The spirit of indifference to Jewish suffering, exemplified by M.I.T. Dean Lobdell tearing down Jewish anti-Nazi posters in 1934, lives on today—both among those who tear down posters of Jewish hostages and among university officials at M.I.T. and elsewhere, who seem incapable of unequivocally acknowledging the victimization of the Jews, without any ifs, ands, or buts.
"Controversy has erupted on American college campuses and elsewhere over anti-Israel who was putting up one of the posters. In addition to the college students who have torn down the posters, the vandals have included an attorney from the New York County public defender’s office, a Boston dentist, an employee of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a professor at the Michigan Ross School of Business.
"Controversy has erupted on American college campuses and elsewhere over anti-Israel who was putting up one of the posters. In addition to the college students who have torn down the posters, the vandals have included an attorney from the New York County public defender’s office, a Boston dentist, an employee of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and a professor at the Michigan Ross School of Business.
"It’s bad enough when seemingly respectable people, such as attorneys or professors, engage in reprehensible behavior. But what about when a dean at a university is the one committing the vandalism?
"An incident of this nature occurred in Boston many years ago, but it sounds like something from today’s headlines–and its lessons are as relevant as ever.
"During the 1930s, several prominent American universities cultivated friendly ties with Nazi Germany. Prof. Stephen Norwood described in his book The Third Reich in the Ivory Tower how those schools invited Nazi representatives to speak on their campuses, participated in student exchange programs with Nazi-controlled universities, and sent delegates to Germany to take part in celebratory events at those institutions.
"The fact that German universities had purged their Jewish faculty members and hosted book burnings did not deter friendly overtures from schools such as Harvard, Columbia, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.)." . . .
Why Hamas Can Rightly Be Compared To Nazis: The Similarities Are Undeniable
The discovery of an Arabic-language copy of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” in a Gaza apartment last week helps provide the answer.
. . ."Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was wrong to call US border facilities “concentration camps,” and Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was equally off base when she labeled advocates of Covid vaccines “medical brown shirts,” which references Nazi stormtrooper uniforms. Abortion is not another Holocaust.
"The reason such comparisons are wrong is that they severely distort the facts, both by implicitly minimizing Nazi atrocities and wildly exaggerating the actions of whomever the current name-callers happen to be targeting.
"But when a comparison is valid — when a contemporary villain does something which indeed reaches the levels of Nazi barbarism — then it needs to be acknowledged.
"And that’s why this time, it’s different.
"The Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom in southern Israel has changed everything — including aspects of our public discourse.". . .
Nearly a century after its release, Hitler’s manifesto of antisemitism and violence is still being used to kill Jews as effectively as ever.
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