ANTISEMITISM IS BECOMING AN AXIS OF CONVERGENCE BETWEEN FASCISTS AND THE SO-CALLED LEFT
There is an undeniable growing identification between liberals and purported leftists and ultra-rightist forces under the so-called banner of “anti-Zionism.”
The rightists are not moving to the “left.” Instead it is liberals and lefties who are moving towards the right attracted to the death trap of a Red-Brown patriotic alliance with ultra-rightists, akin to the ‘left wing' of the SA Nazi movement that claimed to be “anti-capitalist.”
This represents a mortal danger to the working class as it leads people to be more susceptible to the siren song of “leftist” fascism posing as anti-capitalist or anti-Zionist.
I am a supporter of the Palestinians and an opponent of the undemocratic and supremacist Zionist state.
I support the historic demand for a Democratic and Secular Nation for Palestinians and Jews united together in a single nation, as a single equal people.
For this reason I understand the vital need to absolutely and utterly oppose antisemitism under any guise. Those who promote antisemitism sabotage the Palestinian struggle and help Israel.
My opposition to antisemitism is three-fold:
1) I oppose the hatred of or discrimination against any groups or minorities within any society, just as I oppose racism and group hatreds in all their forms. That's a principled position for everywhere in the world. I oppose all scapegoating of any groups.
2) However, I also oppose antisemitism because it has been and is a primary weapon and tool of the capitalist ruling class for centuries and before that the feudal class in Europe. Antisemitism has a centuries-long history as one of the most potent and deadly weapons of the ruling rich against ALL working people. It exists to sabotage our struggles.
Today we see rightists whipping up antisemitism once again in the face of growing polarization and radicalization. These ‘patriots’ seek to misdirect our growing rage away from the capitalist rulers, the actual culprits, whom they serve. But now we see undeniable antisemitism peddled by the ‘left.’ Leftist Jew-hatred is everywhere around Substack, masquerading as purported ‘anti-Zionism.’ It is pure poison.
It may seem counterintuitive, but antisemitism is a weapon not primarily aimed at Jews per se, although their suffering and slaughter is hardly debatable, and is utterly reprehensible.
Antisemitism is primarily a tool of the ruling rich to distract and derail the struggles of the exploited masses of working people against a minority in order to protect the actual rulers, their profits and their property.
Kings protected their castles by blaming Jews. The rich today protect their profits again by blaming Jews and immigrants, etc.
All conspiracy theories —including and above all antisemitism, given its long history and unique place politically in the “West” — are created to protect the rulers from our struggles.
The enemy of all working people is the capitalist ruling class IN ITS ENTIRETY as a social class. We don't care what their “religion,” color, sex, nationality or ethnicity may be. It's all green.
It is absurd to hold all citizens of a country culpable for the crimes of governments over which we have absolutely no control, likewise members of any religion or ethnicity for crimes committed by other members of that ethnicity or religion. No rational or just person believes in collective guilt or punishment.
We want to persuade people to oppose U.S. imperialism and its support for Israel, not morally blame the powerless for the crimes of the US government. The same holds true for Jews, even those who today mistakenly support Israel. We must persuade them.
Israel serves the rulers of the United States, not the other way around. The tail does not wag the dog. Israel is the attack dog for Washington.
3) My third reason for opposing antisemitism is because it strengthens Israel and the Zionist narrative.
I want to win Jewish people away from Zionism. I want to persuade them to stand against the government of Israel, not push them into the hands of Netanyahu.
For a United Democratic and Secular Nation of Palestinians and Jews!
The general idea of the article is correct because the conflation of Israel and Jewry has placed multitudes of non-Israeli Jews, who in many cases oppose Israeli actions, in a very difficult situation. However, the article perpetuates the typical rhetoric of those who are being criticized.
It might be worth remembering that Jews expelled from Spain were accepted by the Muslim world and that, in general, Jews lived much better under Muslim rule than under Christian rule over the ages.
The relationship became more complicated only after the state of Israel was established, primarily because of the atrocities committed by the new state.
Furthermore, there is a lively Jewish community in Iran whose synagogue was recently bombed by the U.S. and Israel.
Also, I have never heard Iranian officials speak against Jews as such, but rather against the state of Israel or Zionism.
