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On Anti-Semitism: ‘Does Everybody Hate Jews?’
When I saw Bari Weiss’ latest substack essay in my inbox, I hesitated to read it; did I really need to write another piece for Ricochet about the increase of anti-Semitism in America? At the same time, I’m always curious to know about recent surveys or perspectives on this phenomenon, so I read the essay. And I was surprised to learn that not only did Weiss have some intriguing points to make, but she also stimulated new ideas for me on the topic of anti-Semitism in America.
In many ways, Weiss did cover familiar ground: that Jews continue to experience Jew hatred: that destructive acts, such as graffiti and physical attacks continue to be reported. But more important to me is not whether there is an increase in anti-Semitic activities, but why, in a country like America, they are happening at all. The United States of America was founded on religious principles, with no state religion and with freedom of assembly. If anti-Semitic actions are occurring, why are they happening now?
Bari Weiss does believe that the virulent acts are growing in number. She refers to a song by satirist Tom Lehrer (see video) called “National Brotherhood Week”; Lehrer probably wouldn’t have written it unless it was to be sung to a tolerant and free audience. But Weiss suggests that in today’s environment, it would be seen differently:
But these days, the idea that ‘everybody hates the Jews’ feels like less of a punchline and more like an accurate report of public sentiment. It seems every other day a new study or survey confirms what so many American Jews are feeling, as the old joke had it had it, that they are hating us more than is necessary.
I would also add that Lehrer’s song, which targets many groups including religions, would in these times not only be rejected, but he would probably be loudly condemned and cancelled. “Hate speech,” in just about any form, is forbidden.
We also live in a time when people are continually pressured to conform, to not stand out, to not speak against the Leftist status quo. Religious Jews, who are historically the most common subjects of anti-Semitic acts, tend to lay low when these incidents occur; they fear that bringing attention to these acts will incite further violence. Weiss points out that religious Jews, by their culture and beliefs, are the most likely to draw attention and be criticized:
Where liberty thrives, Jews thrive. Where difference is celebrated, Jews are celebrated. Where freedom of thought and faith and speech are protected, Jews tend to be, too. And when such virtues are regarded as threats, Jews will be regarded as the same.
The current demand for conformity — that sense that our difference is dangerous — comes at us from both political extremes. It is a familiar squeeze, even though the particular terms are American.
She states later in her essay:
For Jews, an ideology that contends that difference is anathema is not simply ridiculous — we have an obviously distinct history, tradition and religion that has been the source of both enormous tragedy as well as boundless gifts — but is also, as history has shown, lethal.
By simply existing as ourselves, by insisting on the freedom to be distinct, Jews undermine the vision of a world without difference. And so the things about us that make us different must be demonized, so that they can be erased or destroyed: Zionism is nothing but settler-colonialism; government officials justify the murder of innocent Jews in Jersey City; Jewish businesses can be looted because Jews ‘are the face of capital.’
Those factors that set us apart turn us into targets. You could say, we are the victims of our time.
Although I was still debating whether to submit this post, a post by @stad included an article (that addressed this issue) that angered me enough to post. The key factor was reported in this way:
Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday removed $1 billion in military funding for Israel from legislation to fund the U.S. government after objections from House of Representatives liberals, setting the stage for a potential fight over the matter later this year.
Some House Democrats objected to a provision in a stopgap spending bill to provide the additional funding so Israel can replenish its “Iron Dome” missile-defense system.
Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, both known for their anti-Israel statements, introduced the resolution to halt the weapons sales. Please note that the Iron Dome is a defensive weapon used to protect Israel against hostile attacks. In addition, these are the steps we have already taken:
The United States has already provided more than $1.6 billion for Israel to develop and build the Iron Dome system, according to a U.S. Congressional Research Service report last year. This reflects perennially strong support for aid to Israel among both Democrats and Republicans.
Some liberal Democrats objected to that policy this year, citing Palestinian casualties as Israel struck back after Hamas rocket attacks in May. Israel said most of the 4,350 rockets fired from Gaza during the conflict were blown out of the sky by Iron Dome interceptors.
* * * *
These are the reasons I’m focusing on the nature of the anti-Semitic attacks rather than the number of attacks. (Anyone who has read my past posts knows that I believe anti-Zionist and anti-Israel attacks are overwhelmingly anti-Semitic.) More than ever, we need to have an ally and a semblance of sanity in the Middle East. Israel has been one of our most reliable allies in that part of the world.
I also believe that when societies are under extreme stress, as ours is regarding government, the border crisis, the economy, the evacuation from Afghanistan and the controversies and fear generated by the pandemic, people will look for scapegoats; Jews have historically served that role.
Finally, when we see these anti-Israel attacks in Congress, and the very people who are supposed to represent this country overwhelmingly approve a resolution by the Democrat party, one is moved to wonder about our government leaders’ attitudes not just toward Israel, but toward American Jewry.
