The More Things Change, the More They Are the Same
by Paul Shaviv
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| Pro Palestine protest last November in Gainesville, Florida (Alligator) |
Can we understand the current global wave of antisemitism?
The first, and by far the most influential in history, was Christian antisemitism. Irrespective of historical accuracy, Christianity promoted two main beliefs about Jews: they killed Christ (“Deicide”); and by rejecting the Messiah, they lost their status as the holy nation beloved by God (“Supercessionism”) - replaced and ‘superseded’ by the Church.
These charges, repeated from pulpits all over Europe for centuries, firmly embedded antisemitism in European culture, stigmatizing Jews by simultaneously designating them as enemies of Christendom and delegitimizing their religious status. Europe then continuously generated and supported antisemitic myths (blood libels, well-poisoning etc) and prejudice.
As a result, Jews were never accepted as equal citizens in European states – popular prejudice remained even when legal rights were granted. Judaism itself was tainted with damning labels – legalistic, cruel, arrogant etc. The Hebrew Bible (“Old” Testament) was constantly contrasted with the “New” – the former aggressive, judgmental, military – the latter the Gospel of Love. Thus, even in the 1930’s the German churches were almost completely silent in the face of Nazi antisemitic legislation, taking the view that the Jews were a cursed people – and finally getting the punishment they deserved.
The second major wave was the racial antisemitism of the Nazis. This held that the Jews “polluted” the purity of the Aryan races. Added to this were themes of Jewish financial and political domination and exploitation. As an inferior race, Jews were ‘dehumanized’, and compared to rodents and vermin. In that state, it was easy to exterminate them without compunction.
The tactics of Nazi propaganda echo to the present day; one of the most visible is the Nazi tactic of boycotting Jewish shops and businesses. “Kauft nicht bei Juden!” Is now extended to any supposedly “Israel-linked” coffee shops, felafel chains, or other retailers. Left-wing demonstrators seem to adopt the Nazi tactic with enthusiasm.
The third major wave was the Soviet antisemitism of the post-war era. Jews did not fit any Soviet theory of society. Not a nation; not a state; not a religion; not an economic group; not a culture… they fitted no known compartment. Jews were “Rootless cosmopolitans”, and enemies of ‘progress’. The Soviets embarked on a huge antisemitic and anti-”Zionist” campaign, aimed at crushing Jewish identity. This substantially fueled today’s left-wing antizionism.
A fourth – and contemporary - wave embraces the ‘anti-colonialist’ definitions of society. In this scenario, peoples are either oppressed (of color) or oppressors (white); there are no midway positions. Jews, rightly or wrongly, are identified as “white” – possibly ‘super-white’. Israel is a white, colonialist enterprise with no redeeming qualities. In fact, it is an “apartheid” state.
The successful campaign to smear Israel with this label may be traced to the Durban “anti-racism” conference of 2001, hijacked by Pro-Palestine activists and actually an antisemitic festival which left Jewish delegates in trauma. This is reinforced by Islamic antisemitism, fueled by the Koranic traditions which define Jews as ‘apes and monkeys’, and command their murder. Islamic movements have adopted many of the graphic and other themes of European antisemitisms.
Under the banner of ‘anti-colonialism’, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and antisemitic ideology has captured the student movements (and probably most of the faculty) on almost every western university. Institutions – cultural, educational, media – feel duty-bound to follow and endorse the reigning vogue “cause of the day”.
Today, Jews in the west feel wounded and even betrayed. The reactions to October 7 – or, perhaps, more accurately, the lack of reactions to the Hamas atrocity – have alarmed and horrified us. We can identify a number of phenomena.
It is clear that the relative security of Jews and Jewish communities in the years following the Shoah was an historical anomaly. Stunned, perhaps shamed into silence, antisemitism was essentially non-respectable. It allowed most of us (the Boomer generation) to grow up in years of comfort. We got used to it.
There are several “new” features of current antisemitism:
The isolation of Jews from other categories of victims of prejudice is obvious and real. There are many examples – “Would they say this/allow this/publish this about any other ethnic/gender/national group?” – is a daily question.
The UK author David Baddiel pointed this out in his widely-noticed book ‘Jews Don’t Count’. What is acceptable treatment of Jews – especially on campuses, or in demonstrations – would be totally unacceptable directed at any other group. But such is the familiarity and acceptance of anti-Jewish prejudice as “normal”, no-one objects.
Lurking in all of this is a sentiment that needs a platoon of psychiatrists to explain – the gleeful, gloating feeling that the Jews have been “caught” inflicting on others what was inflicted on them. Does that feeling of relief absolve the world from their guilt over the Shoah.
‘Identity politics’ and ‘Intersectionality’: This widely-accepted idea argues that “experiences of injustice [are] shared by different, often excluded social groups”. The Palestinians are such a group, and are therefore able to automatically command the support of all other similar groups, including some whose stance is patently ridiculous – the oxymoronic ‘Queers for Palestine” is an obvious example. Jews have not/do not experience “injustice” (forget all the antisemitism, pogroms, expulsions and the Holocaust), and therefore no ‘woke’ group can support them.
First is to accept that we are a tiny minority in the population, in every way, including politically. Politicians count votes. In every European country, Jews are now vastly outnumbered by Moslems, to whom must be added their political sympathizers. In the USA, the Moslem population is approaching 4 million. They are a far less assimilated community than the Jewish community, far more politically united; and are projected to be America’s second largest religious community, after Christians, within 25-30 years. The size of the ‘core’ Jewish community……is uncertain.
Second – crucially - is to understand that our enemies are politicized; we are not (yet). As Jewish activist Gary Wexler wrote recently, we are collecting woolly socks and fluffy toys for Israel, while our enemies are strategizing their next political moves to isolate us.
What ‘being smarter’ entails …. I am not sure, but I think the list includes devoting resources to serious political planning; to serious strategies in mass communications and social media; to aggressive ‘lawfare’; and, perhaps most of all, to strategized creation of societal alliances. (One commentator recently wrote that we should concentrate our efforts at our ‘uncommitted’ fellow citizens, and not engage in shouting matches with those who are our clear enemies.)
It involves making sure that students, parents, local politicians, activists have high-powered materials, back-up and support for local struggles; and that our community has clearly-defined objectives aimed at securing our political, civic, cultural and religious rights in American society. I am also not sure about what our key messages should be.
We see over and over again that our own Jewish community is woefully ignorant of the Middle East, the local political contexts of our community, and their own Jewish history, including the Shoah. Partly because of their feelings of insecurity arising from this ignorance, partly because they are intimidated, and partly because they want to appear ‘cool’, many Jews (especially young Jews on campus or in High Schools) simply keep quiet.
The appeals to emotion, the parading of ‘Jewish achievements/contributions to society’ etc are naïve and don’t help – in a way, they may increase enmity. ‘Holocaust education’ cannot, and must not be done without careful thought and planning. The Shoah was almost 80 years ago. It is ancient history to the general population. It does not constitute an argument against what the kids saw on television or social media last night. We have to think about what our audiences need to hear; not what we want to tell them.
Finally - perhaps the most insidious and dangerous part of the ‘new antisemitism’ is the developing sense in many sectors of society that it is “dangerous” or ‘risky’ to be associated with Jews and/or Israel. It is the hidden side of BDS. Since this is almost by definition ‘silent’, it is hugely dangerous. Do we face a future where – at individual and collective levels - many activities, opportunities, professional, academic, cultural, even social positions are invisibly closed to Jews?
Paul Shaviv writes and lectures on serious Jewish history, the history of Israel and Zionism and contemporary Jewish and Israel affairs.