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What Can You Do About Anti-Semitism?

By David Levin, Post 425

It’s no secret that antisemitic and anti-Zionist activity has been on the rise in this country over the last few years. I use the term activity to include things happening online, demonstrations, rhetoric, real-world violence, student intimidation, as well as political posturing. Antisemitic incidents in the U.S. increased by 34% between 2020 and 2021 according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). These incidents are now at their highest level since the ADL started compiling information about antisemitism in 1979.

This is not 1933 Germany. No group is going around pulling you from your home because you are a Jew, look like a Jew, or consort with Jews. But people have been murdered because of Jew hatred, most notably at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in October 2018. Antisemitism has been around in various forms for various reasons for thousands of years, and it will likely never be eliminated completely. This essay is written solely to get us thinking, and hopefully acting to make a dent in the problem.

I can’t begin to enumerate the pro-Jewish/Israel organizations who send me snail mail or email in the fight against antisemitism. They are working hard to educate and influence people through podcasts, conferences, literature, and lobbying elected officials. One wonders if they can reach the minds of the troublemakers or those most likely to cause trouble in the future. What can we do besides speak to like-minded people, stay informed, and support some of these wonderful entities financially?

We realize that no racial or ethnic group is homogeneous in their moral, cultural, intellectual, or physical attributes. But the hard-core antisemite lumps all Jews together, usually based on some perceived negative encounter or characteristic. One approach is to support educating gentiles, and sometimes ourselves, by emphasizing Jewish contributions to mankind as well as the Torah values that Judaism represents. The way in which these values have a commonality with other religions and cultures could be a foundation of this educational program.

The Holocaust Museum and Center for Tolerance and Education located at Rockland Community College (RCC) in Suffern, New York, led by Executive Director Andrea Winograd, has been working hard with student groups and community visitors in this area for many years, and is now in a new and expanded milieu. Besides the education efforts, promoting the concept of tolerance along with the baton of love and mutual respect to all we encounter will go far to achieve our goal. After all, how else can we legitimately call ourselves the light for all nations?

I recently saw the movie “Shared Legacies” at RCC, along with Jews, Blacks, elected officials, and other interested community members. It was a survey of the Civil Rights alliance between Blacks and Jews, with a focus on the close relationship between the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. When these two giants of their time passed on, in 1968 and 1972 respectively, the alliance, bereft of these leaders, began to wither away.

The point to be made is that a vigorous and successful response to antisemitism is unlikely without strong leaders and engaged followers who can overlook their differences and unite behind these leaders. In my opinion, both the lack of courageous and charismatic leadership as well as the lack of unanimity and common resolve among the followers has impeded the effort. Policy makers, interfaith clergy, leaders of educational institutions, businesses, and media, must all realize that intolerance and disrespect of the “other” has the potential to weaken our nation and is a threat to common humanity.

The late Lubavitcher Rebbe surmised that the avowed antisemite has a void in their life that they try to fill with Jew hatred because they were not exposed to Torah. For sure, unless explained by intellectual or mental deficiency, what logic could deny or distort the Holocaust, see Jews as a threat to white people, or rationalize the isolation or intimidation of Jewish college students based on their cultural beliefs?

Interestingly, the Rebbe felt that a possible strategy was to engage with leaders of some antisemitic groups in a quiet and diplomatic manner as an attempt to educate and possibly find some mutual understanding. So, what may be necessary are education, engagement, and a united effort to be an upstander rather than a bystander on this issue. That doesn’t mean risking an emotional or physical confrontation, but it does require a moral commitment, and sharing the love we all have within us.

Volume 76. Number 3. 2022

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How to Fight Anti-Semitism

By Harrison Heller

“How to Fight Anti-Semitism” is a must read. Whether you are Jewish or not, this recounting of anti-Semitism and how to fight back is essential. In today’s America, where we thought anti-Semitism was an afterthought until Charlottesville and Pittsburgh, author Bari Weiss gives a chilling and thought-provoking look at this thought virus.

Before diving in to the book, it’s important to understand the meaning of anti-Semitism. According to Merriam-Webster, anti-Semitism is “hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group.” This is the correct definition, but in her book, Weiss describes anti-Semitism as “not even a solid idea or singular theory. It is a shape-shifting worldview that slithers away just as you think you have it pinned down and, in so doing, stays several steps ahead of anyone trying to clobber it.” We should also define Judaism. Is Judaism a religion? An ethnicity? A way of life? Weiss says, “Judaism is not merely a religion, and it is not merely an ethnicity. Judaism is a people. More specifically, it is a people with a language, a culture, a literature, and a particular set of ideas, beliefs, texts, and legal practices.”

