mean there is nothing we can do.

Facebook, Instagram, X and other social media platforms have community standards that, if violated, could result in accounts being suspended or banned, so it’s important to report harmful posts that could incite violence.

It’s also important to call out antisemitism when you see it. While in the case of Shapiro, there was a veil of political criticism, that veil was thin and transparent.

Moreover, it’s essential that we urge our elected officials to call out antisemitism regardless of its source and even if it comes from their political allies.

The Anti-Defamation League reported this week that it recorded 9,354 antisemitic incidents across the country in 2024, a number almost 10 times that recorded a decade ago, in 2014.

Antisemitic violence will not be quelled unless antisemitic rhetoric is exposed for what it is. Sometimes it rears its head in obvious ways and sometimes it hides behind politics. But as it continues to surge in 21st-century America, we must address all of it. PJC