2013-12-03

"The hunger for hate is strong these days."

That sums up social mood in one sentence. What does it reference? If you follow the NYTimes, you may have seen this story: Swastikas, Slurs and Torment in Town’s Schools; Pine Bush, N.Y., School District Faces Accusations of Anti-Semitism

The article was published on page A1 on November 8. It tells the story of raging anti-Semitism in this town not far from New York City.

A little digging turns up a completely different story: The hunger for hate: "Best defense is a strong offense"
So this appears to be largely a power, money, real estate, tax, and welfare struggle between ultra-orthodox Jews and a local community led in large part by normal American Jews with jobs like school superintendent, dentist, and part-time preservation activist. (Similar struggles can be seen in, say, Sherman Oaks, CA between the fast-growing ultra-orthodox and the long-time resident regular Jews.)

You might think that the New York Times would instinctively identify with the educated liberal Jews against the smears of the reactionary Jews.

But that underestimates the media's insatiable longing for allegations of anti-Semitism, no matter how wacky. The hunger for hate is strong these days.
During negative social mood, people not only are more likely to fight, but they are also more likely to manufacture fights that deliver the same satisfying emotional response. In modern America, if there aren't actual incidents of hate, they are being fabricated.

Racist Red Lobster receipt may be hoax, analysts say
Restaurant: We're investigating whether anti-gay 'tip' was a hoax
The Insane Police Report from Oberlin College’s Weird Racist Hoax

Those are just some of the more recent stories, but they are coming out on more than a monthly basis now. People not only want to hate, but they want to feel hated as well.

For international flavor: Jewish activists set sights on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, raising alarm in Muslim world
Their proposals, long dismissed as extremist, are now being debated in the Israeli parliament and embraced by an expansionist wing in the ruling coalition government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

These political leaders, many in Netanyahu’s party, want Israel to assert more, not less, control over the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Old City, including the place known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary.

“We’re looking for it to be divided between Jews and Muslims,” said Aviad Visoli, chairman of the Temple Mount Organizations, which claims 27 groups under its umbrella. “Today, Jews realize the Western Wall is not enough. They want to go to the real thing.”

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