David Turner

America, the Jews, and the Holocaust David Turner

In a dramatic challenge to traditional politics Donald J. Trump lost the vote by three-million votes and was declared president of the United States by the Electoral College. Riding the wave of despair within rural and rust-belt America the real estate tycoon and billionaire ran as a "populist," a "man of the people" whose nationalism resonated strongly with fringe social elements seeking simple solutions to including white supremacists. Seven months after taking office this fringe of social and religious racists, exercising their democratic rights, held a celebratory rally on the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia leaving one counterdemonstrator dead and dozens injured. Months later the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh was attacked and thirteen Jews at Shabbat prayer were murdered. Jews in America consider themselves secure, their homeland exceptional in the Diaspora. "Almost all periods of great violence... have caught the Jews by surprise and found them unprepared... the persecutions began with particular severity and intensity especially when the Jews position was so secure... that there was no thought of attacks and major violence-at least not in their country, their house." (Alex Bein, 1990, The Jewish Question)"You understand in your bones... There is really only one absolute guarantee, and that's the state of Israel." (Vice President Joseph Biden, 2014)"[A] perfect storm of antisemitism is not just brewing, but is upon us, and too many people in the Jewish community are woefully unprepared or unwilling to address it honestly." (Deborah Lipstadt, 2019)"Thank you, President Trump, for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about Charlottesville!" (David Duke, Former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan) Charlottesville is a wakeup call to America's Jewish community.