The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is reporting a dramatic increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the US in 2017. According to its report:
“In its annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, ADL found that the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. rose 57 percent in 2017 – the largest single-year increase on record and the second highest number reported since ADL started tracking such data in 1979. The sharp rise was in part due to a significant increase in incidents in schools and on college campuses, which nearly doubled for the second year in a row.”
The last part of the paragraph is particularly troubling since it suggests (although does not prove) that anti-Semitism seems to be on the rise among younger people. The rise in anti-Semitism parallels the rise of nationalist sentiment based upon ideologies of exclusion, a phenomenon that seems to be global in scope. When Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists engage in attacks against people who do not share their faith, it becomes virtually impossible to protect basic human rights for all.
The State Department’s top diplomat on Korean affairs has abruptly decided to retire, effective this Friday. Joseph Yun has been with the State Department for 30 years and in the absence of a US Ambassador to South Korea, his departure leaves a large hole in expertise on how to deal with North Korea. The Washington Post indicates that the resignation is due to frustration over the lack of influence over US policy toward the Korean issue. Yun had been the point man in all dealings with Korea over the last few years and it is difficult to imagine how he can be replaced at a time when his experience might be of incredible value. One would think that the Administration would have done everything possible to persuade Yun to stay on his post. Yun himself is probably aware of the damage his resignation will incur, signalling the depth of his frustration with US Korean policy.
US National Security Agency Director, Admiral Mike Rogers, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that President Trump has not authorized him to “take any action to counter Russian election meddling.” The testimony was unnerving since Special Counsel Mueller’s indictment of Russian individuals and institutions seems to prove quite clearly that there is “incontrovertible” (to use the word used by National Security Adviser McMaster) evidence that Russia intervened in the 2016 US election. In ordinary circumstances, one would expect the US President to take every measure possible to prevent such interference by a foreign power to recur. President Trump’s refusal to defend the country is remarkable. Think what would have happened if President Roosevelt had decided to ignore the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Most observers would describe that lack of action as treason.
National Security Agency Director Admiral Mike Rogers
World Politics News 
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