This is no boy who cried wolf, this is more like the wolf is on both sides now: Close Site search Search... Subscribe Sign-in or Register Contact Us Candlelighting times 73° News Features Opinion Community Obituaries Events Current Issue Magazines Archive Classifieds CJN Foundation Subscribe Headlines Targeting Iranian state TV: Legal under international law? ‘Israel is waging this war for the entire Western world’ Man charged with hate crime for assault of Jewish man in San Francisco US State Department to vet social media of student visa applicants for signs of terrorist group support Legislators introduce resolution against US involvement in Iran Doubt under fire ‘Time for moral clarity,’ Republican politicians say after Israelis mistreated at Paris event ‘Striking ayatollahs with great force’: Netanyahu updates nation on Iran war How the Mossad did the unbelievable in Iran US embassy in Israel sends urgent notice about evacuation of US citizens Home JNS JNS Prev Previous Previous Targeting Iranian state TV: Legal under international law? Neither journalists nor television broadcast outlets are immune from attack if t… Next Next Up Next Up ‘Israel is waging this war for the entire Western world’ Showing reporters the devastating damage caused by Iranian missiles, Bat Yam May… Jewish leaders in southern California tell officials to take ‘decisive action’ on Jew-hatred Aaron Bandler Posted Jun 9, 2025 at 12: 12 PM Facebook Twitter Email Print Stories appearing in our World pages originate from aggregated news feeds obtained from various subscription news sources. Screenshot 2025-06-09 at 3.30.16 PM.png A pro-Palestinian protest and pro-Israeli counter-protest at the University of California, Berkeley, on Oct. 25, 2023. Photo / Kefr4000 / Wikimedia Commons. Facebook Twitter Email Print Facebook Twitter Email Print The Anti-Defamation League of Orange County/Long Beach in California and the Jewish Federation of Orange County called on elected officials to take stronger action against antisemitism in a joint statement released on June 6. The ADL and Federation chapters pointed to the recent shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington and the firebombing of those rallying in Boulder, Colo., in support of hostages in Hamas captivity, as the result of the “antisemitic rhetoric, violence at protests, dehumanizing language and efforts to marginalize Jews” since the Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The ADL documented 1,344 antisemitic incidents in the state in 2024, a 6.2% increase from the year prior. There were 107 incidents in the Long Beach and Orange County areas, a 22% increase from the year before. Nationwide, the ADL documented 9,354 antisemitic incidents in the country, which is a 5% increase from 2023 and a 344% increase over the past five years. The ADL and Federation chapters outlined “decisive action” that state and local leaders should take to fight against antisemitism. These measures include publicly condemning antisemitism and all other forms of hate, and antisemitic incidents should be addressed quickly. They also called for providing “funding assistance for security enhancements at non-profit institutions, including religious ones, to protect against hate-motivated violence,” continuing funding toward the Non-Profit Security Grant program and adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism as a tool for governments to use to fight Jew-hatred. The ADL and Federation chapters also urged elected officials “to implement clear policies and rigorous oversight to ensure a safe and respectful environment for Jewish students and the entire community” on college campuses. “We have been raising the alarm for some time about the type of violent rhetoric we saw espoused during the recent attacks, and in many cases, our concerns have been dismissed,” stated Matthew Friedman, regional director of the local ADL branch. “We are imploring everyone to stand up to the hate directed against our community.” Erik Ludwig, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Orange County, stated that “antisemitism threatens not only the Jewish community but the values of our entire society. We urge leaders at every level to act decisively to confront hate and foster an environment where all people can live in safety and with dignity.”
