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Antisemitism is becoming acceptable – especially in the Democrat party
I have been tracking the votes of my elected Congress person and checking his position on Israel and support for the US Jewish community. Living in California, you may very well understand the positions my Congress person has taken. I am personally concerned that the antisemitic leftist in media, academia and government can make things worse for American Jews. I recently wrote my Congress person to raise his awareness and to voice my opinion. Not that this letter would change attitudes in Washington, but I feel this must be said. The text of my letter is provided below.
Dear Mr. Thompson,
As a Jewish citizen in your Congressional District, I feel compelled to write to you regarding some recent votes in the House of Representatives. First of all, I appreciate your vote on HR 771 in support of the State of Israel to defend itself.
I do want to call to your attention your vote on HR 927 “Condemning antisemitism on “University campuses and the testimony of University Presidents in the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.” You voted against holding prestigious American universities to account for their tolerance of antisemitism, and you also voted against the censure of Representative Rashida Tlaib (HR Res. 845). I find these two votes troubling and let me explain my reasons.
I acknowledge that there is rank antisemitism on the far right and also the far left. The antisemites on the far right consist mainly of white nationalist groups. These groups and their members are for the most part disenfranchised and have no real social power. Of course, they can do great personal harm to Jews. The antisemites on the far left include influential members of the media, the leadership of the most prestigious American universities and also members of Congress. What concerns me is that this left group of antisemites can have great power to make American society increasingly hostile to Jews. Your votes to give a pass to the antisemites in academia and in the Congress tells me that you do not have the back of the Jewish community in your district.
Respectfully,
Alan Aronoff
Published in Domestic Policy
Anti-Semitism is not becoming acceptable among most of us. It is, unfortunately, gaining traction among the young, uninformed, and leading progressives.
When the Jews who survived the Holocaust said “Never Forget,” they were correct in being cautionary. Today’s antisemitism is because vast swaths of the world’s population have forgotten.
And don’t believe the truth when they are told.
Yeah. Becoming. Remember Jesse Jackson’s Hymietown remarks in 1984? Remember Al Sharpton in 1991? This becoming has been a very, very long journey. Some people born in 1984 could be grandparents by now.
Say what?!?
I don’t think antisemitism is limited only to the FAR left.
Yes, let’s list these bogeymen and how numerous they are !
Our side shoots itself in the foot when use the lefts slurs and equate a hand full of powerless rednecks with the organized evil of the left .
Please stop it !
Did you read the letter? Alan does not equate the anti-semites on the Right with their counterparts on the Left. In fact, he points out that while the anti-semites on the Right are on the fringe and not in positions of power, the anti-semites on the Left are in Congress, the media, and academia – they do have real power.
Alan specifically says, “I acknowledge that there is rank antisemitism on the far right and also the far left.” That’s equating them.
The use of the phrase “far right” is terrible. “Far right” is a pejorative used by Democrats. What does the term mean? They can’t define it. But they use it on anybody who agrees with the Constitution and founding principles of this country, equating them with extreme views.
(‘Call it parallax of the Overton window.)
He continues, “The antisemites on the far right consist mainly of white nationalist groups. These groups and their members are for the most part disenfranchised and have no real social power.“
What “white nationalist groups” are these? Be specific. You must know them well enough to claim that they’re disenfranchised, right?
This is simply buying into the Dems’ “white nationalism” as a talking point, which was fabricated out of whole cloth. Heck, they even had to stage some events with tiki torches.
So I find that entire paragraph of the letter offensive and insulting.
But if they are not germane, he shouldn’t even bother to mention them. It’s the “guilty disclaimer”.
If I acknowledge that there is water in my drinking glass as well as in Lake Michigan, is that equating them?
What if these groups aren’t organized enough to have names? It’s hard to be specific in those cases. I’m not going to take these accusations too seriously without more of the specifics you ask for, but I’m not going to rule out the possibility that the statement is accurate. Same for the left. You say “far right” is a pejorative used by Democrats. Which Democrats? Be specific. I’ll take such an accusation more seriously when it comes with specifics, but I’m not going to deny that it’s true, because I have been observing much the same as you have. I can’t name any specifics right off hand, though.
I don’t find it insulting and offensive. I doubt it was fabricated out of whole cloth, because there are places on the internet where I hear faint echos of something like that, and they don’t all seem to be from leftwing provocateurs (of whom I try to be always on the alert). On the other hand, I don’t find it very useful or actionable without more specifics.
Yes. Otherwise there would not be a point of saying such a thing.
If y’r complaining about a group, that group ought to be identifiable over statistical noise.
Biden on down. Google “far right”.
Sure, there would. I could be talking about the relative water quality, or usefulness as a habitat for algae.
You mean like a complaint about Trump supporters, implying they all share some common characteristic aside form supporting Trump, or Biden supporters?
OK, I followed your advice and googled for “white nationalism.” I learned about a website called stormfront.org where there seems to be some antisemitism. (I didn’t actually click on any of the links.)
Actually, that’s not quite true. I did click on one link for an article at JSTOR, which is where I learned a little more about stormfront.org. Haven’t read the whole article, though. (Looking at it again, I’m confused as to whether I’m looking at excerpts from a book, or a review article. If a review, I don’t know which review publication.)
Kamali, Sara. Homegrown Hate: Why White Nationalists and Militant Islamists Are Waging War against the United States. 1st ed., University of California Press, 2021.
I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Again, I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Storefront.org appears to be a white nationalism forum of some sort.
Is it left-wing, right-wing, politically middle? Is it genuine? Is it significant? Who knows?
“Right-wing” is not well-defined.
Is the forum aligned with “the right”, suggesting something close to Trump, Republicans, conservatives, Libertarians, and their friends? Nope.
Right-wing means to the right of Stalin. Like the NSDAP, who were socialists, but not international socialists. Or the Fascisti, who were socialists, but not international socialists.
A strange new respect for Hitler, then.
It’s true. I overheard all three of them talking in a bar just the other day.
There is a sad lack of phone booths these days.
I think there is a good deal of anti-semitism on both the right and the left. The major difference is that it is acceptable to express those views in “polite” company among the left. People on the right may share some of the views, but don’t say so openly. I grew up in Forest Hills Gardens, a small private community in Queens. It was built around the Westside Tennis club which denied membership to Jews. Up until the 1980s such stalwart organizations as New York Athletic Club and Washington Athletic Club did not allow Jews to join. These were largely organizations to which people who were unquestionably Republicans belonged, as in those days business people hadn’t yet become “woke.” I don’t think the old feelings actually went away. I think they became unfashionable and considered gauche.
On the other hand, I worked in Bedford Stuyvesant back in the 1960s and then in largely low income black areas in Seattle from the 1970s well into the 2010s. Anti-semitism was pretty common in those areas as well, and openly expressed, fashion be damned. No matter who a person is, it is always nice to have someone to look down on.
Having said that, I do think that despite what they feel, most people on the right tend to support Israel and support the rights of all people without discriminating based on race or religion. The Tiki Torch armed morons are a very small, unrepresentative group. Their only real function is to give the left something to equate all right of center (defined by left) people as part and parcel of the same package. They only really matter if we care what leftists think.
Anyone who cherishes the Bill of Rights is, in the opinion of progressives, for example Mayor Pete, a member of the “far right.”
With 4 undercover FBI agents.
given that cultural Marxism is the key Tenet of the modern democrat’s, it was a logical progression. They see everything in the “oppressor/victim” lens. The left view “the west” as an oppressor. Israel is part of the west so they get their hatred.