Cesspool of hate

No one is born a hateful person. Hatred is not an inherited trait. What we say or do influences others actions, and the wrong influence can and does breed bigotry, not tolerance for one another.
Ever since the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks by Hamas upon Israel, New York and other parts of the world have seen a troubling rise in antisemitism — and it is seemingly everywhere one turns these days.
From swastikas scrawled on public property, to idiots ripping down hostage posters, to demonstrators calling for Israel’s defeat “from the river to the sea,” to (most disturbingly of all) students shouting antisemitic epithets in classrooms and school hallways, we are seemingly caught in a cesspool of hate that has no bottom.
The haters are out of the woodwork, and we struggle to figure out how the woodwork became so corrupted in the first place. It will take time to undo the damage, but if we are to overcome this hatred, we have to start at the two places where minds are most shaped and molded: at home, and in schools.
Earlier this year, the city’s Department of Education rolled out a new program designed to combat antisemitism in the classroom. Part of that effort is being reinforced with a new resource model that the Museum of Jewish Heritage announced on Tuesday.
The effort aims to break through the cesspool of hatred where young minds, all too often, wind up stuck and covered in the stench of intolerance.
The museum’s resource is an FAQ model in which students can easily understand the roots of antisemitism, why Jews were targeted during the Holocaust, how the Holocaust ties into current events and how to identify antisemitic tropes.
This is critical work that must be done in the classrooms of New York, and hopefully around the country. But more effort is needed — particularly on college campuses that have seen troubling displays of outright antisemitism, harassment and even isolated violence.
If those who protest Israel’s war in Gaza today can’t make their case without resorting to antisemitic tropes and calls for Israel’s destruction, then they are part of the problem. Anyone truly on the side of peace, whatever their cause may be, must also stand up against antisemitism in all its forms.
We New Yorkers must shun any protest that promotes antisemitism. We must stand up for one another against such hatred when it presents itself. And we must commit ourselves to cleaning up the cesspool of hate, and promoting tolerance for all.