The steps of the Sykes Student Union building held 250 people on Tuesday night, Oct.30, in commemoration of those who lost their lives in the tragic shooting that took place only days before. 11 people lost their lives during a shooting inside the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on Oct. 28, leaving six others injured and a community facing a lifetime of grief in the wake of the violence. As students stood together in solidarity against anti-Semitism and in memory of the victims, speakers from Pittsburgh and the Hillel Associations on campus and in Philadelphia voiced their experiences and hopes for the future.
Speakers included Jenn Reiss, the director of the West Chester University Hillel, Dr. Zeb Davenport, the Vice President for Student Affairs, Sam Dolan, the Vice President of Hillel, Miranda, a local resident of Pittsburgh, Father Tom Gardner from the local Catholic congregation and Rabbi Lawrence Troster of Kesher-Israel Congregation.
“At what point do we begin to fear certain types of people?” This was asked by Reiss, who spoke on the spread of fear and hatred in regards to the attack. She touched on the danger of fear and how it can lead to hatred of what others do not understand, stating that “out of fear comes danger and violence.”
Dr. Davenport emphasized that “enough is enough” in terms of the violence and attacks that have occurred recently, bringing attention to violence occurring in churches, schools, shopping malls and synagogues. He called for all students of West Chester University, regardless of faith, ethnicity or differing background, to stand up and speak out against acts of hatred and violence.
This was echoed by Reiss. “If you’re not happy with the way things are going in this world, don’t sit back: do something about it,” she said after the vigil.
At the end of the vigil, Rabbi Troster spoke on the process of mourning within the Jewish faith. As an early part of the grieving process, Jewish people undergo Shiva, a seven-day period of mourning upon losing loved ones where family and members of the congregation provide emotional support. After, they celebrate Yahrzeit, the anniversary of the loved one’s death each year. “As a community, as a country, we are in that initial period,” Rabbi Troster said.
He called for the remembrance of the victims lost to the attack. “The one thing I can tell you is God will remember all of this,” he said. “The question is, will we?”
Alex Habbart, the president of Hillel at West Chester, offered his thoughts on the politicization of the tragedy.
“Everyone’s immediately tying it to a gun issue. The president said if there was a man with a gun at the synagogue, this wouldn’t have happened. I don’t think any gun control measure would have stopped it. . .the core of it is violence that makes it feel like the Jewish aspect of it, the anti-Semitic aspect of the issue is an instrumental part of some greater thing.”
He describes the discussion of the event only being about guns as “tasteless.”
Alleged politicization of the attack is still on the rise. In addition to the widespread discussion of gun rights and ownership, political division between right-wing and left-wing Jewish ideology has reared again in wake of the attack. The New York Times cites political leaders in Beit Semesh calling for a “strong Israel” in wake of the tragedy, highlighting the division between most liberal American-Jewish ideology and the “nationalistic,” right-wing Israeli-Jewish ideology.
Naftali Bennett, the right-wing Minister of Education and Minister of Diaspora Affairs in Israel, called for the unity of left and right-wing Jews, claiming, “The murderer’s bullet does not stop to ask, ‘Are you Conservative or Reform, are you Orthodox? Are you right-wing or left-wing?’ It has one goal, and that is to kill innocent people. Innocent Jews.”
Upon returning to Israel, he was faced with left-wing criticism, citing social media posts in 2012 that claimed left-wing Jewish people promoted “crime and rape” for wanting to allow alleged illegal African migrants to remain in Israel. The New York Times reports that he was also under criticism for his affiliation with ultra-Orthodox Israeli rabbinate, which refuses to acknowledge any other non-Orthodox denominations, and faced left-wing Jewish criticism for his support for President Donald Trump.
The alleged attacker, Robert Bowers, frequently posted anti-Semitic content on social media, targeting organizations such as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) that aids displaced refugees across the world. His social media accounts show frequent reposts from Holocaust deniers and calls for acts of violence against other Jewish people.
Two hours before the shooting, he posted “HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.” His social media showed strong examples of anti-Muslim and anti-refugee rhetoric on Twitter, Facebook, and the alt-right website Gab.
Trump has faced criticism for his alleged support for white supremacists in the past when his account retweeted a social media post from an anti-Semitic Twitter account during the 2016 election. He had also retweeted a poster naming Hillary Clinton’s corruption that featured an alleged Star of David. While a political advisor of Trump claimed it to be the shape of a sheriff’s badge, the poster had been previously found on a white supremacist and anti-Semitic 8chan thread prior to Trump’s post.
In the wake of the attack, Jewish leaders in Pittsburgh penned a letter to Trump, saying that he is “not welcome in Pittsburgh” unless he denounces white nationalism. Over 35,000 people have signed the letter.
According to the FBI’s collected data on reported hate crimes, of the 1,585 reported religious hate crimes, 54.4 percent of those were “motivated by their offenders’ anti-Jewish bias.” According to the Anti-Defamation League, these numbers rose to 57 percent in 2017, the largest year-to-year increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes since they began collecting data in 1979.
Candidates with records of alleged anti-Semitism are currently on the ballot across the country.
Candidates with records of alleged anti-Semitism are currently on the ballot across the country. Art Jones, an outspoken Neonazi with a strong campaign in a /pol/ thread (on boards.4chan.org) of self-identified white supremacists, is currently the Republican candidate for the 3rd Congressional District election in Illinois. Rick Tyler, who is running for governor of Tennessee, has organized the Nationalist Solutions conference which has had speakers accused of racial defamation and alleged right-wing extremist ideologies.
The Hillel Jewish Student Union provides safe spaces for Jewish students and celebrates Jewish holidays on campus. They can be reached at hillel@wcupa.edu. Students can receive Green Dot training through the university to acknowledge and stand up against acts of violence, which can be reached at greendot@wcupa.edu. HIAS provides refugee resettlement and support in Pennsylvania, and can be found at http://hiaspa.org/. They’re located in Center City, Philadelphia in the Jewish Federation building on Arch street.
Sam Walsh is a third-year student majoring in special education and English with a minor in Autism studies. SW850037@wcupa.edu
Brendan Lordan is a second-year student majoring in English writing. BL895080@wcupa.edu