Good God how could they not know! “A swastika is not a commentary on the policies of the State of Israel, nor is it a sign of solidarity with Palestinians. It is a symbol of hatred and division.

 “We do not know who did this. We do know that they wanted us to be afraid,” the Facebook post said. “A swastika is not a commentary on the policies of the State of Israel, nor is it a sign of solidarity with Palestinians. It is a symbol of hatred and division.

“We, the leadership of the synagogue, want everyone to know that we will not give in to either fear or division. We are blessed to live in a society in which hate speech is not tolerated by the police, who are working with us to keep us safe. We are blessed to live in a society where our neighbors of other faiths have already reached out to offer support.”

Good God how could they not know!

I’m familiar with peace activists. I walked with Father John McNamee and my friend Jim Victor to see Daniel Berrigan at the Race St Friends Meeting House in Philadelphia in 1966.  Over about a 57 year period there has never been a swastika at a peace event in Pennsylvania.

After talking to Father John my wife said, “What a waste!” Me, “What do you mean.” He can’t get married. John is a much more handsome man than David Morse in the film “Diary of a City Priest.”

This is a recent photo of Jim Victor & Father John McNamee at Villa St. Joseph in Landsdowne. He’s 90 years old. And still handsome!

Father John has a new book:

This is part of an older post:

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Living in an antisemitic forest trees etched with swastikas go unnoticed. It seems hate and love can be felt in our bodies, somehow transmitted in the air. In the antisemitic forest Democrats are assumed Jewish. Your body feels the hate.

Father Michael Doyle, John McNamee’s friend at Sacred Heart in Camden was at an event Betsy & me were invited to at my teacher Othmar Carli’s studio. My connection with John McNamee & Othmar came full circle. 

The SS scarred his back. He wouldn’t submit to the Hitler Youth. Othmar's kindergarten teacher took his class to see a burned out synagogue. At 6 years of age he made a pledge to himself to devote his life to rebuilding places of worship. 

Othmar is the kindest man I ever knew. I found this video about Mr. Carli's work at Sacred Heart in Camden:

The Restoration of Sacred heart Church, Camden, NJ

S Dougherty

 

***

I saw swastika graffiti in off the beaten path areas of Elkins Park, PA in the 1970s to1990s.

Writing as someone who has tracked white supremacists in Pennsylvania for decades it’s astounding that leadership of Temple Beth Hillel/Beth El in Wynnewood, PA believes that this must be a reaction to Israeli military policy. 

Temple Beth Hillel/Beth El is within the “Main Line Society” area of Pennsylvania where Jews have never been accepted. Where Jews cannot apply for membership in Republican golf clubs. That’s the nonviolent part.

Go a little into rural Pennsylvania and it goes from swastika painting to shootings. My Jewish college professor friends living near Reading PA need to keep a low profile.

Hatred of Jews has accelerated from a moving start in 2008 to Donald Trump’s supercharged acceleration of hate. 

Now swastikas regularly fly on flags at Republican Party events: