The spate of anti-Semitic attacks have the Jewish people living in fear now in the United States, potentially creating a society of "secret Jews" retreating to obscurity, according to Rabbi Shmuel "Shmuley" Boteach on Newsmax TV.
"This is sadly a pandemic of anti-Jewish violence that is gripping the United States, that is shocking me to my core," Boteach told Monday's "National Report." "The one thing that America always was and always should be, it was sanctuary for the Jewish people.
"The world's oldest hatred: we were persecuted in Europe, slaughtered, annihilated, gassed to death, but in America we were protected. I can't believe this is all happening."
Boteach, speaking from a home nearby the recent anti-Semitic stabbing attack in Upstate New York where his family and friends were in hiding, called for federal laws that specifically mention anti-Semitism and do not water down the targeted hate under generic hate-crime terms.
"We have to stop this game," Boteach told host Bob Sellers. "We have to call Jew hatred what it is. First thing is: Special legislation that targets anti-Semitism. You have to use the word anti-Semitism. This is not just another form of bigotry. This is not just another form of prejudice.
"This is a special hatred of the Jewish people that has to be combated, and the United States, land of the free, home of the brave, must take the lead."
Boteach said the recent attacks in and around New York City are targeting those who look and dress like orthodox Jews.
"We are the targets, and it's very uncomfortable," Boteach added.
"It was a religious Jew hatred, now it's a more racial anti-Semitism. Even if we Jews converted to another religion, they still hate us. All I know is this never happened in the United States."
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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