https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/270344/anti-semitism-full-display-ben-gurion-airport-ari-lieberman
Holocaust imagery depicting man’s inhumanity to man generally evokes emotive responses that make us question the possibility of a repetition of such bestial behavior in the 21st century. It also evokes questions on how humanity can transform ignorance, bigotry and intolerance into murder and mass genocide.
A particular disturbing Holocaust-era photo, among the many that I’ve seen, left an indelible impression on me. It depicts a barefoot orthodox Jewish man donning a pair of tefillin (phylacteries) and a tallit (prayer shawl). The man, who was almost certainly murdered shortly after the picture was taken, is surrounded by a group of amused German soldiers, possibly members of the notorious SS Einsatzgruppen, who appear to be reveling in the man’s misfortune and humiliation.
An occurrence at Ben-Gurion International Airport this past week rekindled my memory of this image. The scene initially unfolded rather benignly with Rabbi Meir Herzl, the director of a Chabad house in the Jerusalem suburb of Pisgat Zeev, approaching businessman Gad Kaufman, and asking Mr. Kaufman if he would like to don tefillin and recite a short prayer.
This is a rather common occurrence. Chabad routinely performs spiritual community outreach. Some of those who are approached waive them off with a polite smile while others just ignore them. On occasion, those approached respond positively and oblige, and this was the case with Rabbi Herzl’s interaction with Mr. Kaufman.
As Mr. Kaufman donned the tefillin, a crazed woman lurched forward and began berating both Rabbi Herzl and Mr. Kaufman. Her bizarre rant, where she is seen alternating between harassing the rabbi and screeching uncontrollably was caught on video and has since gone viral. “Why are you doing this here?” she barks in Hebrew. “You’re bothering me, why don’t you do it over there?” she demands. At one point Mr. Kaufman begins to address her and Rabbi Herzl, who remained calm and composed throughout, tells Mr. Kaufman not to pay her any mind.
The unhinged woman was later identified as Pnina Peri. Unsurprisingly, she is an academic in the humanities/social science field, and a visiting professor at the University of Maryland’s Joseph and Alma Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies. She is also listed as a faculty member of the sociology department at the American University in Washington D.C., though as of this writing, her name on the American University’s webpage connects to a broken link. Peri’s bio somewhat comically describes her as a “specialist on multicultural theory and cross-culture communication.”