Is it a stretch to believe that many of us look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and, knowing little to nothing about Palestinians, make our judgments based on what we think we know about Jews?
I just wish the people who need to read this would do so (they won’t), and if they did, they would understand and take it seriously (they can’t), and actually let it force them to consider whether their preconceptions about Jews drive their feelings about Israel (they won’t).
This not only needs to be said…it has to be said…read and hopefully, truly heard. If thought patterns can actually be changed… and scientists tell us they can… then these terrible October 7 symptoms will finally allow a true diagnosis of a cancerous condition and a treatment plan can be addressed…
Of course, the political tolerance of the Progressive Left depends on the identity of their “allies”. While it appears to have little issue with antisemites joining their pro-Hamas protests, they expel very publicly any fellow traveler suspected of Zionism. That discrimination is telling. But, as you say, antisemitic tropes are so long embedded in Western societies that it is now the background normal to thinking. Those reflexively opposed to Jews and their state do so not because of the evidence but out of emotion - and of course, being “legalistic” rather than “of the spirit” is a key distinction between “Jews” and everyone else that arose from early Christian theology’s need to distinguish itself from its parent.
Two millennia ago, a rabbi declared that it is easier to see the sty in someone else’s eye rather than the mote in your own. Rather than confront your own social issues, thinking with Jews allows for the projection of faers and anxieties and, has the additional advantage of avoiding the necessity of addressing and acting on your society’s ills. And for these purposes, the Palestinian Arabs (indeed, the Arabs in general) also become cut-outs and caricatures - they are treated as agency-less child victims. This allows for a Manichean worldview further simplifies complex issues, as we see working its way across the world.
Simply put, the reason Hamas talking points are being credulously accepted by most of the media is, precisely as you say, they are falling on receptive ears and soil well fertilized by that same millennia of Jew-hate. Herzl was right that for their own safety and security, Jews need to be sovereign in their own land. He was wrong, however, in believing that once the Jews were mostly removed from non-Jewish society, antisemitism would end. In this, he forgot the principle of “if there were no Jews, they would have to be invented” because first and foremost, antisemitism has noting to do with flesh and blood Jews, it never has.
As a final note, I hear the punchline to your opening “joke” as “pork chops at half price”. Not to explain jokes, but the twist is that it relies on two stereotypes, not just one. Comedy, as they say, is cruel but there is also some truth in using comedy as a response to antisemites, showing that they are not to be taken as an intellectually serious opponent - something Sartre understood and wrote about.
I just wish the people who need to read this would do so (they won’t), and if they did, they would understand and take it seriously (they can’t), and actually let it force them to consider whether their preconceptions about Jews drive their feelings about Israel (they won’t).
I wish you were wrong. (You're right.) All we can do is keep pushing the truth out there. (We will!)
Thanks for being a voice of reason.
This not only needs to be said…it has to be said…read and hopefully, truly heard. If thought patterns can actually be changed… and scientists tell us they can… then these terrible October 7 symptoms will finally allow a true diagnosis of a cancerous condition and a treatment plan can be addressed…
Of course, the political tolerance of the Progressive Left depends on the identity of their “allies”. While it appears to have little issue with antisemites joining their pro-Hamas protests, they expel very publicly any fellow traveler suspected of Zionism. That discrimination is telling. But, as you say, antisemitic tropes are so long embedded in Western societies that it is now the background normal to thinking. Those reflexively opposed to Jews and their state do so not because of the evidence but out of emotion - and of course, being “legalistic” rather than “of the spirit” is a key distinction between “Jews” and everyone else that arose from early Christian theology’s need to distinguish itself from its parent.
Two millennia ago, a rabbi declared that it is easier to see the sty in someone else’s eye rather than the mote in your own. Rather than confront your own social issues, thinking with Jews allows for the projection of faers and anxieties and, has the additional advantage of avoiding the necessity of addressing and acting on your society’s ills. And for these purposes, the Palestinian Arabs (indeed, the Arabs in general) also become cut-outs and caricatures - they are treated as agency-less child victims. This allows for a Manichean worldview further simplifies complex issues, as we see working its way across the world.
Simply put, the reason Hamas talking points are being credulously accepted by most of the media is, precisely as you say, they are falling on receptive ears and soil well fertilized by that same millennia of Jew-hate. Herzl was right that for their own safety and security, Jews need to be sovereign in their own land. He was wrong, however, in believing that once the Jews were mostly removed from non-Jewish society, antisemitism would end. In this, he forgot the principle of “if there were no Jews, they would have to be invented” because first and foremost, antisemitism has noting to do with flesh and blood Jews, it never has.
As a final note, I hear the punchline to your opening “joke” as “pork chops at half price”. Not to explain jokes, but the twist is that it relies on two stereotypes, not just one. Comedy, as they say, is cruel but there is also some truth in using comedy as a response to antisemites, showing that they are not to be taken as an intellectually serious opponent - something Sartre understood and wrote about.
Brilliantly said. Thank you.
Brilliant essay.