With regards to throwing around accusations of antisemitism, I do think calling Zohran antisemitic repeatedly is a bad idea. On the face, he appears extremely warm and charming and the accusation seems absurd to normies.
I have seen him in shows like Flagrant when he’s baited by low IQ pod bros to talk about powerful peoples obsession with calling Israel critics antisemitic, Zohran expresses sympathy with Palestinians but doesn’t take the bait and says antisemitism is a real problem and shuts them down, quite smoothly imo. Obviously this doesn’t get to what in his heart, but it is a level of responsible (if fake) public behavior the left doesn’t often practice.
Very helpful post and I will read it a 3rd time. I am Jewish, negative on Israel and not seeking to find anti-semitism around every corner. However, I think 5% open anti-semitism is probably a low number. I have experienced more references to being jewish the past couple years that remind me of my experiences in the '80s (college and post college) where people make comments to me about Jews that they don't recognize as anti-semitic but certainly are - in the realm of "why can't jews just chill and be more regular like you?" That had largely disappeared in the prior two decades. Certainly anecdotal but i see it in online as well. There is a heightened awareness around jewishness maybe.
--are jews (or anyone else) accusing more people of antisemitism? which friends have been construed as the enemy? (that would certainly describe, I would think, the longer-running mission of say the ADL, which is a bad org, imo, but the recent delta doesn't sound in that vein, but maybe that's wrong)
--relatedly, my sense of the problem is distributional: it's not how much, but who. the question is whether antisemitism is rising amongst taste- and policy-makers, which (as you know) can be a leading indicator. Tucker is some random dude in his basement.
--re. 'I'm not antisemitic, I'm just anti-zionist,' I think that distinction is fraught with peril. If the majority of the world's jews are israeli, and a very strong contingent of american jews (and nearly all non-ultra orthodox practicing jews) are zionist, then as a practical matter, anti-zionism is functionally anti-(a lot) of jews. At a deeper level, it's just hard to justify anti-zionism without recourse to antisemitism (or just committed leftism/third-worldism). I know that people try, but it doesn't withstand scrutiny, and the best explanation imo is just coalitional gravitational pull...it makes sense to rationalize anti-zionism bc it makes sense to broaden party appeal to anti-zionists, i.e. arab/islamic ethnocentrism and parochialism. I think it's fair to characterize that shift as 'antisemitic' even if 'reported feelings about jews' are static. Perhaps we need a better/newer word, but 'throw the jews under the bus [unless they surrender to the supremacist demands of islamic revanchism] bc it's just politics baby' is a concerning outcome.
I'm curious if there's similar data about Europe. If Europeans hadn't changed their view of jews, and one were still to conclude that 'anti-semitism wasn't rising in Europe' then I think there's an issue with that analysis.
I agree with this comment. It doesn't matter what people think about Jews qua Jews. If we replaced the word "Jew" with "Zionist" in these surveys the results would certainly be radically different. And since something like 90% of American Jews are Zionist, and Israel is a key marker of Jewish identity in nearly every Jewish group, it is *functionally* the case that people increasingly hate Jews. Especially since unlike every other conflict the world over, where Americans aren't considered responsible for the actions of other countries even if they support those countries, in the case of Israel people take out their anger over Israel on Jews here--the rate of antisemitic attacks has skyrocketed since Oct. 7th 2023.
There is little solace in the warmth of feeling towards imaginary Jews who aren't Zionist--i.e. who don't believe that Israel has a right to exist as a nation state. It really doesn't matter to me whether my synagogue is firebombed only because I'm a Jew or because people believe I support the State of Israel.
This is a good post. Dreher's point about 2 out of 5 GOP Gen Z staffers being Groypers struck me as very unlikely as well. If only because Fuentes appeals to the disaffected young white male who is probably a celibate shut-in, not particularly financially well-off, and most likely not raised in a functional nuclear household. Those are three things that make you unlikely to be a staffer in Washington. From my own experience, working on the hill or in the think tank world at a young age usually requires being a conscientious, well-credentialed college graduate at a minimum, and more often than not having political or business connections through your family in your congressional district.
"That is to say: if you recognize that most Americans are fine with Jews, then you certainly shouldn’t spend time trying to make friends with the ones who aren’t. But you also shouldn’t treat people like they’re something that they’re not—that’s a great way to lose friends."
