Woke Antisemitism Is on the Rise

One would think progressives, supposed champions of social justice, would be more eager than anyone to defend a historically oppressed group currently under attack. But apparently not when the victims are Jews. By Aaron Kliegman As champions of social justice, progressives should be more eager than anyone to defend a historically oppressed group currently under attack. But apparently not when the victims are Jews. Case in point: The woke left has been painfully reluctant to condemn the surge in antisemitic violence and demonstrations across the world — including in America — over the past two weeks. This wave of antisemitism has coincided with the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, which ended with a ceasefire last week. The overlap is no mere coincidence: This wave of Jew-hatred is a direct response to the fighting in Gaza, because hatred for Israel fuels hatred for Jews — and vice versa. To anyone who doubts the connection, the incidents speak for themselves. In London, people drove through the streets waving Palestinian flags and shouting, “F*** the Jews, rape their daughters.” In Belgium, pro-Palestinian protesters chanted, “Jews, remember Khaybar. The army of Muhammad is returning” — a celebration of Muhammad’s army slaughtering Jews in the 7th century. In Germany, anti-Israel demonstrators holding Palestinian flags gathered outside of synagogues to throw stones and shout “f*** the Jews.” Others burned Israeli flags and Jewish monuments. In Canada, mobs chased, assaulted, and threw rocks at Jews — one Jewish man was beaten by a group wielding Palestinian flags. America has experienced the same horrors. In Seattle, anti-Israel activists called for a Palestinian uprising while stealing an Israeli flag from someone and setting it aflame. In Los Angeles, people waving Palestinians flags and chanting “death to Jews” assaulted Jewish diners at a sushi restaurant. In New York, a group of men jumped a man wearing a yarmulke who was heading to a pro-Israel protest. Police say they beat and pepper-sprayed him while shouting antisemitic remarks. Elsewhere in New York, men with Palestinian flags threw fireworks at New York City’s predominantly Jewish Diamond District, burning one person and attacking others. This is the world in 2021 — a place unsafe for Jews, even in America. At first, the anti-racist left was silent about all this. Just crickets. Progressives in Congress, journalists in the mainstream media — they were AWOL. Which is strange considering how good the woke left is at spotting discrimination anywhere and everywhere. Imagine if the victims were Blacks or Muslims, or if the perpetrators were Nazis. The coverage would be exhaustive. The empathy would be tangible. Just not for Jews. Perhaps leftists were too busy spreading misinformation about Israel and demonizing the Jewish state for defending itself to notice they were stirring the anti-Semites into action. Last week, however, when the anti-Jewish violence really escalated in America, we finally began seeing condemnations — sort of. Like a flash, the statements came pouring in, from The Squad, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Cori Bush, Julian Castro, and many more — all identical, all clearly coordinated. Each person went to great pains to condemn not only antisemitism but also Islamophobia and discrimination against a range of other groups, from Blacks to Palestinians. (To be clear, there is no evidence of an uptick of hate crimes against Muslims, Blacks, or anyone else in recent weeks — just against Jews.) Compare this to their statements in response to the horrific outburst of anti-Asian violence earlier this year. There was no equivocation, no obfuscation, just a clear and simple message: Anti-Asian hate is unacceptable, has no place in our society, and must be stopped immediately. The situation today is reminiscent of March 2019, when Democrats planned to pass a resolution denouncing antisemitism following Rep. Ilhan Omar’s barrage of egregiously antisemitic remarks. But progressives protested, erroneously defending her comments as legitimate criticism of Israel and opposing a focus on antisemitism specifically. Naturally, Democratic leadership caved, and the House ended up passing some bogus resolution condemning all hate of all groups. The final version completely obfuscated the issue to the point of rendering the document meaningless. Denouncing all forms of hate means nothing – why not condemn the devil too while you’re at it? It should be so easy to write a statement specifically denouncing antisemitism when that is the issue at hand. This really isn’t hard. But when it comes to Jew-hatred, the woke left is bizarrely uncomfortable calling out bigotry promptly, clearly, and powerfully. Why the reluctance? There seem to be three reasons. First, to the progressive left, Jews can't be victims because they're part of the cabal of white oppressors who created our systemically racist system. We see leftists make this claim constantly. Second, to the progressive left, antisemitism can only be committed by white supremacists and neo-Nazis. How else does one explain the left’s eagerness to call out antisemitism at all turns when Donald Trump was president but reluctance to do so now? And third, the progressive left fears that strongly condemning Muslim antisemitism and Israel-linked antisemitism will make it seem like they're defending Israel and not supporting Palestinian rights. It’s no coincidence that Democrats and the left more broadly have become increasingly hostile to Israel as wokeness and progressivism have become more prevalent. Simply put, as the political left goes woke, progressives are not only tolerating Jew-hatred but also stoking it by demonizing the Jewish state. We are seeing woke antisemitism on the rise. And the problem looks like it will only get worse from here. Newt hosts monthly virtual events in which he discusses news of the day and why it matters to you and your community. These Newt Live events are your opportunity to communicate directly with Newt. We hope you will join us next time and let Newt answer your questions and provide his insight on the issues that concern you most. JOIN TODAY to be a part of this special event and receive a BONUS GIFT. Click here to join Newt’s Inner Circle. More from Aaron Kliegman: