A few (very) bad apples
It began with a friend’s Saturday afternoon Facebook status update on March 27. No comments yet. You can be the first!
He wrote, “Just saw something that you don’t see everyday in the East Valley: men dressed in Nazi uniforms holding flags with Hitler’s face and Nazi symbols. How sad that on such a beautiful day, hate would be on display.”
A few phone calls later, I’d determined that a handful of people in Nazi uniforms was protesting outside Temple Beth Sholom, in Chandler, which is where Rabbi Bryan Bramly was arrested last week on charges of raping a child. I’d also determined that there was a significant police presence there as well.
I typed “Temple Beth Sholom,” “Chandler” and “Nazis” into Google, and sure enough, the protesters’ blog came up. I knew it was the right one because the first sentence on the screen contained the words “Juden Raus!” (Jews out!)
Highly original, these American Nazis.
The blog post read: “As a result of this disgusting rabbi’s alleged sadistic and criminal behavior, NSM-AZ decided to stage a peaceful Saturday afternoon protest demonstration outside the synagogue that was host to this alleged parasitic urchin that preys on innocent children.” (NSM stands for National Socialist Movement, which claims it's the largest National Socialist Party, or Nazi Party, operating in the U.S.)
The weekend Nazis were shocked to find that there was a preschool at the temple. “Talk about letting the fox guard the hen house,” one wrote on the blog.
The irony, of course, is that the “innocent children” the neo-Nazis claim to be defending most likely are Jewish. In practically the same breath, the blog post goes on to explain that “Jews are not the nice timid innocent victims they portray themselves to be. Read their holy books and you shall find evil people with twisted perversions. They live among us, control our media and financial systems. They are destroying America from within.”
You’d think that if that’s what they honestly believe, the neo-Nazis wouldn’t care about the safety of kids at a Jewish preschool. But then, you’d be looking for logic where there is none.
Detective David Ramer, of the Chandler Police Department, confirmed that four people, three men and one woman, gathered outside Temple Beth Sholom dressed in Nazi garb that Saturday afternoon. Two carried rifles, which may have been what prompted several motorists to call the police and report them. One of the demonstrators was from Apache Junction.
“They told the officers that they’re aligned with the white National Socialist Party,” Ramer said, “and they were there to protest the Jewish sinner.”
According to the detective, things went pretty smoothly. “They understand their constitutional rights,” he said — not unlike the Westboro Baptist Church. “They have it down. I’m sure they’ve done this before.”
Bill Straus, head of the local Anti-Defamation League, said that even though the group’s actions may be constitutionally protected, “there’s no question about their intent — to terrorize, to intimidate — and we at ADL condemn all efforts to intimidate and terrorize a group of people.”
“The good news behind stories like this,” Straus said, “is that these people are a very small minority. There are more good guys than bad guys in the world. We lose sight of that sometimes. But my heart goes out to that congregation and anyone who happened to see (the demonstration).”
01 Apr, 2010 >