Antisemitism

“It’s not good for the Jews,” David Frum said.

Mr. Frum, a Canadian-American who began his career writing speeches for George W. Bush — and who may not be as observant as his name suggests, but is very Jewish — was on the Bulwark podcast, talking about the situation roiling the American far right now.

Ezra Klein and his guest John Ganz — who both are Jewish — agreed on Mr. Klein’s New York Times podcast that antisemitism is on the rise.

Mr. Frum’s sort of on the right, Mr. Ganz is on the left, but they agreed about antisemitism as far more prevalent today, and more open and unashamed, than it has been in the lifetime of any other than the oldest of us.

Hearing them both on the same day is unnerving.

The antisemitism on the left has been visible at least since October 8, the day after Hamas butchered Israelis with brutal medieval gusto. The antisemitism on the right has been increasing in public view for the last decade; as Abe Foxman, the retired longtime head of the ADL, who lives in Bergen County, puts it, antisemitism had always been present but kept mostly underground from the end of World War II until 2017, when the sewer caps were lifted and the slime oozed up.

The two antisemitisms, from the right and the left, are melding in the dreaded horseshoe curve, aided by social media’s algorithm, which pays little attention to philosophical divisions as it serves misinformation and disinformation and outright lies.

The question of when anti-Zionism becomes antisemitism is both fraught and boring. Really, who cares? Hate is hate, no matter how the haters excuse it. But the loathing for Israel is visible and terrifying.

Read the comments on just about any website; no matter what the subject is, they will devolve into anti-Israel bilge. Some sites remove it, but they’re never quick enough. Others leave it. It’s freedom of expression, they say. It’s dangerous.

The Jewish community has to realize what’s going on. No matter where you stand politically, you have to acknowledge that there’s antisemitism lurking there. It’s not just them; it’s also us. And we have to realize how much Israel is hated. I don’t know why and I don’t know how to fight it, but I do know that refusing to acknowledge it keeps us endangered by it.

Sorry not to be more cheery, but sometimes some things just have to be said.

Now let’s figure out what to do about it.~

—JP

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