{"id":3363,"date":"2024-05-18T17:07:47","date_gmt":"2024-05-18T15:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cmccutcheon.com\/wp\/?p=3363"},"modified":"2024-08-12T12:17:35","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T10:17:35","slug":"antisemitism-american-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cmccutcheon.com\/wp\/2024\/05\/18\/antisemitism-american-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Antisemitism, American Style"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
You wouldn’t be one of those student demonstrators?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Eclipsing Divestiture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An effective way to curry favor with an irascible benefactor is to scold its critics at a public event those critics don\u2019t attend. Uncontested accusations tend to stick, the nuisances can be vilified to the max, and the speaker gains a point with a benefactor who prefers anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joe Biden accomplished this in his \u201cantisemitic\u201d speech delivered at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum\u2019s Days of Remembrance on May 7. The charge leveled: antisemitism. The accused: the students holding pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses across the country protesting Israel\u2019s assault on Gaza since Hamas\u2019s attack on Israel October 7, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A day of Holocaust remembrance is a time of severe reflection. The memorial events held worldwide1<\/a><\/sup> enjoin us to focus without flinching on the worst of what humanity has done and, consequently, can do. The gravity of the ceremonies leaves no room for \u201cthey did it, not me\u201d exoneration.2<\/a><\/sup> As members of the human race, we all must reflect on what we are capable of and acknowledge some degree culpability in order \u2014 as President Biden appropriately pointed out \u2014 to make sure it never happens again. Yes, it is important that we remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, on this occasion Biden placed humanity\u2019s collective guilt squarely on the protesting students: \u201cThere is no place on any campus in America \u2014 any place in America \u2014 for antisemitism or hate speech or threats of violence of any kind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To gut demands for divestment and thus appease anyone threatened by the tectonic financial shifts those demands would initiate, Biden went straight for the jugular.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Biden\u2019s right. Neither are campuses the place for distilling moonshine or enriching uranium. But no one\u2019s doing that, either. Staunch testimonies have emerged from supportive faculty, non-mainstream media, and police stating that the student protests are neither hateful, violent, nor antisemitic.3<\/a><\/sup> 4<\/a><\/sup> What happens to be hateful about the protests is what those students are demanding: the divestment of billions of university dollars from companies benefiting from what students see as Israel\u2019s commission of genocide on the Palestinians in Gaza. The demand evidently makes someone highly uneasy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To gut such unsettling demands and thus appease anyone threatened by the tectonic financial shifts those demands would initiate, Biden went straight for the jugular: he charged the students with antisemitism. Echoing widely trafficked falsehoods about the Hamas attack, he started off with a whopper: that Hamas was \u201cdriven by ancient desire to wipe out the Jewish people.\u201d He didn\u2019t say Hamas attacked the Palestinians\u2019 oppressor, who happened to be Jewish; he said Hamas attacked Israel to expunge the Jewish race from existence, conflating the Hamas attack with the Holocaust. Biden stressed, \u201cIt was Hamas that brutalized Israelis,\u201d indulging another popular fallacy that the Palestinian-Israel conflict began October 7 with Hamas\u2019s attack. Israel\u2019s long history of brutalizing and confining Palestinians Biden redacted. And, unforgivably, he echoed certain items of grotesque misinformation about the Hamas attack, concocted to enflame fears of antisemitism, which have since been debunked and for which further investigation is demanded.5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In calling out the \u201cferocious surge of antisemitism in America,\u201d Biden lent validity to accusations made by infuriated members of the Congressional Committee on Education and the Workforce, who also zeroed in on the issue of antisemitism on campuses, broadcasting the controversy as a life-threatening issue for American Jewry. On December 5, 2023, the committee called in presidents of three major U.S. universities and submitted them to a punishing examination. Loaded questions included: Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate the code of conduct of your school? Yes or no. Do you equate the word intifada with the Holocaust? Yes or no. Would you suspend a student for screaming \u2018kill all Jews\u2019? Yes or no.6<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the answer to each of these questions is clearly \u201cyes,\u201d what befuddled the presidents was being pressured to confess to non-occurrences. Evading the yes\/no trap, they attempted to explain in broader language the policies their universities embraced when it came to prejudice, racism, sexism, transgender issues, hateful language, and free speech. That was not wanted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A one-word answer would have had Magill admitting either indifference to or toleration of what the committee in no uncertain terms denounced as antisemitism raging on her campus. She would be damned either way.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a caustic lambasting, U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik demanded Claudine Gay, president of Harvard University, say whether the university would take disciplinary action should any student be caught saying \u201cfrom the river to the sea\u201d or \u201cintifada.\u201d7<\/a><\/sup> Gay said no and explained: \u201cWe do not sanction individuals for their political views or their speech. When that speech crosses into conduct that violates our behavior-based policies, bullying, harassment and intimidation, we take action.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was not satisfactory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill fared no better. In hesitating to answer the committee\u2019s incriminating questions, she earned a rebuke from Josh Shapiro, Democratic governor of Pennsylvania: \u201cIt should not be hard to condemn genocide, genocide against Jews . . . There should be no nuance to that \u2014 she needed to give a one-word answer.\u201d But a great deal of nuance was involved. A one-word answer would have had Magill admitting either indifference to or toleration of what the committee in no uncertain terms denounced as antisemitism raging on her campus. She would be damned either way, and was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four days after the hearing, Magill resigned, a consequence that, judging from Stefanik\u2019s gleeful reaction, pleased someone unseen and unnamed. \u201cOne down, two to go,\u201d she X\u2019ed. Gay\u2019s resignation followed some weeks later. The congressional grilling had indeed been highly successful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shafik told NYPD the offending students had been \u201cinformed numerous times and in writing that they are not permitted to occupy this space,\u201d then duly suspended. Quick work for someone who spent the single day of the camp\u2019s existence in a bruising congressional hearing. <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It can be imagined how Columbia University President Nemat \u201cMinouche\u201d Shafik felt as she walked into those chambers on April 17, 2024, to defend her mishandling of the antisemitism polluting her campus. As the committee worked her over, Shafik successively agreed that pro-Palestinian student protests were \u201canti-Jewish,\u201d hoped she had no antisemitic faculty, and dismissed university personnel whom the committee accused of using wrong words in a social post.8<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day, Shafik told NYPD to clear Columbia\u2019s campus of the offending students. She told police that, having been \u201cinformed numerous times and in writing that they are not permitted to occupy this space,\u201d the students had been duly suspended. Quick work for someone who spent the single day of the camp\u2019s existence in a bruising congressional hearing. Thus did turbocharged Shafik use the powers available to her to placate a committee intent on placating a benefactor by giving NYPD the okay to haul away \u201cantisemitic\u201d students for trespassing within hours of their suspension and consequent illegal presence on campus. Since then, police interventions on campuses have increased, with the encounters becoming rougher and, yes, at times violent. That\u2019s what happens when armed forces dressed in riot gear intervene anywhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there you have it, antisemitism American style, accusations of which are as effective as packing an AR-15, another American specialty. Aim it at your foes and poof! They\u2019re gone. Train it on students and pro-Palestinian becomes anti-Jewish. Calls to divest from a genocidal military machine become anti-Israel. Anti-Israel becomes antisemitic. Protesting students become clear and present threats to universities and must be suspended. Suspended students become trespassers, outlaws, dangerous elements to be arrested and hauled off. The core issue \u2014 divesting from companies that profit from Israel\u2019s assault on Gaza \u2014 gets trampled underfoot, the goal of the exercise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his concluding remarks at his May 7 address, Biden urged us to \u201cput aside our differences, to see our common humanity, to stand up to hate,\u201d but did not praise the students for doing exactly that. Sharing his take on the Congressional hearings with reporters, Governor Shapiro said, \u201cIt should not be hard to condemn genocide,\u201d without mentioning that was precisely what those students were doing. Divestment was never brought up during these withering condemnations. Sort of trivial when facing down the monster of antisemitism? Or was this Potemkin fury meant to reassure someone not in the room that certain investments were safe?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To take heart, let\u2019s recall the story where the little man working his wizard machine behind the curtain to puff smoke and belch fire falls to pieces once Toto draws back the curtain. Malignant power seeks dark, rotten spaces. To dispel it, all we need do is locate and expose it. Unfortunately, curtains are no longer used, and Toto is dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
  1. Since 2004, 12 countries hold observance ceremonies on January 27, the anniversary of the day of liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945. These include Germany, Britain, Italy, and Scandinavian countries. Other countries choose other dates, often to mark anniversaries of national events during the Holocaust. Since 1979, United States has chosen the eight-day period from the Sunday before Yom Hashoah to the Sunday after Yom Hashoah. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. For the non-Jewish world, that is. It is a question if Jews participate in these mourning ceremonies the same way. From their perspective, emphasis might be on \u201cyou did it to us\u201d grief. Were that the case, our Holocaust mourning memorials would perhaps salt wounds they strive to heal. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  3. \u201cStop Weaponizing Antisemitism: Police \u2018Body-Slam\u2019 Jewish Dartmouth Prof. at Campus Gaza Protest,\u201d Democracy Now!, https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/2024\/5\/7\/annelise_orleck_dartmouth_pro_palestine_protests. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  4. After being called in by Columbia University President Nemat \u201cMinouche\u201d Shafik to break up the school\u2019s protesting students on April 18, 2024, NYPD Chief John Chell later questioned President Shafik\u2019s assessment that the student protest posed \u201ca clear and present danger\u201d: \u201cThe students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever, and were saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner.\u201d \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  5. \u201c60+ Journalism Profs Demand Investigation into Controversial NYT Article Alleging Mass Rape on Oct. 7,\u201d Democracy Now!, https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/2024\/5\/8\/nyt_investigation. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  6. The committee did not ask, \u201cHow was your vacation in Cuba?\u201d which would have been as impossible to answer with yes or no as any of their other questions. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  7. Stefanik did not ask how Gay would react if a student were heard shouting \u201cHallelujah!\u201d \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  8. Joseph Massad, at the time serving as chair of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences academic review committee at Columbia University, wrote: \u201cThe sight of the Palestinian resistance fighters storming Israeli checkpoints separating Gaza from Israel was astounding, not only to the Israelis but especially to the Palestinian and Arab peoples who came out across the region to march in support of the Palestinians in their battle against their cruel colonizers. . . . No less awesome were the scenes witnessed by millions of jubilant Arabs who spent the day watching the news, of Palestinian fighters from Gaza breaking through Israel\u2019s prison fence or gliding over it by air.\u201d Just another battle or the Palestinian war of liberation?,\u00a0The Electronic Intifada<\/em>, October 8, 2023. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    An effective way to curry favor with an irascible benefactor is to scold its critics at a public event those critics don\u2019t attend. Uncontested accusations tend to stick and the speaker gains a point with the benefactor. Joe Biden did this in his \u201cantisemitic\u201d speech delivered at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum\u2019s Days of Remembrance on May 7. The charge: antisemitism. The accused: the students holding pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses across the country protesting Israel\u2019s assault on Gaza since Hamas\u2019s attack on Israel October 7, 2023. The question: who’s the benefactor? Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Since 2004, 12 countries hold observance ceremonies on January 27, the anniversary of the day of liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945. These include Germany, Britain, Italy, and Scandinavian countries. Other countries choose other dates, often to mark anniversaries of national events during the Holocaust. Since 1979, United States has chosen the eight-day period from the Sunday before Yom Hashoah to the Sunday after Yom Hashoah.\",\"id\":\"c37ee5fc-3465-4828-9ffc-564398382a5a\"},{\"content\":\"For the non-Jewish world, that is. It is a question if Jews participate in these mourning ceremonies the same way. From their perspective, emphasis might be on \u201cyou did it to us\u201d grief. Were that the case, our Holocaust mourning memorials would perhaps salt wounds they strive to heal.\",\"id\":\"ba78c9e7-9d8f-4bf2-b45d-7bde181307a9\"},{\"content\":\"\u201cStop Weaponizing Antisemitism: Police \u2018Body-Slam\u2019 Jewish Dartmouth Prof. at Campus Gaza Protest,\u201d Democracy Now!, https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/2024\/5\/7\/annelise_orleck_dartmouth_pro_palestine_protests.\",\"id\":\"0cf50273-9341-4e66-a6f9-5708ffa2d0f7\"},{\"content\":\"After being called in by Columbia University President Nemat \u201cMinouche\u201d Shafik to break up the school\u2019s protesting students on April 18, 2024, NYPD Chief John Chell later questioned President Shafik\u2019s assessment that the student protest posed \u201ca clear and present danger\u201d: \u201cThe students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever, and were saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner.\u201d\",\"id\":\"830ccfa7-73b4-4d9b-866f-92d384c2cde6\"},{\"content\":\"\u201c60+ Journalism Profs Demand Investigation into Controversial NYT Article Alleging Mass Rape on Oct. 7,\u201d Democracy Now!, https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/2024\/5\/8\/nyt_investigation.\",\"id\":\"4ba6232d-e749-4019-b6cb-1e45fc2272b3\"},{\"content\":\"The committee did not ask, \u201cHow was your vacation in Cuba?\u201d which would have been as impossible to answer with yes or no as any of their other questions.\",\"id\":\"c85cc412-a802-47ed-8097-1ef9234a6283\"},{\"content\":\"Stefanik did not ask how Gay would react if a student were heard shouting \u201cHallelujah!\u201d\",\"id\":\"8d70405c-5f0e-45a5-8d99-ea89359d3951\"},{\"content\":\"Joseph Massad, at the time serving as chair of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences academic review committee at Columbia University, wrote: \u201cThe sight of the Palestinian resistance fighters storming Israeli checkpoints separating Gaza from Israel was astounding, not only to the Israelis but especially to the Palestinian and Arab peoples who came out across the region to march in support of the Palestinians in their battle against their cruel colonizers. . . . No less awesome were the scenes witnessed by millions of jubilant Arabs who spent the day watching the news, of Palestinian fighters from Gaza breaking through Israel\u2019s prison fence or gliding over it by air.\u201d Just another battle or the Palestinian war of liberation?,\u00a0The Electronic Intifada<\/em>, October 8, 2023.\",\"id\":\"20d03032-1404-41ff-8914-5a6cb43b980d\"}]"},"categories":[23,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmccutcheon.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmccutcheon.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmccutcheon.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmccutcheon.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmccutcheon.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cmccutcheon.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3363\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmccutcheon.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmccutcheon.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmccutcheon.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}