PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — Depending on one’s viewpoint, it could all make sense. Supposedly, Jews oppress Palestinians in Israel’s territories, so they must be part of white supremacy in America. Supposedly, all Jews are wealthy, so they must be oppressing people of color.
For sure, anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism. And now, supposedly, we Jews want a race war.
These are conclusions we can draw from the latest barrage in the ongoing war on Jews in America. So-called progressive groups trounced on American Jews in a series of strikes earlier this month. The Anti-Defamation League -of all organizations – has no place among social justice coalitions, 100 signatories claim in an open letter calling for the ADL’s exclusion from their movement. The Democratic Socialists of America, one of the signatories, also urged City Council candidates in New York to snub Israel in their travel plans, while the Urban Dictionary defines Zionism as fascist. But, supposedly, that is not anti-Semitism.
And I learned that small-city Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Los Angeles share the notoriety as being hotbeds of anti-Semitism of sorts.
When these developments occurred during the past few weeks, I was minding my own business. I do not remember suppressing Palestinians or African-Americans, or counting what there is of my money, or bolstering a Hitler-style ideology. These acts are especially disturbing because they are more drastic than most anti-Semitic steps taken in the past.
It could inspire one to think about voting for Donald Trump after nearly four years of praying he would be voted out of the White House.
Would it surprise anyone if some moderate or liberal Jews vote Trump and other Republicans on Nov. 3? Jewish populations are large enough in swing states like Pennsylvania, Florida and Arizona to decide elections in close races.
Why should we help people who are kicking us in the teeth? That might be the thinking of many Jews. I have far more better reasons to vote for Joe Biden, but this anti-Semitic garbage touches some deep nerves.
It is especially strange that critics are taking on the ADL, one of the most mother-and-apple-pie type organizations in the country. In a mission dubbed “Drop The ADL,” 100 signatories condemn the ADL’s work with police departments and its support of Israel, stating, “Even though the ADL is integrated into community work on a range of issues, it has a history and ongoing pattern of attacking social justice movements led by communities of color, queer people, immigrants, Muslims, Arabs and other marginalized groups while aligning itself with police, right-wing leaders and perpetrators of state violence.
“More disturbing, “ says the coalition, “it has often conducted those attacks under the banner of civil rights.”
That is almost funny considering that these signatories conduct attacks on Jews “under the banner of civil rights.” The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports that these groups include, besides the Democratic Socialists of America, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights and the Movement for Black Lives. The ADL’s work with the police includes a broad anti-bias training program as well as counterterrorism seminars and delegations to Israel, according to the JTA.
The letter cites incidents that occurred during the tenure of former national director Abraham Foxman, who retired five years ago, the JTA reports. The century-plus old bias-fighting agency has presided over some incredibly dumb moves, and I have personal experience with one of them, but the ADL’s accomplishments far outweigh its mistakes. As a critic of ADL myself, even I think this letter smacks of anti-Semitism.
The NYC chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America likewise asked candidates for City Council to avoid trips to Israel, stating in a questionnaire, “Do you pledge not to travel to Israel if elected to City Council out of solidarity with Palestinians living under occupation?
“Even though foreign policy falls outside the purview of municipal government, gestures like travel to a country by elected officials from a city the size and prominence of New York still send a powerful message, as would the refusal to participate in them,” as quoted in the Los Angeles Jewish Journal.
Mayor Bill de Blasio was among political and Jewish leaders who piled onto DSA’s question, with City Council’s Jewish Caucus issuing this statement: “No political organization should etch into platform such blatant anti-Semitism as a pledge not to visit the Jewish state, and no candidate for public office should seek support for an organization that does.”
The DSA backed off its question by stating that Council members “are regularly taken on an expenses-paid trip to Israel…We are in no way opposed to trips in a personal capacity to visit family or for other personal reasons.”
If their lame excuse is that they were not thinking when they devised the question, they are right. That begs the question: Do they ever think before criticizing Israel? For readers seeking fantastic fiction for their reading list, we recommend the San Francisco-based Urban Dictionary, which allows people to publish slang words and phrases. Turn to its definition of Zionism: “Zionism is in no way connected to anti-Semitism. To be anti-zionist is to be anti-fascist. Zionism is based on the idea that millennia old literary myth is the basis for nationhood and that religion (which is a matter of choice) is genetically predetermined…Zionists believe that they can turn up in a country and kick out the indigenous population, as did Hitler. Zionists are fascist.”
For a phrase that is “in no way connected to anti-Semitism,” the subsequent definition is loaded with brazen anti-Semitic attitudes, most obviously the Hitler reference. Debating who is indigenous helps nobody. Neither side is moving anywhere, so we need to focus on compromise. Unless advocates for the Palestinians seek ongoing violence.
The Jewish News of London reports that a group called the Campaign Against Antisemitism called for the site to remove the definition, saying: “Comparing Zionism to Nazism is textbook antisemitism, which has become all too common on Urban Dictionary.”
