Anti-Semitism in Golden State (OneNewsNow.com)

California anti-Semitism on the rise

Becky Yeh - OneNewsNow California correspondent - 7/30/2010 6:45:00 AM

Olivier Melnick A report issued by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Tuesday shows that anti-Semitism is on the rise in California -- news that one Jewish evangelist doesn't find surprising.

Olivier Melnick, an evangelist and author who serves with Chosen People Ministries, points out that anger against Jews rises every time the nation of Israel is tainted by the media. "If you watch the news, when there is an event...that focuses on Israel and the Middle East, if there is anything that paints Israel in a negative light, there is a surge of anti-Semitism," he observes.

The ADL reports that in California last year, anti-Semitic acts rose by 20 percent, the highest level in a decade. The state now has the highest number of acts against Jews, surpassing states like New York and New Jersey, which have a high Jewish population. However, in the nation overall, this behavior declined from 1,352 acts in 2008 to 1,211 in 2009.

"You will have a higher number of incidents of anti-Semitism in areas where you have higher numbers of Jewish people, especially in Los Angeles and Orange County," Melnick explains. "I know in Orange County, we have a high...Muslim community. The Muslims and Jews have never gotten along very well, [so] that might be one factor."

Star of David ADL's report further shows that a majority of anti-Semitic acts were carried out by teenagers and adolescents who drew swastikas, threw insults, and verbally threatened individuals. Several Jews were victims of hostile phone calls. One individual received 100 calls from a stranger who played a Nazi propaganda tape with Hitler's voice on the recording.

In the Los Angeles area, numerous swastikas and references to Hitler have been drawn on cars, businesses, and homes belonging to Jews. A synagogue in Oak Park was recently vandalized with the words "Get out of Oak Park" written on the walls of the building. Another incident involved a Jewish teacher who found swastikas drawn on the door of her classroom and a note that read: "You're next."

Melnick, who is a Messianic Jew, has experienced hatred against the Jews first-hand. Because he was born in Paris, France, to Jewish parents who survived the Holocaust, anti-Semitism was an everyday reality. "I was raised in an environment where my parents didn't like to talk about the Germans or the Nazis," the evangelist remembers.

He further describes an incident that took place in the United States when he lived in a Jewish neighborhood. For a year, he says, an adolescent would drive by and yell, “Dirty Jew” out of the car window. "They learn it from their parents," Melnick laments. "The families are responsible, but unfortunately the kids go to school and they [learn] it from their schoolmates and from the Internet."

He concludes that a spiritual battle -- not one of a political or psychological nature-- lies at the heart of anti-Semitism.

"Satan wants to duplicate everything that God does for his advantage," the messianic Jew explains. "God loves Israel and the Jewish people. The Gentile Christian has a part to play in protecting Israel. Christians have a biblical mandate to love Israel, but to love it enough and not turn their back on Israel, even when the rest of the world does."