Oct. 7 shows that antisemitism is mainstream

No, no, antisemitism is not, only, a phenomenon of the political extremes. It lies just beneath the surface in the hearts and minds of all too many “moderates” in the “civilized” west, as well as all around the planet.

By Alan G. Futerman and Walter E. Block, ISRAEL HAYOM 24 Dec 2024

Many people thought that antisemitism was all but a thing of the past. Oh, well, yes, out there in the fever swamps of extremism, it still lurked; this could be acknowledged. The white supremacists of the right and the woke cultural Marxists of the left still basked in this evil. But, surely, among moderates, any such viewpoint is summarily dismissed. (Who says that the proper political spectrum is a straight line? Perhaps it is more of a circle, where the two supposedly opposite philosophies meet, albeit in some cases for different reasons.)

But this view was smashed not on October 7, 2023, a day of mourning in Israel. On the very next day, even before the IDF had begun to take any defensive reaction to this despicable savagery, so called mainstreamers had by then come to the conclusion that the mass murders, mass rapes, were all the fault of the victims. To demonstrate their hatred for Jews in general, and Israelis in particular, they began tearing down pictures of the some 250 hostages seized in Israel on that day of infamy.

No, no, antisemitism is not, only, a phenomenon of the political extremes. It lies just beneath the surface in the hearts and minds of all too many “moderates” in the “civilized” west, as well as all around the planet.

There is a very specific form of nihilism that accounts for this spectacle of Jew hatred. It is no coincidence that these Anti-Zionists are in the same line of thought of Noam Chomsky on foreign policy, where the fundamental axiom is that the US government is the source of all evil; it is the Big Satan for helping Israel, which is the Little Satan.

These people do not want to promote human flourishing or liberty. They want to see everything burn that is connected to Judaism. They don’t oppose the state Israel for their love of peaceful human cooperation, but because they are full of hatred.

In this particular case, they simply don’t care what would happen if Israel disappears. They don’t care that the Middle East is full of theocratic totalitarian dictatorships. The only way for them to legitimize denouncing these regimes is if they could blame the US government (or Israel) by doing so. Otherwise, they just don’t care. For these people, nobody seems to have agency but Americans, Israelis and the US government. Everyone else, including genocidal maniacs, are somehow determined to be as they are and therefore have no responsibility for anything they do. Hamas is innocent; Israel is guilty.

Moreover, they say they oppose war. In reality, they side with anyone who is willing to wage war against Israel. And if these countries are not involved, they simply don’t care. A dictatorship is a war waged by a government against its people. That is what Iran does, or what Hamas does in Gaza. That, these people cannot see. But if Israel is not involved, somehow they don’t care, or it’s simply not a priority for them. Fundamentally, they hate.

And when evil is obviously on the side of Israel’s enemies, such as with Hamas, they blame Israel anyway. How? They claim that “Israel created Hamas.” This is a completely absurd statement, given that this Muslim Brotherhood organization was financed and supported by Iran, Qatar, Turkey and Hizballah. “But Israel allowed money to flow into Gaza from Qatar”? Yes, because the alternative would have been to do what Israel is doing now. Reluctantly tolerating Hamas because you have a bigger enemy (as the PLO in the 80’s) or to allow for this terrorist organization to receive funding because the alternative is to wage total war against it (as Israel is doing now), does not equal “creating Hamas.” Moreover, the cement and pipes were meant for peaceful purposes, not for tunnels and rocket launching pads. But they don’t like that either. So, damn Israel if it tolerates Hamas, damn Israel if it fights Hamas.

Moreover, there is a relevant aspect of the phenomenon of Judeophobia or antisemitism that is often ignored. This is not a phenomenon of discrimination, but of demonization. The antisemite regards Jews as evil incarnate, so no explanation, no defense, makes sense to him. This is why all is permitted against the Jews and no defense is legitimate when undertaken by the Jews.

This is why the Anti-Zionist types, and the like, don’t even want to deal with arguments in favor of Israel. They see Israel as fundamentally evil. Nor is this a phenomenon of supposed land theft, or the evils of the state of Israel. There were anti-Jewish pogroms committed by Arabs long before either of these came to allegedly pass. Hebron in 1929 anyone?

These are people full of hatred who criticize everything, not to build or to defend that which is the real expression of human flourishing in reality. Just read what these people say on every topic, do they cherish any achievement of real human beings on earth? Do they appreciate that Israel treats its Arab citizens far better than their counterparts are dealt with in Arab countries? No. Do they realize that there are gay parades in Israel, while homosexuals are tossed off roofs in Arab countries? Of course not. Do the feminist organizations in the west cry out against the mass rapes committed by Hamas? To ask this is to answer it.

