Excellent analysis. I really think it's imperative for those of us from the left to speak out about this crucial issue, and do what we can do combat the rampant antisemitism on our end of the aisle that has exploded since Oct 7
💯. A read through the rest of the comments convinces me even further. There could even be a point where I can’t support Democratic candidates, if I have to choose a candidate who won’t support Israel’s existence and the actual historical narrative over the Kremlin/PLO version.
And, I couldn’t vote for Republicans either.
I’m awfully tired of the gentile-splaining, too - the thing in all the comments where everyone explains to the Jew that they’re not anti-Semitic, just anti-Zionist, or anti-Bibi,while accusing the Jew of higher loyalty to Israel, or ignoring the Oct. 7 victims (who are STILL not all back home or in the ground).
I am glad to see others on the left starting to speak out more bout the problem here on Substack!
If you haven’t noticed. This has not been about questioning the government. It’s been about the very existence of the state of Israel. Either you are deliberately obfuscating or you haven’t been paying attention.
Oh now you’re moving your position. So now it’s not about merely criticizing Bibi? I call bullshit on you. And what other countries besides Israel do you oppose the creation of. Go ahead. Name them.
This is just a right wing hit piece. Oh, the right is anti- semitic, but they just hate jews, which is apparently relatively harmless old fashioned jew baiting. The left is also anti-semitic and they are far more dangerous dancing in the street over the heinous murder of Israelis, intellectual evil bastards that they are. Complete straw man garbage piece. Who are you, the mother hen protecting the right wing propaganda as it's diseminated? Have the Brit(?) throw in another reputable journalistic New York Post snippet to seal the deal.
Believe it or not, complaining about left-wing anti-Semitism does not mean that one is right-wing. Lots of liberals like Ben and I are pretty upset by the way many leftists have slid into anti-Semitism over the past decade or so.
1. I am Jewish. Calling someone you don't know anything about an anti-Semite is really not that smart.
2. Did I say that my view on ethnonationalism was restricted to Israel? Because it's not. This article, however, was about Israel. It's appropriate to critique Israel in this situation.
There are not many current examples of existing ethnonationalism on a state level outside of Israel.
The persecution of and expulsion of Rohingya Muslims is one example. So were the Yugoslav wars in the late twentieth century. There are strong commentary movements towards ethnonationalism and away from multiculturalism. Brexit and the Reform movement in the UK is one repulsive example. Steve Bannon and the MAGA movement. The recent pogroms against immigrants in Ireland. There is a reason that far right political movements around the world support Israel, whilst simultaneously being anti-Semitic in their own countries.
Maybe you should read a little bit about the Palestinian perspective. Like most supporters of Israel, I reckon you have little or no understanding of their perspective. Your comment reeks of ignorance.
Did you read the piece? Ben says, and this is a direct quote:
"I consider myself an opponent of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory and an ardent critic of Benjamin Netanyahu – particularly his prosecution of the war in Gaza."
Much so called “anti-semitism” on the left is the deliberate, Rightist conflating of legitimate contempt and opposition to the brutal, horrific policies of Netanyahu and his cabal of thugs. This is NOT any expression of anti-Semitism and, characterizing is as such is dishonest and, meant to shield the Israeli government from consequence for its brutal, racist actions.
A few years ago I was in Israel for a month. During that time, every Saturday night, Israel’s poured into the streets of Tel Aviv by the thousands in protest of Netanyahu’s treatment of Palestinians. They were peaceful and subdued but, had no illusions about what Netanyahu represented in their history - a rank disgrace. At these events, there were pro-Bibi demonstrators …. about 100 of them. But their numbers were amplified by a stage and PA system through which they chanted two phrases in Hebrew. An Israeli friend translated these to me…they were chanting; “Bibi is God” and, worst of all- “Palestinians are NOT people!”
I am not saying there are no anti-semites on what you call “The Left,” but racist hate is not a primary organizing principle for Liberalism - as any thinking, educated person knows. However, absent racist hate, does anyone really believe the USA would now have chosen to sink into the sewer of Fascism? The truth is that, absent anti-Semitism and racist hate generally, the GOP, as we’ve known it for decades, could never have come to exist.
