I think it’s time to address the subject of anti-Semitism–and to distinguish it from opposition to Israeli activities.
It is entirely possible to be horrified by Bibi Netanyahu and the Israeli war in Gaza–to consider what Israel is doing there to be indistinguishable from genocide–and not to be even slightly anti-Semitic. (Indeed, a significant percentage of American Jews fall into that horrified category, including this one.) But that negative opinion slides over into anti-Semitism when people attribute actions taken by Israel to “the Jews.”
A recent book review in the New Yorker began with a reminder of the long history of the anti-Jewish animus we see re-emerging.
Exactly who the Jews are—often a fraught question—has rarely been a mystery to their enemies. Stalin cast them as “rootless cosmopolitans” colluding with “American imperialists” to undermine the Soviet Union. In Hitler’s fevered imagination, they were bacilli infecting the healthy “Aryan” race. They have been denounced as lecherous predators and as omnipotent conspirators, as arch-Bolsheviks and arch-capitalists. Increasingly, these days, “Jew” is conflated with “Zionist,” which, as a term of opprobrium, can mean anything from “settler colonialist” to “fascist” to “racist.” The older sense of Zionism—establishing a Jewish state to shield Jews from persecution—has largely slipped from view.
The article reminded readers why the Trump administration’s pretense that its assault on universities is an effort to eradicate anti-Semitism is so ludicrous: among other things, Trump has dined with outspoken Holocaust deniers, and famously said that neo-Nazi marchers chanting “Jews shall not replace us” included “some very fine people.” As the article noted, claims by a hard-right government full of blood-and-soil nationalists that it is a protector of Jews ought to strike us as very peculiar.
It is important to note that the administration’s own clear anti-Semitism is only one aspect of its increasingly open animus toward anyone and everyone that White Christian Nationalist males consider “other”–Jews, Muslims, Black and Brown folks, women, immigrants. Trump’s MAGA base is primarily composed of those who find living in a multi-ethnic, multi-racial society intolerable. Trump and MAGA intentionally encourage those bigotries, and in the process, blur the lines between acceptable criticism and broad condemnations of whole categories of people.
The New Yorker was reviewing Mark Mazower’s recent and timely book “On Antisemitism,” which it noted is an effort “to restore historical context to a word that has become a generic term of condemnation.” As the article pointed out, labeling all critics of Israel as anti-Semites is no different from the critics who assume that all Jews are Zionists and believe all Zionists are racists.
I think that observation captures the essential anti-Americanism of all bigotries, whether of Left or Right. In our system–aspirational as American philosophy has admittedly been–people are treated as individuals. As I’ve previously written, in the American constitutional perspective, so long as you obey the laws, pay your taxes and refrain from harming others, you are entitled to be considered an equal member of the polity. Your skin color, gender, religion and other group affiliations are legally and civically irrelevant.
Bigotry rejects individuality. It ascribes certain “essential characteristics” to entire groups of people, based upon their identities. So we have the historic slurs of Blacks as lazy, Jews as “sharp,” women as emotional, gay men as sissies, and so forth–as if our human variety doesn’t exist.
I want to reiterate–there is nothing more anti-American than that intellectually-lazy approach to our fellow humans.
Are there greedy Jews? Lazy Black folks? Emotional women? Sure. And there are greedy, lazy, emotional White Christians. There are also wonderful, caring, productive people in every category. There are no traits–positive or negative–that inhere in every member of every human tribe.
One of the aspects of American history that the Trumpers want to obscure is the enormous damage done by these racist tropes–damage that the DEI programs they detest were established to counter.
When people who are being criticised for some behavior or other, it is rarely appropriate to attach their group identities to those criticisms. That crime wasn’t committed by “a Black.” A particular man was responsible. The Twin Towers weren’t attacked by “the Muslims.” They were targeted by a subset of Jihadists. “The Jews” aren’t committing war crimes in Gaza; the government of Israel is–and the broader Jewish community isn’t responsible for the Jews being singled out on social media and in comments to this blog as supporting that government.
In the United States, our rights and responsibilities are individual. Because we are.
This is your best ever, every single word!
MAGA needs a constant stream of enemies to finish enacting all the aspects of Project 2025. As is obvious, the driving force behind this fetid political movement is hate and bigotry. ANY excuse to create an enemy in order to attack an institution is necessary. MAGAts simply lack the intellect to separate their own anti-semitism from what Netanyahu is doing to Gaza, so they flip the script.
Netanyahu is the intelligent version of Trump; both want to create havoc and extreme stress on their countries to avoid going to prison. I don’t think it’s going to far to identify both of these madmen as monsters and perverters of justice.
Thank you, Sheila. If a student of anthropology wants to have more fun, ask the commons: “who are the Semite People”. I lived and worked in Ethiopia. The land of the Cushites or Habesha are tied to ancient people whose history is traced in The Old Testament and considered among the Semite People along with Arabs. As they say in the history and origins of coffee, we all enjoy ‘common grounds’. So don’t mess with the nectar of the Gods and sip it black.
