On January 27, 2015, Holocaust remembrance events took place around the world.
Seventy years after the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, these commemorations are more necessary than ever, as the surge in anti-Semitic attacks around the world over the past year attests. And while it may be impossible to stop every attack everywhere in the world, theHow companies and individuals respond to such atrocities is just as important as "Kill the bad guys".
An example of this would be the attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in early January. As a result, a massive two million-strong march took place in the heart of Paris in support of freedom of expression. The phrase #Je Suis Charlie became the most widely used hashtag in Twitter history.
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To meet the growing demand from a new wave of readers who seemed eager for a statement against extremism, the magazine's January 12, 2015, issue was increased from the 60,000 copies normally printed to three million, and then again to five million, and again to seven million copies.
The next murder in Denmark?
Marches, Twitter campaigns, and a huge growth in readership. Yet the fact that Jews were specifically targeted during those three terrible days in Paris was largely pushed to the back burner. Indeed, for months before the Paris terror atrocities, Jews in most European countries had been subjected to a relentless wave of vicious anti-Semitic attacks. An atmosphere of raw, unquestioning hatred for all things Jewish preceded the events in Paris, and the warning signs were there for anyone who cared to pay attention.
When Jews in Denmark who try to hold an event calling for religious coexistence are chased through the streets by thugs shouting "Allahu Akbar" and waving black banners, then very soon someone will put it into their heads to try to kill Jews in Paris.
Marches, Twitter campaigns, and millions of new readers. Short-term, momentary responses to an extremely long-term problem that has been building up over years. It is natural that in the wake of such atrocities, people will feel a strong need to act. But nothing will help to effectively renounce terrorism like standing with its intended targets and victims, such as by standing with the Jewish communities in Europe and around the world.
One effective, long-term way to show solidarity with Jewish communities around the world is to show the same enthusiasm for the community publications that the world showed for the gripping stories of Charlie Hebdo. To shake off global extremism, one simply has to act at a very local level.
Meet 'Shalom''
""Şalom," the Turkish Jewish weekly, is not exactly an easy newspaper to find in Istanbul unless you know where to look. But with a circulation of a few thousand, for almost seven decades they have managed to create a highly professional and relevant newspaper (more significant, and better produced, than the hopeless mouthpieces of the Syrian regime: Al-Baath or Al-Thora, even with state resources). Over the years, some of Turkey's most prominent writers and journalists have written for it.
Important to know. A newspaper that appears for a period of no less than sixty-eight years, and is a community newspaper - in every community, constitutes a chronology and diary of times and events in the history of the community and its place in the world, the events that influenced it or were influenced by it, the opinions, hopes, dreams and fears of the community members, as a source of the history of the times. Websites do not even come close to newspapers.
Few things strike at the heart of a community's sense of security or belonging like being attacked or intimidated for publishing. For a community, losing its newspaper would be a devastating blow to its sense of identity, history, and continuity in the larger society in which it resides.
And so, when a community is under sustained attack from extremist fringe elements, one of the best long-term displays of solidarity is to embrace the community’s publications. It was only natural that millions of people around the world would suddenly feel the urge to own a copy of Charlie Hebdo, regardless of their opinions—or lack thereof—on the merits (or lack thereof) of the paper’s content over the years. In the aftermath of a terrorist attack, ordinary people are driven to respond with an act that loudly and clearly expresses their rejection and revulsion at the attack.
Sana doesn't have to be in the kitchenY
Marches are all well and good, but it is highly unlikely that a march on the scale of the Parisian march in January will ever be repeated for many years. Twitter tags? Extremely fleeting and extremely momentary. A long-term response is needed to support a community under long-term threat.
While Jews in one local community may not face the same level of violence and intimidation as Jews in other parts of the world, the nature of global anti-Semitism is such that Jews anywhere can at any given moment become targets from any source, no matter how remote or distant the threat is perceived. To take a recent example, the threats by the terrorist organization Hezbollah to harm Jews anywhere in the world in response to their recent heavy losses in Syria.
Not everyone can be like Sana Batili, the Malian-born employee of the kosher supermarket attacked in Paris who saved many lives by hiding customers during the attack. But people can still achieve a lot by standing up for those targeted by extremists.
Let us hope that we never have to, God forbid, suffer another terrorist attack, but let us not wait until after the horror to express "Je suis <insert recent victims here>". Society’s embrace, and acceptance of minorities, is the surest shield and defense against opportunistic acts of hate against these minorities. Terrorism thrives in an atmosphere and environment of hatred that knows no bounds and limits.
Holocaust commemoration only takes place once a year, and despite the need to respond to atrocities with million-dollar marches, it must be admitted that by then it is probably too late. Extremism has already taken deep root in society.
Fighting extremism is more effective at the individual level, in small, everyday acts of kindness towards those who may be vulnerable, and the ostracization of those groups and individuals whose speech and behavior are filled with hate (I’m looking at you George Galloway, you shameless adventurer, for example. Translator’s note: George Galloway is a pro-Palestinian British politician who hates Jews). Global extremism will be defeated most effectively by very local acts of consideration.
And these days, fighting extremism can be as simple as buying a newspaper. Hello.
Aboud Dandachi is a Syrian refugee, an exile from Homs, who now lives in Istanbul. His book The Doctor, The Eye Doctor and Me tells the story of the Syrian conflict in a clear and compelling way. Translation: Tzipi Yarom