Their actions are not reassuring.
(The title of this post plays on the lyrics in the video above.)
Published in Culture
I think the Commies in the DNC want to get everybody hating everybody else. They are evil.
I don’t hate any Jews. I avoid Arnie, but not because he’s a Jew. I avoid Arnie because he’s a kvetch. If Arnie became a Presbyterian overnight, he’d be a Presbyterian kvetch.
That would not be an improvement.
Which Arnie are you talking about?
BTW, I am positive that not everybody hates Jews; the title of the post plays on Tom Lehrer’s lyrics from the video. But I suspect that there are more haters than I would like, and with so much hatred in general being pushed and people looking for someone, anyone, to blame, it does cause me concern.
The Chosen People of God have a hard road. No other people have endured so much and yet remained themselves in history. It is proof of His hand.
I don’t know when, if ever, He will give your people peace. Maybe not until the Messiah returns (from a Christian perspective).
I believe the hate against the Chosen is driven by the father of lies.
Arnie is an alias for a former boss. As in “Dragnet”, names have been changed to protect the innocent … or in this case, the whiny.
Kvetches drive me crazy! I get it now.
Articles like this, making fact-free claims of widespread anti-Semitism, seem to be rolled out when some public policy issue relating to Israel is on the agenda. So at the moment, there’s a controversy about US giving Israel $1 billion for Iron Dome, and unsurprisingly, articles about anti-Semitism magically appear.
I don’t know whether Bari Weiss is misleading people intentionally, or is simply innumerate. Her article mentions the FBI hate crime statistics for 2020, just released. Those statistics show that anti-Jewish hate crime was down 32% in 2020, compared to 2019.
For anyone interested in actual facts, here are the numbers and citations.
The 2020 hate crime data (here) reports 7,759 total hate crime incidents, of which 1,174 were motivated by religion and 676 were anti-Jewish. This is for crime in all reported categories, from serious violent crime to minor property crime.
The 2019 hate crime data (here) reports 8,559 total incidents, of which 1,650 were motivated by religion and 995 were anti-Jewish.
According to these reports, from 2019 to 2020:
We don’t yet have the overall crime report for 2020. The 2019 criminal victimization report (here) stated that there were a total of 18,631,410 serious crimes in the US (5,813,410 violent crimes and 12,818,000 serious property crimes).
It’s not precisely an apples-to-apples comparison, because the hate crime statistics include crimes not deemed sufficiently important to include in the nationwide report, such as “destruction/damage/vandalism.” In 2019, this category in the hate crime report accounted for 684 out of 995 (68.7%) of the anti-Jewish hate crimes reported.
Using the reported figures for 2019 and 2020:
Unfortunately, the 2020 data is not yet released in the usual table form, so I can’t determine how many of the 2020 anti-Jewish hate crimes were in the destruction/damage/vandalism category.
I have reported on this previously (here), in early 2020 based on 2018 data. It appears that nothing has changed. Anti-Semitic hate crime continues to be vanishingly small problem, in the context of overall crime in the country.
I was born into a world where smoking tobacco was common while
tobaccomarijuana was abhorred.And where hatred of Jews was considered wrong, while hatred of gays was pretty standard.
I kind of like the idea of less abhorring and less hatred in general but what I don’t understand is the switch. Why is it that acceptance of a seems to require some kind of negative acceptance somewhere else? And I get that hatred of Jews is a thing that has always been around, but it doesn’t have ‘roots’ in America like it does in the old world. Why is it growing here? Who is tending it and what mediums is it growing in?
I agree with Bryan about the hate for Jews being driven by the father of lies. Also, like all collective hate, it’s driven by collectivism. It’s hard to be both an individualist and a racist (in the original sense of the term).
However, I stopped reading Ms. Weiss’ essay shortly after this line:
As anti-Semitic tropes go, that has to be one of the weakest I’ve ever seen. There’s no evidence given that this silly political slogan was inspired by QAnon. Even if it was, there’s no evidence given that the QAnon conspiracy is a nod to the blood libel.
A weak and unserious example of anti-Semitism, if you ask me.
So let me point out your errors and irrelevant points, one by one, Jerry:
I think you were looking for another opportunity to trivialize anti-Semitic actions. Not nice, Jerry. Not nice.
No, most Americans don’t hate Jews. However, there are two groups which find them inconvenient.
There is a small group of white nationalists. Occasionally they break out in isolated violent incidents and some have YouTube followings. For them, since whiteness is the ultimate good, Jews can’t be white.
There is a growing group of Woke folk for whom, since whiteness is now the ultimate evil, Jews must be white. Their theory logically leads to this end since any group which is represented in society’s institutions in more than their numerical proportion has attained and kept that position by manipulation of the language and structures of society. Since Jews are the most overrepresented group in many prominent areas of our society (though various strands of Asians are quickly gaining ground) they are therefore part of the conspiracy with whites to oppress everyone else.
