Jew Hatred Comes to Rural Maine

I was in Lovell Library today, about 10 miles from my home.  In the magazine section, I noticed a monthly periodical whose front cover blared some very aggressive anti-Israel headlines.  When I opened the magazine, I saw that every single article in The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs was directed specifically against Israel, in the most vile terms, inciting its readers relentlessly.  It was on par with Der Sturmer.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, most residents in this part of Maine have probably never met a Jew in their lives.  Politics are rarely debated, and I don’t think Israel is a country on everyone’s minds –  – the attitude here is mostly rise early, work hard, deal honestly, mind your own business, and live and let live.  World politics just aren’t part of anyone’s Weltanschauung.  The only reason Iraq and Afghanistan make headlines is because so many young men and women from Maine serve there in the military.

I was shocked and sickened to see this magazine in our library.  I asked the librarian, “Who determines what magazines appear on the shelves?” and she replied, “The only periodicals we subscribe to are the New York Times and Consumer Reports.  We are a small library with an even smaller budget, and we just can’t afford anything else.  All the magazines you see are subscriptions that have been donated to the library by our patrons.”

I told the librarian that I was surprised the library would carry such hateful and one-sided material.  She replied, “Well, it’s a public library, and people have the right to express different opinions.”  She suggested that perhaps I’d “find a counterbalance with The Christian Science Monitor.”   Um. . . I don’t think so.  Despite the politically correct “right to free speech” answer I received, I am unconvinced there is nothing to be done.  That said, I would love to similarly donate a subscription of a  pro-Israel monthly periodical . . . and I could not think of a single one!

So, readers, if you have any suggestions I’d appreciate hearing from you.   The sonei Yisrael (Jew haters) are clever and patient.  Who would have guessed that their agenda would infiltrate the far reaches of the wilderness in Maine?  I guess as Jews whose parents and grandparents lived and died during the Holocaust era, we should not be surprised:  you can run but you cannot hide.