The big difference between critics of Israel inside Israel and many critics of Israel outside it is that the ones in Israel believe that Israel has a right to exist. They may disagree with the actions of their government. They may disagree with hard-liners who have atrocious attitudes toward Arabs. But they never question Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
Outside of Israel, anti-Israel sentiment often is literally anti-Israel: i.e., anti its very existence. That’s a huge difference. Many Israelis and Jews support a Palestinian state. Just not a Palestinian state to replace what is now Israel.
The reality is that the American Right has relied on anti-Semitism and other manifestations of Racist hatred for decades. There is no parallel on The Left. From the current Rightist assault against our society, birthed in its antipathy towards Brown v Board of Education in 1954, to the despicable, anti-Americanism OF Joe McCarthy, through the vile birthing of The GOP's Southern Strategy in 1968, to the emergence of Trumpism... Rightism's advance in rolling back Liberalism and, the consequential oligarchic pillaging of an American middle class that once was the envy of the world;.none of this would have bene possible without the collaboration of a white electorate that happily was brought to squander its birthright for the promises of racial "revenge" issuing from a GOP whose only true allegiance, was to the oligarchy whose wings were clipped by FDR. The middle class he invented; the first broad middle class in human history, relied on suppression of the power of oligarchy by tax policy, financial regulation and statute. The rolling back of these polices required the collaboration of a middle class that was the greatest beneficiary of those same policies so, enlisting middle class support for its own pillaging required not rational argument, but inflaming of the racist hatreds that defined its world view. And of course, these hatreds were not defined to those directed at the black and latino populations; they included powerful antipathies against Jews - antipathies that were carefully nurtured by Evangelicals and, by the Roman Church until the Second Vatican Council in 1964. But by then, the damage was done to generations of Catholics for whom anti-Semitism was a natural consequence of a belief system that cast The Jews as the murderers of Jesus.
Today, anti-Semitism underlies the Evangelical, Rightest Horde that allies itself with Trump and seethes despite any so called "love" for Israel. In their mythology a conflagration that begins in Israel will be required to bring the Second Coming; an event at which Jews who do not abandon their faith for Jesus will be cast into the fiery pit for all eternity. Maintaining allegiance to the Jewish State especially, in times when its actions may precipitate the needed catastrophe that will return Jesus, is a practical matter - and is in no way an expression of Love for the Jewish People. In fact, Evangelicals sometimes refer to their allegiance to Israel as precipitating the "final, final solution."
Fascist condemnation of so called "Leftist" anti-Semitism is a canard.
for any Jew to ignore the rise of a Nazi-sympathizing, Fascist movement in the United States but instead, rail against what he calls "The Left" either represents his utter ignorance or, represents his rationalizing the torment of Palestinians by a brutal, Fascist Israeli leader who, motivated by corruption and sadism, has done no favors for the future stability of Israel. We see a similar set of delusions in the Rightist Evangelical community which, claiming fealty to someone they call "Jesus," are actually the tip of the spear of racist hate movement whose antipathies include raging anti-Semitism . For Jews to conflate anecdotal evidence of anti-Semitism on what they call "The Left" with the clear and present danger of a Rightist, racist hate movement that now has the American government in its claws and, whose members literally include neo-Nazis and other like scum is a canard; one that likely functions to justify the genocidal abuses being inflicted on innocent populations in Gaza by the Fascist, Netanyahu and his racist government.
Let's remember - it was a member of Netayanhu's party who brutally murdered the great Rabin and, in the process, collapsing a peace process that was an increment away bringing enduring and real peace to Israel and a future for Palestinians. Those talks were collapsed by a Rightist murderer motivated by seething, anti-Palestinian hate - and both Israelis and Palestinians have consequentially suffered.
Let me put it to you very simply. I’m not young. I went to Barnard college which is part of Columbia U a long time ago. It was a warm and welcoming place for openly Jewish students. At the point I can’t imagine going there now. That is not anecdotal evidence. I don’t deny horrible antisemitism oh tne right. Tucker Carlson comes to mind immediately. But the left is full of it too.
This is not so difficult. There is antisemitism on both sides. I’ll focus on left wing because it is more immediate. But I don’t forget about right wing. So much obfuscation and denial in some of these comments.
