OpinionAntisemitism

Jewish Democrats, wake up!

The antisemitic right is a fringe phenomenon while the antisemitic left is mainstream, powerful and shaping America’s future.

Jonathan Bronitsky
Jonathan Bronitsky is co-founder and CEO of ATHOS, a Washington, D.C.-based public relations firm and literary agency. You can follow him on Twitter @jbronitsky.

This is addressed to you, my fellow Jews, since most of you are Democrats.

You’ve heard from liberal colleagues that Tucker Carlson (whose show you’ve never watched) has been flirting with antisemites. You’ve been told by liberal friends that Candace Owens (whose show you’ve never watched) has been picking fights with Ben Shapiro (whose show you’ve never watched). From CNN and MSNBC, you know that a pack of guys with citronella tiki torches marched through Charlottesville while shouting “Jews will not replace us.”

And that’s why you’re convinced there are far more antisemites on the right than there are on the left.

I wish to pose several questions:

How many of the thousands of individuals who gathered in Times Square on Oct. 8, 2023 and chanted “resistance is justified” and “glory to our martyrs” are registered Republican voters and plan to cast their ballots for Donald Trump?

How many of the individuals who barricaded Jewish students inside Cooper Union’s library on Oct. 25, 2023, pounded on the doors and carried signs that read “Zionism hands off our universities” are registered Republican voters and plan to cast their ballots for Donald Trump?

How many of the thousands of individuals who rallied in Manhattan on Dec. 25, 2023 and carried banners emblazoned with the words “by any means necessary” and “resistance until return” are registered Republican voters and plan to cast their ballots for Donald Trump?

How many of the thousands of individuals who assembled at Columbia University on Feb. 2 and shouted “Globalize the intifada” and “Death to the Zionist state” are registered Republican voters and plan to cast their ballots for Donald Trump?

How many of the individuals who amassed in Dearborn, Michigan on April 5 and yelled “death to America” and “death to Israel” are registered Republican voters and plan to cast their ballots for Donald Trump?

How many of the thousands of individuals who blocked traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge, in Manhattan and other cities on April 15 and carried the flag of Hezbollah are registered Republican voters and plan to cast their ballots for Donald Trump?

How many of the hundreds of thousands of individuals who have participated in the thousands of anti-Zionist and pro-Hamas protests across the United States since Oct. 7 are registered Republican voters and plan to cast their ballots for Donald Trump?

The answer to every question posed above is “close to zero” if not “none.”

Yet we’ve been told by reporters and commentators at august publications and news networks, leaders of esteemed non-profits, academics at prestigious colleges and universities, and career civil servants at major three-letter federal government agencies that antisemitism is solely a problem of the right.

Yes, fringe right-wing antisemites are a problem. Yes, they should be considered a threat. But they are on the fringe. And because these fringe elements continue to be the near-exclusive target of the left’s so-called “fight against antisemitism,” it’s more apparent than ever that our elites are purposefully engaged in a partisan game.

Right-wing antisemites are kooks and grifters. Left-wing antisemites are college professors, newspaper editors, Hollywood stars, a growing number of Democratic members of Congress and quite a few Biden administration officials. They have immense cultural and political influence, and they are decisively shaping the future of America.

So, if you’re a Jewish Democrat still more concerned about a pimply online provocateur than the DEI-obsessed ideologue sporting a keffiyeh and running the HR department at your Fortune 500 employer, you’re very confused. 

If you’re a Jewish Democrat still more frightened by a handful of Klan members a thousand miles away in a Podunk town than the Islamists waving terrorist flags on your child’s college campus and calling for the murder and the liquidation of your entire people, you’re delusional.

More and more liberals are waking up to the reality of Jew-hatred, not as it manifested in 1924 or 1954 but as it exists today in 2024. Alas, not enough of you have done so.

If you care about Israel, the battle against antisemitism is inescapably political. As the saying goes, “Elections have consequences.” Those who genuinely want to combat Jew-hatred must focus on the clear and present danger: The hundreds of thousands of pro-terrorist goons who march in broad daylight in cities, on campuses and in halls of power across the country calling for genocide and the extermination of Western civilization.

The opinions and facts presented in this article are those of the author, and neither JNS nor its partners assume any responsibility for them.
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