As the coronavirus continues to plague the world and racial tension continues to boil, anti-Semitism has run rampant. As has been the case for most of history, this pandemic is just the latest one to have been blamed on the Jewish people. They’ve been accused of creating the virus in Chinese labs, as hatred is unjustly rained down on both people groups.
High-profile individuals have felt emboldened in recent days to post explicitly anti-Semitic messages on social media. In an editorial for The Hollywood Reporter, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar denounced the recent celebrities who have promoted anti-Semitism over the past month or so, including rapper Ice Cube (who did not apologize and has a history of anti-Semitism) and NFL star DeSean Jackson (who apologized and took back his claims). The pattern continued yesterday when actor/rapper/TV host Nick Cannon was fired from ViacomCBS for anti-Semitic rhetoric in which he supported a claim that blamed the Jewish people “for the majority of wickedness that goes on across the globe,” among other hateful statements of his own. Cannon did not apologize for his remarks.
Anti-Semitic violence continues even while countries continue to enforce social-distancing guidelines. On Saturday a Jewish man was harassed with anti-Semitic slurs, then beaten by two men. The Anti-Defamation League has offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information that would help lead to an arrest of the victim’s attackers, according to jns.org.
It’s especially sad that Jewish people are facing increased persecution in this time specifically. At a time when violence should be reduced since human contact is reduced, and at a time when discussions of racism are at the forefront and should have the goal of creating positive change for race relations, the Jewish people’s situation has only gotten worse. To those who don’t know God, this is certainly a time to be full of fear and sadness. But to those of us who love God and trust Jesus as our personal Savior, we know these troubles are momentary afflictions that pale in comparison to the glory to come. Because of this hope we have, it’s important that we share our hope in Christ and that we stand against anti-Semitism.
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