Clowns to the Left, Jokers to the Right, Stuck in the Middle are Jews
My first experience with political intersectionality was decades ago. I was in New York City with my then girlfriend, Cindy, who was a graduate student at NYU. She had a second-floor apartment on the corner of Bleeker & Christopher Street – the heart of the West Village – so it was a great place to watch the annual Gay Pride Parade. Several of Cindy’s classmates joined us for the festivities. For those who aren’t familiar, this parade is quite a spectacle! As a long-time supporter of LGBTQ rights, it was exciting to see the large crowd & effusive energy. But then something changed – at least for me.
Shortly after dozens of rainbow flags passed us, I noticed several Palestinian flags hoisted high. The crowd, including Cindy’s friends, cheered wildly. I was not only surprised, I was confused: How or why would gay rights in the United States be connected with a complex, far-away geopolitical issue? Especially since gay rights don’t even exist in the Arab world – in fact, the only two Pride Parades in the Middle East are in Tel Aviv & Jerusalem! So I asked.
For the NYU graduate students, advocating for what they saw as a victimized underdog was definitional – being Progressive required supporting Palestine. And not Israel – it was a zero-sum game. They may have been well-intentioned, but the students were wildly ignorant; they didn’t know the relevant history and weren’t remotely interested in learning a competing narrative. And this was the Far Left 30 years ago – incredibly, it’s gotten worse since.
Recently, I listened to an interview with Stanford University student Taryn Thomas as she recounted her experience being drawn into the anti-Israel rallies that took over her campus following the Hamas attack in 2023.[1] Thomas describes the explicit pressure she felt to support Palestine as a liberal despite how little she and others actually knew. She also speaks candidly as a black woman about the allure of applying the American lens of race to other conflicts in the world – despite how flawed that approach is intellectually and thus morally. And finally, she discusses her decision to engage with those who disagreed with her – going so far as to visit Israel – because she genuinely wanted to understand other perspectives.
If only the better-known liberal Peter Beinhart would be so brave. Last month, the CUNY professor spoke at an Israeli university and was immediately criticized by his left-wing supporters for doing so – in response to which Beinhart issued a public apology. That prompted moderate Palestinian commentator Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib to say this: “Asking for forgiveness because you spoke to Israeli students who belong to your tribe, are your people, and part of your community is not going to make you more liked, accepted, or embraced by the rabid elements of the ‘pro-Palestine’ movement and the BDS cultists who have long stopped viewing their efforts as a tactic and devolved into demonizing Jews, Israelis, and Zionists as the actual end goal.” Rather remarkable insights about our country’s Far Left from a Gazan who had multiple family members killed in the recent war. And yet sadly, the Far Right is hardly any better.
For years, Jews worried that our greatest threat emanated from extreme nationalism, an ideology often predicated on xenophobia, racism and antisemitism. Interestingly, around the same time as my New York experience described above, voters in Louisiana elected David Duke to state office. Duke was a former Grand Dragon in the Ku Klux Klan, who was an unabashed Neo-Nazi. In response, national leaders in the Republican party condemned him in explicit terms and cut all ties with him. That was then.
Among Republicans today, there’s increasing concern about a growing movement within the party that’s more than mere isolationism – it’s an impassioned antipathy specific to Israel and Jews. Popular podcasters such as Joe Rogan, Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson routinely espouse ideas that broach or clearly cross into the realm of antisemitism. Most recently, it was Carlon’s decision to host White Supremacist Nick Fuentes that created controversy. Fuentes is a frighteningly influential figure who claimed the Holocaust is exaggerated and said “organized Jewry” threatens Christian America. And yet, many conservatives aren’t willing to criticize Carlson for fear of potential backlash.
To be sure, it’s certainly a minority in the GOP who subscribe to these abhorrent ideas, but it’s still concerning. In October of this year, for example, journalists revealed transcripts from private chat groups in which leaders of Young Republicans from several states made a number of slurs about Jews (and other minorities), including praising Hitler and joking about gas chambers. And despite some wishful protests to the contrary, the participants weren’t just “young & dumb.” In fact, many were in their 30’s and even worked in government. In short, as we say in Texas, they were old enough to know better.
So where does all of this leave us? For the Jewish People, it’s a painful reminder that we can never take our safety for granted – because ours is an ancient hate without rhyme or reason, just pretext. For example, we are the originators of religious monotheism, accused of committing deicide. We are entitled money-hungry capitalists, and despised Red Scare Communists. We are white, settler colonialists, when most of modern Israel are Jews of color who sought refuge in our ancient homeland. We are 0.2% of the world’s population, and we control the entire globe through a clandestine cabal. Simply put, we cannot win.
And yet our response must not be defeatist & must be about more than mere survival, it should be about recommitting to the ideals we have always strived for – creating a holy community that ensures social justice for all. Our response should also be to double-down on proudly embracing our identity; and as podcast host Dan Senor recently argued, nothing matters more in this regard than Jewish education.
As for non-Jews, lessons from the growing hate may be less personal, but they are just as important. In 1946, German Pastor Martin Niemoller warned: First, they came for the Socialists, then the Trade Unionists, and then the Jews – but I never spoke out because I wasn’t part of those groups. And then they came for me . . . but there was no one left to speak.
In short, regardless of its place of origin (the Radical Left or the Authoritarian Right), the scourge of antisemitism is an infection that will render all of our society sick. So no matter what one’s political affiliation, it’s essential that men and women of courage draw a line and take a stand against their respective extremes. The ethical essence of our shared society depends on it.
[1] https://www.thefp.com/p/confessions-of-a-former-pro-palestine
