Antisemitism is on the rise after start of war in Iran — with 34% spike in incidents the first week alone
War breeding worldwide hate
Charles Asher Small, founding director and president of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, says: “War is fueling global antisemitism. Communities are paying the price for the Iran war.
“Global monitoring showed a 34% spike in antisemitic incidents the first week alone.
“Attacks are linked to pro-Iran or anti-Jewish conspiracies. We’re talking about antisemitic attacks in the US, like March 12 at Temple Israel in Michigan and Old Dominion University in Virginia, March 8 in San Jose, Calif., are part of the same system.
“Middle Eastern chaos, Iranian ideological fuel and radicalized actors treat synagogues, schools and Jewish institutions as ‘soft targets.’
“Hidden foreign influence is encouraging campus/street radicalization. Michigan, Virginia, California are all part of the same ecosystem.”
He has briefed Congress and security leaders on policy steps to disrupt threats.
Sunday, March 29, 10:30 a.m., this doctor of philosophy, author of “Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity,” director of Antisemitism Studies at Woolf Institute, Cambridge, UK, senior research fellow in Tel Aviv University, will speak at 30 W. 68th St., Stephen Wise Free Synagogue.
Vamping to the stage
Whicever way our country is leaning, here’s another place to go: Opening April 29, four weeks only, at the 65-seat Sargent Theater is “Memoirs of a Drag Queen.” San Antonio’s Nicolas Moncayo stars as drag queen Amory Legato in a humorous survival journey from a shy childhood to creative freedom.
“I was inspired after binge-watching ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’” says the show’s writer and composer Bernard Taylor. “I combined my experiences growing up painfully shy, learning to stand up for myself.” He says, one song, “What Daddy Wants,” is echoed frequently on “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
Also, he claims, “Memoirs of a Drag Queen” challenges who drag is for. “It presents drag as an art form that reaches beyond labels and stereotypes.”
Its drag designer’s name? Ready? It’s Hunsen Abequeer.
Listen, with the event at the synagogue — and now this — I suggest you do not get mixed up and go to the wrong place.
He’s a bit hoarse
When mentioning Conan O’Brien’s MC’ing the Oscars I neglected to include this story: Long back on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” Olivier Martinez who was then touted as the French Brad Pitt was asked if the English language ever caused him difficulty. He explained: “Once. In ’95 I was in America promoting ‘The Horseman on the Roof.’ And what happened was I said how much I loved working with the whores here. I’d meant to say ‘the horses.’ ”
Magical lyricist
Also, in case you never knew, Mariah Carey once planned a poetry book. Among her gems for children was:
“I love my unicorn, he knows I am true.
“My troubles go poof, my unicorn named Boo.
“My lambs are all here, all smiling and gay.
“Boo and I dance, we sing and we play.”
If this got published, I only know I never got a copy.
Oscar loser who has three salaries. There’s the one he thinks he should get, the one he really gets, and the one he tells the IRS he gets. And the wife says: “I’m confused. I just learned my husband wants a divorce. I don’t know what to think. My analyst is out of town.”
Only in California, kids, only in California.
