An old British definition of antisemitism is to hate Jews more than is socially appropriate. If so, well, nowadays you can go wild. It’s never terribly appropriate to dedicate time to reading or learning about antisemitism. Even if you can’t define it, you know it when you experience it. I’ve gathered together a collections on antisemitism that have appeared in the press, mostly during the last 10 days, and you can flip through them or not, as you will. I found them interesting.
https://commentary.org/articles/john-podhoretz/anhtisemites-coming-after-jews/
A long but thoroughly well-written essay about the different ways that life - and maybe the world - has changed for American Jews and Israeli Jews since October 7. His analysis of the situation in America is particularly insightful.
Paul Sperry of RealClearInvestigatins gives an in-depth profile of Prof. Hatem Basin of the University of California Berkeley Hatem has been at the from of the antisemitic pro-Palestinian movement, organizing groups like Student for Justice in Palestinian. Some of his organizations are being investigated for funneling dollars to Hamas.
https://sapirjournal.org/antisemitism/2023/08/three-falsehoods-about-antisemitism-and-one-truth/
Brett Stephens of the NYT writes in the journal Sapir on key misconceptions that people - even Jews - have about antisemitism.
https://fathomjournal.org/the-lust-libel-sexual-antisemitism-in-history-and-contemporary-culture/
“Antisemites have long depicted the Jews as a perverse, predatory, and pornographic people; horny vampires of the Orient. That ghoulish portrait — which, for short, can be called the ‘lust libel’ — is one of the more enduring of the classical antisemitic stereotypes. Today, it is all over the internet, influencing not just disaffected, and sometimes murderous, angry white men but even some prominent members of American popular culture. Jonah Cohen examines the history of the lust libel and its role in contemporary antisemitism.”
https://www.commentary.org/articles/eli-lake/asajew-brief-history/
I wondered, as I watched King Slutsky make a ridiculous spectacle herself as the spokesperson for the Columbia pro-Hamas demonstration, whether she would ever grow the presence of mind to realize how ruthlessly she had been manipulated to support the merciless acts of those who raped, mutilated, and murdered her own people. Would she ever feel guilty or regret her actions? Would she realize that she was put in that position precisely because she was Jewish and Jewish-looking?
I mean, she would have to be duller than a doorknob not to realize that.
She was chosen to crucify herself on the cross of entitled, tone-deaf, whiney American Jewish privileged brats because she could say, either literally or through her very presence: “Asajew….” which is not as bad but certainly on the same track as “as a Holocaust survivor…”
Being a Jew or a Holocaust survivor or a celebrity or a sports hero or even (I know I’m treading on thin ice here) Taylor Swift does not grant one any rep for being smart, nice, particularly moral, profound….absolutely nothing. Glad you survived, hey you sing great, oh yeah I remember that home run in the 5th c=game of the World Series that really swung the momentum… all legit. To form a political opinion because of her songs or her backhand or his hole-in-one or his 34 point performance in the NBA finals? Wake up!
Elil Lake traces the history of the Asajew… phenomenon. Does he go on a little too much? Yes. But if yo like history, you’;ll like this. Also check out Michael Rapapapaport’s interview with Dan Senor on his podcast Call Me Back.
https://quillette.com/2024/06/14/something-is-wrong-israel-gaza-vietnam-sds/
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2024/06/23/the_antisemitism_of_the_left_151151.html
https://jewishquarterly.com/essay/2024/05/blindness
Two (actually three) articles about where the left is nowadays, one by a writer on the right (Peter Berkowitz) and one by a writer on the left (Michael Walzer). The third article in the one referenced by Berkowitz in his essay, and worth your while
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/23/opinions/israel-gaza-protests-jews-bitton/index.html
…and now for something completely different: an article from CNN on how anti-Jewish riots are strengthening Jewish identification among some Jews.