Moreover, I have spent a reasonable amount of time going through the communication channels of various parties engaged in the current crisis, and I can say that, when it came to the Iranian ones, I did not find memes targeting Jews in general. Instead, I found many targeting Israeli Jews as representatives of Iran’s adversary in a war inflicted on it. There was no racial subtext, and as Haaretz reported that 93% of Israeli Jews supported the attack on Iran, a certain level of emotional response is to be expected.
Paradoxically, I found that a plethora of anti-Jewish memes came from right-wing Christian sources and, in some cases, from channels related to Lebanon.
The case of Lebanon is related to the ongoing experience of targeted killings, the bombing of civilian population, settlement expansion, asset dispossession, settler violence against the original inhabitants, and so on. All of that is being done by Israeli Jews. This may be the reason for the hatred expressed in channels related to Lebanon. You might rightfully argue that a proportionally much smaller part of Israeli citizens of Arab origin also supported the war, but I doubt they would be trusted enough to be deployed by the IDF in Lebanon, nor do I think they are taking part in recent settlement projects. This probably explains why Jews are blamed.
It is very hard to maintain any calm distinction when your relatives are being killed and an entire town, including your home, is being flattened. I think what we are doing here is having a sort of cool-headed academic discussion, but the reality for the people experiencing this, on both sides, is very different. Hatred feeds hatred, and the loop continues endlessly.
If you corner someone, they will fear you first but after some time they will hate you. This is natural psychological response.
On one side, the Palestinians have, starting with the Nakba and even before, been increasingly cornered for decades, and they feel that they are fighting for their last breath, which makes them very serious opponents even though they have been decimated.
On the other side, Israeli Jews are cornering themselves by pushing the Palestinians off their land. They are afraid of the reaction to their actions, and this fear is fueling their hatred.
The only way out of this deadly loop was closed off by the murder of the exceptional Israeli prime minister who, even though he was a Zionist, realized that the country was on the road to hell and had the inner strength to do something about it.
The current trajectory of Israel leads to its destruction, and it does not matter whether that comes by external force or through the complete moral and psychological destruction of its citizens. Either of those, or even both, will inevitably bring about its end.
---
As for right-wing Christians, they also feel cornered. They voted for a president who was supposed to focus on solving their problems and stop waging forever wars that contributed greatly to the astronomical debt the U.S. carries.
Instead, they see this president pouring money into just another war that brings neither any benefit to the U.S. nor any to the rest of the world, except for Israel. They feel that U.S. politics has been hijacked by Israel and blame American Jews for this. The truth is that not every Jew in the U.S. contributed to this, but many supported organizations that, ipso facto, lobbied for Israeli interests on many levels and over the years created the situation we are now in. I think this is what drives these feelings.
What would really help here is something I do not see happening very often, except among a few people such as you. I mean U.S. Jews openly distancing themselves from organizations like AIPAC, the ADL, and others, and thus delegitimizing them.
Starting new Jewish organizations free of Zionist ideology would also help greatly, because the interest of U.S. Jews lies in having a prosperous country where they now live, unless they are counting on the social benefits to which they would be entitled because of their dual citizenship. And even in that case, let us be reasonable, who would fly across the ocean just to get healthcare for free? It is much better to make it affordable in your homeland, in the U.S.
When the “Most Holy Catholic Majesties” of When the “Most Holy Catholic Majesties” of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the Jews from Spain in 1492 many were accepted by Portugal. Portugal was in it's age of Discoveries started by King Henry the Navigator and Jewish cartographers were valued by the Portuguese king and employed to map out the New World. One requirement was that the Jews became Christians. They were referred to as Novos Cristãos / New Christians by the Portuguese. They don't appear to have ghettoised themselves on a grand scale as in other countries but many emigrated to Portugals colonial empire in Africa over the next 100 years to make their fortunes in Angola, Moçambique and South Africa. During the 60 years when Portugal and Spain were joined under a Spanish monarch the Inquisition was sent down from Lisbon to Angola to investigate the Novo Cristãos, some of whom had reportedly lapsed into (or had never given up on) their old Jewish practices. Nothing was found to be amiss and the Inquisition returned to Lisbon without any heretics being burnt at the stake.
Thank you for this response, you elucidated exactly what I was feeling as I read the post and saved me the work of responding to the article AND you did it far better than I could have. Kudos, a job really well done!
Well written and clear on who us to blame for the rise of ANTI-JEWISH sentiment and along with it comes a backlash of faux faith including ANTI-CHRISTIAN views for their unwavering support in genocide.
BTW Semite is not an exclusive term for Jews BUT CERTAINLY HAS BEEN HIJACKED AND USED AS MEANS TO DEFLECT.
The term “antisemitism” was coined in 19th-century Germany as a label for hostility to Jews, not as a general term for hatred of all “Semitic” peoples.
The key figure is Wilhelm Marr, a German agitator who in 1879 popularized the term Antisemitismus. He used it to give old Jew-hatred a modern, pseudo-scientific sound. Instead of saying bluntly “hatred of Jews,” he framed it as opposition to “Semites,” but in practice he meant Jews and only Jews. Arabs were not the target of his campaign. The term was born inside European anti-Jewish politics.
That matters because the word did not grow out of linguistics first. Linguistically, “Semitic” referred to a family of languages, including Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, and others. But the political term antisemitism was never constructed as a neutral mirror image of that linguistic category. It was a propaganda word created in the world of European anti-Jewish ideology.
In other words, the historical sequence is this: first there was centuries-old hatred of Jews in Christian Europe; then in the 19th century racial theorists and political demagogues tried to rebrand that hatred in modern secular and racial terms; and “antisemitism” was the label they chose. It was basically old anti-Jewish bigotry dressed up as social theory.
That is why, historically, dictionaries, scholars, Jewish organizations, and ordinary usage all treat antisemitism as meaning anti-Jewish prejudice or hatred. The literal objection — that Arabs are also “Semites” in a linguistic sense — misses the origin of the actual word. Etymologically, the term may look broader than its meaning, but historically its meaning was fixed at birth: hostility to Jews.
So the answer is yes, and the historical basis is strong: from its origin in late 19th-century Europe, antisemitism was coined to describe anti-Jewish hostility, not prejudice against all Semitic-speaking peoples.
Thanks MJ; for your courage in speaking truth to power and your integrity in delivering unwanted messages.
I agree many conflate all Jews with Israel, and I think a significant contributing factor is that it appears the vast majority of Jews worldwide support Israel unconditionally and even when Israel is clearly acting as a tyrant nation, undermining Allies and slaughtering children. Perhaps some data points showing that a significant minority of Jews condemn Israel’s worst actions would help the world understand that all Jews don’t support all Israel’s policies and practices. In the meantime, if 90%+ of Jews support all Israel’s actions, then it’s not unreasonable for most people to conflate the two. I pray for peace and forgiveness daily at Mass and Rosary, MJ. God bless you; you’re a man of God.
Glad you brought up the Rabin assassination. Either Ben Gvir or Smotrich (or maybe both) had a portrait of the assassin hanging on his living room wall. Only when he (or they) became members of the security cabinet was the portrait taken down. Or maybe moved to a less conspicuous place.
Unfortunately, the data below makes mute MJ’s argument not to conflate;
“Israel Democracy Institute survey conducted on 2 March—3 found that 93% of Jewish Israelis supported the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran. Support cut across all political camps.
The same enthusiasm for war accompanied the Gaza genocide and the various wars and escalations in Lebanon.”
When Schumer is recorded on video saying that it is his job to defend Israel, I find it very offensive. It’s his job to work for America, not the radical terrorists of Zionism. Invasion is not defense. Genocide is not defense.
Israel… Likud… literally sponsors antisemitism. They love it. It fuels their expansionism.
A truly democratic Israel would act with restraint… and mitigate its worst nativist biblical psycho… not funnel billions to a fanatical foe and have not left their people undefended against that fanatical enemy on 7/10
Weirdly not long after the terror attack in Europe a decade ago on the satirical cartoonists of Mohammed (Hedbo), I was working with a Zionist comic who used to do impressions of old Jewish bankers. He thought the terrorists, whose bombing victims were Jews, were making the mistake of conflating Judaism with Israel. When I pointed out to him that the critics of Israel (like me) were not necessarily antisemitic, he flew into a rage, labeling me as a self-hating Jew. And that was the end of our friendship and collaboration. (He is the son of holocaust survivor who had been rescued from a pile of corpses in 1945 at Belsen by American troops). ( I am just the nephew of a holocaust survivor). This comic is normally very left wing but we haven’t spoken since. I have been labeled a self hating Jew multiple times since then and have lost many friendships.
I truly wonder if combating antisemitism was even a third-tier goal.
For the billionaires, suppressing free speech on campuses, and by extension, suppressing liberal ideas appears to be the primary goals.
For the ADL, appeasing the major donors, and the corporate/tech CEOs who are deeply integrated with Israeli surveillance IP, far outweighed the vital role of highlighting and combating actual antisemitism.
For Evangelicals, proection of Jewish people is irrelevant...the gial is to pursue what they view as the path to the Rapture.
For the extremist right, an apartheid Israel is their role model for the US.
For US and EU politicians, unconditional support for Israel has been the quid pro quo for donations. Arresting citizens for criticizing Israel's policies has clearly led to explosions in antisemitism.
It's all so tragic and had been utterly predictable and preventable.
So true and such an excellent article explaining the rise of antisemitism. I have always tried to be clear in my criticism of Israel that it's the extreme Zionist leadership and those who support it that is the problem. But I was recently accused of encouraging "Jew hatred" for just quoting some of the earlier leaders who said the Palestinians needed to be gone. But we still need to confront the damage so that Jews can still be honored as fellow humans.
Isn’t that Israel’s strategy for making the world throughout less safe for Jews and forcing them to migrate to Israel?
ANTISEMITISM IS BECOMING AN AXIS OF CONVERGENCE BETWEEN FASCISTS AND THE SO-CALLED LEFT
There is an undeniable growing identification between liberals and purported leftists and ultra-rightist forces under the so-called banner of “anti-Zionism.”
The rightists are not moving to the “left.” Instead it is liberals and lefties who are moving towards the right attracted to the death trap of a Red-Brown patriotic alliance with ultra-rightists, akin to the ‘left wing' of the SA Nazi movement that claimed to be “anti-capitalist.”
This represents a mortal danger to the working class as it leads people to be more susceptible to the siren song of “leftist” fascism posing as anti-capitalist or anti-Zionist.
I am a supporter of the Palestinians and an opponent of the undemocratic and supremacist Zionist state.
I support the historic demand for a Democratic and Secular Nation for Palestinians and Jews united together in a single nation, as a single equal people.
For this reason I understand the vital need to absolutely and utterly oppose antisemitism under any guise. Those who promote antisemitism sabotage the Palestinian struggle and help Israel.
My opposition to antisemitism is three-fold:
1) I oppose the hatred of or discrimination against any groups or minorities within any society, just as I oppose racism and group hatreds in all their forms. That's a principled position for everywhere in the world. I oppose all scapegoating of any groups.
2) However, I also oppose antisemitism because it has been and is a primary weapon and tool of the capitalist ruling class for centuries and before that the feudal class in Europe. Antisemitism has a centuries-long history as one of the most potent and deadly weapons of the ruling rich against ALL working people. It exists to sabotage our struggles.
Today we see rightists whipping up antisemitism once again in the face of growing polarization and radicalization. These ‘patriots’ seek to misdirect our growing rage away from the capitalist rulers, the actual culprits, whom they serve. But now we see undeniable antisemitism peddled by the ‘left.’ Leftist Jew-hatred is everywhere around Substack, masquerading as purported ‘anti-Zionism.’ It is pure poison.
It may seem counterintuitive, but antisemitism is a weapon not primarily aimed at Jews per se, although their suffering and slaughter is hardly debatable, and is utterly reprehensible.
Antisemitism is primarily a tool of the ruling rich to distract and derail the struggles of the exploited masses of working people against a minority in order to protect the actual rulers, their profits and their property.
Kings protected their castles by blaming Jews. The rich today protect their profits again by blaming Jews and immigrants, etc.
All conspiracy theories —including and above all antisemitism, given its long history and unique place politically in the “West” — are created to protect the rulers from our struggles.
