"There are members of Congress who do not hesitate to voice their antisemitism.'' If antisemitism becomes government-sponsored and institutionalized, there will be no respite. Not even for a short time.
Agreed, but individual members of Congress like the vile members of AOC’s so-called Squad don’t make policy. Nor can antisemitism be institutionalized against the will of the American people. American Jews, though they have reason to be concerned, have no reason to fear in the long run. As I mentioned in my article, “pogrom” is not an American word.
And I hope it never becomes. If we look at the history of Germany, Jews there were very comfortable and had high positions. Who could have anticipated (until the late 1920s-1930s) that antisemitism would become institutionalized? And the higher institutions supposedly played a central role. (Someone like Heidegger never even recanted, just to mention one). The propaganda machine worked on all levels. Now, we have a conglomeration of "lethal" forces that supposedly have different agendas but share their "dislike" and aid and abet each other.
Yes, I’m familiar with the relevant history. It was my subject in graduate school. So I don’t minimize your concerns. I well understand where they come from. But America can never be Germany. America, like Israel, is a country founded on an idea, not one rooted in blood and soil. And isn’t that why the Jews prospered so mightily in America?
We are “German” Jews and our history does not come from the books. Germany was the most enlightened country of greatest thinkers and Jews prospered there greatly.
Thomas, thank you for clarifying the significance of "From the river to the sea" in the Princeton protest. I am certainly not in favor of a war of extermination by anyone against anyone else. On the other hand, it is too easy to read too much into signs and slogans; while being sensitive to their underlying sentiment, student protest slogans (e.g. "Down with Capitalism!" e.g. "Occupy Wall Street" etc. ) should not be taken too literally. They are more amuletic incantation than serious policy point. But that is a side issue. The basic question, to me, is whether support in any form for a Palestinian national state constitutes anti-Semitism? I continue to believe its is not.
Well, if I were a Jew, I think I'd take such slogans at face value—given the relevant history. Anyhow, hate speech should never be given the benefit of the doubt. The demonstrators in that photo are expressing their support for Palestinian nationalism, which is genocidal in character. The best that can be said of them, therefore, is that they're apologists for a genocidal project.
I happen to support the concept of a Palestinian state and I've always believed that the Palestinians have some legitimate grievances. But as long as the Palestinians predicate the establishment of their state on the destruction of the Jewish state, they don't deserve a state of their own.
Thanks for this essay. I note the photo of the Princeton campus protest which seems directed against the state of Israel rather than against Jews per se. I think we should always make the distinction between anti-Semitism and anti-Israel-ism (if such a junky term exists -- I suppose another term for this might be Anti-Zionism, a policy of opposing the development of a Jewish nation, but that seems is a fusty, old-school anachronism). The two isms are, needless to say, not equivalent: opposition to Israel's policies regarding West Bank settlements, for example, is found amongst American Jews and non-Jews alike. In a similar vein, the BDS movement may not be considered as "anti-Semitic" per se, but as a form of protest against certain actions of Israel.
The Princeton demonstrators in that photograph were not protesting Israeli policies. They were calling for the destruction of the State of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian state on the rubble. That's the meaning of the slogan "From the river to the sea." No one familiar with the genocidal character of Palestinian nationalism can deceive himself that what the Palestinians want is a state in which Arabs and Jews can live peacefully, side by side. No, the Jews of Israel are to be swept away, expunged, liquidated. That is the very definition of ethnic cleansing—genocide. It's also the very definition of "anti-Zionism"—which is why anti-Zionism is the same thing as antisemitism.
My paternal and maternal grandparents were born in the Pale of Settlement and moved to the United States to escape the bigotry and violence against Jews so common in the late 19th and even early 20th centuries. It’s a good thing they did; their relatives who stayed behind were mostly murdered by the Nazis.
My mother, who is still alive in her mid 90s, grew up in upper Manhattan. When he first started out, Father Coughlin used to hold rallies in a courtyard behind the small apartment building where she grew up. During the summers when the weather was stiflingly hot, the only relief could be found by opening the windows. The downside is that during Coughlin’s rallies my mom, her brother and my grandparents could hear every Anti-Semitic word that he uttered. Mom’s memory is not what it used to be but to this day, she remembers the fear and dread she felt as a little girl every time she heard Father Coughlin speak.
Though our family is Irish Catholic, I never heard my mother and father mention Coughlin. Of course, they were teenagers in his heyday and probably had other things on their minds. But after reading about him in some book or other, I asked my Grandfather Gregg about Coughlin. This was in the Seventies. He was silent for a moment, then answered that it was one thing back then to be against involvement in the war, but that some of the things Coughlin said were unbecoming of a priest.
"There are members of Congress who do not hesitate to voice their antisemitism.'' If antisemitism becomes government-sponsored and institutionalized, there will be no respite. Not even for a short time.
Agreed, but individual members of Congress like the vile members of AOC’s so-called Squad don’t make policy. Nor can antisemitism be institutionalized against the will of the American people. American Jews, though they have reason to be concerned, have no reason to fear in the long run. As I mentioned in my article, “pogrom” is not an American word.
And I hope it never becomes. If we look at the history of Germany, Jews there were very comfortable and had high positions. Who could have anticipated (until the late 1920s-1930s) that antisemitism would become institutionalized? And the higher institutions supposedly played a central role. (Someone like Heidegger never even recanted, just to mention one). The propaganda machine worked on all levels. Now, we have a conglomeration of "lethal" forces that supposedly have different agendas but share their "dislike" and aid and abet each other.
Yes, I’m familiar with the relevant history. It was my subject in graduate school. So I don’t minimize your concerns. I well understand where they come from. But America can never be Germany. America, like Israel, is a country founded on an idea, not one rooted in blood and soil. And isn’t that why the Jews prospered so mightily in America?
We are “German” Jews and our history does not come from the books. Germany was the most enlightened country of greatest thinkers and Jews prospered there greatly.
Thomas, thank you for clarifying the significance of "From the river to the sea" in the Princeton protest. I am certainly not in favor of a war of extermination by anyone against anyone else. On the other hand, it is too easy to read too much into signs and slogans; while being sensitive to their underlying sentiment, student protest slogans (e.g. "Down with Capitalism!" e.g. "Occupy Wall Street" etc. ) should not be taken too literally. They are more amuletic incantation than serious policy point. But that is a side issue. The basic question, to me, is whether support in any form for a Palestinian national state constitutes anti-Semitism? I continue to believe its is not.
Well, if I were a Jew, I think I'd take such slogans at face value—given the relevant history. Anyhow, hate speech should never be given the benefit of the doubt. The demonstrators in that photo are expressing their support for Palestinian nationalism, which is genocidal in character. The best that can be said of them, therefore, is that they're apologists for a genocidal project.
I happen to support the concept of a Palestinian state and I've always believed that the Palestinians have some legitimate grievances. But as long as the Palestinians predicate the establishment of their state on the destruction of the Jewish state, they don't deserve a state of their own.
Thanks for this essay. I note the photo of the Princeton campus protest which seems directed against the state of Israel rather than against Jews per se. I think we should always make the distinction between anti-Semitism and anti-Israel-ism (if such a junky term exists -- I suppose another term for this might be Anti-Zionism, a policy of opposing the development of a Jewish nation, but that seems is a fusty, old-school anachronism). The two isms are, needless to say, not equivalent: opposition to Israel's policies regarding West Bank settlements, for example, is found amongst American Jews and non-Jews alike. In a similar vein, the BDS movement may not be considered as "anti-Semitic" per se, but as a form of protest against certain actions of Israel.
The Princeton demonstrators in that photograph were not protesting Israeli policies. They were calling for the destruction of the State of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian state on the rubble. That's the meaning of the slogan "From the river to the sea." No one familiar with the genocidal character of Palestinian nationalism can deceive himself that what the Palestinians want is a state in which Arabs and Jews can live peacefully, side by side. No, the Jews of Israel are to be swept away, expunged, liquidated. That is the very definition of ethnic cleansing—genocide. It's also the very definition of "anti-Zionism"—which is why anti-Zionism is the same thing as antisemitism.
My paternal and maternal grandparents were born in the Pale of Settlement and moved to the United States to escape the bigotry and violence against Jews so common in the late 19th and even early 20th centuries. It’s a good thing they did; their relatives who stayed behind were mostly murdered by the Nazis.
My mother, who is still alive in her mid 90s, grew up in upper Manhattan. When he first started out, Father Coughlin used to hold rallies in a courtyard behind the small apartment building where she grew up. During the summers when the weather was stiflingly hot, the only relief could be found by opening the windows. The downside is that during Coughlin’s rallies my mom, her brother and my grandparents could hear every Anti-Semitic word that he uttered. Mom’s memory is not what it used to be but to this day, she remembers the fear and dread she felt as a little girl every time she heard Father Coughlin speak.
Though our family is Irish Catholic, I never heard my mother and father mention Coughlin. Of course, they were teenagers in his heyday and probably had other things on their minds. But after reading about him in some book or other, I asked my Grandfather Gregg about Coughlin. This was in the Seventies. He was silent for a moment, then answered that it was one thing back then to be against involvement in the war, but that some of the things Coughlin said were unbecoming of a priest.
Thank you, Thomas.