The good news for us Jews regarding the latter group is they also hate all whites, a sentiment increasingly permitted expression in the media, so we got company! Since the Woke already believe whites and Jews hate everyone else, their goal is to to make sure everyone else hates whites and Jews (and whites and Jews learn to hate themselves and their ancestors). This will surely make for a more tolerant and empathetic society.
This. Dr. Michael Brown has addressed this frequently and recently (heard him interviewed by Eric Metaxas) Unfortunately as SQ said:
The staggering amount of anti-Semitism that crosses cultures around the globe can only logically be explained if, and when, you consider there are greater forces involved. It further accentuates that the world is against God and one of those manifestations is the illogical hatred of His chosen people. The embarrassing level of anti-Semitism that still weaves it’s way through the Protestant ranks is distressing.
Fair enough criticism, @terrymott. I breezed over that comment because I know nothing about QAnon. And I should have paid more attention, since Weiss is a liberal, too.
They’ve never yet received the Promised Land. If satan can annihilate the Jews before this occurs then he makes God a liar or an incompetent. And of course God still specially loves the Jews as His chosen people, so there’s another reason to hate them. Seen from the outside it’s still an amazing history.
This is a great comment, @gumbymark! So I guess we Jews must be racists, too! As you say, at least we aren’t alone. But I still think that if tensions increase, they will give special reasons for hating us; we’ll get our own special category.
Well, Jew-hatred has a long and colorful history. All we needed was a czar to call out the throngs and the pogroms would materialize. Thanks for your supportive comments, @hoowitts.
Thanks, @flicker. But we did receive the Promised Land–or are you alluding to the fact that we still don’t live in, or control. all of it?
The next Dr. Seuss book
Maybe I’m remembering it wrong. I thought the promised land went up into Syria and down into Egypt. What are the boundaries of the Promised Land?
These are great questions, TBA. Our roots here were established by Europeans might be part of the reason; they brought all those ideas with them. But it’s interesting to speculate whether others are “tending it”; I still believe, when we are seeing so many of our norms and sacred beliefs being trashed, and times are so tough, that people are beginning to believe they are entitled to attack others when “life lets them down.” Do you have other thoughts on this phenomenon?
I have no idea. But I’d be willing to settle for the boundaries that Israel has established, including Judea and Sumaria. I don’t think we should be greedy! If anyone has that information at the tips of your fingers, let me know.
The real purpose is to protect Hamas.
Iron Dome offers no protection against a real attack by Hamas’s 100,000 rockets and missiles. But it allows Hamas the opportunity to make noise by firing a dozen or so with reduced chances of hitting a target that would require massive retaliation.
@ctlaw, I’d never heard this explanation. I thought they were just lousy shots. Seriously, they do more than make noise, from what I’ve heard; some of their missiles get past the Iron Dome. Besides, if the Israelis didn’t have the Iron Dome, I suspect Hamas would be much more aggressive.
Are you suggesting a level of collusion between Hamas and Israel? This is a curious and dubious claim
This is my understanding of it. The Promised Land starts north of Damascus and extends down into Egypt.
***
Ezekiel 47:13 & 15-20
13 This is what the Lord [l]God says: “This shall be the boundary by which you shall divide the land for an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph shall have two portions.
15 “And this shall be the boundary of the land: on the north side, from the Great Sea by the way of Hethlon, to the entrance of [p]Zedad; 16 [q]Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazer-hatticon, which is by the border of Hauran. 17 The boundary shall [r]extend from the sea to Hazar-enan at the border of Damascus, and on the north toward the north is the border of Hamath. This is the north side.
18 “The east side, from between Hauran, Damascus, Gilead, and the land of Israel, shall be the Jordan; from the north border to the eastern sea you shall measure. This is the east side.
19 “The south side toward the south shall extend from Tamar as far as the waters of Meribath-kadesh, to the brook of Egypt and to the Great Sea. This is the south side toward the south.
20 “And the west side shall be the Great Sea, from the south border to a point opposite [s]Lebo-hamath. This is the west side.
***
Jews have come close to occupying all this territory but have never occupied all of it.
Of course you don’t, Susan. You are a conservative. Only the progs pay any attention to those knuckledraggers.
Wow!! Very cool!! What would I do without my Christian friends! Thanks, @flicker, you raise a very interesting question. In these times, the Jews wouldn’t expect all that was originally promised. Circumstances change. There may be people who still hope to get all of that land you show in your comment, but I think that is highly unlikely, and most Jews would settle for much less, in exchange for peace. Thank you for your help!
There are still some. They’re just quiet about it.
I don’t know why I even bother. Perhaps some people will focus on actual facts. Facts don’t care about your feelings. You make exactly the same false arguments made by the BLM people. Go ahead and use their playbook, if you want. Although I suspect that the BLM-types actually got the playbook from the Israel Lobby.
Substantively: