I think it’s clear from recent Common Sense articles and other outlets that way too many college campuses have become cesspools of progressive groupthink. Mr. Flayton can make it all about antisemitism but the Jewish persecution list he provides could certainly be expanded if he wants to buttress his reasoning for emigration. Maybe he should talk to a few devout Catholics who have had their churches firebombed because they believe abortion is a sin. Maybe he should talk to evangelical Christians who have been caricatured as inbred buffoons because they believe Jesus is their savior and had their churches shut down during Covid while rioters were free to rampage across our cities. Maybe he should speak with a few Mormons about how their ancestors were murdered and forced to flee their homes and trek across the country until they finally found sanctuary in Utah, all because they dared practice their religion. I’m sure that Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims can all contribute equally disturbing stories.
The fact is, ALL religions are under assault and it seems to me counterproductive to bellyache about which one is being persecuted more. The Marxist left has been trying to exterminate religion on campus and elsewhere for decades because big government is their sanctioned religion and the protagonists Mr. Flayton lists are members of its congregation. Their religion demands absolute obedience and any alternative that promotes belief in a higher authority is one of the few things standing in their way.
Young Blake is one of the canaries in the coal mine. There have been enormous numbers of canaries who have not survived financially and emotionally.
Blake wisely chose to leave the US. But as he stated early in the essay, most Jewish students are capitulating, as are most all students.
I believe it is insane to send students to these re-education camps, but as Blake wrote, parents are simply ignorant of the extent of the intellectual and emotional carnage taking place there.
Please abandon these re-ed camps. If you can't go to Israel send your children to get a career at an occupational school. There will be places in America that will defend good values, and citizens must find them, move to them and defend them, because the universities and large cities have made their case very clear. They will ruin you or they will own you. Why do so many take so long to see this?
For those of who see this like me, choices are very important and knowing your child is even more important.
My oldest daughter went to a local undergraduate school, a five year program with summer co-ops. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and got five scholarships (at top rated schools) to go onto graduate school for her PhD in STEM. She picked the one that suited her the best and is now deep into her PhD, doing research and writing papers in her chosen field of study. She is level headed and sees the carnage from the Left and is navigating it just fine. I’m not going to tell her she can’t follow her dreams just because of some assholes. She will get her doctorate and then pick what’s next, most likely the private sector.
You did a wonderful job parenting her, and she must be a very smart young woman navigating the the terrain as she did. Many parents do not report such splendid results.
No. They stereotype followers of Islam as People of Color, and thus oppressed, and thus above whites or white-adjacents. Very simple; works for simpletons.
I believe the Left embraces Islam in the US because it is a minority here. Fitting in with their worldview of standing up for the oppressed, nothing more.
But in reality, Islam is not a minority on the world stage and exerts tremendous power.
This is precisely the reason. The only thing the Left and Islam agree on is that Israel must be destroyed. That hatred, that desire, is powerful enough to overcome disagreement on every other issue.
They dare not speak against Islam because unlike Christians and Jews, Muslims will not slink off into the night and remain quiet when offended. They will kill you for blaspheming the prophet. This has happened all over the world.
I think deep down whether they want to admit it or not, there's a part of them frightened to do it. What other religion in this day and time will kill you for disagreeing with their religion?
Timothy, I wish I could agree with you but you are so off point here.
First of all this is a personal essay about his experience. This is not an article about what’s wrong with academia. Or which group is persecuted more.
Making less of antisemitism is something that happens all the time. It’s a very wrong point of view to take but when one hasn’t experienced it they can make that mistake.
Jews are the most persecuted group in the United States. By far. Jews are the target of 58% of all religiously motivated hate crimes in US. The number of incidents and attacks has skyrocketed and broken all records. Every single day just in Brooklyn NY people are attacked. Unfortunately it’s almost always by the same people and none of this is mentioned in the media, who barely reports it happening at all.
Being a student in a college that is part of a larger movement to get rid of religion is not the same thing as being a student who is personally ostracized and put in danger just for who they are. My son is headed to college soon and I am scared for his life and his physical well-being. All Jewish students heading to college at this very moment are in danger. You can’t really say the same for anyone else. Wether Mormon or Muslim. When the hamas in Gaza decide to send hundreds of missiles to Tel Aviv, Jews in the United States get attacked on the street. I urge you to learn more about what people have gone through in history and now, to try and understand what thousands of years of antisemitism feels like. Always being the scape goats and never knowing where the gauntlet is going to come falling from. I myself at 46 years old am the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. My two aunts were born before the war and went separately in to hiding as young children as did my grandparents. They were the “lucky” ones. Their life was never the same again. I have no doubt that the Person my mother is was greatly affected by her being raised In the shadow of all the trauma and affected who she became, how she raised me and who I became too. This is part of the fabric of our lives. To people who don’t know many Jews or just read the headlines it seems like just another group that is discriminated against. But that’s not the way it is. Unfortunately there are many peoples who are treated badly. But what’s happening to american Jews right now is a huge problem and when Jews get treated badly, it’s always a sign of more discrimination and violence to come for everyone else.
The point of my original post, which clearly you missed, is that today’s antisemitism is only a symptom of a much larger strategy being employed by the left. The Holocaust didn’t start overnight. It took years of separating Jews from larger society, demonizing them and caricaturing them as less than human until it was acceptable for non-Jews to ignore their persecution. It’s a strategy that authoritarians like Hitler and Xi Jinping have employed for thousands of years and sorry, but Jews aren’t the only group it’s been employed against. Last night, President Joe Biden took to the stage and employed it once again. He ranted on about Donald Trump and Republicans who support him, declaring they “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundation of our Republic:”. While he hasn’t yet referred to them as “rats”, at least in public, it may be just a matter of time before he and his leftist allies go full Nazi. His authoritarian bona fides are already well established. His politicized JustUs Department labeled as domestic terrorists’ moms and dads who dared protest labeling their children racists because of their white skin. He ordered the firing of soldiers, nurses, and policemen who refused his decree and get vaccinated because they believed the “science” was flawed. His FBI collaborated with Facebook and other internet platforms into burying details of depravity and corruption contained in his son’s laptop to help swing an election and yet he claims its his political opponents who threaten our elections.
At the end of the day the real threat isn’t directed at any one religion or race. It’s the oppressor vs. the oppressed, the obedient vs. the rebellious, the blind vs. those who choose to see.
I would just like to add, that the reason most american Jews (especially the younger generation) didn’t experience that much discrimination in recent decades, is because they blended in, became Americanized and left their religion behind. They weren’t visibly Jewish and so their religion wasn’t as obvious to others. Many now have Christmas trees and more than 50 percent have married non Jews. (For the nazis this would not have mattered. They still sent the intermarried to the concentration camps). Nevertheless they still did probably experiance some form of bias. It could depend also on where they live. Even in NY I’m sure at some point my husband was treated differently, perhaps not hired bc he wears a skull cap. We just won’t know about it. It definitely wasn’t gone, but it became a lot less prominent, especially in places where there was a large Jewish population.
In Europe we always knew we had to wear a baseball hat over a skull cap, even in london. ( (Some that live their don’t do this, they won’t). What was special about the United States was that people for the most part didn’t have to hide who they were. But now, unfortunately it feels like we’re heading in the direction of the way Europe has been all these years. That is very scary for the people who experience it.
Any belief that isn't part of the new fascism is under assault. Religious or not. If American Jews want to fight budding American anti-semitism they have to fight the new fascism in its entirety. Fascist movements don't cull out exceptions for certain groups. All must think alike. Live alike. That's fascism.
Agree all religions are under assault. But understand, the Jews in the eyes of the haters ( and this is a global phenomenon) are the root of all evil. It is interpreted this way in Quran and taught in almost every grade school in Middle East. Also Christianity but not the same. Still, Even one drop of hatred can kill millions. Hate is hate is hate.
I understand your point. However, none of these groups experienced having 6 million of their people exterminated during World War II (while we non-Jews did nothing!) nor have these groups been targeted for persecution for 2000+ years because of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It’s imperative that we read history so as not to repeat mistakes of the past. It’s MY Christian duty to support and protect my Jewish brothers and sisters. Peace be with you. Shalom.
I might make mention that there was also another 6 million Christians, intellectuals, clergy and those deemed politically incorrect by the regime who perished.
Yes obviously. A tremendous amount of people and horrors. But this article is about this guys experience in an American college and it’s not unique to him. It represents the current and future attitude of the younger generation. If only the younger generation understood the horrors of wars, if they were more informed, and if they knew more history they would have a much deeper understanding of the world and life itself, and they would be able to make better and wiser decisions, especially when they reach positions of power in the not so far future.
Again Mike, I respect what you’re saying, however, I feel like it’s “what about-ism”. I am aware of the persecution of other classes of people in World War II. However, it pales in comparison! Approximately 2 out of every 3 European Jews were killed during World War II. The behavior of the Allied nations was disgraceful. They knew and did nothing. I vow to learn from history.
“none of these groups experienced having 6 million of their people exterminated during World War II (while we non-Jews did nothing!)”
There are credible reports that between one and three million Chinese Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups are being detained against their will in what China has labeled “re-education camps”. The US, UK, Canada have labeled it genocide, which is defined by international convention as the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. Their methods include forced mass sterilization of Uyghur women, separating children from their families and attempting to break up the cultural traditions of the group. Those who have escaped the camps have reported mass rape and sexual abuse and forced cheap (some would say slave) labor. It’s estimated that between 25,000 and 50,000 Uyghurs are killed annually for their organs to supply China’s growing transplant industry. We could debate what “we non-Jews” could have done sooner to stop the Holocaust but eventually, millions of non-Jews fought and died ending it and other assorted Nazi and Japanese atrocities.
If you're truly determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past, perhaps you have some suggestions on what we non-Muslims can do to stop the depravity being inflicted upon Uyghurs TODAY.
Timothy, I can’t agree more with your point regarding the Chinese atrocities on the Uyghur people. I personally do what little I can in terms of not buying Chinese goods (supporting the CCP economy), writing my Congressman and Senator and through conversations trying to bring awareness of the horrendous situation of the Uyghur people. My reference to “doing nothing” was in regard to the fact that the US government knew about the extermination camps and the persecution of the Jewish people and did not make moves to greatly increase immigration possibilities for European Jews to the US. I realize this next statement is more emotional in nature, but largely the world stood by and watched.
In C.G. Jung's AION (written at the end of his life) it is the loss of Western Civilizations human connection to the God image that will bring about collapse and doom mankind to centuries of barbarism. Healing the split between the sterility (my word) of scientific reason and religious experience will require the creation of a third alternative. (Edward F. Edinger has a commentary and guide to AION that I found useful.)
The war is and always has been on CONSCIOUSNESS. The lie and imposition of a false and manipulated reality (think D.C.). The suppression of free speech, thought and movement. The banning of books. Now, the cancellation of worthy lives. Name your horror. The perpetration and in all cases the hubris and malignant narcissism of the people imposing these restrictions squarely speaks to the pathological. Everyone here has cancer inducing glyphosate in their blood streams. Why? We can take note that the Dutch farmers, the most productive exporters of food in the world, are losing their battle against the WEF/CCP juggernaut in the name of environmentalism. (Supply chain issues anyone?) You can have all the hysteria and crisis you want but, no rational or actual solutions to problems are allowed. Why?
Could it be that we're dealing with crazy people? The participants in the rigged game monopoly experiments, where certain players were given advantages over other participants that ensured they would win, actually came to believe in their superiority and personal skill at the game, and saw no advantage in the advantage given them.
Consciousness. The expansion of Consciousness. Immersion in Consciousness. Participation in Universal Consciousness. The struggle to Consciously remember who we are. I can start by remembering that I'm an American. My Constitution is based upon human dignity. A living creator. And my culture is rich in history and myth. I am CONSCIOUS of both my darkness and my struggle for light and justice.
We're in a brand new game and, we've entered a brand new age. Stay strong. Stay clear.
It's from old hurts and old insults. My grandparents came here from Europe. My grandfather was highly educated and was respected and revered. While he spoke several European languages as well as Hebrew and Yiddish, he did not speak English. However, his children wanted to be fully American. Education is terribly important to Jews and we forget the WASP culture, (or the dominant Protestant culture) did its best to prevent bright Jewish children from attending the better schools. (As they are now doing to Asians). This caused anger and resentment. It caused a focus on social justice. Social justice may have meant one thing back in the 1930's, 40's, and 50's but today has taken on a new dimension.
It's probably why the South stayed Democrat for so long. Old hurts and wounds take a long, long time to heal. The Civil War was bad enough because it killed an entire generation of young men but what may have been worse was Reconstruction. Reconstruction was terrible for blacks and whites. It hardened attitudes and created enmity.
Had Abraham Lincoln or US Grant lived it would have been different. Both men were compassionate, decent, fair men. Unfortunately those who followed didn't have their character or wisdom.
Not true. The Democratic Party is the party that fostered and still fosters segregation. Read your history. They continue to enslave, and are the most anti-Semitic people around. Republicans were non-existent in the South until relativity recently . It is the woke democrats that are preventing the brightest children from going to the best schools. Do you think you think that a Republican is on the school board in San Francisco or Oakland? READ history written without distortion!
STOP drinking their Kool-Aid! STOP being a lemming!
By the way-my grandparents were all immigrants from Easter Europe. My DNA shows 100% Jewish Ancestry.
In the South, after the Civil War blacks were Republicans. Democrats ran everything. In the North, it was the country club, upper crust Republicans who ran many things including elite universities. Democrats were in the cities where the majority of the immigrants were. The Republicans, AT THAT TIME, were anti-immigrant, anti-Jew, and anti-Catholic. How about YOU read your history.
The anti-immigrant and anti-liquor movement joined forces to push for Prohibition. It was widely believed, at that time, it was the immigrants who were promoting drunkenness and the social evils that went along with it.
Things have flipped. The current Democrats are indeed racists. They live on a "divide and conquer" basis. They are the ones currently destroying our country. No doubt about that.
I think it’s strange that the author doesn’t see this as a failure of progressivism as well as a logical result of progressives’ stranglehold on education. More than 50% of America doesn’t think like the leftist morons he is bemoaning. Why not broaden his circle to include conservatives? He’d find more acceptance there.
Lets alos be clear, the Jewish vote is close to meaningless in every nation on earth. Either Jews make up such a small portion of society that it really only impacts local elections, or in 1 nation (Israel), it is the majority so there is no Jewish vote per se.
The inverse, though, is not true. In many nations, the Islamic and Israel-hating vote IS material. In places like England, Sweden, France, etc, that vote in a meaningful portion of the voter base and can be sufficient to swing elections.
Nothing. The Left has quietly taken control of both K-12 and universities over the past thirty years. That fact, I believe, is responsible for the state of incivility that exists today, as well as the culture of victimhood.
The upside to the pandemic was that it exposed to parent just how bad K-12 has gotten, and started grass roots reform, as well as some political support.
Universities need to be taken apart and put back together. Since alumni seem to keep blindly writing checks, it will have to be the feds, if anyone.
The rot in universities is concentrated in particular departments. Education departments are the worst. Males are not allowed to express a masculine POV in most humanities departments. You can’t argue against trans trend without fear of excommunication. Universities need to foster and nurture and fight for viewpoint diversity especially when argued coherently.
A lot. In Red states legislatures have the power of the purse over public universities. Governors appoint Boards of Trustees, legislatures confirm them. Movements are a foot in Tennessee, Florida and Arizona to begin taking their public universities back. Tennessee passed some intentionally weak legislation on colleges last session. but now the National Association of Scholars just released a report that uses University of Tennessee, Knoxville--the flagship campus--as a case study for a DEI take over. Legislators are pissed, constituents are pissed, and alumni are pissed. We'll see where it goes.
One example- colleges which receive state or federal funding have anti-discrimination requirements as part of that funding. GOP could push to ensure anti-Semitic speech is included (and enforced) under those requirements.
Comstockian nonsense. How do you propose the GOP roll back the culture and programs of nutbar Democrats who control both the universities in Leftist cities and the national narrative
Such as? You can’t implement policies if you are not in power. Here’s the best alternative. Knock off the vacuous criticism and vote Republican across the board.
What’s the feckless, American Jewish establishment doing about it? Nothing! Taking up every cause but their own. There’s a new organization called the Jewish Leadership Project that is focusing on the issues that the old guard refuses to address. They deserve our support.
I recently met a man forming a "get out the vote" organization. I'm joining. For some reason I always remember the old Zig Zigler line: "Logic will not change an emotion but action will." It is time to rebuild.
I found it telling he never experienced this hatred in “red” conservative and Republican Scottsdale just the “blue” liberal Democrat controlled campus.
He might not have experienced it but let's not pretend the alt_right aren't antisemitic either with their endless conspiracy theories about the Jewish global world order going around and around online.
True, but the "alt right", so-called, are a small fringe, maybe a few thousand or a hundred thousand, out of the entire country. The anti-Semitic Left is in the millions and are far more violent. The fringe Right are anti-government, anti-Semitic, racist, etc., but don't represent any kind of broad based movement, despite Democrat efforts to paint them as the biggest threat to the country.
I’ll take a bigoted redneck from panola county, texas over a twisted leftist progressive who is okay with docs cutting off the breasts of teens, forcing toddlers to wear masks and labeling AP classes as racist. The redneck says things that aren’t politically correct but is mostly an honest and decent human. The latter overreact to the slightest insult while ignoring policies that harm the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of society. The gaslighting is absolutely insufferable.
Yes, the “alt-right” have vanishingly little institutional influence, much less power. It is the regressive Left, flying under the (gaslighting) banner of “Progressive,” who has charge of the mainstream cultural and political institutions which advance their simmering antisemitism and insidious identarian religion.
That I agree with. The alt_right nut-jobs are just morons talking on the fringes on the internet. Their biggest threat is one might go crazy and go shoot a bunch of people. Beyond that they're not even worth attention, although liberal MSM would like us to think all conservatives are like that. My only point is antisemitism is not unique to any political fraction. But as you say, on the left right now it's broad and threatening.
Exactly, Exactly. This is who Biden wants us to think all the Republican, Trump supporters are. He has no fk’ing idea we are also life long Democrats who he and all the neo-Democratic -socialist-Marxist abandoned and will proudly support ANY Republican, even and especially TRUMP!
Our Universities have failed on so many levels. If there is a silver lining to Biden's $500B vote buying scheme, it's that it paves the way for (hopefully) massive reform of our federal support for the institutions. A bill that gets the US out of the student loan business and ties any future federal aid to meeting specific free speech metrics (like those that FIRE tracks) is long past due.
There is no such thing as “violent words”. Directly inciting others to commit violence is already illegal. Speaking harshly about or satirizing political opponents is not “violence”.
Maybe so but words sure can incite violence. I have to disagree with you. There are such things as violent words. Hitler used violent words to galvanize the German people to violence. Think "Kristallnacht".
I know this can be difficult but we have to be able to distinguish between disagreeable, hateful speech and violence. Again, direct incitement to violence is not protected speech. But if I can label speech I don't like as 'violence' then the only remedy is to make speech illegal. If harsh, even hateful speech (which is always in the eye of the beholder) becomes illegal, you have no hope of living in a free society.
I am not saying curtail free speech. I am saying words can incite violence. The old saying during the Revolutionary War was "The pin is mightier than the sword."
Karl Marx laid the foundation for the Russian Revolution. Lenin was his messenger.
The phrase "violent words" is Orwellian. Words are words.
Words can incite violence, however. The Southern Poverty Law Center labeled the Family Research Council a "hate group" on their web site and that label motivated a gay rights activist to attempt a mass murder at the FRC headquarters. Fortunately a security guard stopped him, suffering a gunshot in the arm in the process.
Agree. Had this conversation with my husband yesterday. He’s more afraid of words than I am. He got mad because I told him how I’d fallen into a late-night twitter well that questioned 9-11. I argued that I should be able to fall into such a well. He says these conspiracy theories are dangerous.
Words can be mean and can sting. But policing words is a very slippery slope and should be avoided as much as possible.
I want to be able to argue that African Americans are harmed by drug use and lack of marriage. And read how the trans movement is a social contagion. I should be allowed to hear a priest speak out against gay marriage. And watch a video of Kubrick saying we never landed on the moon. Not saying I believe those things but I certainly believe in student’s and citizens right to debate all topics. Even the scary ones.
Well said. Remember our words are our thoughts. If we can’t speak freely we can’t think freely. So if you control speech you are controlling minds. That was the point of 1984.
I think it is ok to listen to the words being spoken and leave before the violence. And many of the examples stated had actions that went with the words that were moving closer to violence. I
I stand in agreement with Bari still. It is the unwise who cannot discern between words and actual violence. Words are words. Violence is violence. Sometimes the line is thin, but there is still a line.
Except that the universities themselves say that words are violence, if the words come from the "wrong people". Same for symbols. Which is why affixing a mezuzah on one's dorm room and someone else ripping off the mezuzah and hitting said affixer with it are completely equivalent "morally". And make no mistake, this moral equivalence has already spread from the universities to the elite institutions. Given this perverted view, our choice is between (a) making the universities irrelevant, staying in the US and setting up parallel institutions, and (b) leaving to make a better life in Israel (as I did many years ago). And Jews are truly privileged - we can leave America freely and immigrate to Israel freely. Most other Americans don't have that freedom.
Yeah....this is all a moral panic generated from a few cherry picked incidents. 99% of universities are moving right along without all this imagined drama.
Tell you what, let's just not have any restrictions of speech or actions at all - that way no one will feel they're being "cancelled by the mob."
Yes but these are two different things. One is freedom of speech and the other is that if we look at history we see that escalation of bias rhetoric and hatred often leads to physical violence. It’s a prediction. It’s not saying that we must arrest people just bc they voice an opinion. Obviously there can be a thin line bw hate speech and actually threatening people. This is a nuanced issue. There are laws for that which should help to determine when one has crossed that line. But until then the hate speech is sowing the seeds and bringing the pot to a boiling point.
I was being completely sarcastic - and making a comment on the hypocritical fraud that Bari Weiss is. She is all for Free Speech/anti-Cancel Culture when the venom is directed toward black and brown people. If you call the police not once, but twice and falsely claim a black man is attacking you, Bari will dedicate an entire podcast to you, to rehabilitate your image and talk about how we have to understand you were abused as a child, how everyone is wrong for judging her, etc.
However, if you even mention a whisper of criticism toward the IDF, Israel, white people, etc. - she'll call you and "Anti-Semite", try to get you cancelled, ruin your career and call you a bigot.
I vehemently disagree with your point of view. I find Bari to be extremely earnest in trying to highlight important things and criticize whichever side is wrong. There have been Arab professors spewing hate and lies about israel at universities for years. No one is perfect and no country can be perfect. But discussions should be based on facts. If the facts are disputed then both sides should be introduced by the professor. It’s one thing to criticize, it’s another to lie, spew hate, associate with organizations that have terror connections, and call for violence. If people want dialogue - fair and informed dialogue, well there is room for that. There is the another side which will engage in discussions. But much of the time that is not what people find. (As the author of the article describes). They are met with hatred and lies. When one has your point of view, they see everything through that lens and don’t analyze things fairly. There’s no arguing with that. Saying that “you always use antisemitism and the Holocaust as an answer to everything” is in itself antisemitic. This is because it’s dismissing the actual argument the person is making. Ignoring the topic at hand. The Jews are still living the effects of the Holocaust and constant antisemitism. Just bc people “are sick” of hearing about it doesn’t mean it’s not real and isn’t happening. Throughout history and today antisemitism has been veiled with other things but those are just a cover up.
Gordon, let us put some perspective on this American betrayal. Blake Flayton didn’t personally experience these acts of betrayal. We had a group of people in America’s past who couldn’t enter restaurants, hotels, theaters, and other public spaces like the front of the bus. There was a social group who wore sheets with holes cut in them to see out of, who would drag a human soul out of their home, find a tree, put a hangman’s noose over their head and Lynch them. In 1919 they had the red summer, where 64 Lynchings, Took place. A mere two years later, Thirty-five city blocks of America were destroyed by flames, 300 individuals died, and 800 were injured. Nine thousand human beings became homeless because of a terrorist act—location, Tulsa, Oklahoma, black Wall Street. Unlike Blake, these people couldn’t go to a place where America was protecting the land and the people who looked like them. Hate is ugly, and what Blake was describing is indeed hate, but he doesn’t belong to an exclusive club.
“There was a social group who wore sheets with holes cut in them to see out of, who would drag a human soul out of their home, find a tree, put a hangman’s noose over their head and Lynch them.”
Steven, today’s Republicans, have more in common with the deep South Democrats of the mid-19th century than they do with Pres. Lincoln’s Republican Party of the same era, in reality, the two parties have switched places since the mid-19th century. Lincoln’s party was the original party of social justice and big government; that’s why you’re comment is illiterate silliness!
The Democrats, with help from the KKK, help fund Planned Parenthood. An organization to pluck weeds from a beautiful garden. The weeds were black people. The Democrats still hold Planned Parenthood in extreme regard.
Democrats are pushing for resegregation.
Democrats are openly anti-Semitic on college campuses.
The Democrats hold racial determinism as settled fact/theory.
Steven, for all this insanity, because all this gibberish drivel can only be insanity; what you say about Democrats is unverifiable. But please do prove me wrong. I’m waiting with bated breath for your reply. :-)
Today's woke Democrats are the party of Critical Racist Theory discrimination on the basis of skin color. Democrats are also still into "segregation forever." The only difference between Democrats now and Gov. George Wallace (D, AL) then, is the justification. Democrats still want blacks to be separated from other races.
Please explain how Sen. Tim Scott (R, SC) and LT. Gov. Winsome Sears (R, VA) got elected in state wide races if Republicans are racist rather than issue driven. Sen. Scott has been elected twice by a 65% white electorate.
Your version of history is an Orwellian rewrite. Both sides of my family were Abolitionist Republicans since at least the 1850's. Republicans wanted to give freed slaves 40 acres and a mule, so they could support themselves. Democrats want to prevent school choice and permit rampant crime to make minorities dependent on government forever.
Douglas, saying Democrats are the party of critical race theory is beyond hyperbole; you stepped into the realm of fantasies. Saying Democrats want Blacks to be separated from other races is absurd. Talking about Republicans being elected in the South as proof of something is nonsensical. You’re quite right about the 40 acres and a mule, but the assassination of Lincoln pretty much destroyed that idea. Your whole post is straight out of Lala land!
Democrats assassinated Lincoln, not Republicans. To say Democrats disapprove of Critical Racist Theory is the height of denial, proving it ain't just a river in Egypt. What are all the white free days and blacks only dorms and spaces, if not segregation?
Why aren't Sen. Scott and Lt. Gov. Sears proof of Republicans welcoming all races? Senators Kamala Harris and Corey Booker are supposed to be symbols of Progressive advancement, are they not? There's no reciprocity?
Your whole post is denial, not reality. Democrats don't have a good argument. They just yell racism and censor opposing views.
In the 1930's, my grandmother leased appartments or owned houses in her own name, because my grandfather couldn't. My grandmother was a Methodist Minister's daughter. My grandfather was Jewish. Restrictive covenants kept my grandfather from renting or buying in certain places until the Civil Rights Act of 1964. There were reasons Jews backed the Civil Rights movement. They were discriminated against too, just not as badly.
Love that victim card. Who was the last Jewish president? We've already had a Catholic and a black president! Are you saying there's been no progress since 1860, 1919 or 1964? Or are you just saying that we need racism against Asians and straight white males to make up for bad inner city union schools?
Also Obama is not black, he's biracial. So that was very ignorant and revealing statement. See the way it works in America is that whiteness is the pure, untainted default - and anything that disturbs/infects it, even one drop, you become that ethnicity.
So, plenty of bad schools in rural areas and the "outer cities" as well, so might want to broaden your perspective a bit.
Obama called himself the first black president. That was good enough for me, but not for you?
Democrats fight school choice no matter where the schools are, or how bad they are. Union campaign bucks are more important to them than educating children. But you're OK with that?
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaws discrimination on the basis of race. Colorblind meritocracy is the law. Deal with your own illegal racism.
Democrats are the party of slavery, secession, Jim Crow, lynching and "segregation forever." According to woke rules, such a history is unforgivable, so Democrats should be canceled for it.
From what I understand, the institutions are not responding to these events. Jew hating (couched as anti-Zionism) seems to be a-okay with college administrators (even the Jewish ones - this is what I understand to be the case. )
But more important is your first point: 10-15 or so years ago when the nation started to learn about the "woke" ideology, which was already thriving on college campuses, most people said: well, it's just on a small number of [mostly elite] college campuses. Once these kids get out of college, they'll grow up. Nobody seemed to consider that the ideology would infect the entire nation. So too this new anti-Semitism will infect our country (the virus is already spreading). I can tell you that as a Jew, it is palpable (and btw I am not on a college campus or even in a blue state).
The reason why the young guy in his 20s responded that way is not because of woke. Asians in the US have struggled for more than a century to be seen, accepted, and acknowledged as Americans. By greeting him in Hindi, you're indicating to him you saw him as foreign and not American, and that your first assumption was that he is not American. While you just meant to be friendly, it didn't come across that way to him. It came across as you didn't take him as a fellow countryman and compatriot because he was not white. In the CRT infested world today for his generation, his reaction is actually what you want. Because it shows he sees himself as an American and wants to be seen first as such, when his left-wing peers are all wanting to find reasons to hate their own country and how they want to leave America. And if he was like them, his answer to you would be you're cultural appropriating his language or some such nonsense.
“Antisemitism from the left is hard for young people to see, because young people a lot of time align with the left,” a Jewish woman who recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania told me. - Being progressive is cool until you find yourself at the sharp end of the knife of intersectionality. I recognize there are bigots on both ends of the right and left. I grew up in a Christian home where Israel and the Jewish faith were respected and admired for their devotion and authenticity.
Given that 75% of American Jews are on the left, it clearly must be painful for them to be demonized by their Progressive compatriots. It’s unfortunate that they don’t seek solace on the right side of the political spectrum where Jews are respected and welcomed as religious ‘kin’. Judeo-Christian values are the foundation of the American Project. Myopia can be cured without leaving the country.
The rise of antisemitism in Europe and the US is appalling. You expect antisemitism on the far right but the left is supposed to be all accepting of differing beliefs. They are blatant hypocrites. They always have been. That a Jew can be a Democrat is a head scratcher. (Head scratcher = a puzzler)
These morons on the left glorify Islam a religion that supports misogyny and the violent takeover of the non-Islamic world. I have said this before. When is the last time you saw a Jew in a suicide vest?
Israel is an island of sanity surrounded by the insane.
The anit-western element of the woke ideology can be traced back to Edward Said, his book Orientalism, and its influence on the super woke field of Post-Colonial Studies.
No question. How the Islamists have managed to take over our universities, normalizing hate speech against Israel and Jews, is beyond me. I guess it’s the hijacking of the liberal mindset (we must be tolerant of all viewpoints/we can’t discriminate against Muslims), but when they disrupt speakers by screaming, when they get speakers disinvited because they’re conservative, “pro-Israel” or just reasonable) takes it to a whole other level. The university administrators and professors have been co-opted by the left, and this is the result. And it’s not just about Israel. See the Oberlin College disaster with Gibson’s bakery. Disgusting.
Oberlin also employs Mohammad Jafar Mahallati who is the Nancy Schrom Dye Chair in Middle East and North African Studies. He was also Iran's ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1987 to 1989 where he denied the mass executions of political prisoners.
Perhaps most pertinent to recent news, this man has publicly supported the fatwa on Salman Rushdie.
Yeah Oberlin! Falsely accuses a baker and family of racism but employs a man who supports the assassination of people with whom he disagrees.
Agree with lonesome’s fundamental points here. Yet, let me complain about the supposed “right / left” narrative the far left uses, eg. Antifa, as propaganda about the right.
I spent several days researching where Hitler sat on the political spectrum. I concluded Hitler was not “right-wing.” He claimed Fascism was the middle path between capitalism -- his version of fascist ideology was centralized government authority that allowed “private” property and business as long as it is subservient to the will of said government -- and Stalin’s communism of which he admired for its central planning, control, and its “innovation” of what we now know as concentration camps.
His murderous party provided scapegoats along with free health care and “education” (actually indoctrination and programming, enslaving minds not freeing them). He did not seek to conserve anything of Germany’s past beyond its cultural dominance and that he utterly perverted. The idea that Hitler was “far right” appears to be a fiction designed by the far left to paint the actual conservative right as evil. The “pre-eminent scholar” who paints Hilter as on the right was a Columbia University political science professor who I would not trust to walk my dog much less teach my kids. Hitler was perhaps to the right of Stalin but in no way reflects any historical conservatism of Lincoln’s Republican Party.
This is not to say that nazi skin heads didn’t/don’t exist, they do, but Hitler was not a conservative, nor was he “right wing” his party had socialist in its name but he had his own evil, nihilistic ideology and rejected Marx.
It is interesting that you (appropriately) chose the word, “allowed” capitalism.
The biggest clue might be the name of the party… national SOCIALISTS.
The left has always embraced authoritarianism. Your focus on central planning, which is so very spot-on, is impossible without that enforcement mechanism.
I agree. I have read Shirer's Berlin Diary and am reading his "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". He goes into great detail about Hitler's upbringing and what made him tick.
What is problematic, the right is crazy and getting crazier. If the Republican party was filled with sane people like Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski, there'd be an enormous shift of Jewish voters to it. But it is largely a cult of Trump, which isn't healthy and doesn't offer Jewish voters much. After all, Jews pretty much know that cults are not their friends. Whether progressive or Trump.
Your perspective about the Republican Party is skewed by the Main Stream Media (MSM). I would suggest reading and listening more broadly. I am guessing you might not even know any Republicans...
Zeke, I agree with CC. More specifically- the current democrat party has been taken over by the neo-Marxist cult of social Justice, and as this article points out — they are the crazy ones, 80+% of the wealthiest US zip codes are their supporters.
Trump’s actual policies were for the most part sensible and overdue but his rhetoric and behavior was often just nuts. He in my view is and was unfit for the office and I wish he would step back and support the party instead of trying to bend it to his will.
The fact that he is so popular should tell you that normal people — those who have not been seduced or forcibly indoctrinated by the media, Hollywood, or our formerly elite institutions, and are afraid of what they see: an obvious fascistic, hard-left political machine ready to end free speech, to teach their children or grand children that if they are white then they are intrinsically racist, and/or can literally be the opposite sex WHEN THEY ARE In ELEMENTARY SCHOOL — these republicans are grasping desperately for anyone who they think will fight for a return to sanity.
The post-modern wing of the democrat left is weaponizing language and erasing boundaries with propaganda about gender affirming care, white supremacy, systemic racism, and claims of fascist republican insurrectionists, open borders, while their intellectual leaders, Ibram Kendi, Robin DiAngelo… openly call for an identity politics driven social justice revolution.
The New York Times funds a 1619 US history project whose authors admit that it is a political narrative selling oppression which does not accurately reflect history, yet the democrat non-profits and Biden himself supports its premises and are successfully pushing it into 100s if not thousands of schools. And the republicans are the crazy ones?
Go listen to the conservative thought leaders recently interviewed on the Uncommon Knowledge podcast and judge them and see if you think they are crazy.
Re: Trump’s behavior - yes it is out of the norm today but when one glances back in history his behavior mirrors other ‘outliers’ such as Teddy Roosevelt & Andrew Jackson for just two. Personally, I found Trump to be somewhat of a fresh breeze that was able to penetrate the mind numbing & ineffective political-speech of Foggy Bottom.
> "whose authors admit that it is a political narrative selling oppression which does not accurately reflect history"
I'm aware of the liberties they took with some history, and the slanted interpretations it promoted. But I haven't seen NHJ or other authors themselves admit that. Do you remember where that was?
"Oh, it's just about teaching accurate history, why are you against that? You want to pretend that slavery never existed, there's no other reason to oppose accurate history."
then when challenged:
"It's not history, it's a narrative, an attempt to redirect the national memory (so being historically accurate is not important, the narrative is). And people's attempt to discredit it by using historical facts just shows how racist they are."
Do you think it’s as high as 75% or is it the media and social media that frames the narrative? I would really like to know the true number of Jews who support Israel and are Zionists as opposed to all the pole numbers we are
I think it is getting lower and that our Jewish brethren are shifting away from the hard Left. But I am only basing that on my personal experiences with my significant other's family who are right leaning moderates. ( To the extent that a couple are Trump supporters.)
Nothing at all!! If it came out that there was something wrong with that, my apologies. I supported DJT and will continue to support him. Irrespective of what others think, I know he loves this country, and that's enough for me after the Obama years.
The 75-80% figure is the amount of Jews that vote Democrat. How that is divvied up in the various Democrat factions, I don't know but I am sure the figures are out there with some goggling/research.
It's not just hard for young people to see. Older jews don't see it either. My SIL is Jewish and during the Trayvon Martin incident, she posted incessantly on FB repeating the left media's narratives. Zimmerman absolutely deserves no sympathy but the media wasn't exactly unbiased or honest either. She had no clue expressed so much indignation about the whole thing. Then came BLM and the same thing. Endless open-hearted support and posts condemning what happened. All of which is fine as she is a person sympathetic to victims of racism, and I can chuck up her parroting liberal media narratives as simply being a liberal unaware of what's happening. But I never see her post anything about the current rise of antisemitism. Not a single word. And it's not just her either. Everyone Jewish I know are more concerned about other oppressed groups according to the Wokes than themselves. I really don't get it.
Bari has always made it clear when she stands on this issue. But I really wish she would address the issue of Jewish apathy. And no, I'm not talking about young Jewish college students in fear of being ostracized and losing their future. I'm talking about the majority of Jewish adults who continue to be faithful Democratic voters and supporters of all the Woke shit but are so apathetic when it comes to antisemitism in America. What gives?
IMHO Liberal Jewish women have gone off the rails in the past decade. I walked with a Jewish woman, a self proclaimed Socialist for about 12 years every morning (we also attended Pilates classes twice weekly). She knew I was a Republican. We could not and did not discuss politics. However, there was so much else to cover - the kids, art (she is an art dealer and I collect), food, travel, etc, etc, The day after Trump won, she literally had a meltdown. I told her "everything would be okay" as I hugged her, in turn, she pushed me away and spitted back, "No it won't". She has not spoken to me since (and she dropped out of Pilates classes). However, she's not the only one; Most of my liberal female friends have literally lost their minds. But Jewish women take the cake for intense neuroticism. So going forward, I swore I would be polite but never embrace one again as a 'friend' - too much drama, too much unreasonableness, too much craziness. At this point, I feel as if they have done me a favor. (Oh BTW - my husband is Jewish, I raised my girls to be Jewish - and I have told them all my sentiments. I have also been telling my husband about the Left's anti-Semitism over the past dozen years - but he seemingly turns a deaf ear to it. To get him to listen, I have even tossed out the 'walking into the ovens' phrase, to get his goat, but still no reaction...they just don't believe it can happen to them again).
As a Jewish woman, I must take exception to your comments. It’s an equal opportunity neurosis: the men are as bad as the women.
I’m a political moderate in a family full of progressives. I love my family dearly, but we can’t have a rational discussion about politics, and these last several years have been particularly crazy. On the topic of this article, they refuse even to acknowledge that there is a problem with antisemitism from the left. They all are highly intelligent, seemingly rational people. Their desperate clinging to progressive ideals and refusal to consider obvious facts both baffle and frustrate me.
Progressivism should be an acknowledged mental illness in the DSM.
Your comment comforts me. You're describing my life now, and I thought I was out there swinging in the wind all by myself. The part about your relatives refusing to acknowledge any flaws whatsoever on the left is especially familiar to me. But I don't believe they "refuse" to acknowledge any flaws on the left that they may come into contact with. What they "refuse" to do is consume anything other than carefully-curated, Woke-certified media. This ensures that they will never come into contact with those flaws and hence they will never experience the discomfort of cognitive dissonance.
Now and then I will send them an article from Bari's Substack (they know she's Jewish, so they give her a pass). But they never comment on or thank me for those articles. How much they absorb is impossible to know.
Have you ever introduced a concept that is not Woke-Certified and been met with the dead-eyed stares of people attempting to process an idea they haven't heard before? For instance, one day I explained the difference between "equity" and "equality" to my relatives who insisted that affirmative action was the only way to overcome racism. That was interesting.
I was staying with friends in the Hudson Valley the night of the election. The atmosphere for the rest of my visit was incredible, everywhere from the local shop, the Metro North train, the Guggenheim, people were stunned, angry, close to spitting.
I was happy to return to Atlanta, where our Southern manners mostly helped hide our feelings, pro or con, regarding the election.
Reminds of a great line from Casablanca, “Louis, are you pro Vichy or Free French?”
To which Louis responds, “ Serves me right for asking a direct question. The subject is closed.”
I’m very pro 1A. But I am also very pro being polite and minding one’s manners. This would include avoiding provocative conversation.
Places like this comment section exist for us to scratch that itch. Friendly conversation should not. I’d much prefer to talk about fishing. So don’t ask me about my business and I won’t say to you “good bye.”
Yes - at the time I was in NYC - for over 35 years! Covid pushed us into the country which I am loving it…normal calm people for the most part, just trying to get on with life. I don’t miss New Yorkers at all and for all the time I spent there never considered myself one.
Raise Democrat...will never go back. When I “ woke up” to them and their racism, hatred, manipulation, all of it, I was not shy about speaking out. My liberal Jewish relatives have become more outspoken about support of BDS Israel, free P, and support of Roger Waters. Wow! I have lost friends but gained some and some Jewish relatives have come on my journey. The abortion issue, US border, lies about blacks not having ID’s! All of it. Someone mentioned Jewish apathy. You are correct BTW, not just Jewish women but many upper crust women fighting for others “ oppression” in America. Travel ladies, please. See real oppression. Signed, W.S. Jersusalem, Israel 🇮🇱
I "liked" Your comment. But I did wanna inform You that Zimmerman was framed. He was innocent from beginning to end, which is why the police didn't initially arrest him in the first place.
And that's why the jury acquitted him. They *had* to.
I believe you. I didn't follow the Martin/Zimmerman case closely. But after Covington and Kyle Rittenhouse, it doesn't surprise me at all if Zimmerman was framed. And I was aware of the media manipulation to cast Martin in the most innocent light. It was a joke as a choir boy he was not. To this day so many people still think Martin was a little innocent 12 year old instead of a druggie and possibly a thug. Just like George Floyd is made into a martyr victim when he's in fact an asshole domestic abuser. Doesn't mean he should've been killed by police brutality, but he was still a violent ass.
On a gut level though I still have an uneasy feeling about Zimmerman which I don't have at all for Nick Sandman and Rittenhouse. (ETA his conduct subsequent to the trial was disturbing and doesn't make me feel sympathetic either.)
Zimmerman was a half-Hispanic Democrat who had twice voted for Obama and mentored two Black youth, and gone to bat for a Black kid killed by a Deputy's son. The evidence is that Martin (who was 4" taller and often in trouble for fighting) jumped him. The only direct witness described a person matching Martin on top of a prone person (Zimmerman) beating on him. Zimmerman said that his head was being pounded into the pavement and he feared losing consciousness, when he remembered that he had a weapon (sheathed until then), whereupon he drew and fired once. When the police arrived he had injuries to the back of his head. In the subsequent autopsy for Martin, the bullet path was upward as described by Zimmerman. The jury easily found him innocent. The police had, for good reason, not charged him until lawyer Benjamin Crump made it a racial justice issue and got an ambitious prosecutor involved. There were some travesties of justice involved.
Zimmerman lost his balance after this (with his life ruined even tho he did not go to prison), but before that he was a loyal Democrat and friend of Black folks. Can you imagine trying to go back to your job and life as a Democrat after that? Where everybody on your political side considers you the embodiment of evil, and acts accordingly, ignoring the jury and attributing your acquittal to white privilege and a crooked system letting a racist murderer go scot free? The only folks who wanted to hang with him were, um, of a different mindset and that distorted him. I don't like his subsequent behavior either, but I haven't been placed in that position. I can't imagine how terrible it would be to go through life as George Zimmerman.
Benjamin Crump was also involved in grossly distorting the Michael Brown case in Ferguson Mo, and represented the family of George Floyd when they got their multimillion dollar settlement (before the conviction). He is a rich man from his efforts to create "justice".
So I agree that you may need to re-evaluate your intuitive assessment of Zimmerman. I do not hold him out as any hero, but I believe he was innocent.
It wasn't until I heard the trial testimony that I realized how unfairly Zimmerman had been portrayed by the media. I should have suspected that after they called him a "white Hispanic." But the evidence clearly showed that Martin had jumped him and was attempting to murder him when Zimmerman fired his gun.
I find it interesting that almost every day now I see news stories about black people randomly attacking white and Asian people. It is clear that a social message has been spread far and wide that such behavior is tacitly approved of by those in power. In large Blue cities, the culprits are set free without bail.
Here's the thing about Your uneasy feeling. Sometimes gut instincts are just plain wrong.
Like Celia pointed out, I think it's pretty clearly the case of what Zimmerman himself said. (To the effect:) "If my name had been Jorge instead-a George, none-a this would-a happened.
You mebbe wanna consider how You would-a reacted. An innocent man framed? To become one-a the most hated people in America. Starting from Obama on down?
The media sure tried. From using a terribly unrepresentative photo of Martin to pearl clutching commentary about how Zimmerman hunted this poor little innocent boy (who was trying to paint the sidewalk with Zimmerman’s brains).
I attended a talk from a lawyer on A2 rights several years ago. He highlighted the Zimmerman case as what happens when a case becomes politicized. According to him, Zimmerman's problems came from following the directions of the 911 operator, who told him to get out of the car and follow Trayvon Martin. On the tape of the 911 call, you can hear Zimmerman opening the car door after the 911 operator tells him to. That's why Zimmerman was found innocent. There was recorded proof that he was acting in accordance with directions. And the moral is, you are not obligated to follow directions from a 911 operator.
That he was following directions meant exactly nothing. Let’s say the operator told him to hide in a bush and shoot Martin. He could not rely on those instructions as a defense.
He was found not guilty because Martin was slamming Zimmerman’s skull into the pavement and a reasonable person would fear for their life justifying deadly force in response to deadly force.
Following instructions is not an element of self-defense. Here it is incidental. He used deadly force in response to deadly force. Had no instructions been given he’d still have a valid self-defense claim. Therefore, instructions are irrelevant.
The new definition of the term “white supremacy” is evidence the pernicious obsession the woke ideology has with language. Not so long ago, “white supremacy” was understood as a racist and separatist worldview with a strong antisemitic core whilst “white supremacy” is now understood as something Jewish individuals are adjacent to and/or beneficiaries of. I can tolerate an open minded conversation about systemic/institutional racism and the degree to which it continues to exist and influence our society. I draw the line—however—with the term “white supremacy” being redefined as no longer antisemitic. The way I see it, true separatists and antisemitic white supremacists are the only beneficiaries with this new definition.
True. Jewish Zionists should be labeled “Jewish Supremacists.” White Supremacy should retain connotation of anti-semitism , just as it should retain the connotation of racism toward every other non “white” racial grouping. The Wokeian notion that only white people are racist and therefore all racist people are white supremacists is supremely stupid.
Black people can be racist. Asians, Arabs, Latinos, Eskimos, Jews -- a person of any conceived race can be racist. And a person who thinks a particular race should rule any territory is a racial supremacist. If the person is black, they are a black supremacist. If they are jewish, they are a Jewish Supremacist. Thus, Zionists are Jewish Supremacists. Bari is a Jewish Supremacist. Blake is a Jewish Supremacist. Farrakhan is a Black Supremacist. Jared Taylor is a White Supremacist. Anyone who defends the territorial racial supremacy of any race is generically a Racial Supremacist.
Most the commentators here are, for example, Racial Supremacists.
Its reason. But what you write is braindead slander. Rather than defending the ideology of Zionism rationally, I've noticed that Zionists resort to slandering all critics with accusations of racism. It resembles the behavior of the Wokeians.
I'm an Jew, an Israeli American, and a proud Zionist, and your comments are bitter to the core antisemitism cloaked as psuedo-intellectual babble. You utilize the same millennia-old tropes which have led to the murder of millions of Jews, and illustrate why we have our own country today. And you can call us whatever you want.
More gibberish pretending to be intellectual analysis. You have totally ignored the jihad against Jews or how you think you would protect your children from clear and constant threats.
Im not sure why Israel requires the Nation State Law to protect Jews from jihad. Could you explain? Because up until 10 years ago it didn't exist. Were Jews less safe before Israel told all its citizens who weren't jews that they had no "right to national self-determination"?
Actually, I'd argue that may have made their Jewish citizens less safe.
The psuedo-intellectual babble has left the building and now it's just an unhinged and wildly ignorant antisemitic rant. Kindly remember that the Internet is forever and this is not a good look for you.
If you want to argue your point, you need data, and I'm just not impressed with the strident crazypants venom. The world is a big place, and you don't seem to have any intellect or maturity to see beyond race or blind hatred, because Jews are not a race. And we are a persecuted minority. Too bad if you don't like it, you'll have to get past our army and our nukes first.
For anyone else reading this:
Multiple European states have similar laws and state religions in their constitution. Singling out Israel is wrong. The Nation State law is a symbolic law, and the country is divided over it; but it's a response to the millions of people who would like to destroy Israel, a Jewish state and a democratic nation, with equal voting rights for 21% of its citizens who are not Jewish. There anti-Zionist Arab parties in the Knesset, and an Islamist party holding the whole thing together. Arab Israelis are on the Supreme Court, serve as diplomats, and become officers in the IDF. They head the Israeli national bank, and are educated in Israeli universities - Arab Christians have more degrees than any other group. They participate in every economic sector - especially medicine and healthcare.
“ a person who thinks a particular race should rule any territory is a racial supremacist.”
Any person therefore that thinks a particular race deserves to rule a particular territory would be a Racial Supremacist of a particular race--ie if a person thinks white people should rule a territory, and they are white, they are a “White Supremacist”.
If the person isn’t white but is sympathetic to the idea that white people should rule a territory, they are Racial Supremacists who sympathize with the racial supremacist aspirations of White Supremacists.
Being a Racial Supremacist has been common throughout human history. You have plenty of company.
“Just wanted to quote you for posterity. “
Well, if posterity isn’t filled with Racial Supremacists, such as yourself, they will likely appreciate it.
Personally, I am a Cultural Supremacist. People of particular culture should rule territory, and the particular culture I think should rule does not include racial supremacy as an aspiration.
I agree that people of all backgrounds have to potential to the racist, but that is the extent to which we agree. As to who should rule, hopefully—in a democracy—a well intended, clever and transparent individual elected by the people. I do not care if by “the people” we are talking about a multicultural society, or could care less about the color of the skin of elected officials.
“Democracy” is a cultural value. Within a democracy, autocracy is scorned. If you favor Democracy over Autocracy, you essentially view Democracy as a superior cultural value over autocracy. And I assume you want people committed to democracy and not autocracy leading the government. I’m sure there are well intended, clever, and transparent autocrats.
And you seem to have a very optimistic view of “the people”!
Remember, “the people” in Venezuela recently voted in their own destruction. A dominant culture that glorifies “democracy” too much has the tendency to self destruct. That is one reason why John Adams strongly encouraged a constitutional republic. And also is one reason no one should trust a party that labels itself the “Democratic Party” that was formed by slavers. Hopefully the Democratic Party implodes before the country.
When is the last time you think a transparent individual was elected to Congress by the people?
I'm not that sympathetic with people deciding they have the authority to redefine what words mean to suit their political stance. I've seen too much of that recently.
A typical dictionary definition of a white supremacist:
"a person who believes that white people constitute a superior race and should therefore dominate society"
If you want to invent an idiosyncratic term tied primarily to territory, please use a different word or phrase, rather than contributing the semantic games we've been inundated with.
To suggest that I am redefining words to suit my political stance is not accurate. I am logically extending the meaning of words that already exist.
Even in the definition you provide, what do you think "society" is? Is Israel not a "society" in your mind? Are countries not societies? And what is dominating a society? Can people be said to dominate a society but not rule it? For you to reject my definition because you don't like the word territory is asinine. I use the word territory because it is even more concrete than a word like society. From my knowledge, there has never been a white supremacist who wished white people to dominate a society, but not rule over a territory. Dominating a Society = Ruling over Territory.
In Merriam Webster's dictionary there is no reference to society at all. And the second definition it provides is:
"the social, economic, and political systems that collectively enable white people to maintain power over people of other races"
Hence "Racial Supremacy" would therefore be "the social, economic, and political systems that enable a race of people to maintain power over people of other races."
Hence, "Jewish Supremacy", would therefore be "the social, economic, and political systems that enable jewish people to maintain power over people of other races."
And Israel has a political system that maintains power over people who are not jewish. It is directly in their Nation State Law:
"1 — Basic Principles
A. The land of Israel is the historical homeland of the Jewish people, in which the State of Israel was established.
B. The State of Israel is the national home of the Jewish people, in which it fulfills its natural, cultural, religious, and historical right to self-determination.
