It’s not ‘worse’ on the political right or left
What is going on in America? Casual, violent, racial, verbal — all types of anti-Semitism are proliferating with no sign of abatement in sight.
Start the week.
There was a bizarre tweet from rapper Kanye West threatening to go “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” — whatever that was intended to mean, it certainly doesn’t sound innocent. It might be easy to wave this off as just more bizarre ramblings from a person with a long-standing history of bizarre ramblings. Yet, just days earlier, Kanye West was lauded by House Judiciary Committee Republicans and Elon Musk in their misguided pursuit of equating unfettered speech with truth-telling. As the saying goes, even a broken clock is right twice a day. So even if West did say something interesting on his Tucker Carlson Show appearance (which we did not watch), it would have been wise to wait for a metaphorical third correct instance before welcoming a known kook as some kind of savior.
There’s no evidence that West is genuinely planning on murdering Jewish people, but words count. Words were tweeted. A poisonous thought shared. This happens so often now that it is simply living in denial to say it doesn’t matter. Anti-Semitism broadcast to millions by a known personality on one of the world’s most popular social media platforms matters! Remember, one of Adolf Hitler’s most powerful tools was the radio — as it was for the Hutus in Rwanda. Potentially lethal ravings of an unstable person are easy — too easy — to dismiss.
Next.
As the second day of Sukkot was ending, StopAntiSemitism.org shared a video from a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel demonstration in Washington, DC. The protest was not outside the Israeli embassy, or even the home of the Israeli ambassador — logical locations for anti-Zionists who are critical of Israeli policy. No, this “political” protest took place at George Washington University, not in the quad, but outside of the school’s Hillel, during a Jewish holiday! If these anti-Zionists are not anti-Semitic, why did they choose a Jewish student organization as a site to scream “Israel is a terrorist state”?
If these anti-Zionists conflate American Jews with Zionism, why are they surprised when anti-Zionism is conflated with anti-Semitism?
We await the response from GWU explaining why it is allowing the harassment of a minority religious group on campus as it celebrates a Jewish holiday.
As these two incidents show — and what has been known to Jews from time immemorial — anti-Semitism originates in all parts of the spectrum — right, left and everything in between.
In recent years, particularly since the election of Donald Trump and the explosion of anti-Semitic anti-Zionism, there have been continued attempts to politicize anti-Semitism, often devolving into a futile discussion of which is “worse,” anti-Semitism on the left or on the right, as most recently witnessed in CNN’s anti-Semitism special. Unwisely, each side contends the other is “worse.”
It is vitally important to investigate each and every type of anti-Semitism in order to combat it. To debate which is worse is a useless partisan exercise that obfuscates the real menace. Anti-Semitism is dangerous for Jews, whether it comes from white supremacists, anti-Zionists, celebrities or anyone else.
Copyright © 2022 by the Intermountain Jewish News
