By Cavan @Adobe Stock
Confronting Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism also poisons America by attacking our ideals of liberalism and pluralism, presents Walter Russell Meade in the WSJ.
As students and, worse, professors, at elite universities across the U.S. exulted at the news of mass murder and torture of Israeli Jews by Hamas terrorists, Jewish students were warned to take precautions on campus. Across the U.S., anti-Semitic incidents including vandalism, harassment and assault are up roughly 400% since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7.
A Problem Not only for American Jews
The beliefs that have made the U.S. a uniquely hospitable home for Jewish citizens are essential to national cohesion and strength. If we lose faith in what was once proudly called the American Way, there is little chance that society can summon the energy and unity to withstand attacks from our enemies abroad.
From the Middle Ages to the present day, reports Mr. Meade, “violent anti-Semitism has flourished best among those who reject liberal ideas.”
Medieval Christian zealots trying to build a seamlessly Christian Europe, nationalists striving for “pure” societies in which a particular ethnic group establishes its own culture and institutions without the “alien” influences of ethnic and religious minorities, Islamists who want a pure Islamic state—none of these projected utopias have room for proud and free Jews.
Who, asks NRO’s Jim Geraghty, hears about Hamas executing a bloody massacre with brutal executions of women and children and immediately decides, “It’s time to hold a rally in support of the Palestinians”?
The Democratic Socialists of America didn’t even pause to denounce Hamas — they went straight to announcing rallies “in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their right to resist 75 years of occupation and apartheid.”
As of this writing, at least 900 Israelis are dead; 124 were soldiers and 41 were police, leaving about 735 or so civilians — men, women, children, ordinary young people attending a music festival, senior citizens — all dead because Hamas spent a year planning this, and the Iranians were right there alongside them, providing “military training and logistical help as well as tens of millions of dollars for weapons.” This is worth our anger.
Worth Our Anger
Mr. Geraghty thought everyone would declare that they’re a friend of Israel now, but, he also worried: “Let’s see how long that lasts,”
… it’s not true that everyone is declaring they’re a friend of Israel right now. A whole lot of people are proudly, loudly announcing for all the world to see that either they see the state of Israel and its people as the moral equivalent of the butchers of Hamas, or they outright are rooting for Hamas.
As of this writing, at least 900 Israelis are dead; 124 were soldiers and 41 were police, leaving about 735 or so civilians — men, women, children, ordinary young people attending a music festival, senior citizens — all dead because Hamas spent a year planning this, and the Iranians were right there alongside them, providing “military training and logistical help as well as tens of millions of dollars for weapons.” This is worth our anger.
Where’s the Outrage
Lawmakers shouldn’t abandon their desire to see Palestine free and prosperous. A free Palestine, however, would require a Palestine free from Hamas, argues Mr. Geraghty.
The Hamas torture chambers are every bit as effective at ending Palestinian lives as any Israeli bomb dropped from the sky:
The PA and Hamas have said that abuses amount to no more than isolated cases that are investigated and for which wrongdoers are held to account, but years of research by Human Rights Watch, including its 147-page 2018 report, “Two Authorities, One Way, Zero Dissent,” contradict these claims. Palestinian authorities have consistently failed to hold security forces accountable, as documented in the parallel report.
An Unbalanced America
Mr. Meade points out that America’s vital center is “defined by the conviction that people of different cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds together can build a peaceful and prosperous society in which all can follow their consciences while upholding the framework of our common life.”
While America remains imperfect, the efforts of people of different races, ethnicities and religions over the centuries have created a miraculously prosperous and open society.
The Hamas attacks of Oct. 7 unleashed a storm abroad and a storm at home. More storms, and worse ones, are likely as a disordered America struggles for balance in a disordered world.
