If you thought the angry mob that gathered outside a Jewish-owned restaurant in downtown Philadelphia Sunday night couldn’t get any more outrageous, wait until you hear how the organizers justified their decisions a day later. It’s rarely been clearer that those who are taking to the streets and chanting aren’t merely pro-peace, as they claim, they’re pro-the-other-side, even when the other side is Hamas and the stakes are therapy for traumatized children. There was a Kristallnacht vibe to the decision to harass a Jewish-owned restaurant and to treat it as an extension of the Israeli government. Meanwhile, the White House apparently believes that a one-paragraph statement of rebuke is all the moment needs. The president who said he chose to run for the Oval Office because “the soul of America is at stake” is strangely quiet at this moment. …

This is America. We’re not supposed to have angry mobs forcing Jewish students to hide in a college library. We’re not supposed to have people running around telling others to boycott a business just because the owner, manager, or staff is Jewish. And we’re not supposed to have people wondering if it’s safe to visit a falafel restaurant on a Sunday night, for fear that some angry mob might come along and accuse them of assisting genocide through their dining choices.