Viruses don’t care about your political persuasion. They don’t care who you voted for in the last election. They aren’t interested in your self-righteousness. If anyone ever doubted that Jew-hatred is a pathological disease, now is the time to disabuse them of any such notion.
We have seen an unprecedented rise in expressions of racism directed at Jews in our streets, on our campuses and online. These Jew-haters come from both sides of the political spectrum. Often, hatred is expressed by attempts to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish state of Israel. They use the worst kinds of double standards and high-wire sophistry as they twist, invert, mutate and completely obliterate the meaning of words like “genocide,” “indigenous” and “colonialism.”
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism is an important tool against the raging virus of anti-Jewish racism that has infected many parts of the world. Despite what some critics claim, this definition does not preclude criticism of the Israeli government nor does it chill free speech. But it does lift the veil that many Jew-haters use to try to hide their racism. It does allow us to unmask racists whose racism, if it were directed toward any other group, would rightly be reviled by all civil and fair-minded people.
Former U.S. Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill once famously remarked: “All politics is local.” When I was the mayor of Beverly Hills in 2020, it became the first U.S. city to adopt the IHRA definition. At a time when cities have been pressured to pass one-sided, pro-Hamas ceasefire resolutions, we need more of them to adopt this definition if they are serious about dealing with anti-Jewish racism. The same can be said for individual states, colleges, universities and other schools.
The virus of Jew-hatred can infect anyone—elected officials, professors, doctors, academics, Christians, Muslims and even Jews. In some cases, education and the truth may serve as antidotes to misinformation and outright lying about Jewish identity and history. In other instances, however, the disease will stubbornly prove resistant to both treatment and vaccines, especially among the self-righteous and moral narcissists.
In December, the city of Beverly Hills served as host of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM)’s annual Mayors Summit Against Antisemitism. As one of the few cities outside Israel with such a large Jewish population, we have long felt a responsibility to take a role at the forefront of the fight against Jew-hatred and the accompanying racist attempts to demonize Israel.
Local elected leaders—be they mayors or council members—have a responsibility and opportunity to facilitate intergroup relations. As we make people aware of the unique nature of the virus of Jew-hatred, it is important to define exactly what antisemitism is. This is especially true as modern-day Jew-haters attempt to hide behind the cloak of “anti-Zionism.” This is why leaders interested in community dialogues about tolerance and coexistence should adopt and implement the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, it provides concrete examples of what separates legitimate criticism of Israel from Jew-hatred.
Local leaders who want to help stop the spread of hate need to:
- Identify the virus;
- Try to inoculate and cure those who can be inoculated and cured;
- Protect our communities from those who are beyond hope and determined to spread their hateful ideas.
Globalizing intifadas won’t bring peace or repair the world. But maybe, globalizing meaningful local dialogues and bridge-building efforts among diverse community groups can be part of the efforts to vanquish the disease of Jew-hatred and bring lasting peace to the Middle East.
