Great article ! I love “smells flowers and looks for a coffin.” As a non Jewish ally who has been actively publishing in support of Israel and against antisemitism, I get told that I’m paranoid and hysterical a lot. Like every day that I talk to someone who isn’t Jewish. I hear that I’m extreme, that it’s not that bad, and that the “Glory to our martyrs” poster with the picture of a Hamas terrorist holding a gun doesn’t mean that the people who put up the poster want to kill Jews. How else are we to interpret it? As an invitation to tea? The more I read and write the more I realize how deeply entrenched antisemitism is. My non Jewish friends (those who are left and haven’t cut me off for my views on Israel) seem genuinely confused about why I would risk professional consequences and even my safety. I figure these people are just like every European who was complicit in the Holocaust. I’m getting better at ignoring them. This blog is the best - always telling it like it is. Thank you 💕
And believe me, Jews appreciate your support! Only 15 million of us in the entire world, and a Billion Muslims, so, yeah--thank you! As for other people not understanding how entrenched antisemitism is--it is much bigger than antisemitism: These same terrorists truly believe the world must be a Muslim Caliphate and all "infidels" must die. Or convert. Jews/Israel are particularly hated and targeted first for religious reasons(some of that is explained in the Quran) and because Israel stands in the way of Iran's goal of turning the entire Middle East purely Islamic (and eventually, Europe and the world) . Israel's very existence is an insult to Islam, according to this perverted ideology. But what this means is that those same terrorists will carry out barbaric massacres on anyone in Western Civilization and they actually HAVE done this with terror attacks all over Europe and America for decades. What do your friends think 9/11 was? It's a long list of terrorism...
Thank you for your allyship. It is more appreciated than you'll ever know. Especially that you are not silent and that has got to be extremely difficult in this climate.
Although we will never get rid of anti-semitism, we can eliminate one of its contributors. That is, the leftist progressive professors that teach this filth to niave college-age children that don’t know any better.
Is defeating antisemitism, or trying to control it's spread, even worth our time? I feel that Jews' time, money, and effort would be better spent building achdut (unity) and pride in Judaism. The goyim will do what the goyim do
Daniel, your last sentence bothers me, but perhaps I am interpreting it incorrectly. Just for the record, we are less than half of a percent of the global population and no matter how much "adult" and pride we have in Judaism, we would have been extinct a long time ago if it were not for the help and support of our non-Jewish allies throughout history.
What "help and support of our non-Jewish allies" are vou talking about? The christians that massacred us in Europe and did everything they could to wipe us out, or the muslims in the middle east that taxed Jews into permanent poverty? or maybe you meant the roman and greek pagans that invaded our homeland, massacred us, raped our women, and scattered us across the Mediterranean? or did you maybe mean the soviets who made religion illegal and a crime punishable by gulag? or did you mean the babylonians that invaded our land and kidnapped us, forcing us into slavery?
to insinuate that the main reason that Jews have survived for 3000 years because of the help of non-Jews is insulting to our resilience as a people, our perseverance as a culture, and completely ahistorical
Thank you for your attempt at making me and my people “feel better”. For me at least, it didn’t work. As to your use of the term Ally - ship, I think the concept as it applies to Jewish people is simply a croc. Organized Jewish organizations have knocked themselves out attempting to build Ally- ships. I am a baby boomer raised after WWII, so the Holocaust has been branded into man brain , as well as being added to collective memory. The fallacy of ally- ship has been writ large large since 10/ /7. Whether it be the receipts from walking with Dr King, or decrying Islamophobia , or celebrating LGBT+ communities , all were canceled on 10/7.
One of the more disgusting things about human nature is the tendency to “pile on” and bully minorities. The bullies of this world – whatever their station in life because there are rich, powerful bullies as well as poor, relatively powerless ones - cannot resist targeting minority individuals because it gives them a false sense of strength and security.
Now when you have a successful minority – like the Jews – it drives the bully instinct into overdrive. “How dare these Jews be richer, more intelligent, more successful than ME?” Then it turns every decent, noble characteristic of Judaism and Jewish people into a fault – or a lie.
The renowned conservative psychologist Jordan Peterson said that successful minorities like the Jews “bring the resentful out of their rat holes”. I think this is true.
Unfortunately, there are lot of bullies and resentful people in a lot of rat holes. You can’t re-educate or rehabilitate them. You can just stay one step ahead of them and call in an exterminator when you can.