Yes, there are claims that the Jews have taken over land properly owned by Palestinians. To deal with this fallacious viewpoint, would take an entire book. As it happens, we have written one that undermines that precise assertion: Block, Walter E. and Alan Futerman. 2021. The Classical Liberal Case for Israel. With commentary by Benjamin Netanyahu. Springer Publishing Company; https://rd.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-16-3953-1

December 24, 2023 | 17 Comments »

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  3. With the greatest respect I still don’t understand how you can interpret that as my acceptance of any kind of anti-Semitism in the context (sorry for using the word context here after hearing it repetitively from the mouths of the three idiotic university presidents) of the rest of what I wrote. Which I certainly don’t. No place or time to get too deeply into it but the native woman can be cured. In contrast to Hamas or more tragically our genteel college educated cohort. At least we can kill Hamas.

  4. @Seymour to quote your words.

    That variety of anti-Semitism is ignorant and rather innocent, doesn’t know any better

    Your words is where got the idea that some level of antiSemitism is okay.

  5. Where did some of you get the idea I’m accepting of anti-Semitism at any level?? The term “innocent”? By contrast to Nazis and Hamas innocently derived. She knows sweet fa. I tipped her a buck which was an insult. Apart from that I can’t understand what you’re talking about?

  6. @Adam I used to tease you about your appearance of Chicken Little Syndrome. You are now quoting Issac Newton to be discussing the end of the world. Serious company you keep!!!!

    Just teasing do not wish to offend you! We all have our views.

  7. Seymour accepting antisemitism at any level is a huge error. It accepts that Jews can be treated negatively in many different ways.

  10. Getting back to the subject at hand, mainstream anti -Semitism, I had the pleasure a decade ago when with friends on a motorcycle excursion to stay overnight in Riverton Wyoming. We took a taxi about five miles to the nearest half decent restaurant, our driver a native woman. The fare 5 bucks. I asked if she took tips, 5 dollars being ridiculously low to this city boy. She seemed actually equivocal but for some reason my question gave her an opening for a mild anti-Semitic rant which was not at all directed at me but just some generalized contempt. I doubt she had ever met a Jew in her entire life. I tipped her a buck.

    That variety of anti-Semitism is ignorant and rather innocent, doesn’t know any better. However it is orders of magnitude removed from the clandestine and truly sinister anti-Semitism of the college educated morally upright upper class purple haired ladies who at least in Canada are devoted to the CBC and to its homologues in other Anglo Saxon jurisdictions. Some of their best friends are Jewish and agree fully with them that Israel commits war crimes. Regularly. But no they are not anti-Semitic.

    Merry Christmas to all!

  11. Isaac Newton is the man who invented insurances. He created a law the everything falls down, thence the need for insurance. He was actually quite clever in his way but I think we could have gotten by without the money sucking insurance companies that will do all in their power to avoid paying out a dime.

  12. @Adam New York abolished the law of gravity a few years ago, because it was scientists and theologians reasoned that if Newton had time-traveled to the present and waited for a subway or bus in New York, he would not have bothered to throw that apple up in the air proving the existence of gravity, because he would have reasoned that what goes up does not come back down, or at least not in a timely and predictable manner. Instead he would have expected to see a glowing sign in the sky reading, “15 minutes plus layover in terminal.” I wonder if Newton ever visited Chelm.

    https://www.discstorytelling.com/post/buttering-the-bread

  13. @Adam The NYC City Council just voted to abolish the law of gravity and take it out of the school books.

    Somebody realized that if Sir Isaac Newton had come to 125th St. and Broadway in Manhattan in the present before going back and throwing that apple up in the sky, he wouldn’t have bothered because he would have realized that what goes up does not necessarily come back down, or at least not in a timely and predictable fashion. Instead, he would have expected to see a glowing sign in the sky reading,

    “Fifteen minutes plus layover in terminal.” 😀

  14. Isaac Newton is famed for his iidentification of the natural laws of the universe, such as gravity. However, his mystical side and interest in Biblical prophecies, and his speculation about when the world would come o an end are less well known, Using his reading of passages in both the Hebrew scriptures (called the Old Testament by Christians) and the Christian New Testament, Newton calculated that the world would come to an end around 2060. The prevalence of antisemitism throughout the world, and the hostility and rival ambitions of the 190 or so independent states, and the development of “weapns of mass desturction,” make it likely that Newton’s calculations will prove to be at least approximately correct.

    WE should recall that we Jews are first on the list of people that antisemites wish to exterminate, but my no means the last on their list. The Nazis, for example, wanted first to externinate the Jews, but their long-term plan was to enslave the Poles, Russians and other Eastern European peoples and kill off at least 50 per cent of them through cruel treatment of them as slave laborers. They intended to deport the entire population of the Netherlands to Russia, so that the Reich could seize the Netherlands and repopulate it with Germans.

    Today, the Iranian regime has its people chant not only “Death to Israel” but also :DEath to America.” It has also revealed pland to exterminate the Sunni Muslims and give their lands to Shi’ites. Iit aims to conquer the oil-rich eastern provinces of Saudi Arabia. And it has also pledged to destroy the democracies of Europe, and to that end has developed missiles that can reach all of Europe.

    If the Western democracies not unite to destroy radical jihadist Islamismthey will be destroyed. Probably within Newton’s time frame.