Harassing Jews in the streets? That’s not protesting Israeli policy. It’s hate | Opinion

Over the July 4 holiday, two women were arrested in Downtown Boise for malicious harassment against a Boise resident wearing a yarmulke while he was having dinner. While their vile, antisemitic remarks (such as “Zionists are baby killers” and “blood is on your hands,” according to the victim) are protected as free speech, they escalated the situation by allegedly striking him with a phone.

Thankfully, the Boise Police Department acted swiftly and decisively in arresting them. Hopefully, the Department of Justice will intervene and add a felony hate crime to the charges. However, the larger issue is that the cycle of hate speech, provocation and violence is being allowed to fester in our city on state property.

Driving downtown, you may have encountered the Palestinian encampment. At face value, it appears to be a peaceful, albeit unattractive, protest, and Idahoan judges have allowed it to continue despite state efforts to shut it down. However, the reality is that the individuals arrested have been photographed at this tent city. Police have linked one of them to antisemitic vandalism at a Boise hotel where an Israeli Defense Forces soldier was staying and for trying to access a local synagogue after hours.

Some of the folks at the encampment are also the organizers of an “anti-genocide” rally at The Anne Frank Memorial, of all places. The irony should not be lost on anyone.

According to statistics from the ADL, Idaho has the second-highest number of antisemitic incidents per capita in the Jewish population of the Pacific Northwest. These numbers do not include the unreported incidents of Jewish public school students “jokingly” being asked to recreate the Holocaust by their classmates or landlords asking Jewish residents to remove their mezuzahs, the prayer parchments adorning their doors.

The hateful antisemitic incident that took place on our country’s Independence Day has nothing to do with Israel. It has everything to do with Jew hatred. A member of the community was singled out for being Jewish. Do pro-Tibet activists picket Chinese restaurants in town? Exactly.

Targeting a Jewish person for Israel’s military actions is blatant antisemitism, plain and simple. This incident was not about geopolitical disagreements; it was an attack on a person because of their Jewish identity.

The last time there were people roaming the streets, harassing Jews and chanting about their fall was during the Holocaust in Europe. These “activists” are not using the successful methods of change shepherded by Martin Luther King Jr., they are mimicking the actions of the Nazi Party’s paramilitary organization, the Sturmabteilung, who terrorized the Jewish population in Europe.

The time has come for all Idahoans, regardless of their faith, to stand with the Jewish community and outright reject the organizers of our state’s pro-Palestinian movement. Since the Holocaust of October 7, this movement has consistently shown that it does not know the difference between vitriol and peace.