Only as safe as the weakest link

On a late-Shabbat walk in Manhattan last week, I found myself weaving through a large, loud group of people. It turns out it was a pro-Trump rally. One of the people standing around stopped me, trying to convince me to vote Trump. Somehow the conversation turned to Israel. The guy was anti-Israel and, after a while, I understood, without him realizing it, that he was an anti-Semite. As if it were a given, he was quoting the typical tropes of primitive conspiracy theories.

“Well, you know how Jews are the ones who control the media?” or “Well, you know how Rothschild Jews are in charge of the banks?” Problem was, this guy was actually smart and well-read, going back to the Balfour Declaration.

When I arrived home, the news was there: Terrorists in Turkey had followed a group of Israelis for two hours before fatally attacking them in a terrorist attack. Within days, there was the terrible news from Brussels.

Belgium is attacked and Facebook photos turn shades of black, yellow and red stripes. It seems to be an automatic gesture. You know, solidarity.

Except for when Israel is hit. Then it is barely a blip on the newsworthy radar. Let alone any expressions of empathy. It’s blame the victim; somehow the terror is justified.

It’s interesting to see the mental gymnastics people will contort themselves into so they can tease out terrorism against Israel as different from any and every other terrorism in the world. The denial is astounding. So time and again I watch as the flags on Facebook change — Paris, Belgium … but never Israel.

Maybe it’s just that terror strikes Israel so often. How many times can you muster that emotional sense of tragedy for the commonplace? Sickeningly, terrorism in Israel is not the unexpected.

And therein lies the crux of the matter. Terrorism is terrorism. It makes no difference if it is in Israel or elsewhere. It is a human issue that affects us all. The world is only as safe as its weakest link. If Jews aren’t safe on the streets, then eventually no one will be.