This article first appeared in Times of Israel Blogs.
I watched this weekend's CNN documentary, "Rising Hate: Anti-Semitism in America" with much interest. Like many observers whose reactions I have read, I have mixed reactions.
On the one hand, just the fact that a liberal outlet like CNN would highlight the problem of resurgent anti-Semitism in America is encouraging. It was positive that CNN featured the ordeal of a Jewish student at the State University of New York (SUNY ) at New Paltz, who was kicked out of a sexual assault survivors group because she was a Zionist. However, it would have been better if more examples of campus anti-Semitism arising out of the Israel-Palestinian conflict were featured. This is a nationwide problem. I maintain that the recent resurgence in anti-Semitism was largely bred on our college campuses thanks to the pro-Palestinian student groups like Students for Justice in Palestine and various Muslim Student Association chapters. Alas, as usual, the precise perpetrators were not pointed out.
Jonathan Greenblatt, the liberal head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), was interviewed. Yes, he did state that anti-Semitism in America today is coming from both the left and the right, but in his opinion, Jew-hatred from the right far outweighs that from the left. I respectfully disagree. Why was there no discussion of Islamic anti-Semitism? Nor was there any discussion of the role that Critical Race Theory (CRT) is contributing to anti-Semitism. According to CRT, Jews are simply privileged whites, in other words, oppressors and not worthy of any protection-in spite of the fact that FBI statistics for the past several years consistently show that Jews are the largest victims of religion-based hate crimes.
Where was there any mention of anti-Semitic Congresswomen Rashid Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) with their disgraceful history of anti-Jewish utterances?
It is undeniably true that the attacks on synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway (San Diego) were carried out by white Jew-haters. But there was also the attack on the Colleyville, Texas synagogue. That was carried out by an Arab Muslim, a fact ignored in the documentary. The rampage through a heavily Jewish populated area of Los Angeles a couple of summers ago was carried out not by white neo-Nazis, but by Black Lives Matter-inspired "protesters" in the wake of the George Floyd death in Minnesota.
And then there was the matter of former President Trump. Granted some people who voted for him may harbor hateful feelings toward Jews. President Biden and former President Obama also received votes from certain people for despicable reasons motivated by hate. To call former President Trump an anti-Semite is as much a false canard as saying he worked with Putin in 2016 to win the election.
I vividly recall attending an anti-hate event at a Jewish synagogue in Newport Beach in 2017 shortly after Trump came into office. Jewish, Christian, and Muslim leaders in the Orange County community gathered to decry anti-Semitism and Islamophobia which, according to them, were exploding largely because Trump was president. Not one word about Islamic anti-Semitism or any form of anti-Semitism coming from the left. Audience questions to that effect were not even entertained. I know. I sent up a question to the panel as to who was responsible for anti-Semitism at UC Irvine, located just a few hundred yards away. The person gathering the question cards took one look at my question and told me, "We're not going there tonight." I might add that two of the speakers that night were high-ranking administrators from UC Irvine. But the problems that are well documented over the years at UC Irvine were not part of the discussion.
It is undeniably true that, as history illustrates, Jews are victimized by hatred from all different directions. As a conservative gentile, I condemn those attacks that have come from certain fringe individuals from the right. We must condemn them if we are to maintain our own credibility. But I object to CNN's slant on the problem. I mean no disrespect to Dana Bash, who was the moderator and herself Jewish. Unlike many at CNN, I consider her a reputable journalist. But if anti-Semitism is to be confronted, it must be exposed who the guilty parties are, both on the left and the right. There must be a full discussion, and all guilty parties must be singled out. As such, the CNN presentation was only half a documentary. Not only were many of the guilty parties not mentioned, but one innocent person was tarred with the label of anti-Semite. That was former President Trump. He is many things. But he is not an anti-Semite.
11 comments:
"According to CRT, Jews are simply privileged whites, in other words, oppressors and not worthy of any protection-in spite of the fact that FBI statistics for the past several years consistently show that Jews are the largest victims of religion-based hate crimes."
This is not what CRT is. This is a deliberate misinterpretation that you're repeating.
Anonymous,
I will stand fully behind my statements on this issue.
Then you're fully standing behind something that's objectively wrong.
This whole anti-CRT hysteria was started by extremist right-wing activists who have been stirring up reactionaries by mischaracterizimg CRT and seeing it in places where it's not even being taught. And the results are that educators are being attacked for simply teaching history.
Nonsense. You are dismissing parents who object to their kids being taught that just because they are white, they are automatically oppressors, racists and privileged. You are dismissing the concerns of several legitimate Jewish organizations and parents. We have been teaching the history of slavery and segregation for decades and that is fine, but not for the purpose of brainwashing kids into thinking today that America is a racist country that is oppressing non-whites. Educators need to get back to educating and not indoctrinating.
"Reactionaries"?? What are you a Marxist too?
