Here we go again: the mandatory “equivalence statement” whereby the reader is reminded (in this case, over and over again…) that the Left and Right are equally guilty for the outrage being discussed. THEY ARE NOT. Modern anti-semitism is overwhelmingly driven by the Progressive Left, and everybody who cares to examine the issue honestly knows it. Want to do something about the problem? Start with the goddam truth!
The majority of the anti-semitism is coming from the Left. They rely on intersectionality of victimhood to draw together groups who would normally be antagonistic to each other. Their grievance of envy allows them to focus their enmity on a group that has a history of achievement even in the face of persecution. Unfortunately there are many secular Jews who have been at the forefront of the corruption of the universities, the media and entertainment industries.
Bari, thanks first and foremost for being willing to make the sacrifice required to live your values. I find myself toggling back-and-forth regarding which group of people outrage me the most, those who are driving this ridiculous Progressive/Woke culture war - or those who merely go along with it from a lack of courage. Until very recently, strength and courage were considered virtues, but now they are considered “toxic” - virtue now being assigned to a hierarchy of newly invented victim identities.
I am not Jewish, but anyone who knows the least bit of history understands that the Jewish people have been the ACTUAL victims of ACTUAL harassment and ACTUAL violence. But, the modern progressive does not know anything, or care to know anything, about actual truth. As Shelby Steele so eloquently points out, they are committed to a “poetic truth” that is untethered from actual truth - it is their RELIGION. And, as history has shown us over and over again, the most violent and intractable wars are fought over religion.
I must also say that while there are anti-semitics on both right and left, those on the right have little power - they certainly can’t get anyone fired from the NYT. So, I say to my Jewish friends, who are overwhelmingly Democrats, it is time to also vote in your self interest. I know this is a difficult shift, as the Democratic Party historically was the party of actual LIBERALISM, but that ship has sailed. So, while you may have to hold your nose and vote with some truck driving Bubbas, it is the only way we can stop this Progressive/Woke train that is running over all of us.
There are only two places where those who wish to oppose this Progressive/Woke movement have any power to stop it, the courts and at the ballot box. If we do not push back at the ballot box soon, there will be no objectivity left in the courts and it will be game, set and match to the radicals.
I know lots of people who hide their Jewishness for fear of the left. I know of no one who hides their Jewishness for fear of the right. It's the people who claim to be the most sensitive to minorities who terrorize Jews the worst.
This is the kind of column that is so dark you wish you could honestly dismiss it as hysterical or exaggerated, but sadly it isn't.
However, the allegation that the Texas Republican Party is flirting with anti-Semitism is nonsense. The largely Republican legislature passed, and the Republican governor signed, an anti-BSD bill that prohibits firms that boycott Israel from selling goods or services to the state. How would that legislation fare in a lot of blue states in 2021? In present time, the Republican Party is more pro-Israel than the Democratic Party, which indicates that the purported "white supremacist" influences on the party are in fact negligible.
I have thought a lot about the subject of Bari's latest offering. I worry deeply about the growing anti-Semitism and ask if "Never again" is just becoming another cruel joke as the marauding Palestinian supporters enact a lurid reprise of Kristallnacht in American cities. But I was particularly struck by Bari's comment that "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." In that context, I wonder about the historical affinity of American Jews with the Democrat party - a party that has become increasingly intolerant, racist and authoritarian. Moreover, the notion that conservative Christians are both Republicans and anti-Semitic is refuted by their support of Israel and their intolerance of attacks - verbal and physical - on American Jews. I fully accept that I might be wrong in this regard. Maybe old hatreds and the lies of our European ancestors still lurk in America. ( I was appalled to learn that when Bess Myerson was chosen as Miss America in 1945, several sponsors withdrew due to her religion). But we can't stop this madness if we sweep it under the rug. So kudos to Bari for starting the discussion.
I emailed the director of Americans Against Antisemitism yesterday. I noticed a horrifically disturbing trend. Jew-haters aren't targeting Israeli politics, they're targeting "Zionists." It doesn't matter who you are, or where you're from, your political party, race, gender, etc. Utter one word which isn't in 100% agreement with these Jew-hating psychos (Lamis Deek, Mohammad El Kurd, Stanley Cohen, Stephen Salaita and ALL of their followers), and they call you a Zionist along with something along the lines of "go fly a kite (euphemism)."