Well, it would be difficult for Trump to be an anti-Semite when Bibi and Miriam Adelson own him. Bibi has now made four trips to the White House, which is about every other month. Bibi calls a lot, too! And we are moving our cruisers into the area for some reason. I would speculate that Epstein’s blackmail operation was definitely successful in entangling Trump.
If our media were allowed to cover the Nation of Israel honestly, I don’t think there would be so much energy around the Jewish state and its intelligence operation (Mossad). Many Americans don’t want to support a genocide, and it’s made worse that our federal and state governments won’t allow free speech under the auspices of “anti-Semitism.”
Don’t you think the young people are properly forming a resentment against Israel, a Jewish state? Even if they’ve properly focused on “the state of Israel and Bibi’s war crimes,” they are still being called anti-Semites.
The IDF has intentionally targeted and killed journalists in Palestine to keep the truth subdued. Yet, lots of videos made it to TikTok, which was wrongly attacked by Biden (a self-declared Zionist) and our government. If AIPAC and the Israeli lobby own you, does that make you corrupt or a Zionist, or both?
Don’t you think the young people understand why a Jewish billionaire, Larry Ellison, is taking over TikTok in the USA? An alternative to TikTok is already being developed because kids will seek a platform that is not being manipulated. They knew Biden’s excuse of the Chinese operating the platform being a “national security interest” was complete bullshit.
As I alluded to, our media is as corrupt as our body politic. I still find it incredible that Bernie Sanders first used the “genocide” word last week when lots of people had made that declaration over a year ago.
Strangely, our First Amendment allows us to criticize our government, but not Israel. I would imagine that Jews, who are not pro-Israel, find all this very upsetting, but the blame lies in Israel’s leadership and their influence over our government and media. The more they push their beliefs on the American people, the worse it will get.
p.s. Assuming Mossad/CIA provided Epstein with security to use underage girls for blackmail operations, don’t you think they are behind the Epstein/Maxwell cover-up? What would happen to the anti-Israel sentiment if the world discovered they ran a blackmail operation using teenage girls?
We have our own ways of making our lives matter. There must be a purpose to which we were born, and accomplishing that purpose is how our lives matter. We don’t like the reality of our personal insignificance in the whole of life, so we are motivated to see it as bigger than reality regards it.
For some, that purpose requires others to be regarded as of lower status than they are. Every immigration wave took its turn at being considered lower for some time.
I have a friend who was regarded as a German immigrant (in fact, he was Latvian) in the US after World War II. He never supported Hitler’s antisemitism, but was bullied by others from away.
Hate, once instilled, often persists, sometimes for an entire lifetime.
Common enemies are also powerful organizers of tribes within larger cultures. It gives a common purpose to what would otherwise be empty lives.
I could be called an adamant “anti-Bibiist” but certainly not realistically an anti-Semite.
Just like I could be called an “anti-Trumpist”.
There is an inordinate amount of time spent on this very forum hating on those having voted for Trump. Why is there not a similar amount of time devoted to hating upon those having voted for Netanyahu?
If anything, Trump seems to be the public face of/for the Bibi and Mariam Adelson US Presidency.
Great blog, Sylvia. And Happy New Year to you and your family.
Trump is, and has been an anti-semite all along, Todd; a bigot, period, from the get-go, well trained by his bigly bigoted father.
Pete, I beg to differ with you, but we are not, each one, born with a “Purpose,” other than to procreate. People can, and do, find “purpose,” however. But, the “purpose” idea is a romanticized concept.
Does anti-semitism go back to using the bible story of Judas to smear the Jewish people? If so, let’s take another look at that story, especially from the POV that God is both omnipotent and omniscient: So, God runs the show, knows of every hair, even, that falls from your head, it is said. In which case God had Judas “out” Jesus…to pave the way for Jesus’ ascent into heaven. Judas ought to have been praised for playing such a righteous role in God’s plan! But, that would not have served the needs of those who damned him.
A more mundane approach to this is that any wanna-be dictator has to find scapegoats, around which to rally his followers, and that’s been the modus operandi for centuries.
Mitch,
The Biblical stories like the one you posted are little more than science fiction of the day gone by. People grasp at those stories to justify their behavior, tribalism and prejudices. In total, the Biblical stories – from both testaments – is an indictment of God and the alleged influence he/she/it had on earth and humans. Why, for example, did the omniscient God allow mosquitos aboard Noah’s ark?
Ian, you are correct. There certainly is enough disgust and dislike to go around both Trump and Bibi. As I said, Bibi is just their version of Trump keeping the war going so he can stay out of prison. Netanyahu’s genocide is taking on the same specter of horror that the Holocaust did. No question. And yet …. And yet we continue to supply the IDF with weapons and ammunition. Of course, those weapons manufacturers are Trump donors, so … Easy to connect those dots, isn’t it?
