Antisemitism – the hatred of Jews – is more dangerous today than other forms of bigotry, such as racism, homophobia, sexism, and anti-Islamism.
All these forms of bigotry are dangerous and far too prevalent, but the difference is the trajectory. With regard to all other forms of bigotry and discrimination, the trajectory is moving in the right direction. Today, hardly anyone justifies these other bigotries. Indeed, considerable governmental and non-governmental resources are being devoted to opposing them.
But with regard to antisemitism, the trajectory is clearly in the wrong direction. Antisemitism is increasing rapidly throughout the United States and in the rest of the world. Sometimes it’s disguised as anti-Zionism and anti-Israelism, but clearly, this hatred would not be directed at Israel if it were not the nation-state of the Jewish people.
The connection of anti-Zionism and antisemitism
Many nations have worse human rights records, and they tyrannize their own people. Israel may be a flawed democracy, but it is a democracy committed to equality and the rule of law.
Even assuming falsely that anti-Zionism and anti-Israelism have nothing to do with Jew-hatred, it is still true that antisemitism, unrelated to Israel, is spreading throughout the world at a pace reminiscent of the 1930s in Germany. Jews, especially visible Jews, are being subjected to beatings, taunts, threats, and overt discrimination in many cities of the world. This includes cities with a significant Jewish presence, such as New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and London.
The virus of Jew-hatred is spreading quickly and taking on new forms. Anyone who considers themselves a civil rights activist, a civil libertarian, or an egalitarian must now prioritize Jew-hatred as the most serious threat. To ignore Jew-hatred in the face of its increasing manifestations is to become as complicit as those who ignored similar developments in the 1930s, both in Europe and in the US.
The mantra of human rights and civil liberties has always been “the worst first.” This means prioritizing the most dangerous abuses and threats. In the 1950s, it was anti-Black racism. In later years, it was homophobia and sexism.
Efforts to combat these evils are on the road to success as more and more people reject these inequalities. Today, almost no one justifies them. It is completely different in regard to Jews. Many radical leftists, including many Democratic Socialists of America, accuse Jews of “white privilege,” thus justifying applying a double standard to them.
I recall attending a Democratic Party fundraiser on Martha’s Vineyard where many questions were asked about anti-Black racism. When I tried to ask a question about growing antisemitism, I was booed and heckled. That was several years ago. I’m sure it would be even truer today among many Democrats, but certainly among Democratic Socialists of America.
Among those booing and trivializing antisemitism would be some Jews on the hard Left. These are the same kind of Jews who voted for Adolf Hitler in 1932 because they thought he would be good for the economy. And he was, at least in the short term!
Democrats such as sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are supporting a neo-Nazi candidate for the Senate who proudly wore a death head tattoo for many years. They believe that Democratic control of the Senate is more important than combating antisemitism.
Prioritizing opposition to antisemitism
If I were a non-Jew, I would today prioritize opposition to antisemitism, as I prioritized Black, feminist, and gay issues as a non-Black, non-woman, and non-gay civil rights advocate back in the day. “To everything there is a season.” Tragically, this is the season for Jew-hatred.
So it must now become the season for prioritizing the fight against Jew-hatred in its many manifestations.
I urge my fellow rights advocates to join me in prioritizing the fight against the spread of antisemitism. This is the right cause at the right moment and in the right place.
When the mayor of New York calls American citizens who support Israel “monsters,” that sounds more like what a German mayor might have said in 1932. Imagine a mayor saying that Americans who support Black Lives Matter are “monsters”! Or a mayor demonizing activists for gay and transgender people as “monsters.”
But Mayor Zohran Mamdani can get away with calling Jews who support Israel by a word that has been used by antisemites throughout history. If Jews were indeed “monsters,” then it would be appropriate to deal with them the way societies have long dealt with monsters.
By dehumanizing a group, as the Nazis dehumanized Jews, and as the Stalinists demonized Zionists, it makes it much easier to kill them and treat them as subhuman. And now the mayor of New York is demonizing American Jewish supporters of Israel.
So all those who fought legitimately for the rights of Blacks, women, and gays must now join the struggle by Jews for equality, decency, and safety. To do anything less would be hypocritical at best and complicit at its worst.