Possibly the worst essay on antisemitism I’ve ever seen is in The Atlantic by Dara Horn. Paywalled, which is just as well. It’s hysterical rubbish. I don't doubt the anecdotes about antisemitic bias. There are quite a few of them. Nor do I doubt that there is a problem of rising antisemitism in the U.S. and elsewhere. Still, where should we locate it in the context of upwards of 30,000 -- and counting -- dead Palestinians?
Katie Halper interviewed Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro on why Zionism is anti-Semitic. The Rabbi explained that originally, Jewishness was composed of three elements: 1.God 2.gave the Torah 3. to the Jews The Jews were those people who were enjoined by God to fulfill the Torah. That's it. There was no notion of nationhood at all.
The Zionists, however, insist that every Jew has a homeland in Israel; that Israel is the nation of the Jews -- all of them. In fact, now, at this point, there is no such thing as Israeli nationality. France is the country of people of French nationality; Bolivia is the country of people of Bolivian nationality. But in Israel, there may be Israeli citizenship, but the nationality is Jewish. The Supreme Court of Israel has ruled that an Israeli nationality does not exist: Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people.
So of course, if you oppose Israel, you are an enemy to the Jewish people: an anti-Semite.
Rabbi Shapiro regards this attitude as itself anti-Semitic.
When I think "antisemitism," I think of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Which pretty much articulates the Fox News view of the world, replacing the word "Jew" with "liberal," which rhymes with "rootless cosmopolitan." So yes, I'm scared witless of American antisemitism.
I'm not afraid of the over-the-top idiocy of a few college kids.
Katie Halper interviewed Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro on why Zionism is anti-Semitic. The Rabbi explained that originally, Jewishness was composed of three elements: 1.God 2.gave the Torah 3. to the Jews The Jews were those people who were enjoined by God to fulfill the Torah. That's it. There was no notion of nationhood at all.
The Zionists, however, insist that every Jew has a homeland in Israel; that Israel is the nation of the Jews -- all of them. In fact, now, at this point, there is no such thing as Israeli nationality. France is the country of people of French nationality; Bolivia is the country of people of Bolivian nationality. But in Israel, there may be Israeli citizenship, but the nationality is Jewish. The Supreme Court of Israel has ruled that an Israeli nationality does not exist: Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people.
So of course, if you oppose Israel, you are an enemy to the Jewish people: an anti-Semite.
Rabbi Shapiro regards this attitude as itself anti-Semitic.
When I think "antisemitism," I think of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Which pretty much articulates the Fox News view of the world, replacing the word "Jew" with "liberal," which rhymes with "rootless cosmopolitan." So yes, I'm scared witless of American antisemitism.
I'm not afraid of the over-the-top idiocy of a few college kids.