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You Want Me Off This Train? You’ll Have to Kill Me First.

Photo by Ketut Subiyanto: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-and-woman-walking-on-subway-platform-5037310/
The last eight months have been full of outrage and heartbreak over the barbaric, unprovoked attack on Israel and the mind-boggling worldwide outpouring of support for the murderers and child rapists of Hamas. Throughout, many of us have tried to rein in our raw emotions and attempt to keep cool in defending Israel online and in interpersonal relationships. This hasn’t been easy, even for someone as non-confrontational as me, but it’s for the greater good.
I was badly set off, however, by the news from June 10th that a pack of masked pro-Palestinian demonstrators had boarded a New York city subway car and demanded that “Zionists” leave the train. The story angered me, and I was confused for a while on how I might have reacted if I had been there myself. New York is my hometown. I’ve been on that very train many times. I used to live five blocks from the station where the incident occurred. My jittery rage at the incident settled into a sense of steely resolve. I’m sorry, but if you want to throw me off the subway in my city for being Jewish, you’re going to have to kill me first.
I know. It’s easy to be tough when you’re talking to yourself in the shower. Maybe I wouldn’t have been so bold if I had actually there, but I think I speak for many Jewish New Yorkers when I say, “Are you kidding me?” You want to intimidate Jews in one of the world’s great Jewish cities? You better be ready for some trouble.
The story got more galling as it emerged that the primary suspect, Anas (Ahmad) Saleh, works at the Weill Cornell Medical Center. Where do we even start with this? The medical center, previously known as New York Hospital, was renamed after Sanford Weill, then the Chairman of CitiBank, made an enormous donation to further its medical mission. Sanford Weill, one of the world’s richest men and a tremendous philanthropist, is, like me, a Jewish New Yorker. For someone who works at his namesake hospital to go out and threaten Jews in the Big Apple is simply beyond disgusting.
I was born at what is now Weill Cornell Medical Center. My father taught ophthalmology there. It’s a world-class medical school and hospital that serves all people, regardless of race or religion. That’s what people like Sanford Weill stand for. He also donated millions to a medical school in Qatar, the country that’s funding a lot of this Jew hatred in New York.
This is the Jewish experience in history, however. As the Torah says in Exodus 1:8, “A new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph…” In Genesis, Joseph advised the previous Pharaoh to store grain in advance of seven lean years, saving Egypt from starvation and making Pharaoh the richest king in world history. Then, a new Pharaoh came along, and it was “Joseph who?”
So it goes in the movie business, too, an industry that would not exist but for Jews like Szmuel Gelbfisz, aka Samuel Goldwyn. Today, we have Oscar nominees showing up to the awards wearing pins that glorify bloody lynchings of Jews by Palestinian terrorists and get roars of approval from the crowd… as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science Museum sees fit to present a display on the history of Hollywood that said nothing about its Jewish founders. It’s Pharoah all over again. Thanks, Jews, now get lost, or dead.
In New York, the institution funded by Sanford Weill became a breeding ground for people who want to kill all the Jews in Israel and expel Jews from New York city. According to their supporters, however this is matter of free speech and a justice-driven mission to make “racists” unwelcome in the city. Really? You want to remove racists from New York city? Start with yourselves. Even Rosa Parks got to stay on the bus.
Of course, this is not about free speech. There is no constitutional right to threaten me based on my religion. Besides, talk is cheap. You want to be a pro-Palestinian cosplayer, in your daring keffiyeh and cowardly mask? You’re not frightening me, or anyone else.
Actions count more than talk. You want to make a difference for the Palestinian cause? Kill me, and everyone else. You’ll find that there are 2 million Jews in New York city, so you better bring plenty of ammo. Then, you can spend 40 years in Attica showing your unwavering love for Hamas.
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