With an uptick of anti-Semitism worldwide coinciding with the Coronavirus pandemic, it is all too easy to wonder if a comparable attack on Jews is brewing. And stories of insults of Asian-Americans on public streets are an unsettling reminder of what a hateful response to a public health crisis might yield. Jews, who in recent decades have mostly stood against bigotry, may again have to reacquaint themselves with this tragic chapter in their history.
It’s difficult to sift through the constantly developing news about the novel coronavirus. It’s confusing and, unfortunately, some of it is false. We reached out to an epidemiologist to give us clear facts about COVID-19 and some guidance in these uncertain times. Send questions to be answered in this ongoing series to editor@momentmag.com
How did a politician facing trial on two corruption cases, who came out second in the latest elections and who failed to receive the mandate to form the next government manage to end up keeping his post as prime minister?
Mahmoud, the nurse working in the hospital in the north, concludes, “the medical system is a place of equality between Arabs and Jews, both for staff and for patients. But outside of the medical system, Arabs are discriminated against in many ways. We have needed systemic solutions to create greater equality for a long time, and now we realize that we needed them even more.”
For the vast majority of Americans, the potential collapse of our public health systems and predictions of economic Armageddon have left us frightened and uncertain. But there are some who have found a silver lining in our coronavirus fears: the conspiracy theorists, the racists and the anti-Semites.
