From Bay Area college campuses to far-flung U.N. conferences, Jews today face “one of the more serious outbreaks” of worldwide anti-Semitism.
That is the grim warning from Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean and founder of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance.
Evidence of that hatred shows up regularly against Jews on American universities and at international U.N. conferences, he emphasized.
“Jews have to speak up,” said the 62-year-old rabbi, who will do just that when he comes to the Bay Area on Sunday, Nov. 10 to discuss responses to “the new wave of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel hysteria.”
Hier will be in Burlingame to deliver his remarks in an event sponsored by the Jewish Study Network, a year-old team of Orthodox rabbis and their spouses who offer Jewish study groups and courses throughout the Bay Area. After his speech, a private reception and dinner will honor Bay Area philanthropists and JSN backers Bobby and Fran Lent.
Hier said his local appearance was spurred by a desire to support efforts like the study network. “They should be commended for that,” said Hier, who thinks the best response to the surge of hatred against Jews is to create a “really thriving Jewish society.
“Jewish leaders have to be in the business of seeing to it that we propagate a thriving Jewish civilization and make sure there are lots of Jews around in the future. We don’t only need Jewish leaders to yell about anti-Semites.”
In a telephone interview from Los Angeles, Hier offered evidence of intense Jewish hatred these days, “not only in California but basically around the world.” Clashes between Jewish and pro-Palestinian students at U.C. Berkeley and other campuses are “the smaller picture of the bigger picture,” he said.
As evidence of that bigger picture, Hier cited the September speech by Harvard University President Lawrence Summers warning that “serious and thoughtful people are advocating and taking actions that are anti-Semitic in their effect if not their intent.”
Hier considers that sentiment profound, noting that it was voiced by someone who previously hadn’t considered anti-Semitism to be a problem.
“It’s not right to attack Jews on campus,” Hier said. “To single out one nation.”
Hier emphasized that he’s not advocating that all criticism of Israel be muzzled. “No one is saying that Israel is a perfect society,” he said. “Far from it. Israel has made her mistakes.
“If you want to talk about human rights violations, by all means,” he continued. “But what about the Arab world? I think the liberals are silent today, which is rather ominous.”
Hier is disturbed by what he considers a “hate festival” against Israel, displayed at U.N. conferences where attendees accuse Israel of human-rights violations without mentioning those perpetrated by other countries. “To be a woman and not be able to drive a car is a barbaric act and should concern the U.N. But the U.N. says, ‘No, we’ve got no time for that,'” Hier said.
“This is the international climate that spills over” onto college campuses, he warned. “Remember, professors go to these academic conferences.”
Also in attendance at these conferences are representatives of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, who reported receiving receptions at last year’s U.N. World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, and elsewhere that made them feel as if “we were in Berlin in the ’30s.”
“It was open season on all Jews who were there in support of Israel,” Hier said, citing physical threats toward Jewish attendees. “That’s uncalled for. It has to be repudiated. That is not legitimate debate.”
Despite those alarming attitudes, Hier said he sees positive trends as well. Each year, the nearly decade-old Museum of Tolerance draws about a half-million visitors, including more than 100,000 youngsters, to see its interactive exhibits about acts of hatred against Jews and non-Jews alike. “If you reach young minds before they are set in their ways, you can have a tremendous influence on their lives.”
An Academy Award-winning film producer, Hier is working on a new documentary that tells previously unknown stories of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust. It is due for release in December.
“I think there’s a lot more that can be done,” Hier said. “Each and every Jew has to respond.”