The recent surge of anti-Semitic rhetoric coming from left-wing voices is highlighting a startling reality of the American left — a strain of anti-Semitism has been growing within the progressive left for quite some time.
Various left-wing celebrities, politicians and activists have all voiced bigoted rhetoric against Jewish people, often without the appropriate backlash from other left-wing voices. The most recent example of anti-Semitic rhetoric coming from the left has been shown in the idea of “Jewish privilege” and is quickly gaining momentum.
An extension of the neo-Marxist idea of “white privilege,” “Jewish privilege” has startling parallels to Jewish canards used in Nazi propaganda, such as the conspiracy that the wealth of Jewish people has been unfairly acquired due to Jewish influence over various institutions.
Both leftists and white-nationalists utilized the trending hashtag #JewishPrivilege to push their anti-Semitic views on Twitter Sunday.
A series of Jewish celebrities led by Hen Mazzig, an Israeli writer and senior fellow at the Tel Aviv Institute, then turned the term on its head, using the hashtag in tweets that debunk the notion of Jewish privilege.
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I want all my Jewish followers to share the “Jewish Privilege” them and their families experienced.
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) July 12, 2020
In an Op-Ed for NBC News, Mazzig pointed out how white supremacists utilized the hashtag to promote anti-Semitism. He then went a step further, pointing out one truth that many on the left refuse to acknowledge.
“Leftist voices soon joined in, perhaps because the hashtag had co-opted the term of ‘white privilege’ that is used in the social justice movement. Seemingly progressive Twitter users soon piled on with false claims that Jews don’t face any discrimination, while also suggesting they are responsible for the discrimination and other ills many minorities face,” Mazzig wrote.
Should anti-Semitic rhetoric be roundly condemned by both parties?
“While I’ve seen countless ignorant ideas spread on Twitter, #JewishPrivilege uniquely terrified me. Unlike the random pockets of online hate speech that I’m used to, this felt like an organized attack — as if everyone, from left to right, was in agreement that Jewish people are to be blamed for all that is wrong in the world.”
There is, however, a difference between the ways anti-Semitism is handled on the left and the right that Mazzig fails to address.
While Republicans roundly condemn anti-Semitism from white supremacists and white nationalists of alt-right groups, Democrats have a storied history of failing to call out the very same bigotry coming from their own party.
The most obvious examples are in the actions of Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who have found themselves in hot water for anti-Semitic remarks and association with anti-Semitic organizations.
Mazal Tov to #IlhanOmar on being named 2019’s Antisemite of the Year! Thousands voted & the Freshmen Congresswoman came out on top as the most vile Jew hater!
America cannot afford leadership that perpetuates hatred against the #Jewish people! https://t.co/hrRKRxoYuo @Ilhan pic.twitter.com/NJFE3rcM9B
— StopAntisemitism.org (@StopAntisemites) January 6, 2020
In 2019, Omar was declared StopAntisemitism.org’s anti-Semite of the year for pushing the anti-Semitic trope that the Jewish state of Israel manipulated the world stage through bribery and other schemes, saying it was “all about the Benjamins baby” and that Israel had “hypnotized the world.”
Her fellow “Squad” member Tlaib has connections to several anti-Semites and anti-Israel terrorist groups.
Both women support “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions,” a movement whose advocates the Anti-Defamation League describes as all too often employing “anti-Semitic rhetoric and narratives to isolate and demonize Israel.”
Perhaps the most virulent anti-Semite of all is Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has been defended on multiple occasions by left-wing politicians and media in spite of his inflammatory rhetoric.
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson promoted Farrakhan and conspiracy theories about Jewish people and the coronavirus vaccine to his 1.3 million followers on Instagram just last week.
Also in recent news, celebrity Nick Cannon said black people are the true Hebrews and that Jewish people have usurped their identity. He also referenced various anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about “the Rothschilds, centralized banking, the 13 families, the bloodlines that control everything even outside of America.”
Rapper Charlamagne Tha God defended Cannon on Wednesday, saying, “Listen, Nick is my guy. I hate it had to be him, but that’s what you can do when you have the power. And if there’s one thing Jewish people have showed us, it’s they have the power. I can’t wait until the day black people are able to fire people for saying things about us that we deem racist.”
There are many more examples of left-wing anti-Semitism, but perhaps even more troubling is this idea of “Jewish Privilege” is being pushed by the neo-Marxist Black Lives Matter crowd.
While neo-Nazis of the alt-right claim to have reasons for promoting anti-Semitism, far-left neo-Marxists have an equally appalling rationalization.
If the left is going to argue for white privilege — the idea that whites are an oppressive class based solely on their over-representation — Jews would have to be an even more oppressive and more privileged class.
The very same arguments were made by anti-Semites in Nazi Germany.
The Nazis believed that the disproportionate economic success of the Jewish people was due to unfair business practices.
Strangely, many of these very same leftists are accusing those who disagree with their anti-Semitic beliefs of being Nazis.
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