Friday, May 10, 2024
Elder of Ziyon
Even though the antisemitic image in the glasses is associated with the white supremacists, it is a near perfect characterization of how Israel and Israelis are described by the antisemites on the Left. They are seen as being just as evil, scheming, ruthless, and conceited as the neo-Nazis think of Jews.
I have been studying antisemitism for many years now. I have described the major four strains of antisemitism nowadays: Progressive, far-Right, Black and Arab/Muslim and how each of those requires a different approach since they are based on different myths.
But as we see Jew-hatred in the US at levels that we hadn't seen for at least sixty years, it occurs to me that it is important to identify the common denominators between each of these classes of antisemites.
Antisemitism is an obsession for the haters in all of those groups. So much so, that they will try to find ways to mainstream antisemitism within their larger populations.
It looks like hating Jews and trying to make everyone else hate Jews is the only thing that these four disparate groups of antisemites have in common. Antisemitism appears to be a completely independent variable. As the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks observed, it acts as a virus, one that has no apparent vaccine. The four groups are not exhaustive - they are just representative, but it seems that anyone can become an antisemite,
How does one fight antisemitism when it manifests itself in such wildly different, disparate ways among such different kinds of people?
Perhaps we have been asking the wrong question. Perhaps we are looking at the entire problem backwards.
Just as there are lots of antisemites in all of those four populations, there are also plenty of decent people who courageously fight antisemitism from within those groups - people who do not see a contradiction between their political viewpoints and self-identification and admiring the Jewish people, within and outside of Israel.
Is there any commonality between the philosemites of the Right, the Left, the Arab/Muslim world and the Black community?
Maybe that is the question that needs to be asked. Instead of looking at what antisemites have in common, look at what the defenders of Jews have in common. That might be the seed for the antidote.
Those who support Jews admire a people that have survived the worst that humanity has to throw at them. They admire a people who not only survived, but managed to thrive in the face of every obstacle put in their way. After all, from leadership in the monetary system to medical research expertise to entertainment to building defensive weapons today, Jews have turned the attempts at limiting their options into becoming the best they could become within the more limited options available - or even creating entirely new industries.
Philosemites admire the attributes that Jews have shown throughout the ages: from creating the moral code that underlies the Western world, to creativity, smarts, resilience, flexibility, pride, a strong sense of self and individuality, and self-reliance. And these attributes also apply to Israelis - no one can deny their creativity, brilliance and how well they have thrived under adverse conditions.
If this is the case, then the best way to fight antisemitism is to teach all other groups of people to admire these same attributes.
Let's look at self-reliance as an example. Most of the people who hate Jews, in general, also tend to believe that they have been treated unfairly, that the world owes them (or the less advantaged) something. No matter what one thinks about the government giving people a social safety net, everyone should agree that the ideal is for people to make the best of their circumstances - we should admire those who overcome their misfortunes despite the cards being stacked against them, and try to emulate them, not sit back and wait for others to give them what they think they deserve. If that attitude is taught from birth, then antisemitism would be reduced, since Jews are the role models for self-reliance. (It wouldn't be eliminated, as antisemitism does morph - Louis Farrakhan is the exception that proves the rule, as he needs to make naked antisemitism a key message to overcome his self-reliance message.)
And the same goes for the other attributes I listed. If people are taught to value creativity and morality (as opposed to virtue signaling), self-worth and hard work, and to think for themselves rather than mindlessly follow a herd, they would not be as likely to become obsessed with hating Jews.
We need to create a world where the things that make Jews admirable are goals for all of humankind. Anytime that people start to value things that contradict these worldviews, antisemitism cannot be far behind.
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