Yet a year into his term, the first Jewish president hasn’t, in fact, ushered in a Jewish golden age. For one thing, violent attacks against Jews, particularly the Orthodox, continue to escalate, triggering an exodus not seen since that of French Jewry in 2015-16.
The $17 federal minimum wage has sharply increased the unemployment rate among unskilled workers, and Jews have been an immediate scapegoat on the far right and left. Harsh new housing-development standards enacted as part of the Green New Deal, meanwhile, have deepened the existing homelessness crisis.
“Jewish landlords” has emerged as a catchphrase seen on many signs at “Free Homes Now” protests. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Linda Sarsour has voiced her support for the movement on Twitter. Confronted with evidence of overt anti-Semitism, she said Team Sanders “deplores all hate,” while urging “privileged communities” to “think and act intersectionally.”
When three synagogues were burned to the ground in Los Angeles, White House Press Secretary Bill de Blasio said: “Let me be very clear. We won’t stand for these white-supremacist attacks on any community.” When law enforcers discovered that the arson was the work of a radical Black Hebrew Israelites faction, the White House declined further comment.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member