The enemy of all working people is the capitalist ruling class IN ITS ENTIRETY as a social class. We don't care what their “religion,” color, sex, nationality or ethnicity may be. It's all green.
It is absurd to hold all citizens of a country culpable for the crimes of governments over which we have absolutely no control, likewise members of any religion or ethnicity for crimes committed by other members of that ethnicity or religion. No rational or just person believes in collective guilt or punishment.
We want to persuade people to oppose U.S. imperialism and its support for Israel, not morally blame the powerless for the crimes of the US government. The same holds true for Jews, even those who today mistakenly support Israel. We must persuade them.
Israel serves the rulers of the United States, not the other way around. The tail does not wag the dog. Israel is the attack dog for Washington.
3) My third reason for opposing antisemitism is because it strengthens Israel and the Zionist narrative.
I want to win Jewish people away from Zionism. I want to persuade them to stand against the government of Israel, not push them into the hands of Netanyahu.
For a United Democratic and Secular Nation of Palestinians and Jews!
'Israel Has Become Dangerous for Jews Around the World'
https://world-outlook.com/2026/03/23/israel-has-become-dangerous-for-jews-around-the-world/
The general idea of the article is correct because the conflation of Israel and Jewry has placed multitudes of non-Israeli Jews, who in many cases oppose Israeli actions, in a very difficult situation. However, the article perpetuates the typical rhetoric of those who are being criticized.
It might be worth remembering that Jews expelled from Spain were accepted by the Muslim world and that, in general, Jews lived much better under Muslim rule than under Christian rule over the ages.
The relationship became more complicated only after the state of Israel was established, primarily because of the atrocities committed by the new state.
Furthermore, there is a lively Jewish community in Iran whose synagogue was recently bombed by the U.S. and Israel.
(https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/7/synagogue-in-tehran-destroyed-in-us-israeli-strikes-on-iran)
Also, I have never heard Iranian officials speak against Jews as such, but rather against the state of Israel or Zionism.
Moreover, I have spent a reasonable amount of time going through the communication channels of various parties engaged in the current crisis, and I can say that, when it came to the Iranian ones, I did not find memes targeting Jews in general. Instead, I found many targeting Israeli Jews as representatives of Iran’s adversary in a war inflicted on it. There was no racial subtext, and as Haaretz reported that 93% of Israeli Jews supported the attack on Iran, a certain level of emotional response is to be expected.
Paradoxically, I found that a plethora of anti-Jewish memes came from right-wing Christian sources and, in some cases, from channels related to Lebanon.
The case of Lebanon is related to the ongoing experience of targeted killings, the bombing of civilian population, settlement expansion, asset dispossession, settler violence against the original inhabitants, and so on. All of that is being done by Israeli Jews. This may be the reason for the hatred expressed in channels related to Lebanon. You might rightfully argue that a proportionally much smaller part of Israeli citizens of Arab origin also supported the war, but I doubt they would be trusted enough to be deployed by the IDF in Lebanon, nor do I think they are taking part in recent settlement projects. This probably explains why Jews are blamed.
It is very hard to maintain any calm distinction when your relatives are being killed and an entire town, including your home, is being flattened. I think what we are doing here is having a sort of cool-headed academic discussion, but the reality for the people experiencing this, on both sides, is very different. Hatred feeds hatred, and the loop continues endlessly.
If you corner someone, they will fear you first but after some time they will hate you. This is natural psychological response.
On one side, the Palestinians have, starting with the Nakba and even before, been increasingly cornered for decades, and they feel that they are fighting for their last breath, which makes them very serious opponents even though they have been decimated.
On the other side, Israeli Jews are cornering themselves by pushing the Palestinians off their land. They are afraid of the reaction to their actions, and this fear is fueling their hatred.
The only way out of this deadly loop was closed off by the murder of the exceptional Israeli prime minister who, even though he was a Zionist, realized that the country was on the road to hell and had the inner strength to do something about it.
The current trajectory of Israel leads to its destruction, and it does not matter whether that comes by external force or through the complete moral and psychological destruction of its citizens. Either of those, or even both, will inevitably bring about its end.
---
As for right-wing Christians, they also feel cornered. They voted for a president who was supposed to focus on solving their problems and stop waging forever wars that contributed greatly to the astronomical debt the U.S. carries.
