By H. Applebaum
SAN DIEGO –America was founded on the principle of freedom of religion, yet anti-Semitism, brought from other countries, has always been with us. Even in the 1600’s, before we became a country, Peter Stuyvesant, the governor of New York, denied basic rights to Jews. In the 1930’s and 40’s, as the Nazis were hounding European Jews, the German American Bund held huge rallies and the weekly rants of Father Coughlin attracted 30 million listeners. While this type of anti-Semitism is universally condemned, a new anti-Semitism, widespread and socially acceptable, is coming from segments of society traditionally supportive of Jews: the African American community, the media, universities, and the Democratic Party.
Left-wingers claim anti-Zionism is not the same as anti-Semitism. In reality, they are scapegoating Jews in the same way Stalinist Russia and Nazi Germany did. Then, the code words for Jew, were “rootless cosmopolitans,” today, anti-Semites use the word, “Zionist.”
Fifty years ago, Martin Luther King and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel marched together, demonstrating African American – Jewish unity. But King’s message of tolerance is lost in today’s identity politics. Jews and Israelis are now lumped together with “privileged whites.” Louis Farrakhan’s organization, The Nation of Islam, has infiltrated the African American community, spreading a virulent Jew hatred. He recently referred to Jews as “termites” and has called Hitler “a great man,” yet members of the Congressional Black Caucus have close ties with him. Even President Obama (before his election,) met with him and supported his Million (sic.) Man March. Black Lives Matter, a reaction to police shootings, egregiously added a platform condemning Israel.
Representative Keith Ellison (D-Minn,) whose twelve years in the House of Representatives came to an end amidst charges of domestic abuse, was an aide to Farrakhan. A constant critic of Israel, one of his typical comments was: “that country [Israel] has mobilized its diaspora to do its bidding in America,” the old anti-Semitic trope blaming Jews for dual loyalty. The Democratic Party, rather than shun him, honored him with the position of Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Committee.
Ellison’s replacement, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) denies being anti-Jewish, but is loudly anti-Israel. Omar, an immigrant from Somalia, has a long record of bias against Israel. Like her predecessor she attacked American Jews with the dual loyalty smear. In a 2012 tweet, reacting to Israeli retaliation in Gaza that followed 150 rocket attacks, she said, “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.”
Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, found Omar’s statements “deeply offensive.” However, seeing she was outnumbered in her own party, she has acquiesced to the new anti-Semitism; she honored Omar with a seat on the prestigious Foreign Affairs Committee. Since arriving in Congress, Omar’s accusation that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) bribes legislators didn’t induce Democrats to remove her from her committee placement. Instead, they ‘rebuked’ her with a saccharine condemnation of “all forms of hate” which eliminated the mention of anti-Semitism. Omar’s seat is secure, whereas, on Jan 14, 2019, Republicans promptly voted to remove Rep. Steven King from his committee assignments after his remarks about white supremacy.
Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D- N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) belong to the Democratic Socialists of America which opposes Israel’s existence. They, like Omar, support BDS, but the Democrats rewarded the twenty-nine year old Ocasio-Cortez with a seat on the powerful Financial Services Committee. Tlaib joined the ”dual loyalty” chorus even as she wrapped herself in the Palestinian flag to take the oath of office, yet Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Kamala Harris denied these three new congresswomen are anti-Semitic. They are “thoughtful colleagues,” according to Democratic Caucus Chair, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D.-NY.)
After the “all forms of hate” pronouncement, the Democrats invited radical Imam Omar Suleiman to give the congressional invocation. He had referred to Jews as “brothers of apes and pigs,” and called for a Palestinian intifada, yet that didn’t deter Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi from allowing it.
Al Sharpton, a disbarred lawyer, has risen in the Black community and the Democratic Party. The three-day Crown Heights riot that he inflamed in 1991 was the closest thing to a pogrom America has ever seen. Despite his ugly record, he was invited to the Obama White House more than seventy times, and his National Action Network is so influential that a dozen Democratic presidential candidates, including Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Cory Booker spoke at its’ recent convention
The Democratic Party “has been co-opted by people who promote rank anti-Semitic rhetoric,” Vice President Mike Pence recently asserted.
In a major departure from the norm, every Democratic candidate at the time of the 2019 annual AIPAC conference in Washington, D.C. refused to attend. This is unprecedented. Like Bernie Sanders, they claim they are pro-Israel, but never miss a chance to unfairly condemn it. Like Sanders, some have gone so far as calling it a “racist state.” Joe Biden, the current front-runner, is a long time critic of Israel’s housing policies, blaming them for the failed peace plans rather than the Arabs’ refusal to come to the table.
Those on the left, like New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who recently declared his presidential candidacy, deny any bias in their ranks. “I think the ideological movement that is anti-Semitic is the right-wing movement,” he recently said, despite the huge spike in violent anti-Semitic incidents against Orthodox Jews in New York committed mostly by African Americans.
History is clear that anti-Semitism is the “canary in the coal mine”–a sign of civilizational decay and the collapse of liberal values. When the most vulnerable are being attacked solely for being Jews, in the most liberal city in our country, and our politicians are turning a blind eye, it is cause for alarm.
*
Applebaum is a freelance writer based in San Diego.