When Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were forced to evacuate the Governor's residence only hours after a Passover seder after it was damaged due to arson, I inquired if the attack was motivated by anti-Semitism.
Pennsylvania State Police subsequently revealed that the suspect Cody Balmer had told them he targeted Shapiro because of his Jewish faith and because "he will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people.” Balmer never saw Shapiro nor his family, but had he saw Shapiro he would have hit him with a hammer.
It has also been revealed that Balmer is an admirer of the late Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara. So, while this was anti-Semitism of the left-wing variety, it does go to show the Trump Administration in its campaign against academia that it is too narrowly focused on anti-Semitism being a foreign phenomenon. Sadly, there is plenty of homegrown anti-Semitism in this country and one of those homegrown anti-Semites committed violence in the home of Governor Shapiro.
What is most disturbing is the equivocation and indifference. Given that the perpetrator has left-wing sympathies that Republicans would rush to Shapiro's defense. Alas, no. Dan Meuser, a Pennsylvania Republican Congressman, actually claimed Shapiro bore some responsibility for the attack:
Our hearts go out to the Shapiro family on this, but they gotta tone it down too. Every action Josh Shapiro has taken so far against the president has either been a lawsuit or a falsehood.
What a load of garbage. Clearly this attack had nothing to do with any criticism Shapiro may have had with Trump. Meuser is clearly turning a blind eye to anti-Semitism. Not only did Governor Shapiro condemn the attempted assassination of then presidential candidate Donald Trump last summer, he stated that Corey Comperatore, the fireman felled by the assassin's bullets, "died a hero."
Now if only Trump was willing to give Shapiro the same consideration. I mean if Trump is prepared to withdraw billions in funding from Harvard for campus anti-Semitism, then he ought to have a moment for Governor Shapiro. Then again, it was Trump who referred to Shapiro as "the highly overrated Jewish Governor" during the DNC last August. Perhaps it is best that Shapiro doesn't hear from Trump because he will likely either lie through his teeth or say something stupid.
Perhaps both Trump and Meuser should look to Pennsylvania Republican Senator Dave McCormick who called the attack on Shapiro's home "an assault against democracy."
And when democracy is assaulted, it goes hand-in-hand with anti-Semitism.
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