Witnessing anti-Semitism for the first time

An Oakland man went to the West Bank to protest the barrier wall and an IDF tear gas canister hit him in the head and fractured his skull.

Three days later, I saw and heard anti-Semetic slurs for the first time in my life.

Allow me to put the situation into context.

About 300 Tristan supporters swarmed the sidewalk in front of the Israel Consulate. The group dwarfed the Israel supporters across the street.

They were fellow “tree-sitters” from Oakland and Berkeley, earthy-crunchy granola types, some of whom felt strongly about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and policies regarding the territories, but many of whom, I suspect, showed up because protesting is their hobby, not because they’re passionate experts on Israel and the Middle East.

They played music and danced. With Sharpies, they scrawled get-well messages on a poster board. They held signs high above their head that read: “Got apartheid? Israel does,” and “NO U.S. TAX $ FOR ISRAEL’S VIOLENCE.”

The crowd was energetic but fairly polite until the end of the hour-long demonstration.

And that’s when I saw and heard anti-Semitic language so full of vitriol tears stung my eyes and I couldn’t see my notebook through the blur.

“You f---ing fascists, go back to Germany, you’re worse than the Nazis, you racist pigs,” two men yelled at the Israel supporters.

I usually have a thick skin. I think it’s important as a reporter to not be so close to a story or a source that emotions might inhibit accurate reporting. But on this day, I couldn’t separate myself from the protesters.I’m a Jew. They’re Jews, too. And I felt personally attacked.

Having never witnessed anti-Semitism first-hand, I didn’t full understand its force. It was something without shape, something I read about in history books. Something far away. 

The power of anti-Semitism became real when I saw it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears.

Once I realized the tears were imminent, I walked away (the rally was over anyway) and began to cry. I walked along Montgomery Street trying to catch my breath. I felt like I had been punched in the gut. The hatred flattened me.

Days later, I'm still sad, still stunned. What sustains me is knowing that the opinion of those two anti-Semitic arses is shared by few.

Have you ever experiened something like this? How did you react? Leave a comment below!

Read the related story here.

Watch video of the protest:

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