No, the nonsense is that anybody is being taught that being white means that they're "automatically oppressors, racists, etc."
The thing is, you don't even get right what people mean when they speak of "white privilege'". It simply means that there are difficulties that people of color experience that white people don't. That is literally it. What you describe is merely a right-wing talking point, propagated by white supremacists, who want to rile up white people.
This absolutely is about indoctrination. But the anti-CRT hysteria (it's hysteria because it's only been taught in upper level law classes and never to K-12 kids) is the one doing the indoctrination. Wake up, man, and pull your head out of right-wing media. Schools are banning books by people of color who are merely writing about their experiences. This is what's coming of this.
The bottom line is that I actually listen to the people who are supposedly saying all these anti-white talking points, but I'm telling you that they're not saying that. You're clearly just listening to people with an agenda, but you are blind to the propaganda of people on your side.
And calling you a reactionary makes me a Marxist? I reckon that just like CRT, you also can't accurately define that word either. It's just another boogeyman.
Just one more thing, if you were REALLY against "indoctrination," then you'd be against having kids say the Pledge of Allegiance. I imagine that you're not though.
Because what's a better example of indoctrination than literally having children recite a chant that they likely don't even understand in service of obedience to the state? Pretty sure that only places like North Korea have similar traditions.
Like most regressives, indoctrination is fine so long as it's what you think is good.
Even if it's only being taught in upper level law classes, it's wrong. And I can assure you, it's not just upper level law classes.
Are you also going to deny all the instances of white and Jewish students being excluded from student clubs or tried to be kicked out of student government because they were "privileged whites, Zionist Jews" etc. Where do you think these campus radicals got that idea into their heads? CRT. Don't forget; I taught 20 years on college campuses. (1995-2016). I know what I am talking about.
As for the Pledge of Allegiance, I recited it every day at school and recite it now when asked. There is nothing wrong with pledging allegiance to the freest country in the world. As for the Marxist remark, I raised it because you used Marxist jargon ("Reactionary") As for "regressive" that's a new one on me. Not even Lenin probably thought that one up.
Chomp on this, Anonymous. I chose this on page from the site, Critical Race Theory in Education. It covers just California. Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, who fights anti-Semitism in (primarily) California schools and colleges, and is quoted here is a friend and colleague of mine.
https://criticalrace.org/states/california/#college
Then there is Ibram X. Kendi and his book on how to be an anti-racist. He can write whatever he wants and anybody can read what he writes as far as I am concerned, but "mandatory reading"in schools and universities?
I tell you what. This can be solved REALLY easily if you can provide a specific example of somebody who teaches or supports CRT who describes it the way that you do. (Somebody of some consequence, in other words because on the fringes of every issue you'll have some wacky stuff.) The only people who describe it the way you do are the ones railing against it.
As for the accusations of the Jewish students, I don't know enough to comment on whether that happened or whether it didn't. I do know, however, that if it did happen, CRT had nothing to do with it because CRT (and the use of the term "privilege" when talking about being white) don't advocate for anything like that. I'm sure that you can find people who say those talking points about white people. I've heard them myself. But that doesn't mean that it has anything to do with CRT.
Your response about the pledge is absolutely hilarious. You've proven my point. It absolutely IS indoctrination. The fact that you think that this is the "Freest country in the world" is proof that you've been completely brainwashed. Freest in the world? Certainly we have more freedoms than a lot of countries, but by what metric do you say that we're the "freest"? Our archaic drug laws (which you enforced) are the antithesis of freedom. And now, because of right-wing politics, girls and women who are raped or victims of incest in various states are forced to carry the fetus to term. We also have states banning books all across the country, much of it based on the anti-CRT hysteria - making us even less free.
Freest? That's not just wrong, it's painfully wrong. The thing is, when indoctrination works, those who have been indoctrinated don't realize it.
It's useless to argue with you. Here in California, we have seen it first hand with the battle of the bills submitted to Gov Newsom on teaching race in schools. The California version contained lessons on the Palestinian conflict and how Israel was "oppressing" Palestinians. Jews were considered to be merely privileged whites, thus part of the oppressor class.
Why do you think there has been so much anti-Jewish violence in the US? You think that CRT has not played a role? I do, at least partially.
In addition, your arguments about who is free, abortions and laws against drug (trafficking) are hysterical, something you accuse those against CRT of being.
It is useless to argue with me? Look, I gave some pretty specific and easy criteria that would change my mind.
Also, let's say that I am completely on board with your criticism of California's curriculum regarding how the Israeli/Palestine conflict is taught.
That STILL has NOTHING to do with CRT.
As I said, you don't even know what it is. You just repeat right-wing talking points.
One can have valid criticisms of CRT, but first you need to define it correctly.
And it's hilarious to me that you keep on taking up this cause like you're somehow defending Jewish people, when a direct result of this anti-CRT hysteria has led to a school district in Texas teaching "both sides" of the Holocaust.
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