C. The right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people."
Just replace the word "Jewish" with "White" and it should be clear that the laws are Racial Supremacy laws.
And Id just like to point out that you probably shouldn't put too much stock in dictionaries and their definitions. The people who write dictionaries are not magically exempt from possible political bias, nor are definitions of dictionaries the word of God; they are just the word of some people who decided they had the authority to define what words meant; and some people just bow down to them for some peculiar reason. I do not; no dictionary reveals all the meaning in our words. Although they can be unquestionably valuable.
Same. It wasn't until I started reading more of these experiences from Bari Weiss, et al. that I began to see the depth of antisemitism in the US. In my religious upbringing, my parents and religious community always taught us to respect the Jewish people because of their devotion and that they were the evidence that God keeps his covenants with his people.
In recent years I started to realize just how subtle anti-semitism has become, especially on the left. :(
That's precisely the kind of family in which I was raised. My Italian Catholic father had a very close friend that happened to be a Jewish dentist; it was the 70s. The obvious respect and affection those two men had for each other was a wonderful thing. Now in my later years, I understand what a lesson that was for me and I am grateful.
Jeffrey - Agreed. I think most people's actual beliefs are some blend of left and right. But when it comes to voting we're stuck with the binary, and with govt taking over so much of our lives it's hard to get past the partisanship
Intersectionality is a malign racket with a tilted playing field. It bites all sorts of people you might naively think fit snugly into some niche of oppression.
I don’t understand how this happened. I went to college 20 years ago at the university of Texas at Austin. I had quite a number of Jewish classmates, my suite mates in my dorm were Jewish and everyone loved them. They were really fun. My minor was history and I focused on WWII and the Holocaust so I wasn’t ignorant to antisemitism but I never saw anything on this level. I’ve read so many news stories over the past couple of years describing these moments and I can’t wrap my head around how college campuses became so hateful. It breaks my heart that in 2022 Jews don’t feel safe in America. This is also not the country I grew up in.
I am 63. People complained and talked to me about Jews all the time at Boston University and to my brother as well at New York University. We are Jews. In medical school, I was asked out on a date and invited to join Aryan Nation! Psh!
It’s been a way of life. My Friend of 12 years just said to my “ why don’t the Jews forget about the Holocaust “? He also suggested that Hamas were freedom fighters. Shall I go on? But hey, I am not going to burn down my beloved country, USA. I am writing you from Jersusalem. Am yisrael Chai. I followed my children here.
My 31 year old son came at 18th never return. Other son followed after education. All grandchildren here. One more child in Brooklyn. We are waiting on her…
Maybe Jews can “forget about the Holocaust” when it’s not the story of their families lives. When they are not still feeling the effects of it as second third and fourth generation survivors. I sure hope they don’t forget when it’s a bit farther away because it’s clear now that the next one is around the corner. Whoever doesn’t believe that is naïve. Now is the time to rise against this hatred. Before it is too late. The very educated and enlightened Jews in Germany before WWII were in denial as well. The ones that saw the writing on the wall tried to escape but the others met their fate in one way or another. Jews can never feel like they can put their guard down. Those who do are living in denial. Unfortunately.
Agree. But go where? I feel like a sitting duck here in Jersusalem but then again, rather be a duck than a schmuck living in NY fighting for the Democratic Party to get back in Iran deal.
I went to both UT and A&M as well as UTA and some Dallas community colleges 25 years ago. My experiences at all were similar to yours in that I don't remember any anti semitic rants by any group. (It also wasn't deemed "ok" to scream at people you were ideologically at odds with until they were either fired or shunned. There were no laws about this...you just knew not to do it.) I've never understood where all recent anti semitic nonsense is coming from, particularly, as so eloquently stated, they have no understanding of history composed of actual facts and not just spun on whim.
This is incredibly frightening. I had no idea the level of hate that was being tolerated. Combine this with the Shrier article "I don't want American Kids".
Think about this...
If the mob can come for anyone - the mob will come for everyone.
The mob HAS come for many of us: Jews, police, white men (especially older white men), women - men in their bathrooms and in their sports, and, most tragic of all, kids. The mob has even come after their own. Cross them and you're out of the clique.
I'm sorry, but if you vote for the Left you're a (for want of a better word) jackass.
Good luck Blake. You're a courageous young man and I am sorry we failed you.
You are so right. And I would add to your list the unvaccinated and anyone who spoke out against COVID totalitarianism. That wave of hatred mostly came from the left too. In a weird way the left have become the new fascists--they love and are deeply intwined with big corporations ( e.g.big pharma, big tech) and they are deeply intolerant of diversity of opinion. Also, they seem to have a profound hatred of the working class.
Re: the fascist label being thrown at people on the right - can individuals be fascist? My understanding of fascism is that government and corporate collusion is fascism
That said, to a certain extent Progressive Jews are enabling their own discrimination by being out on the far left & supporting The Movement itself....that is until it bites them in the butt.
This article, so beautifully written, makes me inexpressibly sad. As a British Jew, perhaps the saddest thing of all is that nothing he has written is particularly shocking or surprising to me. Reading his words I ask myself how is it possible that this can be allowed to happen in the 21st century, after everything that has happened and everything we know? I wish Blake Flayton all the luck and all the joy in his new life in Israel, and I wish so much that he didn’t feel that he has to make the journey. But I understand completely why he does.
Germany was an enlightened country with great universities and yet they either participated or turned a blind eye to the dehumanization of the Jews that eventually allowed the Holocaust.
If it happened then it can happen in the 21st century. Look how little it took for the mob to form against the unvaxed. If you install enough fear in people they can lose all sense of proportion and basically become uncivilized.
I’d say we’re seeing a disturbing level of uncivilized behavior from too many people lately and it’s being excused as activism
When Christianity was replaced by Wokism (Marxist postmodernism) on college campuses, America lost its way. In this amoral climate, the politicians were allowed to abandon the people, especially the youth. They now tolerate an avalanche of immigration, mostly from collectivist countries, to shore up their power. In the process, they ignore the declining prospects for America's own. The anti-Semitism that Blake experienced is just one aspect of a wholesale cultural revolution that the country is experiencing. Christians are facing hatred too, so America has a choice to make. Will we fight to become a Judeo-Christian nation again or we will devolve into a Marxist nation. There is no middle ground. Every civilization needs a guiding mythology to provide its moral foundation. The colleges are trying to replace Christianity with Marxism (Critical Theory) and it is hurting all of us.
It is less about a specific religion and more about the ability of people to govern their own behavior through a shared moral consciousness and personal conscience.
One of biggest harms the Boomers wrought to society as a whole was their rejection of their parents' moral values. They quickly bought into the communist ideal of religion as evil--a threat to their communist (whether openly admitted or not) utopia.
Admittedly, atheism had been growing slowly but steadily since the Victorian era, but the Boomers pushed religion off a cliff, as far as society as a whole was concerned. Being moral was "square"--deserving only of mockery (note that the hippies called the few Christian believers among them "Jesus Freaks").
Very fair point on your first sentence. The framers of the Constitution could not have achieved what they did without the ability of the people to govern their own behavior, and that required a greater good.
Communism was widely embraced in the 1920’s, especially in England. Atheism was considered progressive and brave. Coming out as atheist was like declaring independence from medieval superstition. It definitely didn’t start with the boomer generation although it was slower to catch on in the US so it might seem that the post-war gen started it. We’re a younger society and so lagging behind Europe a bit.
Jesus freak wasn’t a slur - it implied commitment rather than weirdness
I must say I was set back by this article; like the parents of the Jewish kids who "don't have the words" I have a hard time imagining this world. I went to a college that had a near 50% of the enrollment being Jewish kids. There was never any animosity over religious or cultural differences and certainly none of the name calling or vandalism Mr. Flayton mentions. To see this now, to see the result of years of neglected history and literature to appease an ignorant and loathsome mob, to see our country sinking into the very place we were taught to eschew, is saddening indeed. It is all to apparent that the few sane people left are going to have to take the reins because the abyss is dead ahead and closer with each moment.
But in those days, everyone was at least tolerant of each others views. The megalomaniac fringe has managed to forcefully insert themselves as the arbiters of culture and values; the arrival of social media platforms has inabled them far more than any general acceptance of their ideas.
The problem seems to be people no longer know how to critique with nuance. It’s possible to be critical of the Israeli government without being hateful towards Jewish people. It seems we can thread that needle when we criticize the CCP without bashing people for being Chinese.
I have sympathy for the young people described in the essay, but it's limited. If you define yourself as a progressive American college student then odds are you agree with sorting the world into oppressed and oppressors; you've just been surprised to find yourselves on the wrong side.
If you've stood up for fellow students who expressed conservative opinions, or who've deadnamed someone or used the wrong pronoun (or just refused to care) or questioned BLM or the 1619 project or... anybody who's a member here can add to the list... then I take my original statement back.
In any case, welcome to Israel. If I can be of any help, let me know.
One of my relatives recently graduated from law school in NYC. The anti-semitism was so virulent and so relentless, the entire family eventually got up and walked out, led by my mild-mannered British son-in-law who avoids conflict like the plague. He said he couldn't sit there another minute.
Given that I have some sway over hiring young lawyers, I'd be interested in which one so I can identify the young fools they're foisting on the legal community.
OK I get it. Israel is a beautiful land and the ancestral home of the Jewish people. But you're an American. How about staying here? And while you're at it, cast off the reflexive leftism that has characterized so much of Jewish American life. That leftism that now - predictably - knifes you in the back. And despises you. Many American Jews, including the most religious among them, are embracing the new conservative movement that embraces them - and Israel - in return. (and additionally embraces all freedom-loving people regardless of sexual orientation). The love of liberty and free speech - which has always animated American Jews - is no longer found on the left. Or in the Democrat Party. The party your grandparents worshipped has morphed into something ugly and despotic. The ACLU - once a bright symbol of Jewish pride - no longer stands for civil liberties. The entire American left is devolving into a bunch of brownshirted goons. Only conservatives stand against them. So cast off that tired garment. Stay, embrace conservative and breath the sweet air of liberty.
Amen. As the other reply stated, the ADL- which was formed to combat anti-Semitism- became woke and lost it’s way. I saw that happen 25 years ago. Even Hadassah- supposedly a Women’s Zionist organization- is now going in that direction. They just profiled a rabid woke leftist in their magazine (Amy Spitalnick). The only bright light is that the left is coming out of the closet and is parading it’s hatred for all to see. Let’s hope people are watching and listening.
That’s easy to say. But when you’re not even able to BE in college it’s a bad sign of what’s to come. When you can’t go to university and have a real and free academic experience that’s a bad sign. When you’re ostracized for being Jewish or saying one word people don’t like that’s the beginning of what will continue in your workplace, your kids school and your community. That’s where it’s at. It only gets worse from here. History repeats itself. It’s time to fight this now. But in the meantime saying pretty slogans about freedom don’t protect people who are being discriminated against or physically attacked right now, in the USA.
I fear we (American Jews) are at a similar place German Jews were in the early 1930’s. Anti-Semitism was on the rise, starting with the Hitler youth and other groups and Jews said “not here, no way.” “Germany is an enlightened society; my grandparents and parents were all born in Germany. I’m German. This is a free society. So there is anti-semitism but it is from fringe groups. This is different than the Pale of Settlement. I’m free here and I can’t imagine leaving.”
Can this words be said by American Jews today? I think so. And this time, unlike German Jews, we know what can and has happened. The Shoah. So this time we are being warned and we know if we don’t listen, we might pay the ultimate price.
I’m not saying all Jews should move to Israel. I’m in my early 60’s, great career, make good money and I’d love to make Aliya but my wife is against it. So my goal now is to convince her to buy an apartment in Tel Aviv so we have a place to go when . . . .
Well when you buy that apt, I will live in it until you need, lol. # 2, either you go or not. Probably the reverse would be true. Biden will give billions to Iran and we will be blown off face of earth. I would rather do that than be safe in Germany. So happy here.
That’s true but they don’t call Jewish people pejorative names and they might be self-hating (I really don’t think they are self-hating) but they are not anti-Semitic. They are not going to say
“banish me to the seas. Or probably don’t call people dirty Jews. Since they are one.
The G.W. cafeteria strike thing is just stunning. The rise of campus antisemitism is incredibly frightening and yet it’s barely noticed in the mainstream media, which is very worrying.
Bc the media are these people. The whole “its not being talked about” refrain is pointless when the malignant intentions of the media and academia are the same, if not the individual perpetrators
What a great shame for America to lose so many of our future leaders to such unreasoned hate. We seem to be on the verge of a "Kristallnacht." What is really disturbing is the animus of the Progressive left which seems to be parroting Nazi propagandists of the extreme right-wing crazies. Where will it end?
The Horse shoe. Communism and Nazism are allegedly opposite sides of the spectrum, but in reality they are near each other at the bottom with a liberal democracy on the top.
Blake- your leaving America isn’t your betrayal of America...it’s America’s betrayal of you.
Sorry, not "America's" betrayal of him.
The betrayal is by liberal and progressive Democrats who unleashed this madness..
Let's be very clear who's behind this.
I think it’s clear from recent Common Sense articles and other outlets that way too many college campuses have become cesspools of progressive groupthink. Mr. Flayton can make it all about antisemitism but the Jewish persecution list he provides could certainly be expanded if he wants to buttress his reasoning for emigration. Maybe he should talk to a few devout Catholics who have had their churches firebombed because they believe abortion is a sin. Maybe he should talk to evangelical Christians who have been caricatured as inbred buffoons because they believe Jesus is their savior and had their churches shut down during Covid while rioters were free to rampage across our cities. Maybe he should speak with a few Mormons about how their ancestors were murdered and forced to flee their homes and trek across the country until they finally found sanctuary in Utah, all because they dared practice their religion. I’m sure that Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims can all contribute equally disturbing stories.
The fact is, ALL religions are under assault and it seems to me counterproductive to bellyache about which one is being persecuted more. The Marxist left has been trying to exterminate religion on campus and elsewhere for decades because big government is their sanctioned religion and the protagonists Mr. Flayton lists are members of its congregation. Their religion demands absolute obedience and any alternative that promotes belief in a higher authority is one of the few things standing in their way.
Very true. We all need to fight Cultural Marxism.
Young Blake is one of the canaries in the coal mine. There have been enormous numbers of canaries who have not survived financially and emotionally.
Blake wisely chose to leave the US. But as he stated early in the essay, most Jewish students are capitulating, as are most all students.
I believe it is insane to send students to these re-education camps, but as Blake wrote, parents are simply ignorant of the extent of the intellectual and emotional carnage taking place there.
Please abandon these re-ed camps. If you can't go to Israel send your children to get a career at an occupational school. There will be places in America that will defend good values, and citizens must find them, move to them and defend them, because the universities and large cities have made their case very clear. They will ruin you or they will own you. Why do so many take so long to see this?
For those of who see this like me, choices are very important and knowing your child is even more important.
My oldest daughter went to a local undergraduate school, a five year program with summer co-ops. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and got five scholarships (at top rated schools) to go onto graduate school for her PhD in STEM. She picked the one that suited her the best and is now deep into her PhD, doing research and writing papers in her chosen field of study. She is level headed and sees the carnage from the Left and is navigating it just fine. I’m not going to tell her she can’t follow her dreams just because of some assholes. She will get her doctorate and then pick what’s next, most likely the private sector.
You did a wonderful job parenting her, and she must be a very smart young woman navigating the the terrain as she did. Many parents do not report such splendid results.
"If you can't go to Israel send your children to get a career at an occupational school."
The real need is to develop and support intellectuals who hold a rational view of the world. Bari Weiss is one but there are others too.
Excellent comment, Tim. Much needed perspective. The left hates all religions.
Except, of course, the god that failed.
Except Islam. They never dare speak against it.
I wonder if the left embraces Islam simply because Islam hates Jews and Christians, sort of like the enemy of my enemy is my friend
No. They stereotype followers of Islam as People of Color, and thus oppressed, and thus above whites or white-adjacents. Very simple; works for simpletons.
I believe the Left embraces Islam in the US because it is a minority here. Fitting in with their worldview of standing up for the oppressed, nothing more.
But in reality, Islam is not a minority on the world stage and exerts tremendous power.
This is precisely the reason. The only thing the Left and Islam agree on is that Israel must be destroyed. That hatred, that desire, is powerful enough to overcome disagreement on every other issue.
They dare not speak against Islam because unlike Christians and Jews, Muslims will not slink off into the night and remain quiet when offended. They will kill you for blaspheming the prophet. This has happened all over the world.
Sadly, so true. Nor do they dare stand up to the bloodthirsty zealots of this death cult when they try to assassinate a venerated novelist.
I think deep down whether they want to admit it or not, there's a part of them frightened to do it. What other religion in this day and time will kill you for disagreeing with their religion?
Timothy, I wish I could agree with you but you are so off point here.
First of all this is a personal essay about his experience. This is not an article about what’s wrong with academia. Or which group is persecuted more.
Making less of antisemitism is something that happens all the time. It’s a very wrong point of view to take but when one hasn’t experienced it they can make that mistake.
Jews are the most persecuted group in the United States. By far. Jews are the target of 58% of all religiously motivated hate crimes in US. The number of incidents and attacks has skyrocketed and broken all records. Every single day just in Brooklyn NY people are attacked. Unfortunately it’s almost always by the same people and none of this is mentioned in the media, who barely reports it happening at all.
Being a student in a college that is part of a larger movement to get rid of religion is not the same thing as being a student who is personally ostracized and put in danger just for who they are. My son is headed to college soon and I am scared for his life and his physical well-being. All Jewish students heading to college at this very moment are in danger. You can’t really say the same for anyone else. Wether Mormon or Muslim. When the hamas in Gaza decide to send hundreds of missiles to Tel Aviv, Jews in the United States get attacked on the street. I urge you to learn more about what people have gone through in history and now, to try and understand what thousands of years of antisemitism feels like. Always being the scape goats and never knowing where the gauntlet is going to come falling from. I myself at 46 years old am the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. My two aunts were born before the war and went separately in to hiding as young children as did my grandparents. They were the “lucky” ones. Their life was never the same again. I have no doubt that the Person my mother is was greatly affected by her being raised In the shadow of all the trauma and affected who she became, how she raised me and who I became too. This is part of the fabric of our lives. To people who don’t know many Jews or just read the headlines it seems like just another group that is discriminated against. But that’s not the way it is. Unfortunately there are many peoples who are treated badly. But what’s happening to american Jews right now is a huge problem and when Jews get treated badly, it’s always a sign of more discrimination and violence to come for everyone else.
The point of my original post, which clearly you missed, is that today’s antisemitism is only a symptom of a much larger strategy being employed by the left. The Holocaust didn’t start overnight. It took years of separating Jews from larger society, demonizing them and caricaturing them as less than human until it was acceptable for non-Jews to ignore their persecution. It’s a strategy that authoritarians like Hitler and Xi Jinping have employed for thousands of years and sorry, but Jews aren’t the only group it’s been employed against. Last night, President Joe Biden took to the stage and employed it once again. He ranted on about Donald Trump and Republicans who support him, declaring they “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundation of our Republic:”. While he hasn’t yet referred to them as “rats”, at least in public, it may be just a matter of time before he and his leftist allies go full Nazi. His authoritarian bona fides are already well established. His politicized JustUs Department labeled as domestic terrorists’ moms and dads who dared protest labeling their children racists because of their white skin. He ordered the firing of soldiers, nurses, and policemen who refused his decree and get vaccinated because they believed the “science” was flawed. His FBI collaborated with Facebook and other internet platforms into burying details of depravity and corruption contained in his son’s laptop to help swing an election and yet he claims its his political opponents who threaten our elections.
At the end of the day the real threat isn’t directed at any one religion or race. It’s the oppressor vs. the oppressed, the obedient vs. the rebellious, the blind vs. those who choose to see.
I would just like to add, that the reason most american Jews (especially the younger generation) didn’t experience that much discrimination in recent decades, is because they blended in, became Americanized and left their religion behind. They weren’t visibly Jewish and so their religion wasn’t as obvious to others. Many now have Christmas trees and more than 50 percent have married non Jews. (For the nazis this would not have mattered. They still sent the intermarried to the concentration camps). Nevertheless they still did probably experiance some form of bias. It could depend also on where they live. Even in NY I’m sure at some point my husband was treated differently, perhaps not hired bc he wears a skull cap. We just won’t know about it. It definitely wasn’t gone, but it became a lot less prominent, especially in places where there was a large Jewish population.
In Europe we always knew we had to wear a baseball hat over a skull cap, even in london. ( (Some that live their don’t do this, they won’t). What was special about the United States was that people for the most part didn’t have to hide who they were. But now, unfortunately it feels like we’re heading in the direction of the way Europe has been all these years. That is very scary for the people who experience it.
Any belief that isn't part of the new fascism is under assault. Religious or not. If American Jews want to fight budding American anti-semitism they have to fight the new fascism in its entirety. Fascist movements don't cull out exceptions for certain groups. All must think alike. Live alike. That's fascism.
Well, guess that explains the Holocaust.
Agree all religions are under assault. But understand, the Jews in the eyes of the haters ( and this is a global phenomenon) are the root of all evil. It is interpreted this way in Quran and taught in almost every grade school in Middle East. Also Christianity but not the same. Still, Even one drop of hatred can kill millions. Hate is hate is hate.
And supported by UNRWA, an agency of the United Nations, no less.
It’s been 70 yrs.UNRWA has not done their due diligence.
I understand your point. However, none of these groups experienced having 6 million of their people exterminated during World War II (while we non-Jews did nothing!) nor have these groups been targeted for persecution for 2000+ years because of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It’s imperative that we read history so as not to repeat mistakes of the past. It’s MY Christian duty to support and protect my Jewish brothers and sisters. Peace be with you. Shalom.
I might make mention that there was also another 6 million Christians, intellectuals, clergy and those deemed politically incorrect by the regime who perished.
Yes obviously. A tremendous amount of people and horrors. But this article is about this guys experience in an American college and it’s not unique to him. It represents the current and future attitude of the younger generation. If only the younger generation understood the horrors of wars, if they were more informed, and if they knew more history they would have a much deeper understanding of the world and life itself, and they would be able to make better and wiser decisions, especially when they reach positions of power in the not so far future.
Again Mike, I respect what you’re saying, however, I feel like it’s “what about-ism”. I am aware of the persecution of other classes of people in World War II. However, it pales in comparison! Approximately 2 out of every 3 European Jews were killed during World War II. The behavior of the Allied nations was disgraceful. They knew and did nothing. I vow to learn from history.
Sorry. I didn't mean to give that impression. My point is that everyone is in the crosshairs.
I appreciate your comment
“none of these groups experienced having 6 million of their people exterminated during World War II (while we non-Jews did nothing!)”
There are credible reports that between one and three million Chinese Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups are being detained against their will in what China has labeled “re-education camps”. The US, UK, Canada have labeled it genocide, which is defined by international convention as the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”. Their methods include forced mass sterilization of Uyghur women, separating children from their families and attempting to break up the cultural traditions of the group. Those who have escaped the camps have reported mass rape and sexual abuse and forced cheap (some would say slave) labor. It’s estimated that between 25,000 and 50,000 Uyghurs are killed annually for their organs to supply China’s growing transplant industry. We could debate what “we non-Jews” could have done sooner to stop the Holocaust but eventually, millions of non-Jews fought and died ending it and other assorted Nazi and Japanese atrocities.
If you're truly determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past, perhaps you have some suggestions on what we non-Muslims can do to stop the depravity being inflicted upon Uyghurs TODAY.
Timothy, I can’t agree more with your point regarding the Chinese atrocities on the Uyghur people. I personally do what little I can in terms of not buying Chinese goods (supporting the CCP economy), writing my Congressman and Senator and through conversations trying to bring awareness of the horrendous situation of the Uyghur people. My reference to “doing nothing” was in regard to the fact that the US government knew about the extermination camps and the persecution of the Jewish people and did not make moves to greatly increase immigration possibilities for European Jews to the US. I realize this next statement is more emotional in nature, but largely the world stood by and watched.
My two cents worth.
In C.G. Jung's AION (written at the end of his life) it is the loss of Western Civilizations human connection to the God image that will bring about collapse and doom mankind to centuries of barbarism. Healing the split between the sterility (my word) of scientific reason and religious experience will require the creation of a third alternative. (Edward F. Edinger has a commentary and guide to AION that I found useful.)
The war is and always has been on CONSCIOUSNESS. The lie and imposition of a false and manipulated reality (think D.C.). The suppression of free speech, thought and movement. The banning of books. Now, the cancellation of worthy lives. Name your horror. The perpetration and in all cases the hubris and malignant narcissism of the people imposing these restrictions squarely speaks to the pathological. Everyone here has cancer inducing glyphosate in their blood streams. Why? We can take note that the Dutch farmers, the most productive exporters of food in the world, are losing their battle against the WEF/CCP juggernaut in the name of environmentalism. (Supply chain issues anyone?) You can have all the hysteria and crisis you want but, no rational or actual solutions to problems are allowed. Why?
Could it be that we're dealing with crazy people? The participants in the rigged game monopoly experiments, where certain players were given advantages over other participants that ensured they would win, actually came to believe in their superiority and personal skill at the game, and saw no advantage in the advantage given them.
Consciousness. The expansion of Consciousness. Immersion in Consciousness. Participation in Universal Consciousness. The struggle to Consciously remember who we are. I can start by remembering that I'm an American. My Constitution is based upon human dignity. A living creator. And my culture is rich in history and myth. I am CONSCIOUS of both my darkness and my struggle for light and justice.
We're in a brand new game and, we've entered a brand new age. Stay strong. Stay clear.
Those same politicians that American Jews blindly support.
And for the life of me, I can't understand why. They are like a bunch of automatons. Or perhaps lemmings..
It's from old hurts and old insults. My grandparents came here from Europe. My grandfather was highly educated and was respected and revered. While he spoke several European languages as well as Hebrew and Yiddish, he did not speak English. However, his children wanted to be fully American. Education is terribly important to Jews and we forget the WASP culture, (or the dominant Protestant culture) did its best to prevent bright Jewish children from attending the better schools. (As they are now doing to Asians). This caused anger and resentment. It caused a focus on social justice. Social justice may have meant one thing back in the 1930's, 40's, and 50's but today has taken on a new dimension.
It's probably why the South stayed Democrat for so long. Old hurts and wounds take a long, long time to heal. The Civil War was bad enough because it killed an entire generation of young men but what may have been worse was Reconstruction. Reconstruction was terrible for blacks and whites. It hardened attitudes and created enmity.
Had Abraham Lincoln or US Grant lived it would have been different. Both men were compassionate, decent, fair men. Unfortunately those who followed didn't have their character or wisdom.
Not true. The Democratic Party is the party that fostered and still fosters segregation. Read your history. They continue to enslave, and are the most anti-Semitic people around. Republicans were non-existent in the South until relativity recently . It is the woke democrats that are preventing the brightest children from going to the best schools. Do you think you think that a Republican is on the school board in San Francisco or Oakland? READ history written without distortion!
STOP drinking their Kool-Aid! STOP being a lemming!
By the way-my grandparents were all immigrants from Easter Europe. My DNA shows 100% Jewish Ancestry.
In the South, after the Civil War blacks were Republicans. Democrats ran everything. In the North, it was the country club, upper crust Republicans who ran many things including elite universities. Democrats were in the cities where the majority of the immigrants were. The Republicans, AT THAT TIME, were anti-immigrant, anti-Jew, and anti-Catholic. How about YOU read your history.
The anti-immigrant and anti-liquor movement joined forces to push for Prohibition. It was widely believed, at that time, it was the immigrants who were promoting drunkenness and the social evils that went along with it.
Things have flipped. The current Democrats are indeed racists. They live on a "divide and conquer" basis. They are the ones currently destroying our country. No doubt about that.
How many Confederate flags do you see at Democratic rallies?
Some of my Jewish friends have become such lefties we hardly ever speak. Sad.
Not all American Jews.
Of course not, but around 70% do.
How can you measure that? The ones who are Lefties and Democrats are more visible and more vocal.
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/05/11/u-s-jews-political-views/
But many Naomi I think the percentage is greater than lesser
I hope that is changing.
I think it’s strange that the author doesn’t see this as a failure of progressivism as well as a logical result of progressives’ stranglehold on education. More than 50% of America doesn’t think like the leftist morons he is bemoaning. Why not broaden his circle to include conservatives? He’d find more acceptance there.
Lets alos be clear, the Jewish vote is close to meaningless in every nation on earth. Either Jews make up such a small portion of society that it really only impacts local elections, or in 1 nation (Israel), it is the majority so there is no Jewish vote per se.
The inverse, though, is not true. In many nations, the Islamic and Israel-hating vote IS material. In places like England, Sweden, France, etc, that vote in a meaningful portion of the voter base and can be sufficient to swing elections.
That’s all well and good...what is the GOP doing to roll this back? Nothing as far as I can see
Trump brokered the Abraham Accords and killed the Iran nuclear deal.
I’m talking about on college campuses.
Gotcha.
Nothing. The Left has quietly taken control of both K-12 and universities over the past thirty years. That fact, I believe, is responsible for the state of incivility that exists today, as well as the culture of victimhood.
The upside to the pandemic was that it exposed to parent just how bad K-12 has gotten, and started grass roots reform, as well as some political support.
Universities need to be taken apart and put back together. Since alumni seem to keep blindly writing checks, it will have to be the feds, if anyone.
The rot in universities is concentrated in particular departments. Education departments are the worst. Males are not allowed to express a masculine POV in most humanities departments. You can’t argue against trans trend without fear of excommunication. Universities need to foster and nurture and fight for viewpoint diversity especially when argued coherently.
I no longer write checks to my alma mater.
Wish you were the President Jon
And what power do republicans have on college campuses?
ZERO
A lot. In Red states legislatures have the power of the purse over public universities. Governors appoint Boards of Trustees, legislatures confirm them. Movements are a foot in Tennessee, Florida and Arizona to begin taking their public universities back. Tennessee passed some intentionally weak legislation on colleges last session. but now the National Association of Scholars just released a report that uses University of Tennessee, Knoxville--the flagship campus--as a case study for a DEI take over. Legislators are pissed, constituents are pissed, and alumni are pissed. We'll see where it goes.
One example- colleges which receive state or federal funding have anti-discrimination requirements as part of that funding. GOP could push to ensure anti-Semitic speech is included (and enforced) under those requirements.
The GOP and the right have absolutely no influence on the college campus.
Comstockian nonsense. How do you propose the GOP roll back the culture and programs of nutbar Democrats who control both the universities in Leftist cities and the national narrative
By presenting a better alternative.
Such as? You can’t implement policies if you are not in power. Here’s the best alternative. Knock off the vacuous criticism and vote Republican across the board.
What’s the feckless, American Jewish establishment doing about it? Nothing! Taking up every cause but their own. There’s a new organization called the Jewish Leadership Project that is focusing on the issues that the old guard refuses to address. They deserve our support.
I recently met a man forming a "get out the vote" organization. I'm joining. For some reason I always remember the old Zig Zigler line: "Logic will not change an emotion but action will." It is time to rebuild.
No, a subset of America. Specifically, the leftist cultists and their orthodoxy which includes Anti-Semitism.
I would say this is unbelievable but I can't put anything past the left.
https://freebeacon.com/campus/harvard-tells-students-using-wrong-pronouns-constitutes-abuse/
https://jewishjournal.com/commentary/opinion/351854/berkeley-develops-jewish-free-zones/
This is fathomable. We are now living in a time in the U.S. where we are afraid to speak out for fear of repercussions.
Absolutely. We are many swinging right. vote for. Watch for it.
wrong- america has been invaded by those seeking to reestablish the ottoman empire. Jews are the disinformation and cover for this invasion.
Is it fair that corporations get tax breaks, Bruce???
I found it telling he never experienced this hatred in “red” conservative and Republican Scottsdale just the “blue” liberal Democrat controlled campus.
Elon was right about the Democrat Party.
He might not have experienced it but let's not pretend the alt_right aren't antisemitic either with their endless conspiracy theories about the Jewish global world order going around and around online.
True, but the "alt right", so-called, are a small fringe, maybe a few thousand or a hundred thousand, out of the entire country. The anti-Semitic Left is in the millions and are far more violent. The fringe Right are anti-government, anti-Semitic, racist, etc., but don't represent any kind of broad based movement, despite Democrat efforts to paint them as the biggest threat to the country.
I’ll take a bigoted redneck from panola county, texas over a twisted leftist progressive who is okay with docs cutting off the breasts of teens, forcing toddlers to wear masks and labeling AP classes as racist. The redneck says things that aren’t politically correct but is mostly an honest and decent human. The latter overreact to the slightest insult while ignoring policies that harm the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of society. The gaslighting is absolutely insufferable.
Yes, the “alt-right” have vanishingly little institutional influence, much less power. It is the regressive Left, flying under the (gaslighting) banner of “Progressive,” who has charge of the mainstream cultural and political institutions which advance their simmering antisemitism and insidious identarian religion.
Absolutely correct!
That I agree with. The alt_right nut-jobs are just morons talking on the fringes on the internet. Their biggest threat is one might go crazy and go shoot a bunch of people. Beyond that they're not even worth attention, although liberal MSM would like us to think all conservatives are like that. My only point is antisemitism is not unique to any political fraction. But as you say, on the left right now it's broad and threatening.
Exactly, Exactly. This is who Biden wants us to think all the Republican, Trump supporters are. He has no fk’ing idea we are also life long Democrats who he and all the neo-Democratic -socialist-Marxist abandoned and will proudly support ANY Republican, even and especially TRUMP!
I agree. But the hundreds of alt-right are far outnumber by the outright racist attitudes of millions of left wing college kids.
That’s the closest answer we have to get rid of Democrats simple truth
Our Universities have failed on so many levels. If there is a silver lining to Biden's $500B vote buying scheme, it's that it paves the way for (hopefully) massive reform of our federal support for the institutions. A bill that gets the US out of the student loan business and ties any future federal aid to meeting specific free speech metrics (like those that FIRE tracks) is long past due.
I think you not reading the vote buying scheme properly
Dream on
Sure, that’ll happen.
But will this be monitored and upheld?
Words aren't violence! - Bari Weiss
I think Bari is naïve. Violent words inspire violent actions.
There is no such thing as “violent words”. Directly inciting others to commit violence is already illegal. Speaking harshly about or satirizing political opponents is not “violence”.
Maybe so but words sure can incite violence. I have to disagree with you. There are such things as violent words. Hitler used violent words to galvanize the German people to violence. Think "Kristallnacht".
I know this can be difficult but we have to be able to distinguish between disagreeable, hateful speech and violence. Again, direct incitement to violence is not protected speech. But if I can label speech I don't like as 'violence' then the only remedy is to make speech illegal. If harsh, even hateful speech (which is always in the eye of the beholder) becomes illegal, you have no hope of living in a free society.
I am not saying curtail free speech. I am saying words can incite violence. The old saying during the Revolutionary War was "The pin is mightier than the sword."
Karl Marx laid the foundation for the Russian Revolution. Lenin was his messenger.
The phrase "violent words" is Orwellian. Words are words.
Words can incite violence, however. The Southern Poverty Law Center labeled the Family Research Council a "hate group" on their web site and that label motivated a gay rights activist to attempt a mass murder at the FRC headquarters. Fortunately a security guard stopped him, suffering a gunshot in the arm in the process.
Agree. Had this conversation with my husband yesterday. He’s more afraid of words than I am. He got mad because I told him how I’d fallen into a late-night twitter well that questioned 9-11. I argued that I should be able to fall into such a well. He says these conspiracy theories are dangerous.
Words can be mean and can sting. But policing words is a very slippery slope and should be avoided as much as possible.
I want to be able to argue that African Americans are harmed by drug use and lack of marriage. And read how the trans movement is a social contagion. I should be allowed to hear a priest speak out against gay marriage. And watch a video of Kubrick saying we never landed on the moon. Not saying I believe those things but I certainly believe in student’s and citizens right to debate all topics. Even the scary ones.
Well said. Remember our words are our thoughts. If we can’t speak freely we can’t think freely. So if you control speech you are controlling minds. That was the point of 1984.
There are also people who say that silence is violence. Words are violence. Silence is violence. It's all Orwellian nonsense.
First the language is corrupted and then the horrific actions followed. Every time.
My grandmother used to say Sticks and stones can break your bones but words can break your heart
Your grandmother was a wise woman.
Actions always follow the words.
What actions always follow which words?
Lynch mobs.
Saying "Lynch mob" causes lynch mobs?
This is 3rd grade simplistic at best. Words are simply that… words.
They can inspire, rise up, push down, anger, enlighten and a hundred other things.
But that is 100.00000% on the listener.
I think it is ok to listen to the words being spoken and leave before the violence. And many of the examples stated had actions that went with the words that were moving closer to violence. I
"Words.....that were moving closer to violence."
Sorry!
"Words aren't violence." - Bari Weiss
I stand in agreement with Bari still. It is the unwise who cannot discern between words and actual violence. Words are words. Violence is violence. Sometimes the line is thin, but there is still a line.
Except that the universities themselves say that words are violence, if the words come from the "wrong people". Same for symbols. Which is why affixing a mezuzah on one's dorm room and someone else ripping off the mezuzah and hitting said affixer with it are completely equivalent "morally". And make no mistake, this moral equivalence has already spread from the universities to the elite institutions. Given this perverted view, our choice is between (a) making the universities irrelevant, staying in the US and setting up parallel institutions, and (b) leaving to make a better life in Israel (as I did many years ago). And Jews are truly privileged - we can leave America freely and immigrate to Israel freely. Most other Americans don't have that freedom.
Yeah....this is all a moral panic generated from a few cherry picked incidents. 99% of universities are moving right along without all this imagined drama.
Tell you what, let's just not have any restrictions of speech or actions at all - that way no one will feel they're being "cancelled by the mob."
Yes but these are two different things. One is freedom of speech and the other is that if we look at history we see that escalation of bias rhetoric and hatred often leads to physical violence. It’s a prediction. It’s not saying that we must arrest people just bc they voice an opinion. Obviously there can be a thin line bw hate speech and actually threatening people. This is a nuanced issue. There are laws for that which should help to determine when one has crossed that line. But until then the hate speech is sowing the seeds and bringing the pot to a boiling point.
Naomi,
I was being completely sarcastic - and making a comment on the hypocritical fraud that Bari Weiss is. She is all for Free Speech/anti-Cancel Culture when the venom is directed toward black and brown people. If you call the police not once, but twice and falsely claim a black man is attacking you, Bari will dedicate an entire podcast to you, to rehabilitate your image and talk about how we have to understand you were abused as a child, how everyone is wrong for judging her, etc.
However, if you even mention a whisper of criticism toward the IDF, Israel, white people, etc. - she'll call you and "Anti-Semite", try to get you cancelled, ruin your career and call you a bigot.
https://theintercept.com/2018/03/08/the-nyts-bari-weiss-falsely-denies-her-years-of-attacks-on-the-academic-freedom-of-arab-scholars-who-criticize-israel/
I vehemently disagree with your point of view. I find Bari to be extremely earnest in trying to highlight important things and criticize whichever side is wrong. There have been Arab professors spewing hate and lies about israel at universities for years. No one is perfect and no country can be perfect. But discussions should be based on facts. If the facts are disputed then both sides should be introduced by the professor. It’s one thing to criticize, it’s another to lie, spew hate, associate with organizations that have terror connections, and call for violence. If people want dialogue - fair and informed dialogue, well there is room for that. There is the another side which will engage in discussions. But much of the time that is not what people find. (As the author of the article describes). They are met with hatred and lies. When one has your point of view, they see everything through that lens and don’t analyze things fairly. There’s no arguing with that. Saying that “you always use antisemitism and the Holocaust as an answer to everything” is in itself antisemitic. This is because it’s dismissing the actual argument the person is making. Ignoring the topic at hand. The Jews are still living the effects of the Holocaust and constant antisemitism. Just bc people “are sick” of hearing about it doesn’t mean it’s not real and isn’t happening. Throughout history and today antisemitism has been veiled with other things but those are just a cover up.
Gordon, let us put some perspective on this American betrayal. Blake Flayton didn’t personally experience these acts of betrayal. We had a group of people in America’s past who couldn’t enter restaurants, hotels, theaters, and other public spaces like the front of the bus. There was a social group who wore sheets with holes cut in them to see out of, who would drag a human soul out of their home, find a tree, put a hangman’s noose over their head and Lynch them. In 1919 they had the red summer, where 64 Lynchings, Took place. A mere two years later, Thirty-five city blocks of America were destroyed by flames, 300 individuals died, and 800 were injured. Nine thousand human beings became homeless because of a terrorist act—location, Tulsa, Oklahoma, black Wall Street. Unlike Blake, these people couldn’t go to a place where America was protecting the land and the people who looked like them. Hate is ugly, and what Blake was describing is indeed hate, but he doesn’t belong to an exclusive club.
“There was a social group who wore sheets with holes cut in them to see out of, who would drag a human soul out of their home, find a tree, put a hangman’s noose over their head and Lynch them.”
They were called Democrats. Remember that.
Steven, today’s Republicans, have more in common with the deep South Democrats of the mid-19th century than they do with Pres. Lincoln’s Republican Party of the same era, in reality, the two parties have switched places since the mid-19th century. Lincoln’s party was the original party of social justice and big government; that’s why you’re comment is illiterate silliness!
The Democrats, with help from the KKK, help fund Planned Parenthood. An organization to pluck weeds from a beautiful garden. The weeds were black people. The Democrats still hold Planned Parenthood in extreme regard.
Democrats are pushing for resegregation.
Democrats are openly anti-Semitic on college campuses.
The Democrats hold racial determinism as settled fact/theory.
Your lack of understanding boggles the mind.
Steven, for all this insanity, because all this gibberish drivel can only be insanity; what you say about Democrats is unverifiable. But please do prove me wrong. I’m waiting with bated breath for your reply. :-)
Today's woke Democrats are the party of Critical Racist Theory discrimination on the basis of skin color. Democrats are also still into "segregation forever." The only difference between Democrats now and Gov. George Wallace (D, AL) then, is the justification. Democrats still want blacks to be separated from other races.
Please explain how Sen. Tim Scott (R, SC) and LT. Gov. Winsome Sears (R, VA) got elected in state wide races if Republicans are racist rather than issue driven. Sen. Scott has been elected twice by a 65% white electorate.
Your version of history is an Orwellian rewrite. Both sides of my family were Abolitionist Republicans since at least the 1850's. Republicans wanted to give freed slaves 40 acres and a mule, so they could support themselves. Democrats want to prevent school choice and permit rampant crime to make minorities dependent on government forever.
Douglas, saying Democrats are the party of critical race theory is beyond hyperbole; you stepped into the realm of fantasies. Saying Democrats want Blacks to be separated from other races is absurd. Talking about Republicans being elected in the South as proof of something is nonsensical. You’re quite right about the 40 acres and a mule, but the assassination of Lincoln pretty much destroyed that idea. Your whole post is straight out of Lala land!
The Democrats are 100% captured by Critical Theory. So much so they don’t even know what a woman is and (falsely) claim to be the party of women.
Democrats assassinated Lincoln, not Republicans. To say Democrats disapprove of Critical Racist Theory is the height of denial, proving it ain't just a river in Egypt. What are all the white free days and blacks only dorms and spaces, if not segregation?
Why aren't Sen. Scott and Lt. Gov. Sears proof of Republicans welcoming all races? Senators Kamala Harris and Corey Booker are supposed to be symbols of Progressive advancement, are they not? There's no reciprocity?
Your whole post is denial, not reality. Democrats don't have a good argument. They just yell racism and censor opposing views.
In the 1930's, my grandmother leased appartments or owned houses in her own name, because my grandfather couldn't. My grandmother was a Methodist Minister's daughter. My grandfather was Jewish. Restrictive covenants kept my grandfather from renting or buying in certain places until the Civil Rights Act of 1964. There were reasons Jews backed the Civil Rights movement. They were discriminated against too, just not as badly.
Douglas, it’s never made any sense to me, basing a prejudice upon someone’s genetics; it’s like saying people with green eyes can’t be trusted.
And they could always pretend/pass as white, if needed.
But hey, that inability to rent or buy is a pain!
Love that victim card. Who was the last Jewish president? We've already had a Catholic and a black president! Are you saying there's been no progress since 1860, 1919 or 1964? Or are you just saying that we need racism against Asians and straight white males to make up for bad inner city union schools?
Also Obama is not black, he's biracial. So that was very ignorant and revealing statement. See the way it works in America is that whiteness is the pure, untainted default - and anything that disturbs/infects it, even one drop, you become that ethnicity.
So, plenty of bad schools in rural areas and the "outer cities" as well, so might want to broaden your perspective a bit.
Obama called himself the first black president. That was good enough for me, but not for you?
Democrats fight school choice no matter where the schools are, or how bad they are. Union campaign bucks are more important to them than educating children. But you're OK with that?
Lol...yeah, that damn history....always giving people the "victim card."
Yes, there's been progress thanks to social justice warriors who dragged America kicking and screaming every step of the way.
Other people have dealt/deal with racism, you can deal with it, too. You're not a special little snowflake.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlaws discrimination on the basis of race. Colorblind meritocracy is the law. Deal with your own illegal racism.
Democrats are the party of slavery, secession, Jim Crow, lynching and "segregation forever." According to woke rules, such a history is unforgivable, so Democrats should be canceled for it.
Sadly, true. You go with many regrets and many good wishes, Blake.
From what I understand, the institutions are not responding to these events. Jew hating (couched as anti-Zionism) seems to be a-okay with college administrators (even the Jewish ones - this is what I understand to be the case. )
But more important is your first point: 10-15 or so years ago when the nation started to learn about the "woke" ideology, which was already thriving on college campuses, most people said: well, it's just on a small number of [mostly elite] college campuses. Once these kids get out of college, they'll grow up. Nobody seemed to consider that the ideology would infect the entire nation. So too this new anti-Semitism will infect our country (the virus is already spreading). I can tell you that as a Jew, it is palpable (and btw I am not on a college campus or even in a blue state).
The reason why the young guy in his 20s responded that way is not because of woke. Asians in the US have struggled for more than a century to be seen, accepted, and acknowledged as Americans. By greeting him in Hindi, you're indicating to him you saw him as foreign and not American, and that your first assumption was that he is not American. While you just meant to be friendly, it didn't come across that way to him. It came across as you didn't take him as a fellow countryman and compatriot because he was not white. In the CRT infested world today for his generation, his reaction is actually what you want. Because it shows he sees himself as an American and wants to be seen first as such, when his left-wing peers are all wanting to find reasons to hate their own country and how they want to leave America. And if he was like them, his answer to you would be you're cultural appropriating his language or some such nonsense.
The dilemma. # Brave Ben Shapiro ❣️🙏🏻
“Antisemitism from the left is hard for young people to see, because young people a lot of time align with the left,” a Jewish woman who recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania told me. - Being progressive is cool until you find yourself at the sharp end of the knife of intersectionality. I recognize there are bigots on both ends of the right and left. I grew up in a Christian home where Israel and the Jewish faith were respected and admired for their devotion and authenticity.
Best sentence I've read in awhile: Being progressive is cool until you find yourself at the sharp end of the knife of intersectionality.
Given that 75% of American Jews are on the left, it clearly must be painful for them to be demonized by their Progressive compatriots. It’s unfortunate that they don’t seek solace on the right side of the political spectrum where Jews are respected and welcomed as religious ‘kin’. Judeo-Christian values are the foundation of the American Project. Myopia can be cured without leaving the country.
There is nothing progressive about the left.
The rise of antisemitism in Europe and the US is appalling. You expect antisemitism on the far right but the left is supposed to be all accepting of differing beliefs. They are blatant hypocrites. They always have been. That a Jew can be a Democrat is a head scratcher. (Head scratcher = a puzzler)
These morons on the left glorify Islam a religion that supports misogyny and the violent takeover of the non-Islamic world. I have said this before. When is the last time you saw a Jew in a suicide vest?
Israel is an island of sanity surrounded by the insane.
The rise of anti-Semitism on the Left is also coincident with the increase of Muslim immigration to Europe and the u s.
The anit-western element of the woke ideology can be traced back to Edward Said, his book Orientalism, and its influence on the super woke field of Post-Colonial Studies.
Don’t forget Sayyid Qutb (father of global islamo-fascist-terrorism) who wrote “Social Justice” went to college in Colorado.
No question. How the Islamists have managed to take over our universities, normalizing hate speech against Israel and Jews, is beyond me. I guess it’s the hijacking of the liberal mindset (we must be tolerant of all viewpoints/we can’t discriminate against Muslims), but when they disrupt speakers by screaming, when they get speakers disinvited because they’re conservative, “pro-Israel” or just reasonable) takes it to a whole other level. The university administrators and professors have been co-opted by the left, and this is the result. And it’s not just about Israel. See the Oberlin College disaster with Gibson’s bakery. Disgusting.
Oberlin also employs Mohammad Jafar Mahallati who is the Nancy Schrom Dye Chair in Middle East and North African Studies. He was also Iran's ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1987 to 1989 where he denied the mass executions of political prisoners.
Perhaps most pertinent to recent news, this man has publicly supported the fatwa on Salman Rushdie.
Yeah Oberlin! Falsely accuses a baker and family of racism but employs a man who supports the assassination of people with whom he disagrees.
Unreal. Can you imagine what lies he’s teaching his students? Shame on them.
Agree with lonesome’s fundamental points here. Yet, let me complain about the supposed “right / left” narrative the far left uses, eg. Antifa, as propaganda about the right.
I spent several days researching where Hitler sat on the political spectrum. I concluded Hitler was not “right-wing.” He claimed Fascism was the middle path between capitalism -- his version of fascist ideology was centralized government authority that allowed “private” property and business as long as it is subservient to the will of said government -- and Stalin’s communism of which he admired for its central planning, control, and its “innovation” of what we now know as concentration camps.
His murderous party provided scapegoats along with free health care and “education” (actually indoctrination and programming, enslaving minds not freeing them). He did not seek to conserve anything of Germany’s past beyond its cultural dominance and that he utterly perverted. The idea that Hitler was “far right” appears to be a fiction designed by the far left to paint the actual conservative right as evil. The “pre-eminent scholar” who paints Hilter as on the right was a Columbia University political science professor who I would not trust to walk my dog much less teach my kids. Hitler was perhaps to the right of Stalin but in no way reflects any historical conservatism of Lincoln’s Republican Party.
This is not to say that nazi skin heads didn’t/don’t exist, they do, but Hitler was not a conservative, nor was he “right wing” his party had socialist in its name but he had his own evil, nihilistic ideology and rejected Marx.
If I’m wrong someone please show me.
It is interesting that you (appropriately) chose the word, “allowed” capitalism.
The biggest clue might be the name of the party… national SOCIALISTS.
The left has always embraced authoritarianism. Your focus on central planning, which is so very spot-on, is impossible without that enforcement mechanism.
I agree. I have read Shirer's Berlin Diary and am reading his "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich". He goes into great detail about Hitler's upbringing and what made him tick.
Well said!
There is no reason to "expect anti-semitism on the Right" other than that the Left tells you to.
Are you saying there is no antisemitism on the right?
American Orthodox Jews tend to lean right...at least the Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn.
It is painful.
What is problematic, the right is crazy and getting crazier. If the Republican party was filled with sane people like Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski, there'd be an enormous shift of Jewish voters to it. But it is largely a cult of Trump, which isn't healthy and doesn't offer Jewish voters much. After all, Jews pretty much know that cults are not their friends. Whether progressive or Trump.
Your perspective about the Republican Party is skewed by the Main Stream Media (MSM). I would suggest reading and listening more broadly. I am guessing you might not even know any Republicans...
Zeke, I agree with CC. More specifically- the current democrat party has been taken over by the neo-Marxist cult of social Justice, and as this article points out — they are the crazy ones, 80+% of the wealthiest US zip codes are their supporters.
Trump’s actual policies were for the most part sensible and overdue but his rhetoric and behavior was often just nuts. He in my view is and was unfit for the office and I wish he would step back and support the party instead of trying to bend it to his will.
The fact that he is so popular should tell you that normal people — those who have not been seduced or forcibly indoctrinated by the media, Hollywood, or our formerly elite institutions, and are afraid of what they see: an obvious fascistic, hard-left political machine ready to end free speech, to teach their children or grand children that if they are white then they are intrinsically racist, and/or can literally be the opposite sex WHEN THEY ARE In ELEMENTARY SCHOOL — these republicans are grasping desperately for anyone who they think will fight for a return to sanity.
The post-modern wing of the democrat left is weaponizing language and erasing boundaries with propaganda about gender affirming care, white supremacy, systemic racism, and claims of fascist republican insurrectionists, open borders, while their intellectual leaders, Ibram Kendi, Robin DiAngelo… openly call for an identity politics driven social justice revolution.
The New York Times funds a 1619 US history project whose authors admit that it is a political narrative selling oppression which does not accurately reflect history, yet the democrat non-profits and Biden himself supports its premises and are successfully pushing it into 100s if not thousands of schools. And the republicans are the crazy ones?
Go listen to the conservative thought leaders recently interviewed on the Uncommon Knowledge podcast and judge them and see if you think they are crazy.
Re: Trump’s behavior - yes it is out of the norm today but when one glances back in history his behavior mirrors other ‘outliers’ such as Teddy Roosevelt & Andrew Jackson for just two. Personally, I found Trump to be somewhat of a fresh breeze that was able to penetrate the mind numbing & ineffective political-speech of Foggy Bottom.
> "whose authors admit that it is a political narrative selling oppression which does not accurately reflect history"
I'm aware of the liberties they took with some history, and the slanted interpretations it promoted. But I haven't seen NHJ or other authors themselves admit that. Do you remember where that was?
here you go: https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/07/1619-project-creator-admits-it-is-not-a-history-but-a-fight-to-control-the-national-narrative/
Thanks. Somewhat of a mott and bailey project.
"Oh, it's just about teaching accurate history, why are you against that? You want to pretend that slavery never existed, there's no other reason to oppose accurate history."
then when challenged:
"It's not history, it's a narrative, an attempt to redirect the national memory (so being historically accurate is not important, the narrative is). And people's attempt to discredit it by using historical facts just shows how racist they are."
Do you think it’s as high as 75% or is it the media and social media that frames the narrative? I would really like to know the true number of Jews who support Israel and are Zionists as opposed to all the pole numbers we are
I think it is getting lower and that our Jewish brethren are shifting away from the hard Left. But I am only basing that on my personal experiences with my significant other's family who are right leaning moderates. ( To the extent that a couple are Trump supporters.)
Seriously what is wrong with a Trump supporter?
Nothing at all!! If it came out that there was something wrong with that, my apologies. I supported DJT and will continue to support him. Irrespective of what others think, I know he loves this country, and that's enough for me after the Obama years.
The 75-80% figure is the amount of Jews that vote Democrat. How that is divvied up in the various Democrat factions, I don't know but I am sure the figures are out there with some goggling/research.
It's not just hard for young people to see. Older jews don't see it either. My SIL is Jewish and during the Trayvon Martin incident, she posted incessantly on FB repeating the left media's narratives. Zimmerman absolutely deserves no sympathy but the media wasn't exactly unbiased or honest either. She had no clue expressed so much indignation about the whole thing. Then came BLM and the same thing. Endless open-hearted support and posts condemning what happened. All of which is fine as she is a person sympathetic to victims of racism, and I can chuck up her parroting liberal media narratives as simply being a liberal unaware of what's happening. But I never see her post anything about the current rise of antisemitism. Not a single word. And it's not just her either. Everyone Jewish I know are more concerned about other oppressed groups according to the Wokes than themselves. I really don't get it.
Bari has always made it clear when she stands on this issue. But I really wish she would address the issue of Jewish apathy. And no, I'm not talking about young Jewish college students in fear of being ostracized and losing their future. I'm talking about the majority of Jewish adults who continue to be faithful Democratic voters and supporters of all the Woke shit but are so apathetic when it comes to antisemitism in America. What gives?
IMHO Liberal Jewish women have gone off the rails in the past decade. I walked with a Jewish woman, a self proclaimed Socialist for about 12 years every morning (we also attended Pilates classes twice weekly). She knew I was a Republican. We could not and did not discuss politics. However, there was so much else to cover - the kids, art (she is an art dealer and I collect), food, travel, etc, etc, The day after Trump won, she literally had a meltdown. I told her "everything would be okay" as I hugged her, in turn, she pushed me away and spitted back, "No it won't". She has not spoken to me since (and she dropped out of Pilates classes). However, she's not the only one; Most of my liberal female friends have literally lost their minds. But Jewish women take the cake for intense neuroticism. So going forward, I swore I would be polite but never embrace one again as a 'friend' - too much drama, too much unreasonableness, too much craziness. At this point, I feel as if they have done me a favor. (Oh BTW - my husband is Jewish, I raised my girls to be Jewish - and I have told them all my sentiments. I have also been telling my husband about the Left's anti-Semitism over the past dozen years - but he seemingly turns a deaf ear to it. To get him to listen, I have even tossed out the 'walking into the ovens' phrase, to get his goat, but still no reaction...they just don't believe it can happen to them again).
As a Jewish woman, I must take exception to your comments. It’s an equal opportunity neurosis: the men are as bad as the women.
I’m a political moderate in a family full of progressives. I love my family dearly, but we can’t have a rational discussion about politics, and these last several years have been particularly crazy. On the topic of this article, they refuse even to acknowledge that there is a problem with antisemitism from the left. They all are highly intelligent, seemingly rational people. Their desperate clinging to progressive ideals and refusal to consider obvious facts both baffle and frustrate me.
Progressivism should be an acknowledged mental illness in the DSM.
Your comment comforts me. You're describing my life now, and I thought I was out there swinging in the wind all by myself. The part about your relatives refusing to acknowledge any flaws whatsoever on the left is especially familiar to me. But I don't believe they "refuse" to acknowledge any flaws on the left that they may come into contact with. What they "refuse" to do is consume anything other than carefully-curated, Woke-certified media. This ensures that they will never come into contact with those flaws and hence they will never experience the discomfort of cognitive dissonance.
Now and then I will send them an article from Bari's Substack (they know she's Jewish, so they give her a pass). But they never comment on or thank me for those articles. How much they absorb is impossible to know.
Have you ever introduced a concept that is not Woke-Certified and been met with the dead-eyed stares of people attempting to process an idea they haven't heard before? For instance, one day I explained the difference between "equity" and "equality" to my relatives who insisted that affirmative action was the only way to overcome racism. That was interesting.
Could it be that you live in the Northeast?
I was staying with friends in the Hudson Valley the night of the election. The atmosphere for the rest of my visit was incredible, everywhere from the local shop, the Metro North train, the Guggenheim, people were stunned, angry, close to spitting.
I was happy to return to Atlanta, where our Southern manners mostly helped hide our feelings, pro or con, regarding the election.
Thank you.
Reminds of a great line from Casablanca, “Louis, are you pro Vichy or Free French?”
To which Louis responds, “ Serves me right for asking a direct question. The subject is closed.”
I’m very pro 1A. But I am also very pro being polite and minding one’s manners. This would include avoiding provocative conversation.
Places like this comment section exist for us to scratch that itch. Friendly conversation should not. I’d much prefer to talk about fishing. So don’t ask me about my business and I won’t say to you “good bye.”
Yes - at the time I was in NYC - for over 35 years! Covid pushed us into the country which I am loving it…normal calm people for the most part, just trying to get on with life. I don’t miss New Yorkers at all and for all the time I spent there never considered myself one.
Raise Democrat...will never go back. When I “ woke up” to them and their racism, hatred, manipulation, all of it, I was not shy about speaking out. My liberal Jewish relatives have become more outspoken about support of BDS Israel, free P, and support of Roger Waters. Wow! I have lost friends but gained some and some Jewish relatives have come on my journey. The abortion issue, US border, lies about blacks not having ID’s! All of it. Someone mentioned Jewish apathy. You are correct BTW, not just Jewish women but many upper crust women fighting for others “ oppression” in America. Travel ladies, please. See real oppression. Signed, W.S. Jersusalem, Israel 🇮🇱
“… I can chuck up her parroting liberal media narratives as simply being a liberal unaware of what's happening.”
You pretty much described the woke left to a T.
I "liked" Your comment. But I did wanna inform You that Zimmerman was framed. He was innocent from beginning to end, which is why the police didn't initially arrest him in the first place.
And that's why the jury acquitted him. They *had* to.
I believe you. I didn't follow the Martin/Zimmerman case closely. But after Covington and Kyle Rittenhouse, it doesn't surprise me at all if Zimmerman was framed. And I was aware of the media manipulation to cast Martin in the most innocent light. It was a joke as a choir boy he was not. To this day so many people still think Martin was a little innocent 12 year old instead of a druggie and possibly a thug. Just like George Floyd is made into a martyr victim when he's in fact an asshole domestic abuser. Doesn't mean he should've been killed by police brutality, but he was still a violent ass.
On a gut level though I still have an uneasy feeling about Zimmerman which I don't have at all for Nick Sandman and Rittenhouse. (ETA his conduct subsequent to the trial was disturbing and doesn't make me feel sympathetic either.)
Zimmerman was a half-Hispanic Democrat who had twice voted for Obama and mentored two Black youth, and gone to bat for a Black kid killed by a Deputy's son. The evidence is that Martin (who was 4" taller and often in trouble for fighting) jumped him. The only direct witness described a person matching Martin on top of a prone person (Zimmerman) beating on him. Zimmerman said that his head was being pounded into the pavement and he feared losing consciousness, when he remembered that he had a weapon (sheathed until then), whereupon he drew and fired once. When the police arrived he had injuries to the back of his head. In the subsequent autopsy for Martin, the bullet path was upward as described by Zimmerman. The jury easily found him innocent. The police had, for good reason, not charged him until lawyer Benjamin Crump made it a racial justice issue and got an ambitious prosecutor involved. There were some travesties of justice involved.
Zimmerman lost his balance after this (with his life ruined even tho he did not go to prison), but before that he was a loyal Democrat and friend of Black folks. Can you imagine trying to go back to your job and life as a Democrat after that? Where everybody on your political side considers you the embodiment of evil, and acts accordingly, ignoring the jury and attributing your acquittal to white privilege and a crooked system letting a racist murderer go scot free? The only folks who wanted to hang with him were, um, of a different mindset and that distorted him. I don't like his subsequent behavior either, but I haven't been placed in that position. I can't imagine how terrible it would be to go through life as George Zimmerman.
Benjamin Crump was also involved in grossly distorting the Michael Brown case in Ferguson Mo, and represented the family of George Floyd when they got their multimillion dollar settlement (before the conviction). He is a rich man from his efforts to create "justice".
So I agree that you may need to re-evaluate your intuitive assessment of Zimmerman. I do not hold him out as any hero, but I believe he was innocent.
It wasn't until I heard the trial testimony that I realized how unfairly Zimmerman had been portrayed by the media. I should have suspected that after they called him a "white Hispanic." But the evidence clearly showed that Martin had jumped him and was attempting to murder him when Zimmerman fired his gun.
I find it interesting that almost every day now I see news stories about black people randomly attacking white and Asian people. It is clear that a social message has been spread far and wide that such behavior is tacitly approved of by those in power. In large Blue cities, the culprits are set free without bail.
Here's the thing about Your uneasy feeling. Sometimes gut instincts are just plain wrong.
Like Celia pointed out, I think it's pretty clearly the case of what Zimmerman himself said. (To the effect:) "If my name had been Jorge instead-a George, none-a this would-a happened.
You mebbe wanna consider how You would-a reacted. An innocent man framed? To become one-a the most hated people in America. Starting from Obama on down?
Yeah, he lost it bigtime. I probably would-a too.
The media sure tried. From using a terribly unrepresentative photo of Martin to pearl clutching commentary about how Zimmerman hunted this poor little innocent boy (who was trying to paint the sidewalk with Zimmerman’s brains).
Yeah, You nailed it. Martin was about 12 in the pic? Funny how few know of these *facts,* even to this very day.
Mebbe Obama was telling the truth when he said that Trayvon could be his son. Dunno.
I attended a talk from a lawyer on A2 rights several years ago. He highlighted the Zimmerman case as what happens when a case becomes politicized. According to him, Zimmerman's problems came from following the directions of the 911 operator, who told him to get out of the car and follow Trayvon Martin. On the tape of the 911 call, you can hear Zimmerman opening the car door after the 911 operator tells him to. That's why Zimmerman was found innocent. There was recorded proof that he was acting in accordance with directions. And the moral is, you are not obligated to follow directions from a 911 operator.
That he was following directions meant exactly nothing. Let’s say the operator told him to hide in a bush and shoot Martin. He could not rely on those instructions as a defense.
He was found not guilty because Martin was slamming Zimmerman’s skull into the pavement and a reasonable person would fear for their life justifying deadly force in response to deadly force.
Following directions means he did not initiate the confrontation.
Following instructions is not an element of self-defense. Here it is incidental. He used deadly force in response to deadly force. Had no instructions been given he’d still have a valid self-defense claim. Therefore, instructions are irrelevant.
Yes!
The new definition of the term “white supremacy” is evidence the pernicious obsession the woke ideology has with language. Not so long ago, “white supremacy” was understood as a racist and separatist worldview with a strong antisemitic core whilst “white supremacy” is now understood as something Jewish individuals are adjacent to and/or beneficiaries of. I can tolerate an open minded conversation about systemic/institutional racism and the degree to which it continues to exist and influence our society. I draw the line—however—with the term “white supremacy” being redefined as no longer antisemitic. The way I see it, true separatists and antisemitic white supremacists are the only beneficiaries with this new definition.
True. Jewish Zionists should be labeled “Jewish Supremacists.” White Supremacy should retain connotation of anti-semitism , just as it should retain the connotation of racism toward every other non “white” racial grouping. The Wokeian notion that only white people are racist and therefore all racist people are white supremacists is supremely stupid.
Black people can be racist. Asians, Arabs, Latinos, Eskimos, Jews -- a person of any conceived race can be racist. And a person who thinks a particular race should rule any territory is a racial supremacist. If the person is black, they are a black supremacist. If they are jewish, they are a Jewish Supremacist. Thus, Zionists are Jewish Supremacists. Bari is a Jewish Supremacist. Blake is a Jewish Supremacist. Farrakhan is a Black Supremacist. Jared Taylor is a White Supremacist. Anyone who defends the territorial racial supremacy of any race is generically a Racial Supremacist.
Most the commentators here are, for example, Racial Supremacists.
What gibberish. They used to call it sophistry.
It's not sophistry. It's braindead antisemitic drivel.
Its reason. But what you write is braindead slander. Rather than defending the ideology of Zionism rationally, I've noticed that Zionists resort to slandering all critics with accusations of racism. It resembles the behavior of the Wokeians.
We actually accuse antisemites of antisemitism.
I hope you get help.
I'm an Jew, an Israeli American, and a proud Zionist, and your comments are bitter to the core antisemitism cloaked as psuedo-intellectual babble. You utilize the same millennia-old tropes which have led to the murder of millions of Jews, and illustrate why we have our own country today. And you can call us whatever you want.
More gibberish pretending to be intellectual analysis. You have totally ignored the jihad against Jews or how you think you would protect your children from clear and constant threats.
Im not sure why Israel requires the Nation State Law to protect Jews from jihad. Could you explain? Because up until 10 years ago it didn't exist. Were Jews less safe before Israel told all its citizens who weren't jews that they had no "right to national self-determination"?
Actually, I'd argue that may have made their Jewish citizens less safe.
The psuedo-intellectual babble has left the building and now it's just an unhinged and wildly ignorant antisemitic rant. Kindly remember that the Internet is forever and this is not a good look for you.
If you want to argue your point, you need data, and I'm just not impressed with the strident crazypants venom. The world is a big place, and you don't seem to have any intellect or maturity to see beyond race or blind hatred, because Jews are not a race. And we are a persecuted minority. Too bad if you don't like it, you'll have to get past our army and our nukes first.
For anyone else reading this:
Multiple European states have similar laws and state religions in their constitution. Singling out Israel is wrong. The Nation State law is a symbolic law, and the country is divided over it; but it's a response to the millions of people who would like to destroy Israel, a Jewish state and a democratic nation, with equal voting rights for 21% of its citizens who are not Jewish. There anti-Zionist Arab parties in the Knesset, and an Islamist party holding the whole thing together. Arab Israelis are on the Supreme Court, serve as diplomats, and become officers in the IDF. They head the Israeli national bank, and are educated in Israeli universities - Arab Christians have more degrees than any other group. They participate in every economic sector - especially medicine and healthcare.
I defined my terms.
“ a person who thinks a particular race should rule any territory is a racial supremacist.”
Any person therefore that thinks a particular race deserves to rule a particular territory would be a Racial Supremacist of a particular race--ie if a person thinks white people should rule a territory, and they are white, they are a “White Supremacist”.
If the person isn’t white but is sympathetic to the idea that white people should rule a territory, they are Racial Supremacists who sympathize with the racial supremacist aspirations of White Supremacists.
Being a Racial Supremacist has been common throughout human history. You have plenty of company.
“Just wanted to quote you for posterity. “
Well, if posterity isn’t filled with Racial Supremacists, such as yourself, they will likely appreciate it.
Personally, I am a Cultural Supremacist. People of particular culture should rule territory, and the particular culture I think should rule does not include racial supremacy as an aspiration.
I agree that people of all backgrounds have to potential to the racist, but that is the extent to which we agree. As to who should rule, hopefully—in a democracy—a well intended, clever and transparent individual elected by the people. I do not care if by “the people” we are talking about a multicultural society, or could care less about the color of the skin of elected officials.
“Democracy” is a cultural value. Within a democracy, autocracy is scorned. If you favor Democracy over Autocracy, you essentially view Democracy as a superior cultural value over autocracy. And I assume you want people committed to democracy and not autocracy leading the government. I’m sure there are well intended, clever, and transparent autocrats.
And you seem to have a very optimistic view of “the people”!
Remember, “the people” in Venezuela recently voted in their own destruction. A dominant culture that glorifies “democracy” too much has the tendency to self destruct. That is one reason why John Adams strongly encouraged a constitutional republic. And also is one reason no one should trust a party that labels itself the “Democratic Party” that was formed by slavers. Hopefully the Democratic Party implodes before the country.
When is the last time you think a transparent individual was elected to Congress by the people?
