By New York and California to Illinois and Utah, the current battle between Israel and Gaza has generated a bothering backlash against American Jews -- that have found themselves the targets of death threats, hate speech and violent physical attacks.
"Stop telling me this is all about Israel and Gaza," said a New Yorker who was confronted with a pro-Palestinian mob in his way to synagogue this week. "My folks are being targeted across the United States in broad daylight. That is textbook anti-Semitism, and we'll continue to live at risk before the public starts to recognize it for what it is."
His opinions were a frequent refrain rippling across U.S. Jewish communities recently. Following is a look at some current events throughout the country.
NEW YORK
Troubling footage emerged late Thursday showing pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters clashing on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk, despite Israel and Gaza using attained a ceasefire deal earlier in the day. Police confirmed that two commercial fireworks were thrown out of an automobile and one person suffered minor burns.
New York Jews were already on edge from a disturbing movie that revealed an older guy being brutally beaten by a bunch of pro-Palestinians for wearing a Yarmulke because he attempted to cross a street in Times Square earlier in the day. Authorities stated their Hate Crime Task Force was exploring the gang assault and encouraged the public to come forward with info.
"sporting a Kippah at NYC always felt safer than anywhere else on the planet," a prominent New York lawyer told Fox News. "I'll never take off mine, but I shall for the first time need to teach my kids to be careful if they opt to wear theirs openly," he said.
Thursday's escalation came as little surprise to Israeli-Americans Amit Skornik and Snir Dayan, who were assaulted by a pro-Palestinian mob on their way to catch lunch at a well-known nyc bagel store earlier in this week.
"Someone with their back to us heard us speak Hebrew. ... He instantly looked at us and went to the crowd. I didn't put a lot of thought into it but around 10 moments afterwards, he and another 10 people were charging towards us. I received the first punch then we understood that we're being attacked," they told Fox News.
The attack happened less than 10 days following a Jewish guy was left bloodied and forced to seek refuge at a nearby shop during clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel supporters away from the Israeli consulate in New York. Close to 150 demonstrators returned to the consulate on Thursday, wreaking havoc and reportedly shutting down traffic from the region before police made more than a dozen arrests, the New York Post reported.
These incidents aren't isolated to the Empire State. The Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit that monitors anti-Semitism across the globe, listed a troubling uptick of both physical and verbal attacks against Jews in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, North Africa and North America since tensions between Israel and Gaza's Hamas militants escalated earlier this month. Synagogues in various countries have reported signs, swastikas and pro-Palestinian propaganda discovered within their areas of prayer.
Within the U.S., the ADL said it has received nearly 200 reports of possible anti-Semitic incidents, up from 131 the week before the battle began.
"Part of me wants to wear a bigger Star of David necklace than I do now so individuals know how proud I am of my religion," Jewish version and advocate Elizabeth Pipko told Fox News." At the exact same time, a tiny part of me wants to tuck my necklace in to my shirt in the event the wrong person sees it. It's a really difficult time to become a Jew in the USA right now and to see so many ignore the hatred we are seeing is incredibly painful -- although nothing we're not used to," she said.
An Englewood household was faced with a pro-Palestinian demonstrator on their way home from synagogue on Sunday because their kids -- ages 9, 8 and 7 -- were left"vibration and terrified to their life."
Return to WHERE YOU CAME FROM, GET OUT OF HERE," the mother told Fox News. "They tried to pull over to another family who started running away. My kids were shaking and terrified. My kids who play out my backyard all the time today refuse to be outdoors alone. They're shaken up and stressed."
CALIFORNIA
In Los Angeles, pro-Palestinian demonstrators jumped out of the vehicles passing a Beverly Grove restaurant on Tuesday and started singling out and attacking Jewish diners in a barbarous brawl that was captured on a bystander's camera. Video shows members of a car caravan flying Palestinian flags while driving by the sushi restaurant's outdoor dining area whilst allegedly chanting"Death to Jews!"
Just a few blocks over, a Jewish man has been chased by two automobiles bearing Palestinian flags near his house as they chanted"Allahu akbar" in an apparent attempt to run him over.
"I've taken this route a thousand times and I've never been frightened," he told Fox News. "I had been waiting by the light in order for it to change and suddenly I saw a bunch of cars coming and that I see from this corner of my head that they were waving the Palestinian flag. They began speeding up and I heard them chanting'Allahu akbar.' That's when I started working for my entire life ."
"I was petrified. I just kept thinking,'I'm a father of six and I wish to come home to them tonight.' I believed they were going to kill me. My head was racing."
"Anti-Semitism is not a new problem for the Jewish community, unfortunately," Yossi Elifort, creator of Magen Ama personal community watch group at the L.A. area, told Fox News. "No community should have to live in fear because of a religion that they practice and the simple fact that folks are prepared to become violent for this has to be condemned by everybody. The Jewish community won't tolerate this. Jews across the world must understand that they've the right and obligation to protect their community in collaboration with law enforcement."
