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Antisemitism is often called ‘the oldest hatred’                                 

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed the 2023 Antisemitism Awareness Act. The bill states that:

  • Antisemitism, which is often called ‘the oldest hatred’ is a serious and growing danger for Jews in the United States and around the world,
  • In 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation found that anti-Jewish hate crime incidents increased by more than 37 percent from 2021 to 2022.
  • In 2022, the Anti-Defamation League reported nearly 3,700 antisemitic incidents in the United States, including assault, vandalism, and harassment, which is a 36-percent increase from 2021 and represents the highest number on record of antisemitic incidents reported by the Anti-Defamation League, and the American Jewish Committee reported that 25 percent of Jewish Americans were personally targeted by antisemitism in 2023.
  • Jewish Americans are facing an unprecedented rise in antisemitic incidents following the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.
  • Rising antisemitism is in part being driven by the spread and amplification of antisemitic comments, tropes, and conspiracies on social media platforms, which can lead to physical acts of harassment, assault, and vandalism.”
  • In response, the Act will “establish within the Executive Office of the President the position of National Coordinator to Counter Antisemitism.”

The definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is “a certain perception of Jews,” which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews, including rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, and toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities. By that definition, disapproval of Israel’s war in Gaza is not by itself antisemitic.

mark berg

The Anti-Defamation League’s Center for Antisemitism Research has collected data since October 7 related to the scale and composition of antisemitism in the United States and compared the results to past surveys. It found that just under 24 percent of Americans believe six or more of anti-Jewish tropes, such as Jews are more loyal to Israel than America; Jews always like to be the head of things; Jews do not share my values; Jews have too much power in the business world; Jews have too much control and influence on Wall Street; Jews in business are so shrewd that other people do not have a fair chance at competition; Jews are more willing than others to use shady practices to get what they want; Jews don’t care what happens to anyone but their own kind; Jews have too much power in the United States today; and Jews are not as honest as other business people.

All but 21 Republicans voted for the Antisemitism Awareness Act, even though much of the antisemitic violence in recent years has been a right-wing phenomenon, driven by a white supremacist movement inspired by rhetoric from former President Trump, who often traffics in stereotypes. For example, Trump said, “The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.” In a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition, he said, “I’m a negotiator like you folks, we are negotiators … Is there anybody that doesn’t renegotiate deals in this room? This room negotiates them, perhaps more than any other room I’ve ever spoken in.” More disturbing, in the last days of his 2016 campaign, he rolled out an ad featuring three wealthy Jews – then-Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, and financier George Soros — over a narration decrying “those who control the levers of power in Washington,” and the “global special interests” who “partner with these people who don’t have your good in mind.”

Other Republicans have also picked on Soros. Just last week, the Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson suggested Soros is behind the pro-Palestinian protests roiling college campuses across the country. Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who voted against the Act, has accused Soros of collaborating with Nazis and handing “his own people over to the Nazis.”

“Globalist” is a code word for another antisemitic slur, popularized by alt-right adherents before spreading into broader political discourse. This antisemitic theory assumes that Jews are engaged in a vast conspiratorial plot to subvert Christian society and culture, that Jews aim for nothing less than world domination. It originates in a belief that Jews do not feel allegiance to their countries of origin like the United States, but to some global conspiracy. “Jews will not replace us,” chanted demonstrators at the Unite the Right rally organized by armed white nationalists in Charlottesville in August 2017.

But is denouncing Israel for its actions in Gaza antisemitism?  There are many who say that any criticism of Israel’s actions is tantamount to antisemitism. It is not, and many of the loudest critics who promote this idea have themselves made antisemitic remarks. I believe Israel’s war of revenge on Gaza is both a moral failure and a strategic blunder. Every war is a moral failure because of the immense suffering, destruction, and loss of life that accompanies armed conflicts. It leads to a tragic and undesirable outcome in human affairs. That certainly does not make me an antisemite, nor anyone else who opposes the war.

mark berg
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Mark Berg is a community activist in Adams County and a proud Liberal. His email address is MABerg175@Comcast.net.

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