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| The President strongly condemning antisemitism yesterday (ABC) |
Those who would say he is not our friend are fools in m view. Just because one disagrees with him about that does not make him our enemy. Not even slightly.
His opposition is based on the mistaken view that Israel can avoid a major military incursion into Rafa and still eliminate Hamas. I don’t think it’s possible. Would he still be opposed if he thought it was the only way Israel could eliminate Hamas? I don’t know. But his concern is not anti Israel. It is humanitarian.
Perhaps Biden believes that Israel will survive even if Hamas does too. And that the US will be there to make sure it does in any case. In my view Israel cannot afford to rely on that. They must remain capable of defending themselves. They cannot rely on assurances of future support. No matter how sincere those assurances are at the time they are given. You never know what the future holds.
With respect to antisemitism, the president made his views very clear yesterday at a ceremony commemorating the Holocaust:
President Joe Biden on Tuesday warned of a “ferocious” surge of antisemitism in America and around the world, in comments that both called out the violent excesses of pro-Palestinian campus protest and reaffirmed the U.S. alliance with Israel.
“On college campuses, Jewish students [have been] blocked, harassed, attacked, while walking to class,” Biden declared. “Antisemitism, antisemitic posters, slogans calling for the annihilation of Israel, the world’s only Jewish state. Too many people denying, downplaying, rationalizing, ignoring the horrors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7... It is absolutely despicable, and it must stop.”
This statement cannot be overlooked or glossed over. It is not just a platitude given privately to a group of Jews. It was recorded by the mainstream media and replayed on all of the major broadcasts several times. Antisemitism does exist on college campuses all over the country (and beyond).
The question arises, how has any of this affected the view the American people have of Israel and their fellow Jewish citizens? Have all these protests taken a toll on our heretofore positive image? Does this translate into a less favorable view of the Jewish people?
I don’t think so. Clearly support for Israel’s conduct in the war has diminished. That’s because of media focus on the immense suffering Palestinians are going through because of that war. It's difficult if not impossible not to be opposed to a war like that. Especially if one is not fully aware of all the facts in play.
So, do they love us? Do they hate us? My guess is neither. They see us as they see themselves. I believe most Americans see us as fellow citizens deserving of all the same rights and privileges as anyone else. This is not to say that there aren’t varying degrees of ethnic stereotyping about us. There are. But that is true about any ethnic minority which often parodies itself in good natured stereotypical ways. There are Catholic jokes, Irish jokes, Italian jokes and Jewish Jokes (as in the humor of the late Jackie Mason). We laugh at ourselves and allow others to laugh along with us. That is not antisemitism.
Just a few of my thoughts about how we are now faring in light of the rising tide of antisemitism. Point being that we are no where near the rabid institutional and nationwide antisemitism of 1930s Germany. By order of magnitude. Except among the relatively few but highly influential (among impressionable young students) extremist, progressive professors spread across colleges and universities all over the country.
On that score - if I am a parent sending my children off to college, it would behoove me to find out which college professors are like that and to make sure my children avoid taking any of their classes.
