If You Wouldn’t Say it to Any Other Minority, Don’t Say it to the Jews

A simple rule, and yet…

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A simple rule, and yet…

I recently had the pleasure of receiving the following comment on one of my articles on antisemitism penned by an individual with a ‘Black Lives Matter’ logo on his profile:

Why should it be obligatory to proclaim your support for Israel’s existence simply to prove you aren’t an antisemite? Israel’s existence does nothing to actually combat antisemitism, and in many respects its core assumption- which is that everybody who isn’t Jewish wants Jews dead, and that the Gentile world is somehow pathologically incapable of NOT being a moral danger to Jews- actually makes it in Zionism’s interest for antisemitism to expand?

What would you say to those of us- and for the record, I personally support the right of Israel to exist in peace and safety on the pre-1967 lines, the only areas that ever were legitimately part of the State of Israel, provided a Palestinian state is also allowed to live in peace, safety and prosperity on all the lands of the West Bank and Gaza- to all of us, Gentiles and Jews, who argue that the way to fight antisemitism is not to focus solely on sustaining a now-permanently right-wing nationalist project that displaced hundreds of thousands of largely innocent Palestinians in the late 1940s, which seems permanently opposed to anything close to Palestinian self-determination- when we all know there can’t be peace without Palestinians getting the right to that- but to focus, instead, on building a global movement to wipe out ALL forms of bigotry and oppression? Who recognize that, while antisemitism is vile and indefensible, it isn’t the ONLY form of hatred that matters, and who believe that the true lesson of the Holocaust is “Never Again- For ANYONE!”?

What is your response to the large group of people in that category, people of decency and good will who are fighting against not only any dangers to the world’s Jewish communities, but the dangers faced by all other historically oppressed communities?

Why dismiss that idea and reduce the whole thing to “nothing matters but making everybody proclaim their support for this one state- a state which is always going to be there no matter what, no matter what views people express about it”?

Why focus on one narrow, exclusivist project rather than join a global movement to defeat ALL hate?

There’s really no way to respond to someone like this, other than to give his own words back to him. So that’s what I did:

I like that BLM emblem you have on your profile. In light of that, I’m going to re-write what you just wrote to me using that as an example. None of it reflects my own views; I’m simply holding up a mirror. See how it makes you feel:

Why should it be obligatory to proclaim your support for Black lives simply to prove you’re not a racist? BLM’s existence does absolutely nothing to combat racism, and in many respects its core assumption-which is that everyone who isn’t Black wants Black people dead, and that our predominately white society is somehow incapable of NOT being a mortal danger to Black people — doesn’t that make it in BLM’s interest to expand to include all racial minorities?

What would you say to those of us — and for the record, I personally support affirmative action for Black people AS LONG AS there is still a holistic process of evaluating candidates and no quotas (the only legitimate form of affirmative action in the first place) — to all of us, White, Asian, and Latino, who argue that the way to fight racism is not to focus solely on sustaining a failed movement that really didn’t effectively combat segregation at all, but to focus, instead, on building a global movement to combat ALL types of racism and bigotry? We can recognize that while racism towards Black people is vile and indefensible, it isn’t the ONLY form of hatred that matters, and we believe that ALL LIVES MATTER. FOR EVERYONE.

What is your response to the large group of people in that category, people of decency and good will who are fighting against not only any dangers to our Black communities, but the dangers faced by all other historically oppressed communities?

Why dismiss the idea and reduce the whole thing to “nothing matters but making everybody proclaim that their support for this one movement, a movement that will always be there no matter what, no matter what views people express about it”?

Why focus on one narrow, exclusivist project rather than join a global movement to defeat ALL hate?

Mic drop.

While I think it goes without saying, many don’t seem to grasp it: if what you’re about to say is offensive to another minority, let alone the one you belong to, don’t use it on the Jews. But many people find it difficult to follow this simple rule. Here are some examples that have escalated especially over the last 8 months:

• “Globalize the intifada”: the functional equivalent of calling for a global lynching, as the intent of both actions leads to the same result.

• “I like Jews, I just hate Zionists”: the rhetorical equivalent of saying “I like POC, I just don’t like the ones who believe there exists structural racism in the United States. I just like the ones who will confirm my own worldview on that issue.”

• Calling Hamas/Hezbollah/any other terrorist organization with genocidal intent towards Jews “resistance movements”: might as well say that the KKK is a resistance movement formed by disgruntled working-class whites who feel betrayed by their government (read: there are people in the U.S. who think this way. They’re called white supremacists). Al-Qaeda is clearly a resistance movement whose victimization at the hands of the U.S. made them crash planes into some buildings (for the Gen Zers not around for 9/11: your parents should have told you about this). While we are at it, we should call the domestic terrorists who stormed the Capitol on January 6th “freedom tourists.”

Will anyone who currently engages in the above behavior actually read this article in its entirety? Given the way the algorithm works these days, I doubt it. From what I’ve observed in readers’ reactions to my writing, I doubt my ability to inspire change in others’ behavior. But if I can help some feel less alone in what we are experiencing as a group, then it’s worth it.

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