The war on antisemitism has not gotten rid of the oldest of prejudices.
Have you ever noticed that the "War on X" never seems to work? War on Drugs. War on Cancer. War on Antisemitism. Lots of money, and for the latter, lots of high-profile advertisements and articles. But not much in the way of results for any of them. For decades, we have been fighting the scourge of drugs. I still remember the public service ad from the 1970s where the guy cracked open an egg and put it into a hot frying pan: "This is your brain on drugs." Joe Biden promised that he would end cancer. I unfortunately have not heard about the closing of any oncology wards. And then there is antisemitism. The U.S. has an envoy-level position for fighting it. Robert Kraft has paid for a Super Bowl commercial to highlight it. There are dedicated organizations to identify and address antisemitism. Yet, with all of the money, resources, and people, antisemitism seems only to grow. Why?
There was a story 20 years ago about doctors at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem operating on the wrong leg of a patient. It was a screw-up or miscommunication, but obviously, the outcome was that the original problem remained. If antisemitism was based on false information or some incorrect calculations, one could fix it. Have you ever received too much change at the supermarket? That's easily fixed: show the cashier that he or she was too generous, and the problem is quickly solved by giving back some of the change. But antisemitism is not based on a lack of information. It is also—like some cancers—impervious to treatment. Telling the world that Jews and Israelis have made so many wonderful contributions to mankind is meaningless. You have Israeli tech in your iPhone! Those medications you take were made by Teva in Jerusalem! Those who hate Jews do so for reasons that are generally not associated with or dependent on reality. There was no genocide in Gaza, but those who hate Jews will state "Genocide in Gaza!" like a parrot for years to come.
Antisemitism is a visceral hatred of Jews. It is a drug-resistant bug, and all of the signs and commercials will do zero to reduce Jew hatred in the West. There is no question that public Jew hatred and harassment have gone turbo with the importation of so many Muslims who hate Jews, Christians, and the countries that have generously taken them in. Antisemitism is not going away. So what to do:
- Jews should do everything to protect themselves and their families. Learn Krav Maga or other forms of martial arts. Where relevant, buy guns and ammo and learn proper gun handling and storage.
- Identify antisemites and make them famous. Stores and companies that are passive about antisemitic employees—boycott them. Sephora is finally waking up to the Jew-hating Huda brand.
- Author's suggestion: try to find a way to strengthen one's Judaism. Throughout the history of the Jewish people, Torah learning, good deeds, and love of one's fellow have been the traditional tonics in the face of eternal Jew hatred.
If people believe that the economy is getting better, open antisemitism will decrease. People blame the Jews for their being losers. For Muslims, this state of affairs is independent of economic condition. They hate Jews. Period. Full stop. For Westerners, if they are busy counting their money, they don't have time to go out and annoy their Jewish neighbors and customers. Much of Jew hatred is based on people blaming the Jews for their own failings or miserable lives. This behavior was rampant in Germany, where the Weimar post-war economy was out of control. Far easier to blame that Jewish cobbler than admit that my prices are too high and the quality of my products is lousy. Jews have always been the scapegoats for personal and national failures. It's far easier to blame somebody else, and the Jews have always been a convenient option.
In the Arab countries now being visited by Tucker Carlson, Jew-hatred is the default. Think if Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan—the countries on Carlson's itinerary—have contributed anything (other than oil for the first two) to mankind? Revolutionary medications? Breakthroughs in electronics? Advanced materials? Nope. Backward countries with dictatorial leaders, however glitzy they make their skylines. People are murmuring about Saudi Arabia's Bin Salman moving away from the Abraham Accords and into the arms of Turkey and Iran. I don't think it matters that much; I don't expect him to be around in a year's time. Israel famously made strong relations with King Hussein's brother, who was first in line to the throne. Then, suddenly, the dying king came back from Sloan-Kettering to Amman for the express purpose of making his son, Abdullah, the crown prince. Israel had been caught completely off guard by King Hussein's switch. Today, Abdullah is king, and relations between Jordan and Israel are frosty, even as Jordan receives huge amounts of water from Israel. Bin Salman could sign a deal with Israel beyond current fly-over rights and supposedly secret intelligence sharing, but who says that he'll be around to enforce the treaty? You don't want to be the agent charged with selling life insurance policies to Middle Eastern dictators.
It would be wonderful if there was no Jew hatred in the West. On the few occasions when I have seen large billboards with "Stop Antisemitism!" and the like, I wonder why one would think that such efforts would bring any results. "Whoa, I hate those dirty stealing Jewish dogs, but I saw the sign, and that's it, I'm finished hating Jews. Where can I buy some gefilte fish?" Sorry, I don't think such things work. I saw Mr. Kraft's Super Bowl ad. Disclaimer: I am a big fan of Mr. Kraft, who provided Jerusalem with football and soccer stadiums with lights, bleachers, and the works. I saw the ad—a kid pushes up against the Jewish kid in the hallway. Then he finds a note, "Dirty Jew" on his backpack. Then a black kid comes and puts a blue square over the note and makes it clear that he stands with the Jew. Okay, what did that do? Did it end all antisemitism in grade school? High school? I know that these people mean well, but it's like Woody Allen suggesting that bats and bricks would work better against American Nazis than biting editorials in The New York Times.
Yes, it is very disappointing that antisemitism is on the serious rise in the U.S. I grew up and never felt any antisemitism from birth until I left for Israel at age 26 on a Fulbright Fellowship. My days at Harvard did not involve avoiding the Yard or hiding under my most uncomfortable bed. So, things have changed for the worse. Much of the decline is due to the mass importation of genetic Jew haters from the countries in this neck of the woods. Lefties—including Jews—have been antisemites, but they kept it mostly to the faculty lounge and newspapers. The addition of Muslims who should hate lefties for homosexuality and Godless values has made the antisemitic moment cancerous. The West will either eject Muslims to survive or join the other dozens of Muslim countries in the world that create nothing but complain endlessly. Europe is all but lost. The U.S.—it's up to us if we want a country with traditional American values that also include tolerance and acceptance of Jews or a Sharia state where Jews and Christians will become second-class citizens. They start with the Jews but never end there. Christian Jew haters are enjoying the discomfort of Jews seeing broken windows on synagogues and Jews pushed around. Their turn is coming.
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