The worst part? Twitter allows it, if not encourages it. If the word "Zionist" was replaced with any non-Asian minority or one of the LGBTQ acronym defined sexual orientations, you'd get banned. But use any demonizing adjective with "Zionist" and you're free. People can be for the state of Israel and still be critical of it's policies without being called, for lack of a better word but still used often, "nazis."
It's unreal and people need to get together and put an end to Twitter being the #1 worldwide purveyor of Jew-hatred.
I would agree that there is anti-semitism on both ends of the spectrum but find it ludicrous to compare the two. If you don’t realize the threat is exponentially greater from the left(at this point in History) you are a fool. In times of trouble it is wise to know who your friends are. I have never understood why Jews align with people and groups that do not have their best interest at heart.
Can I just say I hope Bari is making 10x what she was making at the Times from this Substack. I so want platforms like this to be the future of journalism.
Bari, this hurts my heart. It hurts me that you even have to write such a piece. Just more of the scourge coming from the "progressive" left. Unfortunately, common sense Americans have been asleep at the wheel for a long time, thinking that our kids were being educated honestly. We are now realizing that there was a lot more far left indoctrination going on, than education. Also unfortunately, between the left-leaning media, the Hollywood crowd, and now Big Tech, it is hard to get an opposing message out.
Yes. It's so true that Jews get it from all sides-- even Jews who seem barely Jewish," Jews like me. I'm a nonpracticing Jewish atheist, almost 70, and I've never been particularly interested in Israel. Because I have a fairly generic name and appearance, people don't realize I'm Jewish unless I go out of my way to tell them.
Over the years, I've experienced a small number of antisemitic incidents, from both the right and the left. The ones from the right, I chalked up to a general lack of education. The ones from the left seemed far more threatening because they came from those who were supposedly well educated.
I would find it extremely difficult to be in college today. The atmosphere is openly hostile to anyone who doesn't toe the woke party line, and Jews are especially singled out.
While i generally agree with Bari, this time I only half agree. I fully agree with the commenters who object to the left / right equivalence. Anti-Semitism on the right is old and as far as i can tell, hardly growing - in fact shrinking as evidenced by the Republican Party's strong embrace of Israel. Of course the D's are going in the opposite direction as they must bow to the Progressives who effectively run the party. It is abundantly clear that the dramatic increase in anti-semitism comes from the left. My view for a long time has been that the left sees all success as illegitimate due to racism or oppression of some sort. Hence the hatred of Israel and the unquestioning support for the by Palestinians who must be oppressed since they are poor and Israel is rich. Jews are successful, therefor they are illegitimate. I think this also is why Jewish liberals are so anti-Israel.
Thank you! I have too many "liberal" Democratic friends who refuse to see, much less admit, the antisemitism on their side or how antisemitism has become mainstreamed. It's sickening. Not sure how much longer they will remain my friends.
Excellent article but I have to point out that Jew hatred on the Left is widespread and acceptable (as you found out at the NY Times). People like Louis Farrakhan have lots of supporters: Many in positions power. On the other hand, Neo-Nazis and their ilk are few in number and reviled by the Right. There is no balance or moral equivalence in this and attempts to find such in service of "fairness" are doomed to failure.
Very good piece, but I'll add a few quibbles and pedantries:
1. I suspect that Lehrer may have got the idea for that line from Twain, who wrote "All the world hates the Jew, and will not endure him except when he is rich." I think it was in 𝐿𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ.
2. Jews have had a way-outsized share of religious-hate crimes in the FBI database for as far back as I can remember (and that's pretty far).
3. I'm suspicious of the self-reporting of the frat-boys and sorority-girls, given that they've been raised in a culture that values the oppressed. Yes, you're getting a lot of mail with details of actual events, too, but it's a big country and that's not how we do statistics.
4. I don't know if you learned to pluralize "The Before Time" from Jonah Goldberg and the folks at The Dispatch, but it's wrong. The phrase comes from a Star Trek episode (original show) where a society of children uses that term -- in the singular -- for the time before the grownups disappeared.
5. Perhaps we should stop referring to Nazis as being on the "right". As Sowell points out, there's nothing conservative about their ideology and it more properly belongs with Communism and other radical movements.
Sowell, by-the-way, recounts being asked by a Jew what we can do to get (I don't remember which group, maybe all of them) to stop hating us. His answer? "Fail."
Here we go again: the mandatory “equivalence statement” whereby the reader is reminded (in this case, over and over again…) that the Left and Right are equally guilty for the outrage being discussed. THEY ARE NOT. Modern anti-semitism is overwhelmingly driven by the Progressive Left, and everybody who cares to examine the issue honestly knows it. Want to do something about the problem? Start with the goddam truth!
