By Elayne Savage, PhD
I know someone who recently found himself swallowed up by thousands of protesters in San Francisco when he needed to cross Market St to get from the BART station to his Civic Center destination.
The media reported there were 10,000 to 15,000 protesters.
News outlets are describing the supposed 'purpose' of the demonstrations in a variety of ways through their different world views:
“Demanding ceasefire in Israel-Hamas war”
“A large-scale march in support of Palestine”
“Hundreds in San Francisco rally Sunday in support of Israel”
However, when he was telling me about his experience his sense of the energy of the crowd was very much different:
Although this appeared to him to be a rally supporting Palestinians, he says it looked like mostly local college students were marching.
“What an unnerving experience. I have never in my life experienced such fear and felt so threatened. So much intensity and animosity. So hate-filled.”
As I listened to his discomfort I could feel my own fear starting to bubble up. I found myself cringing as I was recalling the scary recent reporting on world-wide resurgence of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.
He said he could see the fear and panic in my eyes as he was sharing his Market Street experience.
Yes, it certainly catches me off guard each time those old painful memories keep intruding in a PTSD-ish, visceral sort of way.
Mostly memories of my childhood fears go directly back to Marion, my next door neighbor and best friend. Our friendship was so confusing to me. We would spend many wonderful hours playing together but then sometimes her parents and aunts and uncles would spit on our porch and sneer “Dirty Jews.”
Some of you may recall that I’ve blogged about those fearful, confusing memories of Marion and her family before:
Broadsided by anti-Semitism
Actually, I’ve blogged about Fear 43 times over the years.
Here is the link to all of my Fear-Themed blogs
I'm also sharing with you a few links to recent pieces about the resurgence of racism and hate in the world.
Much of this has been subterranean for years and now seems to have 'permission' to hate out loud. Who/where this permission is coming from could be the subject of another blog.
"History repeating itself": How the Israel-Hamas war is fueling hate against Muslims and Jews
vox.com
‘Gaza this … Hamas that’: the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia in Australia | Australia news | The Guardian
amp.theguardian.com
Washingtonpost.com
New York Times
A new wave of antisemitism threatens to rock an already unstable world
news.yahoo.com
And what about you? Is anything different for you or your sense of safety and security? A few day ago, I was glad to be able to hug my Palestinian friends. One of them and I had sat on a bench and talked for hours years ago when there were scary tensions. We're making plans to do it again soon.
Can we talk as well? I'd love to hear your thoughts . . .
© Elayne Savage, PhD
Until next month,
Elayne
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