Many Americans put anti-Semitism and racism in the same basket. Is anti-Semitism the same as racism or is it a subset of racism? In American society, Jews are considered white. However Weiss asks, “Were there laws in Maryland saying that Jews couldn’t hold public office? Yes. Was that the same as human beings in the Old Line State being bought and sold as property? Absolutely not.” She continues, “Are Jews barred from country clubs? Yes. But are Jews singled out and discriminated against, not least by law enforcement, because of an immutable physical characteristic? Most definitely not.” According Weiss, if anti-Semitism is a subset of racism, it whitewashes the Jewish people. The majority of Israel’s Jewish population is of Mizrahi decent (Middle Eastern and North African heritage) and 12-15 percent of America’s Jewish population is comprised of people of color. She explains the difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish prejudice. One example she gives is that of a gentile father who prefers his daughter not marry a Jew. This is anti-Jewish prejudice. However, this man does not hold the belief that the Jews hold a secret control over the government. That belief would be anti-Semitic. Weiss closes her definition of anti-Semitism by stating, “In the eyes of the racist, the person of color is inferior. In the eyes of the misogynist, the woman is something less than human. In the eyes of the anti-Semite, the Jew is… everything. He is whatever the anti-Semite needs him to be.”

One area frequently discussed is whether anti-Semitism is unique to the left or to the right. The answer is simple – it has found a home on both extreme ends of the political spectrum.

Weiss notes that on the extreme left, anti-Semitism exploits the moral fear within people. They place sole blame for the continued conflict between Israelis and Palestinians on the Jewish State. This moral fear causes some Jews to downplay their sympathies, or entirely abandon their support for Israel. The Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) Movement, focuses on getting governments around the world pull their support of Israel. The group does not protest Israeli policies, but they wish to isolate and pressure Israel until the Jewish State collapses. Omar Barghouti, co-founder of BDS said, “We oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine… [only] a sellout Palestinian would accept a Jewish state in Palestine.” Some far-left groups also use the extreme end of victimhood to shame Jewish business owners and academic leaders of their Jewishness and their support for Israel.

Those on the far-right use tactics such as fear, neo-fascism, and Nazi ideology to instill fear in the community. George Lincoln Rockwell, a U.S. Navy veteran who served during World War II and the Korean War, founded the American Nazi Party in 1959. Inspired by Black Muslims, those on the far-right started to merge religion with white supremacy, and thus gave rise to such Christian Identity groups as The Order and America’s Promise Ministries. Today, these groups have merged and found a home in what is now called “The Alt-Right.” These groups instill fear by promoting the conspiracy theory that the Jews control the government and Hollywood. Far-right white nationalist groups are starting to find homes on college campuses across the country.

On both extreme ends of the political spectrum, it is the lack of knowledge and compassion that led people down these various paths. While these sound like different paths, they are one in the same.

As far as how to fight back against anti-Semitism, I don’t wish to include any spoilers in this review, but simply encourage you to read Weiss’ book.

Volume 74. Number 1. 2020

 

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JWV Urges the Immediate Appointment of the Special Envoy for the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism

When the new administration took office on January 20, 2017, they failed to appoint a special envoy to head the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism.  Even after an 86% increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the first quarter of 2017 with over 145 bomb threats to Jewish institutions and multiple Jewish cemetery desecrations, the position astonishingly remained unfilled.  As of July 1, 2017, the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism is officially closed, ensuring that no one within the administration of President Donald Trump is specifically working on combating anti-Semitism.

“The State Department’s closing the office is both short-sighted and ill-timed.  Anti-Semitism remains a grim reality in today’s world and must be vigorously addressed.  I’m quite frankly surprised given the positive actions by Ambassador Nikki Haley in fighting anti-Semitism at the United Nations, one finds the State Department’s actions baffling.  I find myself asking if the ghost of John Foster Dulles is in the room,” said JWV National Commander COL Carl Singer.

After the Global Anti-Semitism Act of 2004 was signed into effect by President George W. Bush, the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism has laid out a working definition of anti-Semitism as well as kept a tally of anti-Semitic incidents throughout the globe.  This is particularly important because the new definition of anti-Semitism includes anti-Zionist activities that have crossed the line into anti-Semitism, which we all sadly know far too well can and does happen.

This year, a German court ruled that a 2014 bombing of a German synagogue was not anti-Semitic, but rather, it was anti-Zionist – even though the synagogue was targeted specifically because it was a Jewish institution and not an Israeli consulate.  Because of the definition set by the special envoy to the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, this kind of attack would be considered a hate crime in the United States, not a simple act of arson, and it would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

When questioned in June about the special envoy position, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was non-committal about appointing an envoy and he insinuated that having a special envoy was counterproductive to fighting anti-Semitism.  He explained that people who are responsible for implementing U.S. policy would somehow decide it was not their responsibility to fight anti-Semitism because someone else is already doing it – fighting anti-Semitism is everyone’s responsibility.

After the office was closed on the first, Shoshana Simones, a 29 year old Make-A-Wish “wish manager”, pulled into her home after her Fourth of July vacation to see a swastika and the word “Jew” spray painted in black on her home with her husband and young daughter in the car.  These types of incidents will continue to persist until this administration decides to make fighting anti-Semitism a priority.

Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. urges the administration and Secretary Tillerson to immediately appoint a special envoy of the Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism and have a working staff actively combating anti-Semitism.  As the philosopher Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” and good men are indeed doing nothing right now.  JWV is committed to fighting this evil as we have always done.  We ask people to write and call their representatives and senators, urging them to tell the administration to appoint a special envoy.  If you need help finding your representatives, please contact JWV National Headquarte

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