Instead, they see this president pouring money into just another war that brings neither any benefit to the U.S. nor any to the rest of the world, except for Israel. They feel that U.S. politics has been hijacked by Israel and blame American Jews for this. The truth is that not every Jew in the U.S. contributed to this, but many supported organizations that, ipso facto, lobbied for Israeli interests on many levels and over the years created the situation we are now in. I think this is what drives these feelings.
What would really help here is something I do not see happening very often, except among a few people such as you. I mean U.S. Jews openly distancing themselves from organizations like AIPAC, the ADL, and others, and thus delegitimizing them.
Starting new Jewish organizations free of Zionist ideology would also help greatly, because the interest of U.S. Jews lies in having a prosperous country where they now live, unless they are counting on the social benefits to which they would be entitled because of their dual citizenship. And even in that case, let us be reasonable, who would fly across the ocean just to get healthcare for free? It is much better to make it affordable in your homeland, in the U.S.
When the “Most Holy Catholic Majesties” of When the “Most Holy Catholic Majesties” of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the Jews from Spain in 1492 many were accepted by Portugal. Portugal was in it's age of Discoveries started by King Henry the Navigator and Jewish cartographers were valued by the Portuguese king and employed to map out the New World. One requirement was that the Jews became Christians. They were referred to as Novos Cristãos / New Christians by the Portuguese. They don't appear to have ghettoised themselves on a grand scale as in other countries but many emigrated to Portugals colonial empire in Africa over the next 100 years to make their fortunes in Angola, Moçambique and South Africa. During the 60 years when Portugal and Spain were joined under a Spanish monarch the Inquisition was sent down from Lisbon to Angola to investigate the Novo Cristãos, some of whom had reportedly lapsed into (or had never given up on) their old Jewish practices. Nothing was found to be amiss and the Inquisition returned to Lisbon without any heretics being burnt at the stake.
Thank you for this response, you elucidated exactly what I was feeling as I read the post and saved me the work of responding to the article AND you did it far better than I could have. Kudos, a job really well done!
Thank you.
How right you are, your analysis has always seemed obvious to me & i don’t understood how those standing by Israel don’t see it???? Why?
Maybe we need a distinction: Buber. https://gbyer.substack.com/p/jewishness-and-martin-buber?r=5507d3&utm_medium=ios
Well written and clear on who us to blame for the rise of ANTI-JEWISH sentiment and along with it comes a backlash of faux faith including ANTI-CHRISTIAN views for their unwavering support in genocide.
BTW Semite is not an exclusive term for Jews BUT CERTAINLY HAS BEEN HIJACKED AND USED AS MEANS TO DEFLECT.
The correct term is Anti-Jewish. Since the great majority are not semitic regardless of its prior improper usage.
Please don’t debate this since Abraham and Arab [?] Jews are Persian and the contemporary Jewish population are of European descent.
The term “antisemitism” was coined in 19th-century Germany as a label for hostility to Jews, not as a general term for hatred of all “Semitic” peoples.
The key figure is Wilhelm Marr, a German agitator who in 1879 popularized the term Antisemitismus. He used it to give old Jew-hatred a modern, pseudo-scientific sound. Instead of saying bluntly “hatred of Jews,” he framed it as opposition to “Semites,” but in practice he meant Jews and only Jews. Arabs were not the target of his campaign. The term was born inside European anti-Jewish politics.
That matters because the word did not grow out of linguistics first. Linguistically, “Semitic” referred to a family of languages, including Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, and others. But the political term antisemitism was never constructed as a neutral mirror image of that linguistic category. It was a propaganda word created in the world of European anti-Jewish ideology.
In other words, the historical sequence is this: first there was centuries-old hatred of Jews in Christian Europe; then in the 19th century racial theorists and political demagogues tried to rebrand that hatred in modern secular and racial terms; and “antisemitism” was the label they chose. It was basically old anti-Jewish bigotry dressed up as social theory.
That is why, historically, dictionaries, scholars, Jewish organizations, and ordinary usage all treat antisemitism as meaning anti-Jewish prejudice or hatred. The literal objection — that Arabs are also “Semites” in a linguistic sense — misses the origin of the actual word. Etymologically, the term may look broader than its meaning, but historically its meaning was fixed at birth: hostility to Jews.
