By Bruce S. Ticker
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania – We are all well aware of the need to confront the antisemitism that is overwhelming our world, but we can dispute methods that some of our brethren employ which are counterproductive.
Such as what? Such as spending $14.5 million to unseat a problematic congressman that is not even necessary. Engaging in violence or committing illegal acts against anti-Israel activists. Reflexively branding any critic of Israel an antisemite. Abruptly defending Israel’s actions without an understanding of the situation. Or participating in sideshows which will have no impact on the final outcome.
These examples together can form a guidebook for “How Not to Fight Antisemitism.” Such tactics evoke stereotypes of Jews, violence as a response, defensiveness, ignorance, vilifying critics and squandering time and effort.
A veteran pro-Israel organization which spent $14.5 million to oust U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman in the June 25 Democratic primary displayed excessive wealth and power. Bowman, who is widely viewed as anti-Israel, probably would have lost without the expenditure of $14.5 million to educate voters in New York’s 16th congressional district of his failings.
Most of the district’s voters live in southern Westchester County which comprises most of the district, which includes a small sliver of the northern Bronx in New York City. Southern Westchester is home to a large Jewish presence and the district has one of the densest populations in the country. The voters are well-educated and probably know all there is to know about Bowman’s actions related to Israel.
Yet a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee assailed Bowman with television commercials, campaign literature stuffed in mailboxes and excessive phone calls costing $14.5 million, according to The New York Times. AIPAC was not the only big spender, but its contribution amounted to nearly three-fourths of expenses on behalf of George Latimer, the popular Westchester County executive.
Curiously, AIPAC focused on Bowman’s domestic votes and hardly mentioned Israel, but who could not figure out that this campaign was about Israel?
Latimer was nominated and the district is heavily Democratic, so Latimer is expected to be elected on Nov. 5. He probably could have gotten nominated with far less help from AIPAC, maybe with no involvement at all.
So what does that say about American Jews? From the vantage point of Israel’s critics, AIPAC with its money and power succeeded in pushing an elected critic of Israel out of the picture. We Jews, most of us being white, took down another Black man. Never mind that AIPAC is not targeting Israel-bashers like Reps. Rashida Tlaib or Ilhan Omar. Or that district voters were too moderate for Bowman. Or that AIPAC does not reflect the level of influence of all American Jews.
Bowman, incidentally, exploited stereotypes of wealth, power and even Jewish racism in his comments during a debate with Latimer, “I’m an outspoken person of color. I’m an outspoken Black man. I fight against genocide in Gaza, and I fight for justice right here. And his supporters don’t want that because it challenges their power.”
Conversely, Bowman’s defeat does not represent pro-Israel attitudes in all other districts. Says Democratic pollster Mark Mellman in a pre-primary interview, “Assuming the outcome is as we expect it, the message is going to be that being pro-Israel is not just wise policy, it’s smart politics.”
There are still plenty of districts where voters do not support Israel or are apathetic.
Violence and other illegal acts will obviously turn off people. Fortunately, that has been limited among Jews, but some of what our brethren have done could weaken our status – as has happened with pro-Arab activists.
On May 1, at the University of California-Los Angeles, numerous fights broke out when pro-Israel activists charged into the perimeter of an anti-Israel encampment, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports. Fifteen people were hurt.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called for an investigation and proclaimed the violence to be “absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable.”
But Jewish UCLA freshman Eli Tsives explained, “It makes us look really bad. This was a small group of what the majority of the Jewish people actually believe. We don’t support what they did.”
Among other illegal episodes, Lisa Karlovsky, previously director of Arizona’s Republican Jewish Coalition, was among three people arrested in connection with vandalism of 16 cars belonging to pro-Palestinian activists outside a Phoenix synagogue last January. Karlovsky faces charges for keying 10 cars by etching the Star of David on some cars and carving “baby killers” and “murderers” into cars, fellow defendant Brian Long said, according to the Arizona’s Family website.
Court records stated that Long told investigators that he used a screwdriver to scratch a car. Karlovsky’s husband, Matthew, who is a physician, served as “a lookout,” according to AZFamily.
It was an opportunity for Jamil Naser, whose car was carved with vulgar messages, to declare, “It’s kind of shocking that grown adults would do something like this to 16 cars. We figured it would be like kids, somebody a little younger, somebody with less to lose.”
In mid-May, Philadelphia police investigated extensive vandalism at a downtown coffee shop owned by an Arab and Muslim woman who contends her business was targeted for her verbal support of the Palestinians, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Jasmine Taibi-Bennoui, who owns the Lombard Café, said her business was extensively vandalized after hours in which the café’s three security cameras were disconnected and there was tampering with the cash registers.
She noted that someone plastered stickers depicting the Israeli property around the property, and she added that she filed four complaints to police over confrontations and threats made toward her and her staff, the Inquirer reported.
Leading elected officials and Jewish groups condemned the vandalism and other problems, according to the Inquirer.
It would take another column to comprehend how other misguided tactics hinder the fight against antisemitism. That is coming.
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Bruce S. Tickeer is a Philadelphia-based columnist.
A.much needed commentary. What is troubling is that not in a single one of the Jewish publications in my email box have I found a single word of empathy or compassion, let alone mention, of the tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians who have been killed in Gaza.This is inexcusable.
Thank you for your response. Always nice to hear a compliment. It is crucial that our community reacts strongly to antisemitism, but its methods sometimes hurt rather than help.