One Minority Society Loves to Hate

The world is agitating for another, even more horrific Holocaust.

In Europe, Jews are once again behind bars. Not in concentration camps—yet. But whenever they gather in synagogues, Jewish schools or other cultural centers, they are doing so behind walls, fences, gates and guards. In Paris’s main Jewish district, French soldiers patrol the streets.

Synagogues in Europe’s big cities spend about a quarter of their budgets on security. In some places, it’s as high as 50 percent. In May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that every synagogue and Jewish school in Germany requires constant police protection.

Read more at “The One Minority Society Loves to Hate”

Canceling Verdi

Should classical music be “decolonized”?

A new expression many have become very familiar with over the last few years is “cancel culture.” Important figures of history—Theodore Roosevelt, Queen Victoria and even Gandhi—have either had their statues pulled down or called to be pulled down. But there is one realm of Western historical heritage one would think would be safer. Western civilization’s fine-art tradition is beloved around the world. The so-called “classical music” has for hundreds of years enriched the lives of people from cultures around the world.

Read more at “Canceling Verdi”