"Once again, the United States is facing horrific gun violence at the hands of a clearly disturbed, violent individual. The attack in Highland Park on the Fourth of July was a tragic event, but instead of it sparking a conversation about the fact that a predominantly Jewish neighborhood was once again targeted, instead the media are again actively minimizing the antisemitic aspect of this attack and the attacker.
This is not the first time such a thing has occurred. We saw a similar phenomenon with the Colleyville hostage attack. It’s unacceptable that, in 2022, antisemitism as a motive for terror is still minimized.
Despite the fact that antisemitism and even violent antisemitic attacks are sharply rising in the US, both in communities and on campuses, the media has failed to connect the dots. After the Colleyville hostage crisis, in which a terrorist took Jews hostage inside a synagogue during religious services, the mainstream media repeatedly refused to note the antisemitic nature of the attack and instead spent hours discussing possible motives, ignoring the fact it was the rabbi who helped the Jewish hostages escape, not the FBI.
This same terrorist had also made antisemitic and conspiratorial comments about Jews, expressed solidarity with virulent and violent antisemitic terrorists, and previously tried to enter a synagogue. Yet still, the international media, including AP, BBC, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, gaslit the Jewish community claiming there wasn’t a clear motive.
Apparently, no lessons were learned, because today, the media are doing the same thing in regard to the Highland Park shooting. Highland Park is 50% Jewish (despite the fact that the US census lists the Jewish community as white – an entirely other issue that contributes to antisemitism today) and it is a thriving Jewish community that is no stranger to Jew-hatred...
The shooter had also previously tried to visit a local Chabad during Passover and had attempted to visit another synagogue in the area, as well. Volunteers at the synagogue said 'he was definitely sizing up the synagogue.' He was active on a Discord chat titled 'SS,' and had been seen giving a Heil Hitler salute to local protesters...
It’s time to call out the blatant, antisemitic coverage that’s providing cover to the rising wave of antisemitism in the US and beyond."