I never rush to attribute to anti-Semitism what can first be explained by sheer ignorance. The later breeds the former. However, the kind of generalization seen here, and given a pass by Ara Najarian, sows the seeds of anti-Semitism.
On October 4, 2020 the following comment appeared in one of Ara Najarian’s Facebook posts:
“Let’s all make our collective voices heard! No to Israeli complicity!!!! Boycott all Jewish interests!!! Contact all representatives and make your voices heard!!!! Israel is arming Jihadi terrorists!!! Azeris have threatened to blow up the Nuclear Power Plant!!! We MUST win!!”
Blind to the generalization made in that comment, Ara Najarian gave it a pass. I’m being generous assuming he was blind to the generalization. The comment is anti-Semitic, the writer may not be. But I wouldn’t give Najarian a pass as easily as he gave one to that comment. As an elected city official attempting to build a multi-ethnically supportive image, I’d expect him to be aware of the following facts (which may be news to Najarian):
— Not all Jews are Israeli.
— Not all Israelis are Jews.
— And some Jews (believe it or not) are Armenian.
Opinion | ‘I’m Jewish and Armenian. Israeli Weapons Are Killing My People’
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/.premium-i-m-jewish-and-armenian-israeli-weapons-are-killing-my-people-1.9229817
At the October 13, 2020 City Council meeting, Councilmember, Dan Brotman (who is Jewish) managed to voice his disapproval of the actions of the Israeli government without blaming all Jews (or even all Israelis) for it. However, that kind of differentiation, and the ability to express it properly, appear to be unimportant to Najarian.
Najarian has jumped through a number of hoops lately to build a facade of racial and multi-cultural tolerance.
For example, he recently tried to use his dubious support of Black in Glendale as some kind of twisted political collateral in exchange for their support of Artsakh, failing to realize that people in touch with their humanity don’t need any form of payment for it. His so-called bargaining chip? A “yes” vote on Glendale’s resolution recognizing its racist past. He can easily point to that politically correct vote and claim to be supportive. The truth is, before the candlelight vigil for George Floyd was held in Glendale, Najarian labeled the event a “Trojan horse” on Facebook, implying it was designed to bring Black looting and violence into Glendale. He was sharply criticized.
At the time, Najarian worked under the assumption there would be violence, and made comments like “Gearing up.” for which he was also sharply criticized.
And he drew upon imagery of (Black implied) “attacks on our city from within and and [sic] from outside.”
In contrast, Dan Brotman issued his own assurances to the city without the militaristic rhetoric or racist implications.
In Najarian’s 15 years on City Council, has he ever been proactive about healing race and cultural relations in Glendale before being prompted by outside, politically convenient circumstances?
Ironically, or perhaps hypocritically, after giving an anti-Semitic comment his passive approval, on October 13 2020, Najarian retweeted (see image #6) a post containing a quote by a Jew, Elie Wiesel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel) to make a case for support of Artsakh:
“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.”
Elie Wiesel
Oh, the irony. Oh, the hypocrisy. Oh, Ara Najarian’s indifference.
As I responded to a comment on Nextdoor regarding the use of the first screenshot seen above:
“That’s a screenshot from his Facebook page. He willingly made those images public. Anyone who reads his page will see those. They’re quite unavoidable.
And as far as I can tell, only his wife appears in two of them. She is also a public figure on television (and a member of this group).
Fact is, Najarian loves the same facial recognition that he accused Vartan Gharpetian of wanting because Gharpetian was opposed to Najarian’s silly idea of monthly ‘City Council Dark Days.’
I have no desire to invade Najarian’s privacy. Honestly, it’s in private life (not public government), where I feel he belongs. But if Najarian was so concerned about the images he posts online, he wouldn’t have posted his unsightly bare belly beach photo on FB in early August. Of course, had leisure time on August 8th, since he managed to have the August 11th City Council meeting cancelled for one of his ‘Dark Days.’
That’s Najarian. Freed himself from obligations to the City as an elected official so he could go have a good time at the beach.”