Response to Bernie Sanders: How to Fight Antisemitism
Imagine, if you will, an older, crustier, and far more corrupt version of Mr. Rogers called Mr. Sanders. He welcomes you into his home and decides to tell you about his life and why he is now an expert on that thing you’ve been working against your whole life. Let good ol’ Uncle Bernie, teach the kiddies about antisemitism.
Senator Sanders believes himself to be some kind of world-renown antisemitism expert apparently, Simon Weisenthal need not apply. He’s going to educate the masses in his op-ed, titled “How to Fight Antisemitism.” Marking the anniversary of the Tree of Life Synagogue, Bernie Sanders blamed right-wing media, Fox News, and the internet, as well as the president for the actions of this individual. But that’s nothing new. Progressive is as Progressive does.
You gotta give Bernie credit, as this is the first time the Vermont Senator has actively acknowledged his Jewish heritage and been open about it. This fact went relatively unmentioned by him in the 2016 election. Still, it’s nice of him to acknowledge that antisemitism is an issue. Even if he seems to imply that antisemitism in the U.S. only began with the rise of President Trump and the alt-right, when the rates of antisemitic activity on college campuses, for example, has been for at least two decades. But Senator Sanders isn’t likely to talk about how Jewish and Zionist students are ostracized and demonized on college campuses around the country, or the attacks against the Orthodox Jewish communities, or how the far-left has attempted to usurp the term antisemitism to only apply to the right. Nope. We’re going to talk about the Palestinians.
Senator Sanders isn’t going to spend the entire time talking about Jews, nor is he going to mention left-wing antisemitism, which utilizes antisemitic tropes to target Zionists. He’s going to make sure you know, and this might be a shock, that bigots also hate other groups of people, immigrants, black people, LGBTQ, women, pretty much anyone who can’t pass the KKK litmus test. Because only white supremacists are an issue. This is complete news to me.
Back to Zionism for a second, it was his BFF and campaign spokesperson Linda Sarsour who tweeted that nothing was creepier than Zionism. Zionism, the bane of her existence, and a pain in the rear of every progressive, far-left extremist. Can you believe that a simple ideology built on the idea of Jewish security and self-determination would be so controversial? But that’s beside the point.
How does Bernie propose we combat antisemitism? Well, first he has to tell us what it is. In his own words “antisemitism is used by the right to divide people from one another and prevent us from fighting together for a shared future of equality, peace, prosperity, and environmental justice.” Note, he did not say the far right, the alt-right, or white supremacists, just the right. An entire group of millions of people, including the likes of Marco Rubio, and Nikki Haley who actively support Jewish rights and are victims of racism and bigotry themselves, have been lumped in with everyone else. The right, note, not the far right, but the real conservative movement of rational individuals, driven by the principles of limited government and the constitution are now part of a massive conspiracy to divide and destroy this nation. They’re out there doing real work and are hardly comparable to the likes of Nick Fuentes.
Bernie goes on to say that “opposing antisemitism is a core value of progressivism.” Not sure where he got that idea from, since progressivism targets people for thinking differently from themselves, and refers to anyone remotely thinking for themselves as racist and bigoted, regardless of all evidence to the contrary. Progressive antisemitism is not “a cynical political weapon” against the extreme left, as Sanders would have you believe. It is very much real. The only difference is, it sees Jews, or anyone who is remotely pro-Israel, and Israel itself as a white, and supremacist. Therefore, the same antisemitic tropes that skinheads use against Jews are easily utilized by the left, with the word Jew simply substituted with the word Israel.
Now, I’ll give the progressives credit where it is due, they don’t try to bomb synagogues. But they do help to spread bigotry, hate, and conspiracy theories on college campuses and online with the vigor that rivals the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. They just do it by being “anti-Zionist.”
Now, to Bernie’s point, it is not antisemitic to criticize Israel. There’s a very simple litmus test. Substitute Israel for any other group of people or nation. If you’re making up lies to de-legitimize and demonize the state of Israel, you’re not criticizing Israel. You’re just full of hate. You want to hate Bibi? Go for it, hate on him all you want, but don’t draw him with a mustache and an SS symbol, don’t depict him as a monster eating Palestinian babies, or a greedy monkey stealing global money. That’s not criticism. That’s blatant antisemitism. But antisemitism isn’t always that blatant. Sometimes it’s more subtle and hidden behind a veneer of concern for human rights. You can be concerned about human rights, without trying to demonize Israelis. It’s really not that hard. I criticize Turkey, but I never say Turkey should be destroyed. I never try to demonize every Turkish citizen as a Kurd-hating, baby killer. I can speak about Israel’s human rights work, and it’s vibrant democracy, while also pointing out that Israel still has a ways to go when it comes to LGBT rights and relations with Arab-Israelis. In fact, the biggest critics of Israel, are Israelis themselves. But that doesn’t fit into the narrative that’s been created about Israel.
Here’s where things get interesting, as Bernie admits that sometimes criticism of Israel crosses into that realm of antisemitism. “I will always call out antisemitism when I see it.” Sure. And when did you call this out? Certainly not when Linda pushes inaccurate information on Israel, or when Eli Valley posts his gross antisemitic cartoons. There have been so many instances of antisemitism disguising itself as anti-Zionism that I wonder when Bernie called it out? I have no recollection of it. Maybe someone else does.
