The Most Inconvenient Minority

Boy it sure is something being a Jew today, isn’t it? 

I’m sitting here, watching the absolute spectacle of people who cried over the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, now coming out and regurgitating simply sickening Hamas propaganda. 

And when in the summer of 2020, the chants of “Black lives matter” filled the streets of America, liberal Jews were there in full allyship… now we have to endure one of the biggest BLM chapters in America glorifying the murder and rape of innocent Israelis who were at a nature party. 

And how many Jews who support LGBTQ rights and were repulsed by the GOP attempts to tell people what gender they should be, have to read yet another letter from their university’s chair of LGBTQ studies placing the blame for the murder of babies and Holocaust survivors on their cousins and family members.

How many Jews who joined in solidarity against “Muslims bans” are subjected to Ilhan Omar sharing images of dead Syrian children, gassed by Bashar al-Assad, and pretending they’re Gazans killed by Israel. Never mind of course the ABSURDITY of dead Arab children only mattering when they’re killed by Israelis, that’s a rant for a different day.

Oh, I can already hear the right wingers chanting in my ears about what fools those Jews were to align themselves with these groups, while THEIR SIDE unequivocally support Israel. But not so fast my dear friends…

Where were you when the president tried to equivocate in Charlottesville with his “good people on both sides” lunacy? Where were you when an insane lunatic committed the worst synagogue bloodbath in American history in Pittsburgh because he held Jews responsible for the “invasion at the border” that Fox News kept drilling into the heads of every psychopathic malcontent in the country. Where were you as attacks on Jews in America spiked *EVERY* *SINGLE* *YEAR* of the Trump presidency?

Yes you support Israel, and that’s all well and good, but when there was a terror attack at the US Capitol that was meant to install a dictator where were you? Talking about how George Soros and “the Rothschilds” funded a “false flag” operation or some such nonsense? You know, the track record for our people under unelected strongmen is quite bad right? And yes, thank you very much for your unequivocal support of Israel, but if you differentiate between wonderful strong Israeli Jews and (((globalist))), “cosmopolitan” Jews, guess what? I’m not interested in your support.

No, being a Jew right now is not an easy thing to be. To the right they hate us for “promoting socialism” or whatever. To the left they hate us for “being complicit in colonialism” or whatever. 

We are the most inconvenient minority. We do not fit into anyone’s box. We aren’t really white, or black, or brown. We are all of those things.

And while most Jews are liberal, many are quite conservative. While most Jews support Israel and the concept of Jewish self-determination, many just don’t care. So when Hamas declares a “day of jihad” and some Jewish schools need to close out of an abundance of caution, does it really matter which political party they voted for? Does anyone know what those haredi guys in the Diamond District being chased around by pro-Hamas hooligans think about the legitimacy of a Jewish state? 

And when the right wingers shoot up a synagogue in Poway, do they have any idea what the congregation’s views are about the southern border? When Trump trashes the Israeli defense minister as literal body parts are still being scraped off the streets of Be’eri, does he know if the American Israelis that were killed, voted for him or not? Or when he scolds American Jews on Rosh Hashanah for voting for Democrats, does it matter to him what effect that has on the people who suspect Jews of having dual loyalties – one of the oldest forms of anti-Semitism in the world?

Then Biden sends two aircraft carrier groups to back up Israel and delivers multiple speeches that literally bring tears of joy to the eyes of Israelis, surely we will have a bipartisan recognition that this is good regardless of what you think about his other policies? NOPE! His political opponents have the nerve to say he was complicit in the murders of innocent Jewish children in an attempt to score political points – that is sick! Political polarization above all else.

Whether it comes from the right or the left, the people that actually go out and commit acts of violence against Jews don’t care who we vote for. They don’t care if we support immigrants or if we think Black Lives Matter or if we think abortion should be banned or if we care about the fate of Palestinian children or not. They don’t ask what our political positions are before shooting up our synagogues or beating up the first visibly Jewish person they see in New York City.

It is far past time that the Jewish community recognized this fact. We don’t fit into their boxes. It does not matter what flavor of extremism it is – we must reject ALL of it. The bullets are just as deadly if they come out of a gun fired by a right wing extremist or a left wing extremist. If you find yourself in the midst of fanatics of ANY stripe, you need to wake up because they are NOT your friends.

As Jews we need to be clear that denying the right of our people to a homeland of our own is anti-semitic. Making excuses for why the rape and murder of innocent civilians and calling it “decolonialism” is anti-semitic. Blaming Jews for “communism” or “wokeism” or whatever culture war issue du jour, is anti-semitic. Saying Jews who voted for the “wrong” person for president are responsible for the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust is anti-semitic!

We have many friends in America, and throughout the world. We have an army and a place to welcome us if we need it in Israel. Our situation today is far stronger and more secure than the vast majority of Jewish history. This is not a moment for panic or feeling demoralized.

But damn it if it isn’t just absolutely tiresome to be perpetually treated as political football depending on whether or not today’s massacre is convenient to your team’s narrative. We do not check the boxes you want us to check. We are not a monolith. 

And we should not accept anyone using us to prove their political points. You either believe the Jewish people have the same rights as any other group, or you don’t. You either believe ALL Jewish lives matter regardless of which political team they’re on, or what country they live in, or you don’t. Do us all a favor and spare us your crocodile tears and your fake expressions of “support” if all you want from us is to validate how wonderful your team’s side is.

Sorry if that’s not convenient for you, but we indeed are the most inconvenient minority. 

To our “allies” on the left and right, don’t you worry though. Liberal Jews will keep supporting liberal causes because they believe they are right and conservative Jews will keep supporting conservative causes because they believe they are right. Just because you don’t care or don’t appreciate or reciprocate except when it’s politically convenient to you, don’t worry. Our track record throughout our history is that we stubbornly do what we do, whether we get something out of it or not. Truly a “stiff-necked people” indeed.

But know this, we are watching. We are taking names. We know who you are and we know who our real friends are. And one day when this is over we will remember who really stood with us because they actually care, and who just uses our cause because it helps them score points in whatever game it is they think they are playing.

And man, we are TIRED of this game.