Does Anti-Semitism Mean Anything Anymore?

How Likud Zionism Endangers Global Judaism, Tramples on Human Rights Culture, and Subverts American Foreign Policy Interests.

According to the MSM, we face a global rising tide of Anti-Semitism — but particularly so in the USA and on college campuses. For a brief round-up of the usual suspects, whose work seems largely but not exclusively based on ADL reportage, Time Magazine [1], CNN [2], Reuters [3], NPR [4], and the NYT [5] have all recently weighed in — along with far too many pundits and politicians to bother listing. Even the American Enterprise Institute felt compelled to take a stand: “College Anti-Semitism Isn’t Abating” (Mar 4, 2024).

Where to begin? The American MSM allows for no distinction — no breathing room — no possible difference between Likud Zionism and Global Judaism. In practice, in real life, if you criticize Israel at this time, you risk being labelled Anti-Semitic. If you do while a college student, your name might well go on a do-not-hire list. If you do so as a Jewish person (by ethnicity or faith), you are labelled a self-hating Jew — deemed pathological, and so not worthy of intellectual engagement.

Plus royaliste que le roi — more royalist than the king. Or more Zionist than an Israel citizen: this is the case for the American MSM, and it seems the case for much though not all of the American Jewish community.

Israel Discontent with Netanyahu

In Israel, criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu has flowed more freely. In a 26 January 2024 letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, 43 prominent Israelis stated:

We believe that Netanyahu bears primary responsibility for creating the circumstances leading to the brutal massacre of over 1,200 Israelis and others, the injury of over 4,500, and the kidnapping of more than 230 individuals, of whom over 130 are still held in Hamas captivity. … The victim’s blood is on Netanyahu’s hands. [6; 7]

“The victim’s blood is on Netanyahu’s hands”: a quite different perspective from that of the American MSM, which lays all the blame on sub-human Palestinians, angry and hated-filled brown masses possessed by self-destructive fanaticism. This letter calling for Netanyahu’s removal does not exonerate Hamas — but it does show the crisis did not begin on 7 October 2023, and that the Israeli government was not entirely blameless. Who were the signatories to this letter?

As reported by MSM reliable sources — although the letter itself received scant MSM attention [6; 7]:

Among the 43 signatories are former IDF chiefs Moshe Ya’alon and Dan Halutz, Tamir Pardo and Danny Yatom, who ran the Mossad intelligence agency, and Nadav Argaman and Yaakov Peri, who were directors of the domestic security service, Shin Bet. The letter also bears the names of former CEOs, ambassadors, government officials, and three Nobel laureates for chemistry — Aaron Ciechanover, Avram Hershko, and Dan Shechtman.

The discontent with the Netanyahu government is not limited to these 43 signatories, nor did it start after 7 October 2023. As Simson Tisdall (Feb 4, 2024) has reported for The Observer:

For months before 7 October, Israel was rocked by unprecedented popular protests against Netanyahu’s bid to “reform” the judicial system and other controversies. He was accused of mounting a “constitutional coup” and flouting basic democratic principles. President Isaac Herzog warned repeatedly of civil war.

Protestors in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 2023, demonstrating against the Netanyahu government. Credit: Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images. Cited under Fair Use.

We had protestors engaged in weekly rallies against a Prime Minister they deemed an aspiring tyrant — the same political leader the USA has backed without question.

Has Likud Zionism Failed Israel — and Jewish People Elsewhere?

Are the actions and reactions of the Israeli Likud government, of Netanyahu’s coalition, endangering the lives of Jewish people in Israeli — and Jewish people elsewhere? We need at least consider this — intellectual honesty requires so. Moreover, blind, unquestionable, and unassailable support for Likud Zionism might not be the best or only American option. Further still, Israel is not all the Jewish world.

Your author is not taking upon himself to decide who is or who is not Jewish: the standard estimates range from a global population of roughly 16 million [8] to roughly 26 million [9], depending on if one uses conventional criteria or adopts the much looser Israeli “Law of Return” criteria. If indeed we have a global rise in Anti-Semitism, this potentially affects more than Jewish people in Israel or the USA, even if both countries together account for the majority of the world’s Jewish population.

Dissenting American Voices

If Israel has some dissenting voices to Netanyahu government, the USA also has some dissenting voices to both the Biden Administration and the Foreign Policy Establishment for their blind and unwavering support for Likud Zionism.

Four of the most prominent dissenting voices among many are Professor Jeffery Sachs, journalist Glenn Greenwald, journalist Max Blumenthal, and Professor John Mearsheimer. Each can speak better for themselves, and appropriate links will soon enough be provided, but to summarize a consensus:

1. What is happening in Gaza is ethnic cleansing, at the least — if not open and outright genocide.

2. Even if only a minority of Americans might think so, perhaps due largely to MSM coverage, it seems the majority of the world does concur with point #1.

3. The blind and unwavering commitment the USA has to the Netanyahu government works against USA global interests.

4. The condemnation of Israeli actions on the basis of human rights culture is not the same as Anti-Semitism, and Israel should be held to same standards as any other highly developed nation.

Globally, Sachs, et alia do not stand alone. We have across the world a growing condemnation of Israel’s actions in Gaza and against the Palestinian people. Please review the fairly recent statements by numerous African leaders, by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, to start.