The majority of the anti-semitism is coming from the Left. They rely on intersectionality of victimhood to draw together groups who would normally be antagonistic to each other. Their grievance of envy allows them to focus their enmity on a group that has a history of achievement even in the face of persecution. Unfortunately there are many secular Jews who have been at the forefront of the corruption of the universities, the media and entertainment industries.
Bari, thanks first and foremost for being willing to make the sacrifice required to live your values. I find myself toggling back-and-forth regarding which group of people outrage me the most, those who are driving this ridiculous Progressive/Woke culture war - or those who merely go along with it from a lack of courage. Until very recently, strength and courage were considered virtues, but now they are considered “toxic” - virtue now being assigned to a hierarchy of newly invented victim identities.
I am not Jewish, but anyone who knows the least bit of history understands that the Jewish people have been the ACTUAL victims of ACTUAL harassment and ACTUAL violence. But, the modern progressive does not know anything, or care to know anything, about actual truth. As Shelby Steele so eloquently points out, they are committed to a “poetic truth” that is untethered from actual truth - it is their RELIGION. And, as history has shown us over and over again, the most violent and intractable wars are fought over religion.
I must also say that while there are anti-semitics on both right and left, those on the right have little power - they certainly can’t get anyone fired from the NYT. So, I say to my Jewish friends, who are overwhelmingly Democrats, it is time to also vote in your self interest. I know this is a difficult shift, as the Democratic Party historically was the party of actual LIBERALISM, but that ship has sailed. So, while you may have to hold your nose and vote with some truck driving Bubbas, it is the only way we can stop this Progressive/Woke train that is running over all of us.
There are only two places where those who wish to oppose this Progressive/Woke movement have any power to stop it, the courts and at the ballot box. If we do not push back at the ballot box soon, there will be no objectivity left in the courts and it will be game, set and match to the radicals.
Great article, thank you very much.
I know lots of people who hide their Jewishness for fear of the left. I know of no one who hides their Jewishness for fear of the right. It's the people who claim to be the most sensitive to minorities who terrorize Jews the worst.
This is the kind of column that is so dark you wish you could honestly dismiss it as hysterical or exaggerated, but sadly it isn't.
However, the allegation that the Texas Republican Party is flirting with anti-Semitism is nonsense. The largely Republican legislature passed, and the Republican governor signed, an anti-BSD bill that prohibits firms that boycott Israel from selling goods or services to the state. How would that legislation fare in a lot of blue states in 2021? In present time, the Republican Party is more pro-Israel than the Democratic Party, which indicates that the purported "white supremacist" influences on the party are in fact negligible.
I have thought a lot about the subject of Bari's latest offering. I worry deeply about the growing anti-Semitism and ask if "Never again" is just becoming another cruel joke as the marauding Palestinian supporters enact a lurid reprise of Kristallnacht in American cities. But I was particularly struck by Bari's comment that "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." In that context, I wonder about the historical affinity of American Jews with the Democrat party - a party that has become increasingly intolerant, racist and authoritarian. Moreover, the notion that conservative Christians are both Republicans and anti-Semitic is refuted by their support of Israel and their intolerance of attacks - verbal and physical - on American Jews. I fully accept that I might be wrong in this regard. Maybe old hatreds and the lies of our European ancestors still lurk in America. ( I was appalled to learn that when Bess Myerson was chosen as Miss America in 1945, several sponsors withdrew due to her religion). But we can't stop this madness if we sweep it under the rug. So kudos to Bari for starting the discussion.
Great timing!
I emailed the director of Americans Against Antisemitism yesterday. I noticed a horrifically disturbing trend. Jew-haters aren't targeting Israeli politics, they're targeting "Zionists." It doesn't matter who you are, or where you're from, your political party, race, gender, etc. Utter one word which isn't in 100% agreement with these Jew-hating psychos (Lamis Deek, Mohammad El Kurd, Stanley Cohen, Stephen Salaita and ALL of their followers), and they call you a Zionist along with something along the lines of "go fly a kite (euphemism)."
The worst part? Twitter allows it, if not encourages it. If the word "Zionist" was replaced with any non-Asian minority or one of the LGBTQ acronym defined sexual orientations, you'd get banned. But use any demonizing adjective with "Zionist" and you're free. People can be for the state of Israel and still be critical of it's policies without being called, for lack of a better word but still used often, "nazis."
