In memory of the 11
We are distressed that Pittsburgh, which claimed to be “stronger than hate” back then, is still grappling with antisemitism.
We were heartbroken to learn earlier this month that the memorial outside Pittsburgh Allderdice High School, honoring the lives of the 11 Jews murdered in the Tree of Life building, was vandalized and that the plaque listing their names was stolen.
The memorial was a gift from the high school’s 2018-19 boys’ basketball team and was inscribed with the words: “As long as we live, they too will live; for they are now a part of us as we remember them.”
The memorial paid tribute to cherished community members Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Dan Stein, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger.
We are grateful that Allderdice officials have promised to replace the plaque before Oct. 27, the date we mark six years since an antisemitic gunman attacked three congregations, turning our Jewish community’s world upside down.
But we are distressed that Pittsburgh, which claimed to be “stronger than hate” back then, is still grappling with antisemitism. Since Oct. 7, 2023, there have been more than 200 antisemitic incidents here, many fueled by venom for Israel.
We have no information on the identity or motivation of the vandal who desecrated the Allderdice memorial. But with so much anti-Israel rhetoric proliferating throughout our city, including from some of our local politicians, we are not surprised it happened — even though the memorial for the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting victims had nothing to do with the Jewish state.
When the antisemitic gunman burst into the Tree of Life building and murdered 11 Jewish worshippers, he didn’t care whose lives he was extinguishing, just that they were Jewish lives. He was inspired by the antisemitic Great Replacement Theory (a conspiracy theory that Jews are bringing immigrants into the country to ultimately replace white people) — one of several modern-day justifications for hating Jews.
There are others, like the anti-Zionist blood libel that Jews are genocidal colonialists which, since Oct. 7, 2023, has ostensibly motivated hundreds of hate crimes throughout the United States.
But when six men physically attack a Jewish student in Oakland while shouting “Free Palestine! F— Jews!” it’s clear that the purported pro-Palestinian sentiment is merely a pretext.
No one should not buy into that pretext.
Dara Horn, who wrote “People Love Dead Jews,” a collection of insightful essays on antisemitism, had something to say on the topic. She told the Australian Jewish News:
“There’s this stupid thing that we in the Diaspora are asked to do where we have to publicly announce at all turns that criticism of Israel is not antisemitic. When you’re throwing eggs at a synagogue, that’s not criticism of Israel. When you’re shutting down a train station, that’s not criticism of Israel. When you’re spray painting Jewish communal buildings, that’s not criticism of Israel. When you’re spouting blood libel, that’s not criticism of Israel. And it doesn’t really matter if you use the word Zionist or Israel instead of Jew while you’re spouting blood libel.
“There’s criticism of Israel, which looks like a conversation about government policies, and then there’s antisemitism, which looks like people throwing bottles at your head, and it’s really not that hard to tell the difference,” Horn continued.
“If somebody is yelling ‘Free Palestine’ while they’re throwing a bottle at your head, that doesn’t magically make it criticism of Israel.”
We fear that Jew hatred is becoming normalized in Pittsburgh. Earlier this week, a local anti-Israel group on Instagram shockingly condemned the Eradicate Hate Global Summit, which was conceived to fight all forms of hate in the wake of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. The problem? The conference was hosting “Zionist,” i.e., Jewish speakers.
The removal of the Allderdice memorial plaque is despicable, regardless of who is responsible and their motivation. It is akin to the smashing of Jewish headstones. And it is antisemitic.
On this sixth commemoration of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, we remember those who were killed for no reason other than being Jewish. We pray for the continued healing of those who they left behind and of the broader Pittsburgh Jewish community.
And we call on our elected representatives to act with moral clarity to end the scrouge of antisemitism. What better way to honor the memory of our martyrs. PJC
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