Interesting. The social causes of the 50s to 80s (roughly) were often valid for those groups you cited (women, coloured & queer folk) as they were discriminated against on the basis of their 'identity'. They were victims of an immature society I guess. Jews, on the other hand, are just far too damn resilient. Victims? Sure they are, big time, but they don't ooze 'victimhood', rather they just work harder and smarter to succeed. Compare them to the modern victimhood groups > BLM, Trans, Indigenous activists. These intersectionalised groups are so entrenched in their victimhood, almost entirely of their own making or fabrication, that they make for a wonderful 'cause'. Jews, who actually have genuinely suffered throughout history, would be a wonderful ally for these aforementioned self-pitying losers, if only they were wired the same way. But they ain't.
Most activism is orchestrated to benefit the elite. As Arafat used the Palestinians to extort billions, the same way BLM was used to enrich its founders and the same way tribal leaders roll around in money while 'their people' struggle. It would be pointless to use Israel/Jews as a 'cause', because they are already helping themselves. Moreover, their successes, instead of being celebrated, are attacked for they have evilly aligned themselves with the successful culture of the 'white' & 'west'. It's a Judeo-Christian compatibility thing. Add in the fact that most of the world is inhabited by people who are poorly educated, or just plain stupid, and hey presto, the Jews are seen as the bad guys.
Dude, women and girls are discriminated against on the basis of sex, not identity. It's perhaps the one truly intersectional issue, other than antisemitism. Your more mature society has merely evolved in terms of the sophistication of bias. Sexism has no borders.
Within the contemporary range of antisemitic issues you're fine. However without any reference to the known purpose of the Jewish People as we refer to it, without reference to the explicit teachings in the Torah (that means 'instructions') then the contemporary aspects are completely unsolvable. As Jewish People culturally speaking we have a range of obligations to fulfill. Each of us to the best of our abilities. With an implication of continual progress in increasing our study and applications of the Torah's instructions and wisdom. Torah including its 24 books, and exegesis books such as Talmud, Mishna, Zohar etc. also explains the relationships between "the nations (non-Jewish persons) and the nation or People of Israel (the Jewish People). Although the essays "Semitism vs Antisemitism" (parts 1-5) have little or no real reference to the Torah the author of those essays (part 5 may not yet be released?) offers a very real and useful baseline for ANY discussion regarding contemporary antisemitism. "Semitism vs Antisemitism" is on Substack site "The Management of Reality"..
I think that the fight against antisemitism begins with an introspection of the "Good Guys" (Jews and their non-Jewish allies). Are the Good Guys doing all they can to fight antisemitism? Are they united? Do they have a united strategy? Or are they split into many organizations that do their own thing? Do the organizations have accountability? How are the resources spent to fight antisemitism? Are the leaders and the large organizations cost-effective? Are the leaders partisan? Are they part of a swamp of good old boys who care more for power than actually getting things done?
This is a PR war, and before we can truly defeat the enemy, we have to look at what we are fighting them with, who leads, and what the strategies are.
Frankly, I think we have a shit army of basically do nothings, with no accountability and no unified strategy, each organization doing their own thing except begging for money. Begging for money seems to be the unified strategy, and I bet in that one area, the amount of money they collect as a whole would be astounding.
Before I end this rant, I want to give an example .......
One of our main weaknesses, in my opinion, is that as a group, Jews dont know how to physically defend themselves. They know how to talk, how to debate, how to sue someone but they dont know how to kick ass. In other words, they are easy prey to violence. My suggestion was that every Jewish school and every Jewish organization should offer a self-defence course. In fact, the schools should make it mandatory as part of the curriculum. You dont pass you dont graduate. Nothing is better for a kid than the knowledge that he/she knows how to take care of themselves.. What possibly could be wrong with that? It could only be a good thing.
I wrote many of the large Jewish organizations and guess what ..... the unanimous response was either a no response or a request for a donation.
People, it all begins with us and not with the enemy. We are winning the military war in Israel because Israel is united, it has one leading structure and it has organization and objectives and goals. We are losing because the Diaspora has none of that.
Accusing Jews of paranoia and wild imaginings of persecution coming from people who cry "islamophobia" "racism", "sexism", "homophobia" and now "transphobia" at every turn.
"This is one of antisemitism’s most effective poison pills. Not only are we free to ignore Jewish pleas for tolerance at the best of times, but at moments like these, when Jews are reaching a fever pitch of appealing for sensitivity and allyship, their increasing anxieties can be dismissed as the quintessence of evidence that we needn’t pay attention to their hysterical paranoia. There they go again, now more than ever, with their wild imaginings of persecution".