So the answer is yes, and the historical basis is strong: from its origin in late 19th-century Europe, antisemitism was coined to describe anti-Jewish hostility, not prejudice against all Semitic-speaking peoples.
Incorrect sir! It is a stolen term regardless of when it was coined. Read the definition of semitic, PLEASE!
Thanks MJ; for your courage in speaking truth to power and your integrity in delivering unwanted messages.
I agree many conflate all Jews with Israel, and I think a significant contributing factor is that it appears the vast majority of Jews worldwide support Israel unconditionally and even when Israel is clearly acting as a tyrant nation, undermining Allies and slaughtering children. Perhaps some data points showing that a significant minority of Jews condemn Israel’s worst actions would help the world understand that all Jews don’t support all Israel’s policies and practices. In the meantime, if 90%+ of Jews support all Israel’s actions, then it’s not unreasonable for most people to conflate the two. I pray for peace and forgiveness daily at Mass and Rosary, MJ. God bless you; you’re a man of God.
Thank you
who stands with israle? pedophiles, genociders, and rapists?
Glad you brought up the Rabin assassination. Either Ben Gvir or Smotrich (or maybe both) had a portrait of the assassin hanging on his living room wall. Only when he (or they) became members of the security cabinet was the portrait taken down. Or maybe moved to a less conspicuous place.
Unfortunately, the data below makes mute MJ’s argument not to conflate;
“Israel Democracy Institute survey conducted on 2 March—3 found that 93% of Jewish Israelis supported the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran. Support cut across all political camps.
The same enthusiasm for war accompanied the Gaza genocide and the various wars and escalations in Lebanon.”
https://savageminds.substack.com/p/war-without-victory?r=o1yr3&utm_medium=ios
When Schumer is recorded on video saying that it is his job to defend Israel, I find it very offensive. It’s his job to work for America, not the radical terrorists of Zionism. Invasion is not defense. Genocide is not defense.
Israel… Likud… literally sponsors antisemitism. They love it. It fuels their expansionism.
A truly democratic Israel would act with restraint… and mitigate its worst nativist biblical psycho… not funnel billions to a fanatical foe and have not left their people undefended against that fanatical enemy on 7/10
Weirdly not long after the terror attack in Europe a decade ago on the satirical cartoonists of Mohammed (Hedbo), I was working with a Zionist comic who used to do impressions of old Jewish bankers. He thought the terrorists, whose bombing victims were Jews, were making the mistake of conflating Judaism with Israel. When I pointed out to him that the critics of Israel (like me) were not necessarily antisemitic, he flew into a rage, labeling me as a self-hating Jew. And that was the end of our friendship and collaboration. (He is the son of holocaust survivor who had been rescued from a pile of corpses in 1945 at Belsen by American troops). ( I am just the nephew of a holocaust survivor). This comic is normally very left wing but we haven’t spoken since. I have been labeled a self hating Jew multiple times since then and have lost many friendships.
That is what happens. So sad.
I truly wonder if combating antisemitism was even a third-tier goal.
For the billionaires, suppressing free speech on campuses, and by extension, suppressing liberal ideas appears to be the primary goals.
For the ADL, appeasing the major donors, and the corporate/tech CEOs who are deeply integrated with Israeli surveillance IP, far outweighed the vital role of highlighting and combating actual antisemitism.
For Evangelicals, proection of Jewish people is irrelevant...the gial is to pursue what they view as the path to the Rapture.
For the extremist right, an apartheid Israel is their role model for the US.
For US and EU politicians, unconditional support for Israel has been the quid pro quo for donations. Arresting citizens for criticizing Israel's policies has clearly led to explosions in antisemitism.
It's all so tragic and had been utterly predictable and preventable.
So true and such an excellent article explaining the rise of antisemitism. I have always tried to be clear in my criticism of Israel that it's the extreme Zionist leadership and those who support it that is the problem. But I was recently accused of encouraging "Jew hatred" for just quoting some of the earlier leaders who said the Palestinians needed to be gone. But we still need to confront the damage so that Jews can still be honored as fellow humans.
Yup. And it’s just starting….