Frida Ghitis: Antisemitic Attacks Are the Canary in a Society’s Coal Mine

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Frida Ghitis: Antisemitic Attacks Are…

Dec312019

In the article linked below, Frida Ghitis writes perceptively about the upsurge in antisemitism and what it portends for the afflicted societies. Ghitis, who is not Jewish, is a columnist and analyst on world affairs. Previously a long-time correspondent and producer at CNN, she continues to appear occasionally on the network as a commentator. Her writing has been published in numerous important print and online vehicles.

Quote: “Why is this rise happening now? We are living in a time of conspiracy theories; a time of lies. Politicians and activists are deliberately inflaming differences in society, branding others as not only wrong but dangerous, a threat; sparking fear of ‘the other.'”

Sources: Wikipedia, cnn.com

Learn more about Frida Ghitis on Wikipedia. >>

Read “Anti-Semitic Attacks Show a Society at Risk of Falling Apart” by Frida Ghitis. >>

Photo: cnn.com

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“[T]he foundations for extremism usually are held in check by various restraints. Societies are not liberal, moderate, progressive, and free because almost all their citizens – let alone their politicians — are liberal, moderate, progressive or committed to the freedoms of others.

“But societies consistently avoid extremism when the infrastructures of freedom are strong: when key institutions and norms encourage a more decent, rights-respective, lawful politics; when powerful social movements and independent media hold leaders to account, expose rather than reinforce political fantasies, and champion the rights of the vulnerable; and when information is produced and scrutinized by scholars, civil servants, and non-governmental organizations devoid of either government repression or vested interests.

“Yet no infrastructure is rigidly immovable, and once key components are eroded and weakened, once sections of the political and cultural elite attempt to mobilize the foundations of extremism, the system of restraints can swiftly collapse.

“While genocide on the scale of the Holocaust is historically exceptional, its central lesson is that the broader danger of extreme atrocities is not. In the words of the great historian Ian Kershaw, the Holocaust ‘lit a warning beacon that still burns brightly: it showed how a modern, advanced, cultured society can so rapidly sink into barbarity… It showed what we are capable of.’ Only by rejecting false narratives of conflict and polarization, and maintaining systems of rights and freedoms for all, can we hope to prevent that capability from once more becoming a reality.”

— Jonathan Leader Maynard in his incisive article “Could It Happen Here?: The Holocaust and Atrocities in the 21st Century” To read the entire article, click here.

Frida Ghitis: Antisemitic Attacks Are the Canary in a Society’s Coal Mine

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