EDITORIAL: Hatred and violence: ‘Not now. Not ever’

Posted 12/29/16

Chanukah commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean revolt against the Greeks. There was oil enough to light the temple’s menorah for only one day, but the flames stayed lit for eight days until more …

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EDITORIAL: Hatred and violence: ‘Not now. Not ever’

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Jews throughout the world are celebrating Chanukah this week. This year, the eight-day observance coincided with Christians’ celebration of Christmas, beginning on Dec. 24 and ending on New Year’s Day. 

Chanukah commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean revolt against the Greeks. There was oil enough to light the temple’s menorah for only one day, but the flames stayed lit for eight days until more oil could be prepared with ritual purity.

This should be a time of harmony and peace. But that peace was marred for some this month by a call for an “armed protest” in January against Jews in Whitefish, Montana, and those who support them.

Andrew Anglin, a neo-Nazi who runs a white supremacy website, called for a “troll storm” of supporters to march on the town in northwestern Montana in response to reports that the mother of white nationalist leader Richard Spencer was being pressured to sell her downtown property in Whitefish and denounce her son. 

“Montana has extremely liberal open carry laws, so my lawyer is telling me we can easily march through the center of the town carrying high-powered rifles,” Anglin wrote.

Predictably, threats and hateful phone calls and emails quickly followed Anglin’s post. But so did acts of support and caring. 

The Missoulian told a story about a restaurant in Whitefish that began getting threatening phone calls and bad reviews online. The owner, Alex Maetzold, guessed people targeted him because they thought he was Jewish. 

Then the community rallied behind the restaurant, quickly quashing a few bad reviews with 60 good ones for the popular restaurant. 

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock wrote an op-ed piece calling on people to stand together against hate and violence and “act like our kids are watching and learning from the actions we take and the language we use.”

“We will not tolerate hate against fellow Montanans,” he said. “Not now. Not ever.”

This is not the first time people in our neighboring state to the north have faced down hate aimed at Jews. 

Much closer to home, Billings experienced a year of racism and ethnic hatred in 1993 after white supremacists moved in. On Dec. 2 that year, someone threw a brick through the bedroom window of a 5-year-old Jewish boy who had displayed a Chanukah menorah. 

After that incident, the Billings Gazette printed a full-page menorah, and thousands of people displayed them in their windows as a show of solidarity. 

A similar response is needed now — not only in Whitefish or in Montana, but throughout our country. We cannot allow hate, bigotry and violence to gain the upper hand. We must continue to stand for liberty and justice for all — regardless of religion, race, gender, who you’re related to or any other differences between us.

We have read, heard and seen accounts of the terrible things that can happen when hate is used as a weapon or as a rallying point. We cannot let those things happen again. 

As Gov. Bullock said, “Not now. Not ever.” 

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