Lexical Compendium
Wait... what is this? Sometimes I come across a word, phrase, idiom, quote, reference, bit of slang, person of interest, etc that either I don't know or I find amusing, interesting, etc. This is a collection of those items so that I can refer back to them in emails, texts, etc.
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pogrom
A pogrom is an organized (i.e. mob) attack of a particular ethnic group. Historically the word has been used to describe ethnic cleansing of Jews, but it can apply to any instance of violent, organized persecution against a specific group.
The word originates from the Russian word "погром," which means "to wreak havoc." It was first used in reference to the violent attacks on Jewish communities in the Russian Empire.
In 2024, as the Israel–Hamas war wages on, the word appeared in the news when on Sunday, 23 June, a protest turned violent in Los Angeles.
Demonstrators were protesting a real estate fair at a synagogue. The Pro-Palestinian protesters have been criticized as antisemitic as violence broke out and CNN's Van Jones called it a pogrom. And this rhetoric seems to be spreading.
The reason for the protest appears to be because the real estate event was promoting the sale of land located in the illegally-occupied Palestinian territories and restricting those sales to Jews. It's unfortunate that this hasn't been the headline in the news. How is this type of event even be allowed to happen??
(link to this entry)
References:
- LA Times: Protest violence outside L.A. synagogue spurs widespread condemnation. Bass vows quick action
- Wikipedia: Pogrom
- Definition: pogrom
- CAIR: CAIR-LA Condemns Events Promoting Real Estate Sale of Occupied Palestinian Land
- Van Jones - homepage
- Mediaite: CNN’s Van Jones Calls Protest Outside Synagogue That Turned Violent a ‘Pogrom’ - including clip
- NYT: Biden and Democratic Leaders Condemn Protest Outside L.A. Synagogue as Antisemitic
Date Added: 26 Jun 2024