It's unreal and people need to get together and put an end to Twitter being the #1 worldwide purveyor of Jew-hatred.
I would agree that there is anti-semitism on both ends of the spectrum but find it ludicrous to compare the two. If you don’t realize the threat is exponentially greater from the left(at this point in History) you are a fool. In times of trouble it is wise to know who your friends are. I have never understood why Jews align with people and groups that do not have their best interest at heart.
This is one of the reasons I find the both sidesy commentary about extremes on right and left so grating.
Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene want to ride jet skis drunk while firing pistols in the air and paying lower taxes.
The extremes on the left want to drive Israel into the sea. Not clear whether or not jet skis are involved.
Steve King was thrown in a dumpster and Cori Bush convinced the Democrat President to eliminate private property.
It’s different.
Can I just say I hope Bari is making 10x what she was making at the Times from this Substack. I so want platforms like this to be the future of journalism.
Bari, this hurts my heart. It hurts me that you even have to write such a piece. Just more of the scourge coming from the "progressive" left. Unfortunately, common sense Americans have been asleep at the wheel for a long time, thinking that our kids were being educated honestly. We are now realizing that there was a lot more far left indoctrination going on, than education. Also unfortunately, between the left-leaning media, the Hollywood crowd, and now Big Tech, it is hard to get an opposing message out.
God help us!
Yes. It's so true that Jews get it from all sides-- even Jews who seem barely Jewish," Jews like me. I'm a nonpracticing Jewish atheist, almost 70, and I've never been particularly interested in Israel. Because I have a fairly generic name and appearance, people don't realize I'm Jewish unless I go out of my way to tell them.
Over the years, I've experienced a small number of antisemitic incidents, from both the right and the left. The ones from the right, I chalked up to a general lack of education. The ones from the left seemed far more threatening because they came from those who were supposedly well educated.
I would find it extremely difficult to be in college today. The atmosphere is openly hostile to anyone who doesn't toe the woke party line, and Jews are especially singled out.
While i generally agree with Bari, this time I only half agree. I fully agree with the commenters who object to the left / right equivalence. Anti-Semitism on the right is old and as far as i can tell, hardly growing - in fact shrinking as evidenced by the Republican Party's strong embrace of Israel. Of course the D's are going in the opposite direction as they must bow to the Progressives who effectively run the party. It is abundantly clear that the dramatic increase in anti-semitism comes from the left. My view for a long time has been that the left sees all success as illegitimate due to racism or oppression of some sort. Hence the hatred of Israel and the unquestioning support for the by Palestinians who must be oppressed since they are poor and Israel is rich. Jews are successful, therefor they are illegitimate. I think this also is why Jewish liberals are so anti-Israel.
Thank you! I have too many "liberal" Democratic friends who refuse to see, much less admit, the antisemitism on their side or how antisemitism has become mainstreamed. It's sickening. Not sure how much longer they will remain my friends.
Excellent article but I have to point out that Jew hatred on the Left is widespread and acceptable (as you found out at the NY Times). People like Louis Farrakhan have lots of supporters: Many in positions power. On the other hand, Neo-Nazis and their ilk are few in number and reviled by the Right. There is no balance or moral equivalence in this and attempts to find such in service of "fairness" are doomed to failure.
Very good piece, but I'll add a few quibbles and pedantries:
1. I suspect that Lehrer may have got the idea for that line from Twain, who wrote "All the world hates the Jew, and will not endure him except when he is rich." I think it was in 𝐿𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐸𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ.
2. Jews have had a way-outsized share of religious-hate crimes in the FBI database for as far back as I can remember (and that's pretty far).
3. I'm suspicious of the self-reporting of the frat-boys and sorority-girls, given that they've been raised in a culture that values the oppressed. Yes, you're getting a lot of mail with details of actual events, too, but it's a big country and that's not how we do statistics.
4. I don't know if you learned to pluralize "The Before Time" from Jonah Goldberg and the folks at The Dispatch, but it's wrong. The phrase comes from a Star Trek episode (original show) where a society of children uses that term -- in the singular -- for the time before the grownups disappeared.
5. Perhaps we should stop referring to Nazis as being on the "right". As Sowell points out, there's nothing conservative about their ideology and it more properly belongs with Communism and other radical movements.
Sowell, by-the-way, recounts being asked by a Jew what we can do to get (I don't remember which group, maybe all of them) to stop hating us. His answer? "Fail."