Diversity Macht Frei
March 20, 2017
One of the key ideas Jews have taken to promulgating in the modern age is that antisemitism is a mystical, inexplicable phenomenon, which has nothing – NOTHING – to do with the actions of Jews. In fact, in the Global Antisemitism Survey commissioned by the Anti-Defamation League, one of the questions used to test for antisemitism was “People hate Jews because of the way Jews behave.” In other words, if you believe that the actions of Jews cause antisemitism then you are yourself an antisemite.
According to this definition, Isi Leibler, former chairman of the Governing Board and Senior Vice President of the World Jewish Congress, is a hardcore antisemite – because he recognises that the heads of almost all major American Jewish organisations are engaging in hysterical anti-Trump activism; and that their bias is generating antisemitism among Trump supporters.
We try to rationalize that the anti-Zionist behavior of individual Jews does not justify antisemitic bigotry. However, the crass political exploitation of their Jewish identity by American leaders of purportedly “nonpartisan” mainstream Jewish organizations is unprecedented. Today, in what must be described as self-destruction, a substantial number of irresponsible leaders of the most successful and powerful Jewish diaspora community seem to have gone berserk and are fueling antisemitism.
Nobody suggests that Jews should not be entitled, like all American citizens, to engage in political activity of their choice. As individuals, they may support or bitterly criticize their newly elected president, but as leaders of mainstream religious and communal organizations, they are obliged, as in the past, to assiduously avoid being perceived as promoting partisan political positions. What has taken place in leading mainstream American Jewish organizations during and since the elections can only be described as a self-induced collective breakdown.
…The facts are that liberal Jewish leaders have declared an hysterical war against the Trump administration. Led initially by the Anti-Defamation League but rapidly joined by the Reform and Conservative wings of the Jewish community, many Jewish community leaders have exploited their positions to endorse a vicious campaign in which Trump is portrayed as a satanic antisemite promoting fascism and racism, representing the antithesis of Jewish values. This, despite the reality that his presidency highlights an unprecedented acceptance of Jews at the highest levels of government.
…At the same time, some progressive rabbis, usually without a mandate from their constituency, organized fasts and days of mourning in their synagogues and — donning prayer shawls and kippot — they paraded at the forefront of anti-Trump demonstrations that vulgarly undermined the presidency, emphasizing that their political stance was a product of their religious Jewish values.
…Alas, the reality is that in promoting their personal political agenda and vulgarizing and demonizing Trump while posing as Jews motivated by religious principles, they are hypocritically exploiting their leadership positions and fueling antisemitism.
…It is sad and ironic that the decline of the most affluent and successful community will have been engineered by some of its leaders who, in their fanatical liberal zeal, exploited their Judaism and Jewish affiliations to advance a partisan political agenda. Unless this tide of official Jewish anti-Trump demonization is reversed or halted, there will be major long-term negative ramifications on the standing and influence of the American Jewish community.