I'm not that sympathetic with people deciding they have the authority to redefine what words mean to suit their political stance. I've seen too much of that recently.
A typical dictionary definition of a white supremacist:
"a person who believes that white people constitute a superior race and should therefore dominate society"
If you want to invent an idiosyncratic term tied primarily to territory, please use a different word or phrase, rather than contributing the semantic games we've been inundated with.
To suggest that I am redefining words to suit my political stance is not accurate. I am logically extending the meaning of words that already exist.
Even in the definition you provide, what do you think "society" is? Is Israel not a "society" in your mind? Are countries not societies? And what is dominating a society? Can people be said to dominate a society but not rule it? For you to reject my definition because you don't like the word territory is asinine. I use the word territory because it is even more concrete than a word like society. From my knowledge, there has never been a white supremacist who wished white people to dominate a society, but not rule over a territory. Dominating a Society = Ruling over Territory.
In Merriam Webster's dictionary there is no reference to society at all. And the second definition it provides is:
"the social, economic, and political systems that collectively enable white people to maintain power over people of other races"
Hence "Racial Supremacy" would therefore be "the social, economic, and political systems that enable a race of people to maintain power over people of other races."
Hence, "Jewish Supremacy", would therefore be "the social, economic, and political systems that enable jewish people to maintain power over people of other races."
And Israel has a political system that maintains power over people who are not jewish. It is directly in their Nation State Law:
"1 — Basic Principles
A. The land of Israel is the historical homeland of the Jewish people, in which the State of Israel was established.
B. The State of Israel is the national home of the Jewish people, in which it fulfills its natural, cultural, religious, and historical right to self-determination.
C. The right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people."
Just replace the word "Jewish" with "White" and it should be clear that the laws are Racial Supremacy laws.
And Id just like to point out that you probably shouldn't put too much stock in dictionaries and their definitions. The people who write dictionaries are not magically exempt from possible political bias, nor are definitions of dictionaries the word of God; they are just the word of some people who decided they had the authority to define what words meant; and some people just bow down to them for some peculiar reason. I do not; no dictionary reveals all the meaning in our words. Although they can be unquestionably valuable.
Same. It wasn't until I started reading more of these experiences from Bari Weiss, et al. that I began to see the depth of antisemitism in the US. In my religious upbringing, my parents and religious community always taught us to respect the Jewish people because of their devotion and that they were the evidence that God keeps his covenants with his people.
In recent years I started to realize just how subtle anti-semitism has become, especially on the left. :(
That's precisely the kind of family in which I was raised. My Italian Catholic father had a very close friend that happened to be a Jewish dentist; it was the 70s. The obvious respect and affection those two men had for each other was a wonderful thing. Now in my later years, I understand what a lesson that was for me and I am grateful.
I think people should try not to restrict their political imaginations and identity to a binary of left and right.
Jeffrey - Agreed. I think most people's actual beliefs are some blend of left and right. But when it comes to voting we're stuck with the binary, and with govt taking over so much of our lives it's hard to get past the partisanship
I agree completely. Why be restrained by narratives on either side if we actually want creative solutions?
Intersectionality is a malign racket with a tilted playing field. It bites all sorts of people you might naively think fit snugly into some niche of oppression.
Thank you for your response; I am not Jewish but my significant other is. This is a huge issue that is growing and it's sickening.
I don’t understand how this happened. I went to college 20 years ago at the university of Texas at Austin. I had quite a number of Jewish classmates, my suite mates in my dorm were Jewish and everyone loved them. They were really fun. My minor was history and I focused on WWII and the Holocaust so I wasn’t ignorant to antisemitism but I never saw anything on this level. I’ve read so many news stories over the past couple of years describing these moments and I can’t wrap my head around how college campuses became so hateful. It breaks my heart that in 2022 Jews don’t feel safe in America. This is also not the country I grew up in.
I am 63. People complained and talked to me about Jews all the time at Boston University and to my brother as well at New York University. We are Jews. In medical school, I was asked out on a date and invited to join Aryan Nation! Psh!
It’s been a way of life. My Friend of 12 years just said to my “ why don’t the Jews forget about the Holocaust “? He also suggested that Hamas were freedom fighters. Shall I go on? But hey, I am not going to burn down my beloved country, USA. I am writing you from Jersusalem. Am yisrael Chai. I followed my children here.
Good for you, this essay is making me think about making Aliyah.
My 31 year old son came at 18th never return. Other son followed after education. All grandchildren here. One more child in Brooklyn. We are waiting on her…
That’s great. Enjoy it !
Maybe Jews can “forget about the Holocaust” when it’s not the story of their families lives. When they are not still feeling the effects of it as second third and fourth generation survivors. I sure hope they don’t forget when it’s a bit farther away because it’s clear now that the next one is around the corner. Whoever doesn’t believe that is naïve. Now is the time to rise against this hatred. Before it is too late. The very educated and enlightened Jews in Germany before WWII were in denial as well. The ones that saw the writing on the wall tried to escape but the others met their fate in one way or another. Jews can never feel like they can put their guard down. Those who do are living in denial. Unfortunately.
Agree. But go where? I feel like a sitting duck here in Jersusalem but then again, rather be a duck than a schmuck living in NY fighting for the Democratic Party to get back in Iran deal.
That’s where I am too, after my visit to Israel this past spring, I can think of no place on earth that I’d rather be.
I went to both UT and A&M as well as UTA and some Dallas community colleges 25 years ago. My experiences at all were similar to yours in that I don't remember any anti semitic rants by any group. (It also wasn't deemed "ok" to scream at people you were ideologically at odds with until they were either fired or shunned. There were no laws about this...you just knew not to do it.) I've never understood where all recent anti semitic nonsense is coming from, particularly, as so eloquently stated, they have no understanding of history composed of actual facts and not just spun on whim.
Biden administration. No opposition. Other forces.
This is incredibly frightening. I had no idea the level of hate that was being tolerated. Combine this with the Shrier article "I don't want American Kids".
Think about this...
If the mob can come for anyone - the mob will come for everyone.
The mob HAS come for many of us: Jews, police, white men (especially older white men), women - men in their bathrooms and in their sports, and, most tragic of all, kids. The mob has even come after their own. Cross them and you're out of the clique.
I'm sorry, but if you vote for the Left you're a (for want of a better word) jackass.
Good luck Blake. You're a courageous young man and I am sorry we failed you.
You are so right. And I would add to your list the unvaccinated and anyone who spoke out against COVID totalitarianism. That wave of hatred mostly came from the left too. In a weird way the left have become the new fascists--they love and are deeply intwined with big corporations ( e.g.big pharma, big tech) and they are deeply intolerant of diversity of opinion. Also, they seem to have a profound hatred of the working class.
Pair - love your name! Nice play on words :)
Re: the fascist label being thrown at people on the right - can individuals be fascist? My understanding of fascism is that government and corporate collusion is fascism
It's so tough being Jewish in America. It's like Jim Crow all over again.
That said, to a certain extent Progressive Jews are enabling their own discrimination by being out on the far left & supporting The Movement itself....that is until it bites them in the butt.
Yes...Israel & the IDF does no wrong. It's all anti-Semitism!!
ditto the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Hamas, and Progressives...
Yep. Everyone gets their oxes gored. Jews are no more special than any other group.
Words aren't violence - Bari Weiss
You wear your hate on your sleeve
Lol. Yep. Other people deal with "nasty words" this guy can, too.
Remember, as Bari said, "Words are not violence!"....when directed at black and brown.
But if a white person wants to leave America, free to do so. Don't know why it deserves an article, though.
You wouldn't.
very funny...indeed
Actually, Live in U.S. six months out of the year. Have property in Panama. Moving in 2025.
Ah.
Although it breaks my heart to see a young person basically hounded out of the U.S., I am glad he has a place to go.
Where can the rest of us go?
There is no place to run. Remember what Bonhoeffer warned. There is no peace to be had with the left. They must be defeated.
Stand and fight, yes Bruce.
This Christian dreams of moving to Florida. Unfortunately things could change fast there if the progressives take over that state too.
I have begun to wonder if the U.S. is, in fact, Babylon.
Tennessee, east section, nice.
We’re thinking about relocating to Tennessee. I love Lexington but it’s a college town so probably wokeish.
North and South Dakota.
This article, so beautifully written, makes me inexpressibly sad. As a British Jew, perhaps the saddest thing of all is that nothing he has written is particularly shocking or surprising to me. Reading his words I ask myself how is it possible that this can be allowed to happen in the 21st century, after everything that has happened and everything we know? I wish Blake Flayton all the luck and all the joy in his new life in Israel, and I wish so much that he didn’t feel that he has to make the journey. But I understand completely why he does.
Germany was an enlightened country with great universities and yet they either participated or turned a blind eye to the dehumanization of the Jews that eventually allowed the Holocaust.
If it happened then it can happen in the 21st century. Look how little it took for the mob to form against the unvaxed. If you install enough fear in people they can lose all sense of proportion and basically become uncivilized.
I’d say we’re seeing a disturbing level of uncivilized behavior from too many people lately and it’s being excused as activism
When Christianity was replaced by Wokism (Marxist postmodernism) on college campuses, America lost its way. In this amoral climate, the politicians were allowed to abandon the people, especially the youth. They now tolerate an avalanche of immigration, mostly from collectivist countries, to shore up their power. In the process, they ignore the declining prospects for America's own. The anti-Semitism that Blake experienced is just one aspect of a wholesale cultural revolution that the country is experiencing. Christians are facing hatred too, so America has a choice to make. Will we fight to become a Judeo-Christian nation again or we will devolve into a Marxist nation. There is no middle ground. Every civilization needs a guiding mythology to provide its moral foundation. The colleges are trying to replace Christianity with Marxism (Critical Theory) and it is hurting all of us.
Our Constitution was written for a Judeo-Christian citizenry.
It cannot survive if the citizens are not of their faith.
It is less about a specific religion and more about the ability of people to govern their own behavior through a shared moral consciousness and personal conscience.
One of biggest harms the Boomers wrought to society as a whole was their rejection of their parents' moral values. They quickly bought into the communist ideal of religion as evil--a threat to their communist (whether openly admitted or not) utopia.
Admittedly, atheism had been growing slowly but steadily since the Victorian era, but the Boomers pushed religion off a cliff, as far as society as a whole was concerned. Being moral was "square"--deserving only of mockery (note that the hippies called the few Christian believers among them "Jesus Freaks").
Very fair point on your first sentence. The framers of the Constitution could not have achieved what they did without the ability of the people to govern their own behavior, and that required a greater good.
Communism was widely embraced in the 1920’s, especially in England. Atheism was considered progressive and brave. Coming out as atheist was like declaring independence from medieval superstition. It definitely didn’t start with the boomer generation although it was slower to catch on in the US so it might seem that the post-war gen started it. We’re a younger society and so lagging behind Europe a bit.
Jesus freak wasn’t a slur - it implied commitment rather than weirdness
It’s been done.
I agree. Jerusalem must be beautiful in September.
I must say I was set back by this article; like the parents of the Jewish kids who "don't have the words" I have a hard time imagining this world. I went to a college that had a near 50% of the enrollment being Jewish kids. There was never any animosity over religious or cultural differences and certainly none of the name calling or vandalism Mr. Flayton mentions. To see this now, to see the result of years of neglected history and literature to appease an ignorant and loathsome mob, to see our country sinking into the very place we were taught to eschew, is saddening indeed. It is all to apparent that the few sane people left are going to have to take the reins because the abyss is dead ahead and closer with each moment.
We ceded Academia to the left decades ago and profess surprise that it has reached this sorry state.
Why?
But in those days, everyone was at least tolerant of each others views. The megalomaniac fringe has managed to forcefully insert themselves as the arbiters of culture and values; the arrival of social media platforms has inabled them far more than any general acceptance of their ideas.
The problem seems to be people no longer know how to critique with nuance. It’s possible to be critical of the Israeli government without being hateful towards Jewish people. It seems we can thread that needle when we criticize the CCP without bashing people for being Chinese.
Yes, it's all black and white for these people- makes things easier to comprehend. You know, the way one would instruct a three year old.
Well said.
"Never Again" did not last very long, did it?
I have sympathy for the young people described in the essay, but it's limited. If you define yourself as a progressive American college student then odds are you agree with sorting the world into oppressed and oppressors; you've just been surprised to find yourselves on the wrong side.
If you've stood up for fellow students who expressed conservative opinions, or who've deadnamed someone or used the wrong pronoun (or just refused to care) or questioned BLM or the 1619 project or... anybody who's a member here can add to the list... then I take my original statement back.
In any case, welcome to Israel. If I can be of any help, let me know.
One of my relatives recently graduated from law school in NYC. The anti-semitism was so virulent and so relentless, the entire family eventually got up and walked out, led by my mild-mannered British son-in-law who avoids conflict like the plague. He said he couldn't sit there another minute.
Given that I have some sway over hiring young lawyers, I'd be interested in which one so I can identify the young fools they're foisting on the legal community.
The graduation ceremony was anti-semitic? What happened?
Speaker after speaker ranted incoherently about "the Zionists" It was truly unhinged
The graduation ceremony was anti-semitic? What happened?
OK I get it. Israel is a beautiful land and the ancestral home of the Jewish people. But you're an American. How about staying here? And while you're at it, cast off the reflexive leftism that has characterized so much of Jewish American life. That leftism that now - predictably - knifes you in the back. And despises you. Many American Jews, including the most religious among them, are embracing the new conservative movement that embraces them - and Israel - in return. (and additionally embraces all freedom-loving people regardless of sexual orientation). The love of liberty and free speech - which has always animated American Jews - is no longer found on the left. Or in the Democrat Party. The party your grandparents worshipped has morphed into something ugly and despotic. The ACLU - once a bright symbol of Jewish pride - no longer stands for civil liberties. The entire American left is devolving into a bunch of brownshirted goons. Only conservatives stand against them. So cast off that tired garment. Stay, embrace conservative and breath the sweet air of liberty.
aclu, heck the adl isn't much better anymore.
Precisely. They are a propaganda tool of the left.
Nothing more.
“I didn’t leave the adl, the adl left me.”
Amen. As the other reply stated, the ADL- which was formed to combat anti-Semitism- became woke and lost it’s way. I saw that happen 25 years ago. Even Hadassah- supposedly a Women’s Zionist organization- is now going in that direction. They just profiled a rabid woke leftist in their magazine (Amy Spitalnick). The only bright light is that the left is coming out of the closet and is parading it’s hatred for all to see. Let’s hope people are watching and listening.
That’s easy to say. But when you’re not even able to BE in college it’s a bad sign of what’s to come. When you can’t go to university and have a real and free academic experience that’s a bad sign. When you’re ostracized for being Jewish or saying one word people don’t like that’s the beginning of what will continue in your workplace, your kids school and your community. That’s where it’s at. It only gets worse from here. History repeats itself. It’s time to fight this now. But in the meantime saying pretty slogans about freedom don’t protect people who are being discriminated against or physically attacked right now, in the USA.
I fear we (American Jews) are at a similar place German Jews were in the early 1930’s. Anti-Semitism was on the rise, starting with the Hitler youth and other groups and Jews said “not here, no way.” “Germany is an enlightened society; my grandparents and parents were all born in Germany. I’m German. This is a free society. So there is anti-semitism but it is from fringe groups. This is different than the Pale of Settlement. I’m free here and I can’t imagine leaving.”
Can this words be said by American Jews today? I think so. And this time, unlike German Jews, we know what can and has happened. The Shoah. So this time we are being warned and we know if we don’t listen, we might pay the ultimate price.
I’m not saying all Jews should move to Israel. I’m in my early 60’s, great career, make good money and I’d love to make Aliya but my wife is against it. So my goal now is to convince her to buy an apartment in Tel Aviv so we have a place to go when . . . .
our current intellectuals consider the enlightenment racist and the constitution an enemy. Yeah its that bad.
Right on
Why are our people in the usa so stupid?
A dangerous combination of Boredom, self obsession, and entitlement
Well when you buy that apt, I will live in it until you need, lol. # 2, either you go or not. Probably the reverse would be true. Biden will give billions to Iran and we will be blown off face of earth. I would rather do that than be safe in Germany. So happy here.
Well, I appreciate the offer lol, but the plan is to live in Tel Aviv but not full time. Ease my wife in to our new home.
Apts in Tel Aviv most expensive in world. Anyway, I went swimming there yesterday with daughter in law and grandchildren. Glorious!
That’s true but they don’t call Jewish people pejorative names and they might be self-hating (I really don’t think they are self-hating) but they are not anti-Semitic. They are not going to say
“banish me to the seas. Or probably don’t call people dirty Jews. Since they are one.
The G.W. cafeteria strike thing is just stunning. The rise of campus antisemitism is incredibly frightening and yet it’s barely noticed in the mainstream media, which is very worrying.
Bc the media are these people. The whole “its not being talked about” refrain is pointless when the malignant intentions of the media and academia are the same, if not the individual perpetrators
hell in NYC you might get a news story when jews are attacked but it will fade in a blink since the powers that be do not wish to discuss it.
What a great shame for America to lose so many of our future leaders to such unreasoned hate. We seem to be on the verge of a "Kristallnacht." What is really disturbing is the animus of the Progressive left which seems to be parroting Nazi propagandists of the extreme right-wing crazies. Where will it end?
It feels like literally the far left is out to destroy every group of people that are actual productive members of society.
And they want to destroy minorities by declaring productive behavior "white," and therefore unacceptable.
When they act exactly alike they are simply just lunatics. To be isolated, suppressed and crushed.
Anti-semitism is an example of left/right not being a continuum so much as a circle, where the far-far left and far-far right tend to find each other.
The Horse shoe. Communism and Nazism are allegedly opposite sides of the spectrum, but in reality they are near each other at the bottom with a liberal democracy on the top.
Roger Waters