A bunch of years ago, I got into an argument with some relatives of a friend of mine. For context, these relatives were a)politically liberal and b)Jewish but not religious. The argument was about an NY times article about the Ramapo school board elections. They asked me if I felt the article was biased and I said completely, and we then argued over it.
They couldn't understand why I thought that. I pointed out that the author used the phrase "Stuff the ballot boxes", which implies electoral malfeasance - I then asked them how is it stuffing the ballot box if you represent over 75% of the board's population? They then argued that since the Chasidim don't have kids in the district, they shouldn't be allowed to sit on the board - I asked them what about retirees who are on fixed incomes - if they make up a sizeable percentage of the community shouldn't they have a say in limiting their own taxes? They asked about how the school district is being shafted, I pointed out that when a full 2/3 of the kids in the district go to private schools, it increases the amount of bussing, meal assistance, and other Special Ed services that are given to private school students throughout the state.
The bottom line, not one of their arguments had a true leg to stand on.
Please don't get me wrong. There are most definitely bad Jews out there, who try to work the system - just as there are bad members of EVERY minority and ethnic group. One of the key tests I find my self doing is anytime someone says anything bad about the Jews, I replace the word Jewish with Black, or Latin, or Asian to see if it sounds just as racist.
If NBC reported on blacks taking over what was previously a white neighborhood, I would still find it to be just as offensive.
This is also goes both ways - I once got an e-mail from someone railing against "Black Hats" - I removed the word "Hat" and sent it back to him, and asked if he thought it was racist?
No, I absolutely am not. There has been nothing civil about the "sparring", it's been virulently anti-semitic for DECADES at every level of local government and community discourse. And linking these decades-long issues which have been exacerbated by slanted and dehumanizing media coverage is beyond atrocious. There have been hundreds of attacks against Jews in the NY/NJ area in the past couple of years, and a handful have been in the areas with the so-called "civil sparring". The most recent Monsey attack was done by someone living HALF HOUR away, he was googling "Zionist Temples near me" not "East Ramapo school board politics." The Jersey City attack was committed by Black Supremacists, nothing to do with gentrification.
Jews are moving into Jersey City BECAUSE they are being gentrified out of Williamsburg.
Thousands of Jews have moved to East Flatbush, Upstate, East New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida, etc. because they were gentrified OUT of Crown Heights.
When was the last time you heard of a Jewish guy attacking a typewriter using kombucha sipping yoga pants sipping, New Yorker bag toting mustached hipster because a one-bedroom apartment costs $2,000 to rent? Or because the white newcomers fought to have separate swimming hours that had been going on for decades for local women stopped?
Imagine having an article a few days after the Charleston Church shooting saying, "Dylan Roof's comes after civic sparring about confederate flags and statues, talking about how white residents are upset that the blacks are ruining their way of life by *buying houses*.
I'm so freaking tired of this.