A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Monday, February 27, 2017

On 84th Anniversary of Reichstag Fire, More Anti-Semitic and Islamophobic Attacks in US

Today is the 84th anniversary of the burning of the German Reichstag on February 27, 1933. I draw no linkages. Just today several Jewish Day Schools in the DC-MD-VA area alone were evacuated due to threats: these are schoolchildren. In just a week, Jewish cemeteries in the St.Louis and Philadelphia areas were desecrated, with tombstones being toppled. (In good news, in both cases, local Muslims re helping to restore the cemeteries.)

Islamophobia is also increasingly in evidence. In Olathe, Kansas, a Kansas City suburb, an Indian man was shot dead and another (plus a good Samaritan who intervened) were wounded. The shooter thought the Indian men were Iranian.

I still believe that most Americans are better than this, despite a history or racism and nativism. I hope I will be able to hold on to that belief.

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