In the Obama administration, there are people who know that the Iranians are anti-Semitic, but they don’t know what to do with that fact and put this mental derangement on a distant shelf. They negotiate with the Iranian leaders, as if anti-Semitism was some odd quirk, instead of what it is, a core element of their mental architecture.
There are others who see anti-Semitism as another form of bigotry. But these are different evils. Most bigotry is an assertion of inferiority and speaks the language of oppression. Anti-Semitism is an assertion of impurity and speaks the language of extermination. Anti-Semitism’s logical endpoint is violence.
Groups fighting anti-Semitism sponsor educational campaigns and do a lot of consciousness-raising. I doubt these things do anything to reduce active anti-Semitism. But they can help non-anti-Semites understand the different forms of the cancer in our midst. That’s a start.
Everything Brooks says is true. But one of the reasons I have very little use for Brooks is because he is still a closet leftie and he will never say the truth when it might hurt Obama. Obama, though his condemnation of Netanyahu and his cozying up to the mullahs, has given permission to the world to go back to the anti-Semitism of the 1930s. Obama couldn’t even bring himself to condemn the killing of Jews in Paris, much less show up there as the entire rest of the civilized world did. The State Department and Ministry of Propaganda (Josh Earnest) wouldn’t even initially admit that the attacks on Jewish people in a Jewish grocery store in a Jewish neighborhood had anything to do with their being Jewish. Earnest repeatedly said it was a random attack. Why they react to overt anti-Semitism as they do is anybody’s guess–I have my opinion–but nonetheless the world is getting very bad signals from this administration. The thing that continues to confuse me is why liberal and moderate Jews in America continue to support these people. I am willing to be educated on the point, but remain at a loss.
In fact Obama appears to be embarking on a policy aimed at the destruction of Israel. David, given Obama naked hostitlty to Israel, I am also surprised and saddened by the continued support Jews are giving Obama.
Thanks, Br. M. We are all , apparently, confused.