Candace Jarrett
University City
August 4, 2013
While local leaders say Missouri is following a national trend in seeing diminished reports of anti-Semitic activity, that doesn’t mean the problem is going away.
A new audit out from the Anti-Defamation League reports nationally, “the total number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States fell by 14 percent in 2012,” and according to a representative of the organization’s Missouri-Southern Illinois chapter, the decline is also being seen at the local level.But Karen Aroesty, the local chapter’s Regional Director, already knows of a new incident that will be on the organization’s report for the 2013 audit. More than 20 small wooden medallions, some in the shape of the Star of David, have been discovered in the area of Creve Coeur Mill Road. The cut-outs have the words “Israel Did 9/11”, “Google USS Liberty“ and “Google Lavon Affair”
(Editor’s Note: Israeli forces attacked the USS Liberty, a Naval intelligence ship in the 1960s, killing more than 30 people. The Lavon Affair refers to an Israeli intelligence operation from the 1950s.)
Aroesty said the ADL learned of the medallions in February. While she told Patch the person who reported finding them may have reported it to local law enforcement, she added it does not constitute a “hate crime”.