Great article ! I love “smells flowers and looks for a coffin.” As a non Jewish ally who has been actively publishing in support of Israel and against antisemitism, I get told that I’m paranoid and hysterical a lot. Like every day that I talk to someone who isn’t Jewish. I hear that I’m extreme, that it’s not that bad, and that the “Glory to our martyrs” poster with the picture of a Hamas terrorist holding a gun doesn’t mean that the people who put up the poster want to kill Jews. How else are we to interpret it? As an invitation to tea? The more I read and write the more I realize how deeply entrenched antisemitism is. My non Jewish friends (those who are left and haven’t cut me off for my views on Israel) seem genuinely confused about why I would risk professional consequences and even my safety. I figure these people are just like every European who was complicit in the Holocaust. I’m getting better at ignoring them. This blog is the best - always telling it like it is. Thank you 💕
And believe me, Jews appreciate your support! Only 15 million of us in the entire world, and a Billion Muslims, so, yeah--thank you! As for other people not understanding how entrenched antisemitism is--it is much bigger than antisemitism: These same terrorists truly believe the world must be a Muslim Caliphate and all "infidels" must die. Or convert. Jews/Israel are particularly hated and targeted first for religious reasons(some of that is explained in the Quran) and because Israel stands in the way of Iran's goal of turning the entire Middle East purely Islamic (and eventually, Europe and the world) . Israel's very existence is an insult to Islam, according to this perverted ideology. But what this means is that those same terrorists will carry out barbaric massacres on anyone in Western Civilization and they actually HAVE done this with terror attacks all over Europe and America for decades. What do your friends think 9/11 was? It's a long list of terrorism...
Thank you for your allyship. It is more appreciated than you'll ever know. Especially that you are not silent and that has got to be extremely difficult in this climate.
Although we will never get rid of anti-semitism, we can eliminate one of its contributors. That is, the leftist progressive professors that teach this filth to niave college-age children that don’t know any better.
Not just in the colleges. In California and Oregon, there are schools with teachers teaching antisemitism. Lawsuits are being filed.
Antisemitism is an inherited prejudice never looked at by the holder of those views.
The Jewish community is in need of a strategy and a new conversation to create a different future.
Is defeating antisemitism, or trying to control it's spread, even worth our time? I feel that Jews' time, money, and effort would be better spent building achdut (unity) and pride in Judaism. The goyim will do what the goyim do
Daniel, your last sentence bothers me, but perhaps I am interpreting it incorrectly. Just for the record, we are less than half of a percent of the global population and no matter how much "adult" and pride we have in Judaism, we would have been extinct a long time ago if it were not for the help and support of our non-Jewish allies throughout history.
papa j
What "help and support of our non-Jewish allies" are vou talking about? The christians that massacred us in Europe and did everything they could to wipe us out, or the muslims in the middle east that taxed Jews into permanent poverty? or maybe you meant the roman and greek pagans that invaded our homeland, massacred us, raped our women, and scattered us across the Mediterranean? or did you maybe mean the soviets who made religion illegal and a crime punishable by gulag? or did you mean the babylonians that invaded our land and kidnapped us, forcing us into slavery?
to insinuate that the main reason that Jews have survived for 3000 years because of the help of non-Jews is insulting to our resilience as a people, our perseverance as a culture, and completely ahistorical
Thanks, Pat, for your clarity and for your support. You hit many nails on the head.
Thank you for your attempt at making me and my people “feel better”. For me at least, it didn’t work. As to your use of the term Ally - ship, I think the concept as it applies to Jewish people is simply a croc. Organized Jewish organizations have knocked themselves out attempting to build Ally- ships. I am a baby boomer raised after WWII, so the Holocaust has been branded into man brain , as well as being added to collective memory. The fallacy of ally- ship has been writ large large since 10/ /7. Whether it be the receipts from walking with Dr King, or decrying Islamophobia , or celebrating LGBT+ communities , all were canceled on 10/7.
One of the more disgusting things about human nature is the tendency to “pile on” and bully minorities. The bullies of this world – whatever their station in life because there are rich, powerful bullies as well as poor, relatively powerless ones - cannot resist targeting minority individuals because it gives them a false sense of strength and security.
Now when you have a successful minority – like the Jews – it drives the bully instinct into overdrive. “How dare these Jews be richer, more intelligent, more successful than ME?” Then it turns every decent, noble characteristic of Judaism and Jewish people into a fault – or a lie.
The renowned conservative psychologist Jordan Peterson said that successful minorities like the Jews “bring the resentful out of their rat holes”. I think this is true.
Unfortunately, there are lot of bullies and resentful people in a lot of rat holes. You can’t re-educate or rehabilitate them. You can just stay one step ahead of them and call in an exterminator when you can.