On top of this, two twisted men have been harassing Jews in two very disparate cities in America, particularly with an anti-Semitic message scrawled on two signs hanging Saturday on a Los Angeles overpass over the crowded I-405.
The first sign reads “Honk if you know” next to a sign that stated “The Jews want a race war,” according to The Jewish Journal.
I wonder if organizer Jon Minadeo Jr. intentionally picked 405 because it links L.A.’s two prime Jewish regions, the San Fernando Valley and west L.A. where Beverly Hills, Brentwood and Santa Monica are located. Minadeo, who blames Jews for the 9/11 terrorist attacks, traveled more than 400 miles from the San Francisco Bay Area to conduct the 405 “banner drop” and stand with his associates in front of a Chabad center to shout through a megaphone, “These Jewish terrorists are the people behind 9/11.”
In Ann Arbor, MichIGAN, population 113,000, it turns out that Henry Herskovitz has been leading protests in front of Beth Israel Synagogue every Saturday morning during Shabbat services since 2003, according to the Journal. A lawsuit filed last December by a Beth Israel congregant charged that protesters harass and insult congregants and displayed signs opposing Israel’s “military occupation of Palestinian lands” and proclaiming “Stop U.S. Aid to Israel.”
A federal district judge last week upheld the First Amendment rights of Herskovitz’s group to demonstrate, prompting Herskovitz to remark, “It’s clear Jewish power still exists, it’s still strong.”
Huh? After the judge’s ruling, and the snub to the ADL, the questionnaire for City Council candidates in NYC, the Urban Dictionary’s definition of Zionism and those banners hanging above I-405, how can any Israelite have confidence in Jewish power ever again?
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Bruce Ticker is a freelance columnist based in Philadelphia. He may be contacted via bruce.ticker@sdjewishworld.com
Bruce, you may want to do more research on Jon Minadeo, Jr. He does not appear to be of the same ilk or affiliation as the anti-Zionist DSA. Minadeo uses language of the right wing guys who marched in Charlottesville–you know, the type of guys who are supporting Trump for Trump’s racist and other hateful rhetoric–about the Jews trying to “replace” Americans and how “Jews want a race war.” When that rhetoric is used by these right wing racists, they mean they think Jews who support ending police brutality against blacks are somehow “anti-white,” and therefore undermining what many of them call “‘Merica” (cue up Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” to get the flavor).
However, I agree with you the political climate for American Jews is certainly tougher than it was, oh, I don’t know, five years ago, when a certain current president started his initial campaign for president. Also, if you remember the Poway Chabad shooter, he previously tried to torch a mosque, and hates Muslims as much as he hates Jews–you know, just like the Charlottesville marchers. Your rhetorical flourish that “moderate” Jews should consider voting for Trump, a man who uses language which appeals to actual anti-Semites, may not be the best alternative for American Jews. Plus, last time I checked, Biden has made clear he has no use for the DSA or anyone in its coalition, just tore into Linda Sansour (a noted Palestinian activist, with a history of saying some tough things about Israelis that cause many of us to wince or be outraged). So, your fear about the DSA being with Biden–the DSA has affirmatively refused to endorse Biden–is not one I find compelling to vote for Trump in this instance.
I also think you have a set forth a category fallacy. The DSA and its little coalition is not an agenda against Jews as Jews. In fact, the argument they are making is very much directed against Netanyahu’s Israel and Israeli propaganda for office holders, and the way in which the Israeli military has done many “trainings” for American police departments across the country. Also, we American Jews need to face the fact that a majority of Jewish Israeli voters are pretty much in line with the type of thinking that animates white nationalist thinking here, even as there are, among such Israeli Jewish voters, people who initially emigrated to Israel from Iraq or Morocco. So many of us human beings lines we draw to attack what we often call “the Other,” in this case, “Arabs” and Palestinians. Therefore, to lump the DSA in with Minadeo, a guy who really does have “Jew” embedded in his demented brain, strikes me more as Red-baiting the DSA than anything else you are trying to say.
Some very good points that I will keep in mind. To be clear about one item: I did not say that moderate Jews “should” consider voting for Trump. I was describing what I can only imagine is the thinking of many Jews. These outbursts tempt me to lean that way, but I cannot vote for Trump. One does not need a psychology degree to assess Trump’s mental state.
Thank you for your kind reply. I re-read your column and agree with you that you were talking about others’ potential reactions. I apologize for misstating what you said in that regard. I also agree with you I cannot vote for Trump, though I have never been a Biden fan, either. On the other hand, I expect to find myself with Bernie Sanders and Anne Appelbaum, two Jewish heritage persons on opposite ends of lots of issues, and say it is time, this fall, to come together and vote for Biden. :). My best to you and yours for the upcoming Rosh Hashana/Yom Kippur/Sukkot season.