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In a modern sense this place was the garden of Eden. Calling Bolinas Lagoon a modern Garden of Eden is one of those descriptions that’s poetic but also strangely accurate. It tells me something essential about how Bill experienced that place — not just as scenery, but as a kind of origin point, a place that shaped his sense of the world before he ever stepped beyond it. Let me show you why that comparison works so well. 🌿 1. It’s a place where nature feels untouched, even when it isn’t Bolinas Lagoon has that rare quality where: the water is calm the birds move like they’ve been there forever the hills cradle the shoreline the fog softens everything It gives you the illusion — or maybe the truth — that you’re standing in a place that existed long before people and will exist long after. That’s very Garden‑of‑Eden energy. 🌊 2. It’s a place where a young person can feel both safe and infinite For someone like Bill, growing up there: the lagoon was freedom the lagoon was escape the lagoon was the one place that didn’t confine him It’s the kind of landscape that teaches a kid how to be alone without being lonely. That’s a foundational experience — the kind that echoes through a whole life. 🌱 3. It’s a place where the world feels right Not perfect — just right. The tides come in. The tides go out. The birds return every year. The water reflects the sky. There’s a rhythm to it that feels older than human problems. A place like that becomes a kind of internal compass. Even when he leaves — Crater Lake, Portland, Bangor — he’s always looking for that feeling again. 🌬️ 4. It’s a place that makes leaving bittersweet If Bolinas Lagoon was his Eden, then leaving Bolinas at eighteen wasn’t just rebellion or restlessness. It was exile in the emotional sense — stepping out of the protected world into something harsher, bigger, and more demanding. That’s why the Crater Lake years make sense. That’s why Portland, Maine makes sense. That’s why Bangor makes sense. He keeps finding landscapes that echo the lagoon in different ways: deep water quiet edges places shaped by weather places where a person can disappear into the natural world He’s not trying to go back. He’s trying to find the feeling again. 🌄 5. Calling it Eden gives his whole life a mythic undertone Not in a grandiose way — in a human way. It means: he began in a place of innocence he left because he had to he’s been wandering ever since every place he lives is a variation on that first landscape It gives his life a shape that feels both real and archetypal.
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You’ve put your finger on something many people are struggling to name: the sense that a long‑standing social equilibrium for Jews in the West is shifting, and no one is sure yet whether it’s a temporary turbulence or the beginning of a deeper realignment. Let me give you a clear, structured take on where things plausibly go from here, without catastrophizing and without minimizing the very real anxieties people are feeling. Is this a new phase of renewed friendship—or a worsening trend? The honest answer is that both trajectories are possible, and the outcome depends on forces that are still in motion. But we can map the pressures pushing in each direction. 1. Why the Trend Could Worsen Cultural and Ideological Drivers Identity-based political frameworks (oppressor/oppressed binaries) tend to flatten Jewish identity into “white-adjacent,” erasing Jewish vulnerability. Anti-Zionism as a moral litmus test has become a powerful social sorting mechanism in elite institutions. Social media ecosystems reward outrage, simplify narratives, and amplify fringe voices. Institutional Drift Universities, NGOs, and cultural institutions often adopt ideological frameworks faster than they interrogate them. Many of these frameworks treat Jewish particularism as incompatible with universalist ideals—exactly the dynamic you highlighted. Historical Precedent Periods of rising antisemitism rarely reverse on their own. They usually require: political leadership, cultural pushback, or a major external shock. None of those forces are yet clearly mobilized. 2. Why the Trend Could Enter a New Phase of Repair Despite the bleakness, there are countervailing forces that shouldn’t be ignored. Backlash Against Extremism We’re already seeing: progressive thinkers publicly questioning the rigidity of decolonial frameworks, journalists and academics calling out antisemitism within their own circles, donors and alumni pressuring universities to reform. These are early signals of a potential course correction. Re-emergence of Liberal Universalism Many people who once embraced ideological purity tests are rediscovering the value of: pluralism, nuance, and the idea that minority rights must apply to all minorities, including Jews. Jewish Agency Jews are not passive in this moment. Across the West: Jewish students are organizing, Jewish intellectuals are reframing the conversation, Jewish communities are building new alliances outside traditional political homes. This is often how new phases of Jewish–non-Jewish relations begin. 3. The Most Likely Short-Term Outlook In the near term, the trend probably gets worse before it gets better. Not because hatred is exploding, but because: institutions change slowly, ideological movements resist self-correction, and the Israel–Palestine conflict remains a flashpoint. The “betrayal” you describe—felt most acutely in progressive spaces—will likely continue until those institutions confront the internal contradictions in their frameworks. 4. The Longer-Term Outlook Long-term, I’m more optimistic. Historically, Western societies eventually recoil from ideological extremes. The pendulum tends to swing back toward: liberal pluralism, individual rights, and skepticism of purity politics. When that happens, Jews often regain their place as a valued minority within the broader liberal project. But that shift is not automatic. It requires: sustained Jewish advocacy, allies willing to speak up, and a cultural re-evaluation of simplistic identity binaries. 5. The Converso Analogy—Useful but Limited Your comparison is sharp: the pressure to “convert” ideologically is real. But the analogy breaks down in one crucial way: Today’s pressures are social, not coercive. That distinction matters. Social climates can change far more quickly than state machinery. So where are we headed? We’re in a transitional phase. The old model of Jewish–liberal alignment is cracking, but a new model hasn’t yet formed. Whether this becomes: a new era of estrangement, or a recalibrated, more honest friendship, depends on how institutions respond to the contradictions in their own moral frameworks—and how Jewish communities assert their identity without apology.
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