FIGHTING ANTISEMITISM CAN’T BE A PARTISAN PROJECT

In a recent commentary, I wrote about how some Christian nationalists in Congress were creating a “religious liberty” loophole to shield one of the oldest antisemitic slurs—that Jews are responsible for deicide in killing Jesus—from enforcement in Title VI under the new antisemitism act. I got a lot of positive feedback.

I wasn't surprised. Every time I talk about Republicans engaging in antisemitism I get a lot of positive feedback.

I get less positive feedback when I talk about antisemitism on the left which—both initially surprising (to me at least) and ironic, given that the majority of Jews are on the left—has become a very serious problem.

I thought about this a couple of weeks ago while watching Bill Maher talking about the partisan divide in our country. In his funny and revealing bit, he illustrated an uncomfortable reality: In today's America, when the other side is for something, we have to be against it. Through humorous examples, he showed how Americans who once believed something often reverse course whenever their political enemies agree with them. Americans, he concluded, no longer ask, "Is this right?" They ask, "Who said it?"

Though he didn't include it, all I could think about was how this mindset affects the very un-funny task of fighting antisemitism. How it’s creating huge blind spots that allow people—on both sides—to give their own "team" a pass.

For so many years, the Jewish community—and I definitely include myself in this—primarily focused on antisemitism from the right. Considering the escalating dangers posed by neo-Nazi-style marches and terror attacks, this made sense. Certainly, we knew that left-wing antisemitism was present. But because it tended to exist mostly in radical spaces—not all over mainstream social media or in the middle of campuses—it was easier to ignore.

Last week we saw the bloodthirsty results of the radical left's hatred of Jews with the horrific murders in Washington. The antisemites issuing calls to "globalize the Intifada" inspired the killer and then set to work lionizing him.

The harsh reality is that we are dealing with antisemitism coming at us from every direction. Yet since "every direction" in this country always somehow aligns with our political parties, too many Americans—Jews included—remain focused on talking about how it's really a problem of "their side." It's those blind spots I mentioned.

Republicans have been great at this for years. Using Israel and Israel alone as their litmus test, they've lauded Trump and their party as the only reliable supporters of Israel and, therefore, the Jews.

By now, most people understand that I see the Jewish people and Israel as deeply and inextricably intertwined. I am a Zionist and I believe that a people that comprises .02 percent of the world cannot afford to turn our backs on each other. So, yes, sometimes I see good intentions on the Republican side; even good results. I'm not afraid to acknowledge that.

And yet, for a party that completely associates the good it does for Jews with Israel, too many Republicans have been ignoring or excusing the administration's recent cozying up to Qatar. This is the same Qatar that both funds the campus rioters and serves as Hamas’s chief benefactor. Added to this is a tsunami of other antisemitic and anti-Israel activity arising on the right (Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens come to mind). It all serves to prove Bill Maher's point.

What's happening now on the left holds up a funhouse mirror to the right. Consider the campus crisis (a word I use deliberately). Despite the violence—in word and deed—I am astounded by the hemming and hawing in Democratic circles. What I mostly hear are defenses of academic freedom and demands for due process. These are crucial values that I support. But just as crucial is recognizing that today's vitriolic anti-Zionism is identical to Jew-hatred in every way.

When it was Nazis marching in Skokie, Jews on the left managed to both defend their constitutional rights and simultaneously condem their beliefs. How, today, can Democrats ignore these haters?

A few weeks ago Harvard released its report on antisemitism. It detailed the outright harassment, stalking, and intimidation of Jewish students, behavior that, if it were happening to any other minority, would trigger liberal outrage and widespread calls for accountability. Instead, the response on the left has ranged from muted and cautious to deflective and dismissive.

The Jewish Forward, one of the most prominent liberal Jewish publications in America, has lately been all of those things. Its recent headlines include:

"The Growing Panic About Antisemitism Isn't a Reflection of Reality." (It is.)

"Was the D.C. Jewish Museum Shooting Antisemitic?" (It most certainly was and everyone knows it.)

"The Passover Attack on Josh Shapiro ... Don't Assume It Was Antisemitic." (It was and without a doubt.)

Even as it launched a special newsletter to cover the rise in antisemitism, it’s been using it almost exclusively to give a pass to the left. After Harvard University released its report on rampant campus antisemitism, the Forward published a condescending and evasive piece that was utterly out of sync with the gravity of what Jewish students are experiencing.

According to the Forward, Jewish students aren’t being stalked, harassed, and isolated, though this was exactly what they said—they’re just “experiencing social fragmentation.” Harvard's report itself said that "substantial numbers of Jewish students feel that since October 7th, they have lived in an increasingly hostile atmosphere in their residences, classes, organizations, and clubs, as well as in the public spaces...."

The Forward, on the other hand, reported that the main problem documented by Harvard isn't intimidation. It's "divergent feelings." And since some Jewish students don’t feel unsafe, well then maybe none of it is really that serious.

No decent liberal would ever treat racism or any other form of bigotry this way. But for some reason, when it comes to antisemitism—especially from progressive spaces—the impulse to protect allies seems to outweigh the responsibility to protect Jews.

Worse still, by focusing solely on academic freedom and constitutional rights—important as they are—some liberals are unwittingly encouraging a climate that normalizes the murderous intent behind chants like "Globalize the Intifada," one of the inspirations for the Washington murderer.

As a Jewish leader (and a voice for secular humanism), I take seriously the responsibility to condemn all of this antisemitism. It is a responsibility that we must all bear. Whether it's coming from the right or the left, American Jews cannot afford to ignore either side.

Unlike the examples given by Bill Maher, there's nothing funny at all about what's going on here. Our own partisanship is corrupting our fight against Jew-hatred.

When antisemitism comes from the right, Republican leaders say, "Well Trump didn’t really call the marchers in Charlottesville 'good people,'" or they quietly allow Christian nationalists to separate accusations of deicide from the history of Jew-hatred.

When it comes from the left, Democratic leaders insist, "'From the river to the sea' isn’t antisemitic," or they'll defend the campus encampments as peaceful critiques of Netanyahu and Israel's policies.

Each side excuses its own. And neither holds its leadership accountable for giving antisemitism a pass.

Perhaps a short lesson from Jewish history might serve as a reminder of why Jew-hatred is unbound by rational political thought. Antisemitism, it should be remembered, is unique among the world's hatreds. Not only because it targets a people that comprises 2/10ths of one percent of the planet's population, but because it primarily consists of a never-ending chain of conspiracy theories. And conspiracy theories infamously capture  the imagination of left and right and everyone in between.

Throughout history these theories have attached to Jews almost every conceivable evil or wrong or just plain unpleasant phenomenon that can occur in the world. Like deadly viruses, they mutate as necessary, defying complete eradication, rising in new forms when the old ones no longer fit the need.

This is why antisemitism has never disappeared. It has died down but it always returns in new forms. This means that whenever we fight antisemitism seriously, we cannot do so  selectively.

That means ceasing to give our own "sides" a pass.

That means ceasing to outsource our fight to either political team.

In the wake of October 7 and the rise of this Jew-hatred, famed atheist and secular humanist Sam Harris re-asserted his Jewish identity, asking, "Who can be counted upon to defend the Jews, but the Jews?" What does it mean to "count on" someone? It means to be utterly reliant on them.

Certainly many, many non-Jews have and will continue to stand up for us in our time of need. We treasure these people.

But can we always count on such people? Can we really know that they will always be there to defend and protect us?

Jews have been around for a very, very long time. Our history suggests that, no, we cannot utterly rely on others. We must be the first and fiercest defenders of our own safety and dignity.

If we continue to allow partisanship to override our judgment, we risk losing the only thing we’ve ever truly had:

Ourselves.