More tragically, we have the more recent incident (29 February 2023) known as the Flour Massacre, resulting in an estimated 112 civilian Palestinian deaths and 750 wounded [10]. Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate, for The Grayzone, provide an update and breakdown:

The list of disturbing actions committed by Israel Forces in Gaza against civilians goes on and on. The world is paying attention.

The Harm to USA Internationally

Right now, in your author’s opinion based on his informal surveys, Israel and the USA, not China nor Russia nor North Korea, are competing for the most-hated nation status. You cannot turn the majority against you and still thrive.

Niccolò Machiavelli understood this well. From chapter XIX of The Prince (1532), “That a Prince Should Seek to Escape Contempt and Hatred”:

To be brief, a Prince has little to fear from conspiracies when his subjects are well disposed towards him; but when they are hostile and hold him in detestation, he has then reason to fear everything and everyone.

Living a state of constant paranoia, ever fearing potential attacks from any and all quarters: although such might be the realized wet dream of our Alphabet Agencies and the Security State, such is a dystopian nightmare for the citizens. Internationally, the USA faces growing distrust if not animosity.

Our Failing Reputation

In fact, back in 2017, the Pew Research Center reported “Globally, more people see U.S. power and influence as a major threat” (Aug 1, 2017). If, dear reader, you believe our unassailable support for Israel and our proxy war in Ukraine have improved our standing in the eyes of the world, please get a passport and travel about and listen to people. Ordinary people — not the MSM talking heads.

Real Problems, Bogus Solutions

Let’s start to wrap this up. The problem is not on American college campuses. Globally, we have a growing criticism of Israeli’s one-sided war against not Hamas, but against the Palestinian people. Please do recall, as The Times of Israel (Oct 8, 2023) has argued (verifiable by numerous primary sources):

For years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas. Now it’s blown up in our faces. …  The premier’s policy of treating the terror group as a partner, at the expense of Abbas and Palestinian statehood, has resulted in wounds that will take Israel years to heal from.

Screenshot of The Times of Israel new story. Cited under Fair Use.

Bottom line: NO to Palestinian statehood. NO to a two-state solution. YES to Hamas. YES, now, to ethnic cleansing — if not open and outright genocide.

Anyone who criticizes this, or otherwise objects to this, is labelled Anti-Semitic — or, in the case of Glenn Greenwald, Jeffrey Sachs, or Max Blumenthal, a pathologically self-hating Jew. So now the problem comes into focus.

Far too many people across the globe are not down with ethnic cleansing, or with outright genocide. The joint solution by our Foreign Policy Establishment, the American MSM, and our donor class: designate these people as Anti-Semitic, and censor them and wage lawfare against them.

Human Rights are Anti-Semitic

Two obvious problems with this solution. First, it renders the charge of Anti-Semitic almost meaningless, trivial. If being against ethnic cleansing and genocide makes one “Anti-Semitic,” we should adopt the label as a badge of honor. The yellow star in reverse. Wear it proudly.

The Donor Class Stereotypes Global Judaism

Second, because of the refusal of the USA donor class to allow any distinction — any breathing space — between Likud Zionism and Global Judaism, anti-Jewish sentiments are on the rise. Your author cannot prove this. But your author tracks various non-USA sources: media, chat and discussion forums as well as talkative expats and locals. Your author has witnessed more comments about ZOGs — Zionist Occupied Governments — in the past few months than in the past two decades.

If the haters think that world-wide Jewish community can be reduced to the worst of Israel government in action as supported by the USA government, the haters think this in no small part because the American MSM insists upon it. Only one rabid, paranoid version of Judaism is allowed — and must be unwaveringly endorsed and supported. Or else. That part is not a conspiracy theory, but standard practice.

The Blowback is Predictable and Happening

If indeed we have a rising tide of Anti-Semitism, such naturally follows because of the actions undertaken not just by leaders in Israel but also by leaders in the USA.

We have criminalized any open and honest discussion of the Netanyahu government, or of Likud Zionism, or even now of USA foreign policy. In enforcing the current orthodoxy, we resort to name-calling and slander, shadow-banning and censorship, and other forms of intimidation and coercion which include do-not-hire lists targeting vulnerable college students. This may or may not win short-term compliance. It does not win friends. At home or abroad. It does fuel distrust and even hatred.

End the Unqualified Support for Israel

Your author is “America First,” with some qualifications but no apologies. Israel does not come before the USA. Our international engagements must serve our national interests, and not just the particular interests of the donor class. Our special relationship with Israel must end. If and insofar as Israel wishes to participate in the larger global community, Israel must find its own way without Uncle Sam enabling the worst of its behavior. Israel must learn to live with its neighbors.

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Above your author mentioned four prominent dissenting American voices. For each, a link to source which provides an introduction to their views on the ongoing Israeli response to the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023.

1. Jeffrey Sachs: “Saving Israel by Saving Gaza” (Jan 3, 2024).

2. Glenn Greenwald: “Coward & Fraud Bernie [Sanders] Confronted on Israel Support” (Feb 22, 2024)

3. Max Blumenthal: “Biden bombs three nations in defense of Israel” (Feb 7, 2024)

4. John Mearsheimer: “Accusations of Genocide Against Israel: A Historical and Legal Analysis” (Jan 6, 2024).

As always, the citation or use of any source does NOT imply that source endorses American Exile or the views of your author, Data Humanist. Sources are cited for scholarly reasons — not to pretend an affiliation or affirmation. Thank you.