Interesting. The social causes of the 50s to 80s (roughly) were often valid for those groups you cited (women, coloured & queer folk) as they were discriminated against on the basis of their 'identity'. They were victims of an immature society I guess. Jews, on the other hand, are just far too damn resilient. Victims? Sure they are, big time, but they don't ooze 'victimhood', rather they just work harder and smarter to succeed. Compare them to the modern victimhood groups > BLM, Trans, Indigenous activists. These intersectionalised groups are so entrenched in their victimhood, almost entirely of their own making or fabrication, that they make for a wonderful 'cause'. Jews, who actually have genuinely suffered throughout history, would be a wonderful ally for these aforementioned self-pitying losers, if only they were wired the same way. But they ain't.
Most activism is orchestrated to benefit the elite. As Arafat used the Palestinians to extort billions, the same way BLM was used to enrich its founders and the same way tribal leaders roll around in money while 'their people' struggle. It would be pointless to use Israel/Jews as a 'cause', because they are already helping themselves. Moreover, their successes, instead of being celebrated, are attacked for they have evilly aligned themselves with the successful culture of the 'white' & 'west'. It's a Judeo-Christian compatibility thing. Add in the fact that most of the world is inhabited by people who are poorly educated, or just plain stupid, and hey presto, the Jews are seen as the bad guys.
Dude, women and girls are discriminated against on the basis of sex, not identity. It's perhaps the one truly intersectional issue, other than antisemitism. Your more mature society has merely evolved in terms of the sophistication of bias. Sexism has no borders.
Within the contemporary range of antisemitic issues you're fine. However without any reference to the known purpose of the Jewish People as we refer to it, without reference to the explicit teachings in the Torah (that means 'instructions') then the contemporary aspects are completely unsolvable. As Jewish People culturally speaking we have a range of obligations to fulfill. Each of us to the best of our abilities. With an implication of continual progress in increasing our study and applications of the Torah's instructions and wisdom. Torah including its 24 books, and exegesis books such as Talmud, Mishna, Zohar etc. also explains the relationships between "the nations (non-Jewish persons) and the nation or People of Israel (the Jewish People). Although the essays "Semitism vs Antisemitism" (parts 1-5) have little or no real reference to the Torah the author of those essays (part 5 may not yet be released?) offers a very real and useful baseline for ANY discussion regarding contemporary antisemitism. "Semitism vs Antisemitism" is on Substack site "The Management of Reality"..
I think that the fight against antisemitism begins with an introspection of the "Good Guys" (Jews and their non-Jewish allies). Are the Good Guys doing all they can to fight antisemitism? Are they united? Do they have a united strategy? Or are they split into many organizations that do their own thing? Do the organizations have accountability? How are the resources spent to fight antisemitism? Are the leaders and the large organizations cost-effective? Are the leaders partisan? Are they part of a swamp of good old boys who care more for power than actually getting things done?
This is a PR war, and before we can truly defeat the enemy, we have to look at what we are fighting them with, who leads, and what the strategies are.
Frankly, I think we have a shit army of basically do nothings, with no accountability and no unified strategy, each organization doing their own thing except begging for money. Begging for money seems to be the unified strategy, and I bet in that one area, the amount of money they collect as a whole would be astounding.
Before I end this rant, I want to give an example .......
One of our main weaknesses, in my opinion, is that as a group, Jews dont know how to physically defend themselves. They know how to talk, how to debate, how to sue someone but they dont know how to kick ass. In other words, they are easy prey to violence. My suggestion was that every Jewish school and every Jewish organization should offer a self-defence course. In fact, the schools should make it mandatory as part of the curriculum. You dont pass you dont graduate. Nothing is better for a kid than the knowledge that he/she knows how to take care of themselves.. What possibly could be wrong with that? It could only be a good thing.
I wrote many of the large Jewish organizations and guess what ..... the unanimous response was either a no response or a request for a donation.
People, it all begins with us and not with the enemy. We are winning the military war in Israel because Israel is united, it has one leading structure and it has organization and objectives and goals. We are losing because the Diaspora has none of that.
papa j
Well written. Onward and upward!
Accusing Jews of paranoia and wild imaginings of persecution coming from people who cry "islamophobia" "racism", "sexism", "homophobia" and now "transphobia" at every turn.
...................................................................................................................................................................................................
"This is one of antisemitism’s most effective poison pills. Not only are we free to ignore Jewish pleas for tolerance at the best of times, but at moments like these, when Jews are reaching a fever pitch of appealing for sensitivity and allyship, their increasing anxieties can be dismissed as the quintessence of evidence that we needn’t pay attention to their hysterical paranoia. There they go again, now more than ever, with their wild imaginings of persecution".