Ronn Torossian
Ronn TorossianCorutesy

Peter and Zechariah Mehler are a Milwaukee father and son accused of using a hammer and ax to tear down a mural which showed a Star of David combined with a swastika in the center of the city in a building owned by Ihsan Atta, a local Palestinian Arab activist who proudly and openly endorses Hamas and intifada.

Painted on slabs of vinyl affixed to the brick, the mural — a large rectangle about the size of the building’s ground floor — featured a background that appeared to depict mass graves, weeping mothers, drones and other scenes of carnage in Gaza.

At the center: a Jewish star with a swastika inside it, along with the words, “The irony of becoming what you once hated.”

When a local mother splashed black paint on the mural and confronted him on camera, yelling, “What are you promoting for our kids to see?” Atta yelled back and had it repainted by the next day.

Any doubts that Mehler had about whether the mural was antisemitic were erased when he visited the site and, he said, saw anti-Zionist protesters harassing Orthodox Jewish teenagers. “You had the Free Palestine group just screaming at these kids, you know, ‘baby murderers and Zionist pigs,’” he said/

The Mehlers are facing three years in jail for allegedly destroying this hateful mural, and sadly the local Jewish community has refused to help men accused of a crime which many would deem heroic.

The Milwaukee Jewish Federation (MJF) which has assets of at least $260 Million Dollars is yet to issue a statement on the incident, will not report on it in The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle (WJC) which they own and refuse to even accept a paid advertisement from charities supporting the Mehlers.

This same Milwaukee Jewish Federation and their allied organizations praised the BLM movement, noting they “…oppose the prevalence of all forms of oppression, and the absence of equality, respect, and opportunity needed for a just society. We embrace efforts to suffocate racism in all its forms and that light a path for reform and justice.” The Milwaukee Jewish Federation supports BLM and stands loud and proud on issues for “Milwaukee lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and questioning Jewish people”, is outspoken on environment related issues, yet refuses anything to do with local Orthodox Jews accused of destroying a Nazi wall. So much for standing up for Jewish rights.

As Michael Harryman, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer of the MJF told Zechariah Mehler in an email, “MJF can’t put ourselves in a position where folks can even get the sense that we endorsed any actions of your past. You know we didn’t, we know we didn’t, and you’re not suggesting we did but optics matter.” He continued to tell Mehler , “…you come with an ongoing backstory that could present content and/or reputation challenges for a Jewish publication.”

“Reputational challenges” for the largest local Jewish organization to have anything to do with Jews accused of destroying a Nazi wall created by Ihsan Atta, who praises Hamas, calls Israel a genocide state and calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. Shows us where the priorities of the Federation lie - They are right, they have reputational issues and no sane Jews can continue to support the Milwaukee Jewish Federation which refuses to stand up to hate.

As Zechariah Mehler told the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, “As the complication MJF faces regarding what you believe to be my complicated profile, I have nothing to apologize for. I did not commit a crime, and I am falsely accused of destroying personal property which is a tangible threat to the Jewish community, displayed in a neighborhood in which Jews feel uncomfortably under fire by pro Palestinian agitators. Your refusal to even report on my position says that the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and Milwaukee Jewish Chronicle are more interested in ignoring the rise of antisemitic behavior in Milwaukee than in servicing our Jewish community.

Shame on you. Look in the mirror and understand that we have a community who is threatened and underserviced by your organization. We are going through the process of combating the false accusation of criminal destruction of property and have had the good fortune to receive the support of many national and international Jewish organizations as well as members of the global Jewish community. What shall I say to them about you? That you shy away from reporting on our local jihadi who put a Nazi sign in the middle of town which calls for violence against Jews? That you urge Jews to report Anti-Semitism but not to act on anything?

The problem of antisemitism is not going away. Public expressions of that antisemitism are on the rise and we can expect violence from these jihadis in Milwaukee as well. I am not asking you to attack the problem in the same way I have, but do something about Jew-hatred. MJF does not do not much more than perpetuate itself while also patting itself on the back for doing so. You can call me a criminal or an agitator but in the end you would rather get your picture taken at an event celebrating yourselves than take action.”

Shame is all one can say to the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. This father and son are heroes, role models taking action at a time when government stands by watching antisemitism day after day after day.

Yet, there are many in the Jewish community who realize that the new Milwaukee DA must drop all charges as hate speech in Milwaukee and anywhere else must be confronted and destroyed. Jewish communal organizations who stand up for BLM and transrights but refuse to stand up for Jews fighting back against Nazis are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

The great Ze’ev Jabotinsky once said “The bitter root of our shame and our suffering is that we do not give our own people the full love of a patriot. It would be better if we did not love our people at all, if we were unconcerned as to whether it existed or had disappeared, rather than that we should love it halfway, which means to despise it.”

The Milwaukee Jewish Federation is harming the interests of the Jewish community. Simply, the only thing which Peter and Zechariah Mehler should hear from the Milwaukee Jewish Federation is Thank you for your actions and keeping our community safe. Milwaukee’s DA must immediately drop charges in court at today's preliminary hearing.

Ronn Torossian is an entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is Chairman of Betar, an international Zionist movement devoted to strong, proud Jews.