But this isn’t the point of the article. We were told this was about combating antisemitism. So, at what point does Bernie actually begin talking about action? Well, he plans to appoint a special counsel and rejoin the UN Human Rights Council…because that will help…um…zero people. “The United States should not be sitting on the sidelines on these important issues at the UN; we should be at the table helping shape an international human rights agenda that combats all forms of bigotry and discrimination.” That’s a cute idea, in the same way, that children think that if they behave, Santa will bring them presents. The United States can have a human rights agenda, without giving money to a council that has more human rights violators as members than human rights champions. This naiveness that Bernie has for the UN would be cute if he was an idealistic, fresh-out-of-college young professional because otherwise it just comes off moronic from a man who’s been in the field of politics for over fifty years.
The number of times he mentions the Palestinians in this article, you’d think he was talking about how to turn Israel into the ultimate ME savior if only they would work out their problems with the Palestinians who are “crushed underneath a military occupation now over a half-century old, creating a daily reality of pain, humiliation, and resentment.” Servey says Bernie needs a refresher course on the Middle East and to stop subscribing to the Linda Sarsour school of half-truths and twisted facts. Nowhere in this article are the words Hamas or terrorism mentioned. Obviously, the idea is to paint the conflict as victim vs perpetrator. This conflict is not a cookie-cutter conflict and it is not black and white. But I guarantee if the Palestinian people were to reject Hamas and stop Hamas, we could start peace negotiations tomorrow.
He then goes on to say that Israel has “…the capacity to contribute to peace and prosperity for the entire region.” I’m sorry, but why is it Israel’s responsibility? The entire region? Is he kidding? Is it all on Israel, as though solving the conflict with the Palestinians will somehow make the other countries like us when their hatred of us started before the likes of Arafat and Palestinian liberation? Is it on Israel’s shoulders to bear the responsibility for corrupt and failing nations of the Middle East? This is like saying Denmark has the “capacity” to contribute to peace in Europe during the Bosnian war.
Despite this, Israel has contributed to peace in the region, it made peace with Egypt, it provided medical care to Syrian refugees, it worked to stop ISIS. What have the Palestinians done? Where is their contribution to the Middle East? And don’t blame the “occupation” when the Palestinian Authority has enough money to send Harvard $1 million and build Abbas a giant mansion.
If Bernie wants to stop antisemitism around the globe, playing the “Ending the occupation” card, as a magical off switch to antisemitism is poppycock. Ending a fictional and factually inaccurate notion of Occupation, even in the way Bernie envisions will not stop the Russian Orthodox Church from claiming the Jews killed the last Russian royal family in some kind of sick blood sacrifice. It certainly won’t stop neo-nazis and skinheads from claiming we’re all rich, money-grabbing, government controlling goblins, nor will it magically make the likes of the Ayatollah love us. To suggest otherwise is asinine. “My pride and admiration for Israel lives alongside in support for Palestinian freedom and independence.” This won’t happen until we acknowledge the Palestinian role in this conflict and stop painting them as pure and innocent victims who’ve never hurt a fly in their entire existence. “I reject the notion that there’s any contradiction here.” Reject it all you want, but that doesn’t change the fact that you high-jacked a topic of antisemitism to blame everyone on the right, on Israel, and used it as a platform to bash Trump and whine about the Palestinians.
But Bernie isn’t done with us yet. Oh no, he needs to remind us how authoritarian regimes threaten democracy. I mean look at Russia, Hungary, and Brazil….oh and Israel apparently too. He loves the liberal progressive Jews, who arguably feed into the anti-Israel narrative than actually helping people and causes. Oh and let’s not forget the likes of Ariel Gold, who believes the U.S. has nothing better to do these days than to sponsor coups in Venezuela and Bolivia, based solely on the failures of socialism for evidence. Jews have been at the forefront of civil rights and fought for the rights of others, he’s not wrong there. But why is it that even in a conversation about Jew-hatred and hatred for Israel, we have to mention everyone else and point the blame solely on one side of what is actually a two-sided political coin?
These Liberal, social justice Jews are the ones that Bernie loves, of course, “They see the fight against antisemitism and for the Jewish liberation as connected to the fight for the liberation of oppressed people around the world.” No, they don’t. They fight for causes, sure, but they do nothing to combat antisemitism as it rises. They do not try to educate people about the truth about Judaism and Israel, they simply join the likes of Anti-Israel groups, who then parade them as token “Good Jews.” But that won’t magically protect them from the antisemites. Fighting for civil rights didn’t stop the Black Panther movement from hating on the Jews and seeing as just another group of “whites.” Being part of the LGBT community and standing up for their rights didn’t stop the likes of the Dyke march from banning Israel oriented pride flags, and supporting Palestinian liberation will not save us from terrorists who want all of us dead.
Bernie’s plan to combat antisemitism sounds about as effective as Perestroika or any scheme from his potential presidential policies. Just more BS and government control, or in this case, giving Israel-hating bigots an excuse to be antisemitic.
Sasha Kaplan is a college graduate, conservative Zionist, and the online pro-Israel superhero, Captain Israel. You can find her at Jewishpolitics.tumblr.com, on twitter @CaptainIsraelP, or you can reach her by email at SashaCiKaplan@gmail.com
