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| Image from Mishpacha for illustration purposes |
On the surface one would think that the slippage of our standing in this country is obvious. But as is often the case the surface does not always tell you what’s underneath. And as always, it’s complicated.
The war against Hamas has brought out all the latent antisemitism that has always been here but not expressed by those who harbored those sentiments. Israel’s war against Hamas and all the pro Hamas protests has allowed them to express those true sentiments overtly.
I am still convinced, though, that those who feel that way are a tiny but loud minority of the American people. There was an outpouring of sympathy expressed for the Jewish people by vast majority of Americans (on both sides of the political aisle) in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas massacre. As was the case after the Tree of Life Synagogue massacre a few years ago.
To the extent that Americans might now feel (mistakenly in my view) that Israel is not paying sufficient attention to civilian casualties does not mean they have suddenly become antisemites. It only means that they are instinctively responding to reports of massive civilian casualties in Gaza. At the same time, however, a recent poll indicated that 80% of the American people still support Israel in its war with Hamas. You can’t be an antisemite and support Israel at the same time.
There is something else going on here. I don’t think it is antisemitsm. But first let me try to dispel the notion that White Supremacists and other fringe antisemitic groups have significantly increased their numbers. I find that hard to believe. I don’t know how many Americans there are like that these days. But my guess is that they are still a very tiny minority of the American people. Although a very dangerous one since it is from their ranks that atrocit8es like the attack on Tree of Life happened.
The majority of antagonism against us these days is by the Hamas supporting Palestinians living in this country - joined by the progressive left that supports them. They might deny they are antisemitic. Just anti Zionist or anti colonialist..
I would put a lot of misguided secular/left Jews in that category, too. These are the kinds of Jews that have no issue renouncing their Judaism. As did Oscar winning director Jonathan Glazer at the Academy Awards ceremony a few weeks ago. Glazer - who is Jewish - is obviously not antisemitic.
What I would say instead is that secular progressive Jews like Glazer are anti Judaism. (They would of course vehemently deny that - claiming that Jewish values are what motivates them.) It may not be their fault since they were raised without the benefit of an authentic Jewish education. But that does not make them any less anti Judaism.
Far left progressives reject the foundational document of the Jewish people, the Torah. They consider it to be an archaic document that contradicts their core values. Which they epitomize as truly moral. Biblical values are the ones that are immoral. To just cite a few examples one will hear about Judaism in their circles.
One is the ‘folly’ of the biblical prohibition against gay sex. What, they might ask, could possibly be immoral about sex between 2 consenting adults? Denying their right to engage in it is what they consider immoral.
Another is the biblical requirement of the death penalty to blasphemers or Sabbath violators. They laugh at those things. And deride those of us that value a document so immoral by their ‘enlightened’ standards. The idea that an archaic document like gives us the right to colonize a land and subjugate its indigenous people (neither of which is true) is abhorrent to them. They consider the events of October 7th to be a justifiable response to that oppression – even if it was an ‘over-reation’. 75 years of pent up frustration will do that to some people, they will say.
Bearing this in mind might help to explain why the left half the country (including many Jews) might feel the way Jonathan Glazer does. It should not be surprising that the majority of people in the entertainment industry whose values are depicted in the increasing number films that contain full frontal nudity and vivid depictions of sexual intercourse - feel this way. Often placed in a film gratuitously when the storyline does not require it at all. All to the acclaim of their peers.
It should not surprise anyone that people like this see our foundational document to be irrelevant and immoral. I believe that the majority of celebrities that populate Hollywood feel this way. They are the people that applauded Glazer after he denounced his Judaism and blamed October 7th on Israel’s dehumanization of Palestinians over its decades long history. Even though the truth is the opposite of that and lies in the generational cradle to grave indoctrination that dehumanizes the Jewish people
I think this is what is really going on here. These people don’t hate Jews. They just hate Judaism. And you don’t have to be non Jews to feel that way.
I believe this explains why there has been such an uptick in campus antisemitism. It is why for example those three progressive university presidents gave such poor answers to questions about it. Jews are presumed by many progressives Yeah, right now to be immoral using Nazi like tactics to slaughter tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian in Gaza..
Top tier schools that used to be about academics and apolitical have become politicized bastions of progressivism that are intolerant of the diversity they claim to hold so dear. People that believe that biblical values are so immoral - they will not be tolerated under their watch.
There are of course exceptions. But I do believe that is what’s happening. The extent that Jews are being persecuted in America these days can be blamed directly on the extreme anti Judaism of the progressive left.
What to do about that is a question for which I have no answer.