I seem to be on a self-defense kick today. Probably for good reason, when I read things like this.

Your rabbi is beaten up by thugs on the sidewalk outside your synagogue.

You wake up one morning to discover that someone has spray-painted swastikas and the words "Jew vermin must die" on your house.

Your grandmother's headstone is kicked over and the vandal defecates on her grave before he and his gang move on to destroy the rest of the cemetary.

Your son comes home from college bruised and bloody, having been kicked by pro-Palenstinian demonstrators. When you protest to school administrators, you discover that Jews are becoming an unpopular minority on campuses all around the United States.

You download your e-mail and read a calm, rational-sounding news article that claims Jews, not Arabs, masterminded the horrors of September 11.

You click on a Web site and watch ghastly video footage of terrorists cutting off a Wall Street Journal reporter's head, just because the reporter is Jewish.

You turn on the nightly news, and words like these vomit out at you:

You are wicked deceivers of the American people. You have sucked their blood. ... You are the synagogue of Satan, and you have wrapped your tentacles around the U.S. government, and you are deceiving and sending this nation to hell.1

The Jews are the Jews. There never was among them a supporter of peace. They are all liars. They are terrorists. Therefore it is necessary to slaughter them and murder them, according to the words of Allah. Kill the Jews and those Americans that are like them.2

It is the right of any American to defend themselves. And as much as I don't want to sound alarmist, the level of anti-semitism that I see in Seattle alarms me. When I walk by a poster that equates Jews to Nazis, I rip it down and tear it up. But I can't rip down all the flyers, and I can't stop the person who's putting them up.

The writer of this piece, Aaron Zelman, feels the same way.

Wake up, my fellow Jews! These aren't the long-past, discredited words and deeds of Nazi Germany. These are your reality—now! Today! These examples are taken from the daily newspapers or the nightly news of our world, our era. They scream a warning of our danger—and of renewed danger to our religion, our heritage, our families, our traditions, our safety, and our very life.

Once again, I'll put out my offer. Anyone who wants to learn how to shoot can contact me. I'll bring my guns, we'll head to the range, and I'll instruct you to the best of my ability. Analog Kid from Random Nuclear Strikes will come as well. We are more than happy to teach people how to shoot. Kim du Toit will offer advice, tips, and what ever else he can. All you have to do is contact any one of us. Just click on my name at the end of this post to get my email address.