With regards to throwing around accusations of antisemitism, I do think calling Zohran antisemitic repeatedly is a bad idea. On the face, he appears extremely warm and charming and the accusation seems absurd to normies.
I have seen him in shows like Flagrant when he’s baited by low IQ pod bros to talk about powerful peoples obsession with calling Israel critics antisemitic, Zohran expresses sympathy with Palestinians but doesn’t take the bait and says antisemitism is a real problem and shuts them down, quite smoothly imo. Obviously this doesn’t get to what in his heart, but it is a level of responsible (if fake) public behavior the left doesn’t often practice.
Very helpful post and I will read it a 3rd time. I am Jewish, negative on Israel and not seeking to find anti-semitism around every corner. However, I think 5% open anti-semitism is probably a low number. I have experienced more references to being jewish the past couple years that remind me of my experiences in the '80s (college and post college) where people make comments to me about Jews that they don't recognize as anti-semitic but certainly are - in the realm of "why can't jews just chill and be more regular like you?" That had largely disappeared in the prior two decades. Certainly anecdotal but i see it in online as well. There is a heightened awareness around jewishness maybe.
Good post, as per usual.
A couple of things:
--are jews (or anyone else) accusing more people of antisemitism? which friends have been construed as the enemy? (that would certainly describe, I would think, the longer-running mission of say the ADL, which is a bad org, imo, but the recent delta doesn't sound in that vein, but maybe that's wrong)
--relatedly, my sense of the problem is distributional: it's not how much, but who. the question is whether antisemitism is rising amongst taste- and policy-makers, which (as you know) can be a leading indicator. Tucker is some random dude in his basement.
--re. 'I'm not antisemitic, I'm just anti-zionist,' I think that distinction is fraught with peril. If the majority of the world's jews are israeli, and a very strong contingent of american jews (and nearly all non-ultra orthodox practicing jews) are zionist, then as a practical matter, anti-zionism is functionally anti-(a lot) of jews. At a deeper level, it's just hard to justify anti-zionism without recourse to antisemitism (or just committed leftism/third-worldism). I know that people try, but it doesn't withstand scrutiny, and the best explanation imo is just coalitional gravitational pull...it makes sense to rationalize anti-zionism bc it makes sense to broaden party appeal to anti-zionists, i.e. arab/islamic ethnocentrism and parochialism. I think it's fair to characterize that shift as 'antisemitic' even if 'reported feelings about jews' are static. Perhaps we need a better/newer word, but 'throw the jews under the bus [unless they surrender to the supremacist demands of islamic revanchism] bc it's just politics baby' is a concerning outcome.
I'm curious if there's similar data about Europe. If Europeans hadn't changed their view of jews, and one were still to conclude that 'anti-semitism wasn't rising in Europe' then I think there's an issue with that analysis.
I agree with this comment. It doesn't matter what people think about Jews qua Jews. If we replaced the word "Jew" with "Zionist" in these surveys the results would certainly be radically different. And since something like 90% of American Jews are Zionist, and Israel is a key marker of Jewish identity in nearly every Jewish group, it is *functionally* the case that people increasingly hate Jews. Especially since unlike every other conflict the world over, where Americans aren't considered responsible for the actions of other countries even if they support those countries, in the case of Israel people take out their anger over Israel on Jews here--the rate of antisemitic attacks has skyrocketed since Oct. 7th 2023.
There is little solace in the warmth of feeling towards imaginary Jews who aren't Zionist--i.e. who don't believe that Israel has a right to exist as a nation state. It really doesn't matter to me whether my synagogue is firebombed only because I'm a Jew or because people believe I support the State of Israel.
Love this!
This is a good post. Dreher's point about 2 out of 5 GOP Gen Z staffers being Groypers struck me as very unlikely as well. If only because Fuentes appeals to the disaffected young white male who is probably a celibate shut-in, not particularly financially well-off, and most likely not raised in a functional nuclear household. Those are three things that make you unlikely to be a staffer in Washington. From my own experience, working on the hill or in the think tank world at a young age usually requires being a conscientious, well-credentialed college graduate at a minimum, and more often than not having political or business connections through your family in your congressional district.
"That is to say: if you recognize that most Americans are fine with Jews, then you certainly shouldn’t spend time trying to make friends with the ones who aren’t. But you also shouldn’t treat people like they’re something that they’re not—that’s a great way to lose friends."
Well said.