Supporting Palestinians does not equate to supporting HAMAS. You seem to care more about Israel than you do about America. The left supporting Palestinians are American and live in America. I have seen folks who love guns and claim to be leftists leave the democratic party because of their guns (and the lies republicans tell them) and yet nobody here has taken their guns and nobody here has hurt Israel. The left simply cares about the underdog. In this case, it is the millions of innocent Palestinians lumped in with and being killed as terrorists. We can care about one without being ANTI the other, Ben.
Nothing these people are doing is "supporting Palestinians." That would imply that what they are doing actually helps them, not just using them as props for their bullshit virtue signaling agenda. And might I also ask - why do 'Palestinians' mean so much more to these people than other Arabs suffering under similar if not worse conditions in other parts of the region?
I see. The left simply cares about the underdog. That’s why they’re burning synagogues, attacking anyone they see with an Israel flag or a wearing Star of David, blocking Jewish students from accessing parts of their own campuses, screaming “baby killer” and “white Zionist pigs” at them, assaulting university workers in building occupations, kicking Jews out of their clubs, vandalizing Hillels and Jewish fraternities and private homes with inverted red triangles, endlessly regurgitating the slogans of a US-designated terrorist group who raped, murdered, tortured and kidnapped people including children and the elderly on October 7 and are still holding hostages. Because the left cares about the underdog.
Look at what a bunch of antisemitic morons are in your readership. Sorry, Ben, progressives are the infection vector of far-left and Islamist antisemitism. The only way to fix the Democratic Party is to defeat progressives in every primary, defund their causes and institutions and exile them from the party. Otherwise, this antisemitic rot keeps spreading and the party keeps losing like UK Labour did under Corbyn.
The only redeeming feature of these gibbering “progressive” idiots is they show every day the depths the left has descended to and that they’re apparently still nowhere near hitting bottom.
You could see this coming from the anti-semitism rampant in followers of Jeremy Corbin; it has always been hidden in a great deal of leftist ideology. It is particularly growing among young so-called "activists" and social justice proponents.
In the 60's James Baldwin wrote a piece on anti-semitism in the black community and his contention was blacks were not anti-Jewish but anti-white. Jews were just another successful group of white people who were landlords and owned the stores in their neighborhood. More whities who took advantage of them. Jews have been seen as white for quite some time.
In SF as Asians have become a majority and are working towards more political leverage and govt positions there have been charges of "acting white " and "white privilege". I think you'll soon see the same with those from India.
benjamin netanyahu murdered 400 people this morning. Where is your outrage for that crime? Also, its clear you have bought fully into the right wing hate machine. Unsubscribe immediately. Best of luck
The thing about left wing antisemitism is... Israel's knee jerk defenders have made it, by design, all but impossible to define and root out. There are antisemitic strains among campus protesters. There are also a whole lot of deserved criticisms of Israel, which, while it's not committing the genocide its critics claim it is, is full on openly embracing apartheid. And its defenders want to quash that criticism by calling it antisemitic.
Worse, they've taken the not very subtle two step of not just defining ALL criticism of Israel as antisemitic, but defining ONLY criticism of Israel as antisemitic. They're now hosting conferences on "antisemitism" to which they invite vile antisemites from Orban's Fidesz Party and Germany's openly neo-Nazi AFD. They loudly and vocally defend the CEO of Tesla, who's out there literally brazenly throwing out sieg heils because he says nice things about Likud and worse.
And what that's going to do is drive diaspora Jews away from Zionism altogether. Because for people like me, who are Zionists because we recognize Jews' historical persecution and desperately need a safe place when shit hits the inevitable fan, but also have deep reservations about Israel's continuing behavior in Gaza and the West Bank, the message Israel is loudly and clearly sending is that, when the Nazis come for us, they'll side with the Nazis. Because the threat to Jews in America is not 21 year olds on college campuses yelling "from the river to the sea"; it's Nazis with machine guns showing up at synagogues to mow down "globalists."
And an Israel that's not a safe place for all Jews, but only for ones who exhibit right think is already a total and complete betrayal of the Zionist ideal. It won't be the anti-Zionists who have destroyed Zionism; it will have been its self-proclaimed defenders.
I'm a leftist Jew who's absolutely disgusted by Netanyahu and Israel's treatment of the Palestinians but I agree with most of what you say here. It's quite shocking how quickly discussions of Israel's atrocities can evolve towards flat out anti-semitism and calls for the eradication of Israel.
The irony of course is that the most ‘white’ looking Israelis, the ‘Ashkenazi’ are by far the most likely to be members of Peace Now and support the left wing party’s in favour of a 2 state solution, it is the Mizrahi, who most westerners would find next to impossible to distinguish from arabs on looks alone, since they came to Israel after being evicted from and chased out of their historic homes in the Middle East who vote Likud or for Smotrich and push for Eretz Israel
Excellent analysis. I really think it's imperative for those of us from the left to speak out about this crucial issue, and do what we can do combat the rampant antisemitism on our end of the aisle that has exploded since Oct 7
💯. A read through the rest of the comments convinces me even further. There could even be a point where I can’t support Democratic candidates, if I have to choose a candidate who won’t support Israel’s existence and the actual historical narrative over the Kremlin/PLO version.
And, I couldn’t vote for Republicans either.
I’m awfully tired of the gentile-splaining, too - the thing in all the comments where everyone explains to the Jew that they’re not anti-Semitic, just anti-Zionist, or anti-Bibi,while accusing the Jew of higher loyalty to Israel, or ignoring the Oct. 7 victims (who are STILL not all back home or in the ground).
I am glad to see others on the left starting to speak out more bout the problem here on Substack!
Absolutely. Media gets an F from me for laziness (at best) and biased framing (at worst) when it comes to their reporting on Israel/Hamas/Gaza.
Questioning the governmental actions of Israel and BeBe does not equate with anti-semitism.
If you haven’t noticed. This has not been about questioning the government. It’s been about the very existence of the state of Israel. Either you are deliberately obfuscating or you haven’t been paying attention.
Even if you disagreed with the creation of the state of Isreal, that still does not equate with anti-sematism. Stay on point please.
Oh now you’re moving your position. So now it’s not about merely criticizing Bibi? I call bullshit on you. And what other countries besides Israel do you oppose the creation of. Go ahead. Name them.
This is just a right wing hit piece. Oh, the right is anti- semitic, but they just hate jews, which is apparently relatively harmless old fashioned jew baiting. The left is also anti-semitic and they are far more dangerous dancing in the street over the heinous murder of Israelis, intellectual evil bastards that they are. Complete straw man garbage piece. Who are you, the mother hen protecting the right wing propaganda as it's diseminated? Have the Brit(?) throw in another reputable journalistic New York Post snippet to seal the deal.
I think you missed the point of this article. Also, you managed to misspell every proper noun in that sentence.
Just a bit of straw man right wing propaganda.
Believe it or not, complaining about left-wing anti-Semitism does not mean that one is right-wing. Lots of liberals like Ben and I are pretty upset by the way many leftists have slid into anti-Semitism over the past decade or so.
Well you are in a little snit aren’t you.. you think the author here is a right winger!
He's clearly not. And I like his writing a lot. But he has a blind spot about Israel, and about the horror of ethnonationalism.
Oh I see. The ‘horror’ of the ethnonationaism of one country beginning in ‘I’ and ending in ‘l’ is pretty much the definition of antisemitism.
1. I am Jewish. Calling someone you don't know anything about an anti-Semite is really not that smart.
2. Did I say that my view on ethnonationalism was restricted to Israel? Because it's not. This article, however, was about Israel. It's appropriate to critique Israel in this situation.
Tell me what other ethno states you find so offensive or problematic.
There are not many current examples of existing ethnonationalism on a state level outside of Israel.
The persecution of and expulsion of Rohingya Muslims is one example. So were the Yugoslav wars in the late twentieth century. There are strong commentary movements towards ethnonationalism and away from multiculturalism. Brexit and the Reform movement in the UK is one repulsive example. Steve Bannon and the MAGA movement. The recent pogroms against immigrants in Ireland. There is a reason that far right political movements around the world support Israel, whilst simultaneously being anti-Semitic in their own countries.
The UN have produced a report on the issue: https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2018/07/ethno-nationalism-denies-millions-their-citizenship-rights-anti-racism-expert
I am opposed to all ethnonationalism, even that which claims to represent my own ethnicity.
And you have a blind spot about the ethnonationalism of the Palestinians, like most progressive useful idiots of Islamist terrorism.
Maybe you should read a little bit about the Palestinian perspective. Like most supporters of Israel, I reckon you have little or no understanding of their perspective. Your comment reeks of ignorance.
Do a bit more PR for the baby stranglers of Gaza
All we hear is the lies of the Palestinians and their idiotic supporters. Keep standing with Hamas, kook.
Did you read the piece? Ben says, and this is a direct quote:
"I consider myself an opponent of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory and an ardent critic of Benjamin Netanyahu – particularly his prosecution of the war in Gaza."
Well written you touched on a topic that i haven’t seen too many writers on substack touch on
Much so called “anti-semitism” on the left is the deliberate, Rightist conflating of legitimate contempt and opposition to the brutal, horrific policies of Netanyahu and his cabal of thugs. This is NOT any expression of anti-Semitism and, characterizing is as such is dishonest and, meant to shield the Israeli government from consequence for its brutal, racist actions.
A few years ago I was in Israel for a month. During that time, every Saturday night, Israel’s poured into the streets of Tel Aviv by the thousands in protest of Netanyahu’s treatment of Palestinians. They were peaceful and subdued but, had no illusions about what Netanyahu represented in their history - a rank disgrace. At these events, there were pro-Bibi demonstrators …. about 100 of them. But their numbers were amplified by a stage and PA system through which they chanted two phrases in Hebrew. An Israeli friend translated these to me…they were chanting; “Bibi is God” and, worst of all- “Palestinians are NOT people!”
I am not saying there are no anti-semites on what you call “The Left,” but racist hate is not a primary organizing principle for Liberalism - as any thinking, educated person knows. However, absent racist hate, does anyone really believe the USA would now have chosen to sink into the sewer of Fascism? The truth is that, absent anti-Semitism and racist hate generally, the GOP, as we’ve known it for decades, could never have come to exist.
The big difference between critics of Israel inside Israel and many critics of Israel outside it is that the ones in Israel believe that Israel has a right to exist. They may disagree with the actions of their government. They may disagree with hard-liners who have atrocious attitudes toward Arabs. But they never question Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
Outside of Israel, anti-Israel sentiment often is literally anti-Israel: i.e., anti its very existence. That’s a huge difference. Many Israelis and Jews support a Palestinian state. Just not a Palestinian state to replace what is now Israel.
So what does ‘by any means necessary’ mean to you?
The reality is that the American Right has relied on anti-Semitism and other manifestations of Racist hatred for decades. There is no parallel on The Left. From the current Rightist assault against our society, birthed in its antipathy towards Brown v Board of Education in 1954, to the despicable, anti-Americanism OF Joe McCarthy, through the vile birthing of The GOP's Southern Strategy in 1968, to the emergence of Trumpism... Rightism's advance in rolling back Liberalism and, the consequential oligarchic pillaging of an American middle class that once was the envy of the world;.none of this would have bene possible without the collaboration of a white electorate that happily was brought to squander its birthright for the promises of racial "revenge" issuing from a GOP whose only true allegiance, was to the oligarchy whose wings were clipped by FDR. The middle class he invented; the first broad middle class in human history, relied on suppression of the power of oligarchy by tax policy, financial regulation and statute. The rolling back of these polices required the collaboration of a middle class that was the greatest beneficiary of those same policies so, enlisting middle class support for its own pillaging required not rational argument, but inflaming of the racist hatreds that defined its world view. And of course, these hatreds were not defined to those directed at the black and latino populations; they included powerful antipathies against Jews - antipathies that were carefully nurtured by Evangelicals and, by the Roman Church until the Second Vatican Council in 1964. But by then, the damage was done to generations of Catholics for whom anti-Semitism was a natural consequence of a belief system that cast The Jews as the murderers of Jesus.
Today, anti-Semitism underlies the Evangelical, Rightest Horde that allies itself with Trump and seethes despite any so called "love" for Israel. In their mythology a conflagration that begins in Israel will be required to bring the Second Coming; an event at which Jews who do not abandon their faith for Jesus will be cast into the fiery pit for all eternity. Maintaining allegiance to the Jewish State especially, in times when its actions may precipitate the needed catastrophe that will return Jesus, is a practical matter - and is in no way an expression of Love for the Jewish People. In fact, Evangelicals sometimes refer to their allegiance to Israel as precipitating the "final, final solution."
Fascist condemnation of so called "Leftist" anti-Semitism is a canard.
A lot of words but let me say as a Jew living here for a long time tnr antisemitism the left is terrifying.
for any Jew to ignore the rise of a Nazi-sympathizing, Fascist movement in the United States but instead, rail against what he calls "The Left" either represents his utter ignorance or, represents his rationalizing the torment of Palestinians by a brutal, Fascist Israeli leader who, motivated by corruption and sadism, has done no favors for the future stability of Israel. We see a similar set of delusions in the Rightist Evangelical community which, claiming fealty to someone they call "Jesus," are actually the tip of the spear of racist hate movement whose antipathies include raging anti-Semitism . For Jews to conflate anecdotal evidence of anti-Semitism on what they call "The Left" with the clear and present danger of a Rightist, racist hate movement that now has the American government in its claws and, whose members literally include neo-Nazis and other like scum is a canard; one that likely functions to justify the genocidal abuses being inflicted on innocent populations in Gaza by the Fascist, Netanyahu and his racist government.
Let's remember - it was a member of Netayanhu's party who brutally murdered the great Rabin and, in the process, collapsing a peace process that was an increment away bringing enduring and real peace to Israel and a future for Palestinians. Those talks were collapsed by a Rightist murderer motivated by seething, anti-Palestinian hate - and both Israelis and Palestinians have consequentially suffered.
Let me put it to you very simply. I’m not young. I went to Barnard college which is part of Columbia U a long time ago. It was a warm and welcoming place for openly Jewish students. At the point I can’t imagine going there now. That is not anecdotal evidence. I don’t deny horrible antisemitism oh tne right. Tucker Carlson comes to mind immediately. But the left is full of it too.
AMEN.
This is not so difficult. There is antisemitism on both sides. I’ll focus on left wing because it is more immediate. But I don’t forget about right wing. So much obfuscation and denial in some of these comments.
It’s a horseshoe.
Supporting Palestinians does not equate to supporting HAMAS. You seem to care more about Israel than you do about America. The left supporting Palestinians are American and live in America. I have seen folks who love guns and claim to be leftists leave the democratic party because of their guns (and the lies republicans tell them) and yet nobody here has taken their guns and nobody here has hurt Israel. The left simply cares about the underdog. In this case, it is the millions of innocent Palestinians lumped in with and being killed as terrorists. We can care about one without being ANTI the other, Ben.
Nothing these people are doing is "supporting Palestinians." That would imply that what they are doing actually helps them, not just using them as props for their bullshit virtue signaling agenda. And might I also ask - why do 'Palestinians' mean so much more to these people than other Arabs suffering under similar if not worse conditions in other parts of the region?
I see. The left simply cares about the underdog. That’s why they’re burning synagogues, attacking anyone they see with an Israel flag or a wearing Star of David, blocking Jewish students from accessing parts of their own campuses, screaming “baby killer” and “white Zionist pigs” at them, assaulting university workers in building occupations, kicking Jews out of their clubs, vandalizing Hillels and Jewish fraternities and private homes with inverted red triangles, endlessly regurgitating the slogans of a US-designated terrorist group who raped, murdered, tortured and kidnapped people including children and the elderly on October 7 and are still holding hostages. Because the left cares about the underdog.
You people are the reason Trump won.
BEN I generally love you posts, but your endless rationalizing of any questioning of ZIONISTS as antisemitism is total BS.
Additionally, there is absolute truth in pointing out Jewish people PASSING. It's not news.
Are you deliberately obtuse about what he’s saying here?
Bless your heart. I'm a veteran, USS Lincoln era. I am immune to your insults and simply perceive them as WHYTE Privilege.
You haven’t read the article or you have been sleeping while doing so
I'm A USN Veteran, USS Lincoln era. As such, I am immune to your insults. I just perceive them as WHYTE Privilege.
Again, reading stuff that’s not there. Maybe pay better attention to anything you read.
Don’t waste your time. The guy’s obviously a nut.
Look at what a bunch of antisemitic morons are in your readership. Sorry, Ben, progressives are the infection vector of far-left and Islamist antisemitism. The only way to fix the Democratic Party is to defeat progressives in every primary, defund their causes and institutions and exile them from the party. Otherwise, this antisemitic rot keeps spreading and the party keeps losing like UK Labour did under Corbyn.
The only redeeming feature of these gibbering “progressive” idiots is they show every day the depths the left has descended to and that they’re apparently still nowhere near hitting bottom.
You could see this coming from the anti-semitism rampant in followers of Jeremy Corbin; it has always been hidden in a great deal of leftist ideology. It is particularly growing among young so-called "activists" and social justice proponents.
In the 60's James Baldwin wrote a piece on anti-semitism in the black community and his contention was blacks were not anti-Jewish but anti-white. Jews were just another successful group of white people who were landlords and owned the stores in their neighborhood. More whities who took advantage of them. Jews have been seen as white for quite some time.
In SF as Asians have become a majority and are working towards more political leverage and govt positions there have been charges of "acting white " and "white privilege". I think you'll soon see the same with those from India.
benjamin netanyahu murdered 400 people this morning. Where is your outrage for that crime? Also, its clear you have bought fully into the right wing hate machine. Unsubscribe immediately. Best of luck
Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Hamas supporter.
Ben thinks Jewish people need to stick together against everyone else.
Thanks for saying what I think and feel but didn’t quite have the words for. This is what I’ve been watching unfold in horror since October 7th.
The thing about left wing antisemitism is... Israel's knee jerk defenders have made it, by design, all but impossible to define and root out. There are antisemitic strains among campus protesters. There are also a whole lot of deserved criticisms of Israel, which, while it's not committing the genocide its critics claim it is, is full on openly embracing apartheid. And its defenders want to quash that criticism by calling it antisemitic.
Worse, they've taken the not very subtle two step of not just defining ALL criticism of Israel as antisemitic, but defining ONLY criticism of Israel as antisemitic. They're now hosting conferences on "antisemitism" to which they invite vile antisemites from Orban's Fidesz Party and Germany's openly neo-Nazi AFD. They loudly and vocally defend the CEO of Tesla, who's out there literally brazenly throwing out sieg heils because he says nice things about Likud and worse.
And what that's going to do is drive diaspora Jews away from Zionism altogether. Because for people like me, who are Zionists because we recognize Jews' historical persecution and desperately need a safe place when shit hits the inevitable fan, but also have deep reservations about Israel's continuing behavior in Gaza and the West Bank, the message Israel is loudly and clearly sending is that, when the Nazis come for us, they'll side with the Nazis. Because the threat to Jews in America is not 21 year olds on college campuses yelling "from the river to the sea"; it's Nazis with machine guns showing up at synagogues to mow down "globalists."
And an Israel that's not a safe place for all Jews, but only for ones who exhibit right think is already a total and complete betrayal of the Zionist ideal. It won't be the anti-Zionists who have destroyed Zionism; it will have been its self-proclaimed defenders.
The article comes off as straw man tripe. Quoting the NY Post should be a cautionary flag in itself.
And you come off as a genocidal antisemite.
no atrocities should evet be praised.
I'm a leftist Jew who's absolutely disgusted by Netanyahu and Israel's treatment of the Palestinians but I agree with most of what you say here. It's quite shocking how quickly discussions of Israel's atrocities can evolve towards flat out anti-semitism and calls for the eradication of Israel.
Just another comment section trying to make sure we Jews know that we are not wanted in the Democratic party.
The irony of course is that the most ‘white’ looking Israelis, the ‘Ashkenazi’ are by far the most likely to be members of Peace Now and support the left wing party’s in favour of a 2 state solution, it is the Mizrahi, who most westerners would find next to impossible to distinguish from arabs on looks alone, since they came to Israel after being evicted from and chased out of their historic homes in the Middle East who vote Likud or for Smotrich and push for Eretz Israel