Editor’s Note: Originally published May 2019 at The Roots of Liberty. The NY Times subsequently apologized for the cartoon referenced below. Originally shared on Substack March 2023. Resharing today in light of the Hamas attacks on Israel and the response from Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Jamaal Bowman, they of “The Squad,”
My take on the Left's view on Israel: they're not antisemitic, per se - they're anti-Zionist. Or more broadly, anti-American - and Zionism has deep roots in American Christian evangelicalism, making it double ungood bad! How America became the nation that would lead the establishment of a Jewish state goes back a very long time, but the cause is deeply intertwined with post-reformation Christian evangelicalism and a belief in Zionism as the only way to fulfill biblical prophecy. Reform Jews and secular progressives believe in none of this, making common cause among the editorial pages of the NYT and leftism in general. In the post-war years, "displaced" Palestinians became the pet cause of the left's anti-Zionism.
As to my "per se" in the first sentence: much of this debate is lost on casual observers who are quick to "blame the Jews" and cartoons such as that run by the NYT are inflammatory and would reasonably be described as inciteful of antisemitic violence against any Jew, regardless of their stand on a Jewish state. There's certainly enough virulent antisemitic rhetoric in the world today without a "mainstream" American newspaper fanning the flames.
I still think there's a whole lot of antisemitism that masquerades as anti-Zionism.
The Palestinian "problem" could have been resolved decades ago, via a combination of neighboring nations simply patriating them and an affirmation that Israel has a right to exist.
That Hamas and Hezbollah, two organizations explicitly avowing their desire for the destruction and subsuming of Israel, are in charge of neighboring nations is ignorable only by stark willfulness, and that willfulness is born, IMO, of anti-semitism. Thus, the maddening rush to rally in favor of the Palestinians yesterday.
I think we can agree that the anti-Zionist movement - in the modern age - is but a fig leaf for antisemitism. I don't think that was always the case, but no need to debate which came first. Nobody really "cares" about the Palestinians - most certainly not the countries in the Israeli neighborhood. Clearly something else is animating their behavior.
My take on the Left's view on Israel: they're not antisemitic, per se - they're anti-Zionist. Or more broadly, anti-American - and Zionism has deep roots in American Christian evangelicalism, making it double ungood bad! How America became the nation that would lead the establishment of a Jewish state goes back a very long time, but the cause is deeply intertwined with post-reformation Christian evangelicalism and a belief in Zionism as the only way to fulfill biblical prophecy. Reform Jews and secular progressives believe in none of this, making common cause among the editorial pages of the NYT and leftism in general. In the post-war years, "displaced" Palestinians became the pet cause of the left's anti-Zionism.
As to my "per se" in the first sentence: much of this debate is lost on casual observers who are quick to "blame the Jews" and cartoons such as that run by the NYT are inflammatory and would reasonably be described as inciteful of antisemitic violence against any Jew, regardless of their stand on a Jewish state. There's certainly enough virulent antisemitic rhetoric in the world today without a "mainstream" American newspaper fanning the flames.
I still think there's a whole lot of antisemitism that masquerades as anti-Zionism.
The Palestinian "problem" could have been resolved decades ago, via a combination of neighboring nations simply patriating them and an affirmation that Israel has a right to exist.
That Hamas and Hezbollah, two organizations explicitly avowing their desire for the destruction and subsuming of Israel, are in charge of neighboring nations is ignorable only by stark willfulness, and that willfulness is born, IMO, of anti-semitism. Thus, the maddening rush to rally in favor of the Palestinians yesterday.
I think we can agree that the anti-Zionist movement - in the modern age - is but a fig leaf for antisemitism. I don't think that was always the case, but no need to debate which came first. Nobody really "cares" about the Palestinians - most certainly not the countries in the Israeli neighborhood. Clearly something else is animating their behavior.