Ian, upon reading your concern about balanced views toward President Trump and PM Netanyahu, I am ready to listen to your views of the merits of both administrations. Ian, perhaps you could wax more eloquently than what I have been reading as to the efficacy of assembling our entire homeland and global military command into a single room and then announcing in advance its date and location. Please Ian. Name one urgent strategic outcome requiring huge expense, sudden disruption to 800 committed calendars, and the unprecedented risk to our nation’s security and compromised defense. Take your time, Ian. This will be discussed for some time. This is not about hate for those who voted for the current Administration. It is about accountability in the highest offices of our nation. Ian … I am listening.
In the last day of so, especially with the loss of Jane Goodall, and the rhetoric at Quantico, the differences in language and its purpose could not be more stark.
The need to label allows the demagogues to “other” anyone who does not conform.
Goodall encouraged individual actions for good and hope. The power of one is not insignificant as she demonstrated throughout her long life. If every one of us chose to do one selfless act a day, pick up trash along a walkway, take a cart back to the corral, hold the door for someone with a disability (or just to be kind to another), use a turn signal, smile at the stranger, report a pothole, help a neighbor who may be struggling just to get to the grocery, mow their lawn, manage their trash bin. All of those things may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but taken together make a difference.
While I abhor what Bibi and his supporters are committing in Gaza, I love my Jewish family and friends. Netanyahu is a war criminal by any definition. He should be held to account as should those who blindly enable him, including those profiting from the genocide. Does that mean all Jews are responsible? No, no more than I am responsible for the actions of the vile policies of dump and Braun administrations. Not only did I not vote for any of them, but I actively worked to elect their opponents.
In this time of reflection and fasting among practicing Jews worldwide, I wish them all peace of mind and heart and hope for a new year of purpose, love and forgiveness. We should all reflect on what that means to each of us as individuals.
RESIST.
The anti-Semitic in chief has a daughter who has converted to Judaism a son-in-law who is Jewish and several grandchildren who are Jewish. I think he thinks they’re “useful”. He will keep supporting Bibi, until he has what he needs for his waterfront resort in Gaza.
First, Todd, you state assumptions as if they were fact.
Second, Peggy, I don’t think it is unusual for an anti-Semite to have a few token Jews around. I have even been told, “Lynne, you’re Jewish but you’re not like those other Jews” as if that should be taken as a compliment!
Sheila, I appreciate your thoughtful column. It is a tough time to get through. Thank you, and a good and sweet year to you and your family.
Good yontiff, and no, you don’t have to be a self-hating Jew to hate Bibi and what he has done to us all. I had no wish to become the oppressor or occupier.
Vernon, this was my first thought this morning when I read the title of Sheila’s blog today; “Netanyahu is the intelligent version of Trump;…” I wondered if people had looked deep enough into the entire Gaza situation to see this connection as being the basis of the unending deliberate genocide. Is there a way out of either or both situations as Trump’s insanity and loss of reality on the part of both of them; both are monsters, bent on total destruction of their perceived enemies, slaughtering anyone and anything which gets in their way.
“I think it’s time to address the subject of anti-Semitism–and to distinguish it from opposition to Israeli activities.”
Netanyahu is doing everything in his power to maintain his war and to keep it out of his nation. Trump has a collection of “anti” groups and is doing everything in his power to bring his war to boots on the ground here. Evidence of Netanyahu’s intelligence over Trump’s but destruction and genocide being the goal of both.
I wonder if those executing Bibi’s orders will be held accountable for their war crimes? Will they just simply claim they were following orders?
Since the IDF is a compulsory military organization this poses an interesting quandary.
It appears the Israeli public has an ignorant segment of its population, just as the U.S.
I am going to make a few statement that my confuse, but words matter.
“Antisemitism” was coined in 1879 by German journalist Wilhelm Marr to mean hating Jews, not to be confused by other semitic peoples.
Second, “Genocide” was coined in 1944 by Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin to describe the systematic extermination of a people. There are no trains in Israel picking up Arabs, who have been fired from their jobs and sent to death camps.
This particular term does no apply but it is inflammatory.
Four things to understand about Bibi
1) he is a crook who is trying to avoid jail
2) on October 7 Hamas gave him a big excuse be a strong man and distract ever one
3) When the Palestinians highjacked an airplane and flew it to Uganda in1976, and then separated all the Jews, in a Nazi-like move, Israel sent a rescue mission They lost a single soldier – Jonathon Netanyahu, Bibi’s brother.
4) Bibi is likely a war criminal for two different reasons:
A) although Hamas uses human shields in the weapons bases (and HQ) the civilian casualty rate is too high. It might have been acceptable during WWII but it isn’t now. This is under illegal under International and Jewish Law.
B) Also his proposal to relocate the civilian population is a war crime.
Use the other words too much and we have issues like –
Every people deserves self determination. The movement for the Jewish people was called Zionist – it was declared racist by the UN. Many states exist with a religions identity, but If the Jews want one, it’s racist.
GREAT finish to this commentary. Right ON!