Antisemitism Since October 7
The struggle of being a Jewish and Zionist activist in the face of rising antisemitism.
The following piece is an expansion of what I wrote down on numerous social media sites on Wednesday.
This war has had an impact on my bottom line with people no longer reading or supporting my work because I'm a Jew, because I'm a Zionist. It has broken up friendships in ways that I never thought was even fathomable. People that I've known since 2017-18 no longer want anything to do with me. I've never hid my being a Jew or Zionist in as much as I've never hid the fact that I'm trans. You cannot have my trans activism if you won't even have my existing as a Jew and Zionist. Zionism is the basic belief in Jewish self-determination and our ability to govern ourselves in our ancestral homeland.
You cannot call yourself anti-racist when you're racist against Jews. You cannot call yourself anti-racist when you place signs that say "No Zionists Allowed." This happened at a bar in Salt Lake City. That's antisemitism. That's racism. We know exactly what people mean when they say Zionists because the large majority of Jews are Zionists.
Since posting those thoughts, I found out that a local feminist bookstore has employees who are participating in October 7 denialism, let alone not even bothering to care about any of the Israeli women who were raped, butchered, slaughtered, or taken hostage in the most barbaric act against Jews since the Holocaust. It makes me ashamed to have ever worked with that bookstore in the past to coordinate an interview.
Jordana Horn interviewed ADL emeritus director Abraham Foxman for The Times of Israel. I'm quoting just one paragraph but it's worth reading in full.
“I’m shocked by the intensity of the hate,” Foxman said. “We studied it, we knew it was coming from left and right, but what surprised me was the intensity of the hate and the intensity of the silence. I’m shocked that you cannot find 10 organizations that we, the Jewish community, have stood within the last 50 years who stood up clearly with us in this moment.”
Another article worth reading is in The Atlantic: The Golden Age of American Jews is Ending.
The only place that I'll disagree with the author is in my belief that anti-Zionism is antisemitism. The ADL's backgrounder is in agreement:
"Anti-Zionism is antisemitic, in intent or effect, as it invokes anti-Jewish tropes, is used to disenfranchise, demonize, disparage, or punish all Jews and/or those who feel a connection to Israel, equates Zionism with Nazism and other genocidal regimes, and renders Jews less worthy of sovereignty and nationhood than other peoples and states."
Back to the article itself--given my own experiences, this line really rings true--however, I've noticed the hatred going back to 2017:
Among the brutal epiphanies of October 7 was this: A disconcertingly large number of Israel’s critics on the left did not share that vision of peaceful coexistence, or believe Jews had a right to a nation of their own.
Here's another excerpt:
But that era is drawing to a close. America’s ascendant political movements—MAGA on one side, the illiberal left on the other—would demolish the last pillars of the consensus that Jews helped establish. They regard concepts such as tolerance, fairness, meritocracy, and cosmopolitanism as pernicious shams. The Golden Age of American Jewry has given way to a golden age of conspiracy, reckless hyperbole, and political violence, all tendencies inimical to the democratic temperament. Extremist thought and mob behavior have never been good for Jews. And what’s bad for Jews, it can be argued, is bad for America.
And here's the kicker (which I'm editing because the hyphen is no longer necessary):
The case for pessimism, however, is more convincing. The forces arrayed against Jews, on the right and the left, are far more powerful than they were 50 years ago. The surge of antisemitism is a symptom of the decay of democratic habits, a leading indicator of rising authoritarianism. When antisemitism takes hold, conspiracy theory hardens into conventional wisdom, embedding violence in thought and then in deadly action. A society that holds its Jews at arm’s length is likely to be more intent on hunting down scapegoats than addressing underlying defects. Although it is hardly an iron law of history, such societies are prone to decline. England entered a long dark age after expelling its Jews in 1290. Czarist Russia limped toward revolution after the pogroms of the 1880s. If America persists on its current course, it would be the end of the Golden Age not just for the Jews, but for the country that nurtured them.
Please read the article in full. I am not lying when I tell you that this war has turned me insular as far as who I can trust.
Meanwhile, I've been watching many narrative features and documentaries ahead of going to Israel next week. Much of this is to stay ahead of my editorial calendar. I'm not bringing my Apple TV with me next week--or at least I don't plan on doing so at the moment. As such, I'll spend my evenings by writing or reading.
Film Reviews:
Awards Season:
MLB Report: