It's frustrating to read pieces like this a year+ into the genocide. We already know the far-right allies with institutions and the ADL to conflate Israel-criticism with antisemitism. We know governments like China, Iran, and Russia try to take advantage of progressive movements. Tankies and accelerationists have been around long before the current siege on Gaza. What's new on that front to say that antisemitism is 'exploding' on the Left?
This piece links to noted far-right bigot ShaykhSuleiman, misogynist Shaun-with-a-“U”, and Tuvia Gering (who boosts Israeli-Chinese propaganda) to show that conspiracies and tropes proliferate among right-wing actors. We've been aware of those types since last year and quite a bit of noise has been made on lefty-twitter to call those kind of folks out. (there are even memes about right-wingers trying to infiltrate Palestinian solidarity spaces to spew Jew-hate). Conspiracies of any stripe are made to be overly simplistic, easy-to-digest, and seemingly reasonable. That's also not new information.
It's frustrating because progressives keep directly acknowledging the problem in combating antisemitism (Jewish institutions doubling down on Israel-advocacy instead of proper antisemitism education), yet continually pointing fingers at the Left... a Left which doesn't enjoy institutional support in the United States right now. Jewish institutions in the US aren't currently Left-wing, they're largely either liberal or quite conservative, by which I mean both liberal&conservative politics fundamentally believe in systems and the ability to change them for their benefit. As this piece accurately notes (the left has a "goal of overturning a society’s hierarchical order") the Left doesn't care much for preserving systems simply for the sake of it. When systems are harmful, ditch the system, that sort of thing. Is that scary to liberals and conservatives who strongly cling to systems and prefer to try and reform them rather than overturn them? YES. That's why the broader Left doesn't give a toss about "saving Israeli democracy" because Israel never really had much of a democracy to begin with, and it certainly doesn't have much of one now. What's worth saving there? PEOPLE. Not systems.
Any movement can and should be criticized. Left, liberal, center, right, far-right. No one is above being called in (or out), and no movement is totally free of prejudice or stereotypes. It can be, with proper work. And the Left absolutely can do better; it's not perfect by any stretch.
What's gotten under my skin of late is the constant call for a strong, effective progressive movement-- one that can really put pressure and accountability on our US lawmakers-- buried in pieces that yet again point to vague "rising antisemitism on the left" with no real solid examples of such. If it's a vibe, say that. When there are videos of Left-wing speakers touting antisemitic tropes, or signs at protests with racist imagery, or student encampments promoting Jew-hatred, or tweets spreading dual-loyalty accusations/conspiracies, link to THOSE. Saying rhetoric from the far-right *can* be appealing isn't enough. We need to *see* those things being repeated in Left-wing spaces. We can't just call for accountability without giving tangible examples of things to make accountability for.
Elad: rightfully noting that the twitter algorithm shoves antisemitism in users' face, devoting a paragraph to the self-fulfilling loop [Israeli violence > America's enabling/support > conspiracies], and yet *still* saying that the aforementioned predatory algorithm spreads "overt antisemitism on the left and beyond"? Dude, come on. The algorithm wants to spread more right-wing rhetoric, but it doesn't get that kind of traction from left-wing accounts (certainly not anything linked here). It has to directly implant that stuff via ads and Blue-boosted tweets. Why do we keep seeing pieces calling out the Left, as if we simply acknowledged bigotry was intrinsic on the Right and therefore not worthy of further mention?
More importantly:
American Jewish institutions and synagogues don't have members directly in the Kenesset, but they DO tangibly and significantly influence Israeli policy. Our failure to accept and acknowledge that pillar of support enables the Israeli government to keep sliding right. Our synagogues sponsor Birthright trips, fundraise for IDF soldiers, go on mission trips to Israel, hold solidarity concerts to 'Stand with Israel', fly Israeli flags in our buildings, buy Israeli lulav/etrog, purchase kitschy 'made in Israel' souvenirs and even tallitot. That materially and financially contributes to Israeli policy. Should that massive base of support be withdrawn, we'd see Israel's government pivot in a hurry to try and win it back. We can't put comfortable distance between the material ways our own community upholds this stuff, while simultaneously telling people "conflating local Jews with Israel is antisemitic." You even mentioned the real estate events being held in synagogues. How can we expect people to take us seriously? I'm really struggling to square this, Elad. Help me out.
Thanks for this thought-provoking piece. I think the "vulnerability" is heightened even more because there has not been a clear and cogent explanation of WHY the US government/the Biden Administration is acting the way it is. Matthew Miller, John Kirby, Vedant Patel, etc. have spent an entire year using indignant jargon like, "strategic and moral imperatives" in lieu of laying out how any of this connects to US interests. I've heard and read so much hand-wringing across the left-liberal spectrum, including pretty mainstream Dems, wondering why Biden hasn't used leverage, made a phone call, withheld aid, etc.
It seems so obvious that there is no moral, legal, national security justification for the US's role. It seems like people are primed to believe antisemitic conspiracy theories because there is not a candid, open discussion about what is happening.
Elad, as always I appreciate hearing your perspective. While much of your essay seems valid, I wonder if in a subsequent piece you might elaborate more on the very last part — what exactly we can do to prevent the very dangers you describe. To me, your article seemed to draw to a close without the same detail you’d used earlier when you described the problem.
It's frustrating to read pieces like this a year+ into the genocide. We already know the far-right allies with institutions and the ADL to conflate Israel-criticism with antisemitism. We know governments like China, Iran, and Russia try to take advantage of progressive movements. Tankies and accelerationists have been around long before the current siege on Gaza. What's new on that front to say that antisemitism is 'exploding' on the Left?
This piece links to noted far-right bigot ShaykhSuleiman, misogynist Shaun-with-a-“U”, and Tuvia Gering (who boosts Israeli-Chinese propaganda) to show that conspiracies and tropes proliferate among right-wing actors. We've been aware of those types since last year and quite a bit of noise has been made on lefty-twitter to call those kind of folks out. (there are even memes about right-wingers trying to infiltrate Palestinian solidarity spaces to spew Jew-hate). Conspiracies of any stripe are made to be overly simplistic, easy-to-digest, and seemingly reasonable. That's also not new information.
It's frustrating because progressives keep directly acknowledging the problem in combating antisemitism (Jewish institutions doubling down on Israel-advocacy instead of proper antisemitism education), yet continually pointing fingers at the Left... a Left which doesn't enjoy institutional support in the United States right now. Jewish institutions in the US aren't currently Left-wing, they're largely either liberal or quite conservative, by which I mean both liberal&conservative politics fundamentally believe in systems and the ability to change them for their benefit. As this piece accurately notes (the left has a "goal of overturning a society’s hierarchical order") the Left doesn't care much for preserving systems simply for the sake of it. When systems are harmful, ditch the system, that sort of thing. Is that scary to liberals and conservatives who strongly cling to systems and prefer to try and reform them rather than overturn them? YES. That's why the broader Left doesn't give a toss about "saving Israeli democracy" because Israel never really had much of a democracy to begin with, and it certainly doesn't have much of one now. What's worth saving there? PEOPLE. Not systems.
Any movement can and should be criticized. Left, liberal, center, right, far-right. No one is above being called in (or out), and no movement is totally free of prejudice or stereotypes. It can be, with proper work. And the Left absolutely can do better; it's not perfect by any stretch.
What's gotten under my skin of late is the constant call for a strong, effective progressive movement-- one that can really put pressure and accountability on our US lawmakers-- buried in pieces that yet again point to vague "rising antisemitism on the left" with no real solid examples of such. If it's a vibe, say that. When there are videos of Left-wing speakers touting antisemitic tropes, or signs at protests with racist imagery, or student encampments promoting Jew-hatred, or tweets spreading dual-loyalty accusations/conspiracies, link to THOSE. Saying rhetoric from the far-right *can* be appealing isn't enough. We need to *see* those things being repeated in Left-wing spaces. We can't just call for accountability without giving tangible examples of things to make accountability for.
Elad: rightfully noting that the twitter algorithm shoves antisemitism in users' face, devoting a paragraph to the self-fulfilling loop [Israeli violence > America's enabling/support > conspiracies], and yet *still* saying that the aforementioned predatory algorithm spreads "overt antisemitism on the left and beyond"? Dude, come on. The algorithm wants to spread more right-wing rhetoric, but it doesn't get that kind of traction from left-wing accounts (certainly not anything linked here). It has to directly implant that stuff via ads and Blue-boosted tweets. Why do we keep seeing pieces calling out the Left, as if we simply acknowledged bigotry was intrinsic on the Right and therefore not worthy of further mention?
More importantly:
American Jewish institutions and synagogues don't have members directly in the Kenesset, but they DO tangibly and significantly influence Israeli policy. Our failure to accept and acknowledge that pillar of support enables the Israeli government to keep sliding right. Our synagogues sponsor Birthright trips, fundraise for IDF soldiers, go on mission trips to Israel, hold solidarity concerts to 'Stand with Israel', fly Israeli flags in our buildings, buy Israeli lulav/etrog, purchase kitschy 'made in Israel' souvenirs and even tallitot. That materially and financially contributes to Israeli policy. Should that massive base of support be withdrawn, we'd see Israel's government pivot in a hurry to try and win it back. We can't put comfortable distance between the material ways our own community upholds this stuff, while simultaneously telling people "conflating local Jews with Israel is antisemitic." You even mentioned the real estate events being held in synagogues. How can we expect people to take us seriously? I'm really struggling to square this, Elad. Help me out.
Thanks for this thought-provoking piece. I think the "vulnerability" is heightened even more because there has not been a clear and cogent explanation of WHY the US government/the Biden Administration is acting the way it is. Matthew Miller, John Kirby, Vedant Patel, etc. have spent an entire year using indignant jargon like, "strategic and moral imperatives" in lieu of laying out how any of this connects to US interests. I've heard and read so much hand-wringing across the left-liberal spectrum, including pretty mainstream Dems, wondering why Biden hasn't used leverage, made a phone call, withheld aid, etc.
It seems so obvious that there is no moral, legal, national security justification for the US's role. It seems like people are primed to believe antisemitic conspiracy theories because there is not a candid, open discussion about what is happening.
Elad, as always I appreciate hearing your perspective. While much of your essay seems valid, I wonder if in a subsequent piece you might elaborate more on the very last part — what exactly we can do to prevent the very dangers you describe. To me, your article seemed to draw to a close without the same detail you’d used earlier when you described the problem.
Chag Sameach
Peter