Dear Editor,
The overt expressions of antisemitism that proliferated in our country since the murders of Israelis and others on October 7, 2023, have been surprising and alarming. That many of these expressions occurred on university campuses is especially concerning. Undoubtedly a sizeable portion of them were fueled by outside agitators and funded by foreign entities. Yet as disturbing as these have been, the attempts by various American politicians to mollify anti-Israel elements here are of even greater concern.
While antisemitism will always exist, its danger is greatest if it becomes a pretext for government policy that adversely affects Israel and Jews. Moreover, the inability of the average person to recognize political threats of these kinds can be self-destructive if they become amplified over time. Most people, after all, do not concern themselves with political motivations and speech. Precisely because they have lives to lead and are immersed in business, work, family, finances, and interpersonal relationships, their obliviousness to political threats can become dangerous. We have seen this illustrated repeatedly throughout Central and South America, particularly in the last two decades in Venezuela.
For Jews, the most heinous modern example of such danger coming to fruition was, of course, in Germany, Poland, and Russia in the 1930s and 1940s. And yet that danger was not recognized by many who would subsequently succumb to it. For example, the German Jewish father of a friend of mine wrote that when Hitler became Germany’s chancellor, he and the Jewish community failed to appreciate its implications. “Hitler took power in 1933,” this man wrote, “and unfortunately many Jews including ourselves lived under the misconception that things would get better for the Jews once he had taken over the government.”
When I first read this passage I was shocked, although I subsequently realized that hindsight is indeed 20/20. In reading the history of German Jews in the early 1930s, I came to find that the views of my friend’s father were quite common.
The question that needs to be asked today is this: has antisemitism penetrated our political system in a way that could adversely affect our Jewish community? My own answer is that it already has.
Neither political party should have a constituency that opposes our alliance with Israel or condemns a reasonable response by her to unprovoked violent attacks. Furthermore, the citizens of countries whose governments attack her must understand that they will suffer the consequences. Israel cannot be blamed for the casualties experienced by the citizens of those countries, just as Japanese and German civilians affected by American bombing in World War II should have held their own governments responsible for what they suffered.
Here is what we know about the unprovoked attack of October 7, 2023. Hamas is funded by Iran, which did not have the resources to amply fund its proxies at the end of the Trump administration, thanks to that administration’s sanctions on Iranian oil sales. Those sanctions were withdrawn by the Biden administration which, in doing so, provided Iran with the means to finance the Hamas attack on October 7. In addition, Iran has financed Hezbollah and its extraordinary arsenal of missiles.
Why would any rational American president do such a thing? Jewish Americans, particularly those associated with the Democratic Party, should have objected to lifting the sanctions on Iran and asked for an explanation from President Biden. Their silence is scurrilous. Furthermore, they should not indulge those who blame Israel for the deaths of Gaza’s civilians. We haven’t blamed FDR or Truman for the civilian casualties resulting from the firebombing of Dresden or Tokyo. Nor have we blamed Truman for civilian deaths resulting from the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, as he was thereby saving American lives (and indeed, by bringing about a more rapid end to the war, Japanese lives as well). How ridiculous, then, to blame Israel for defending itself from those who would destroy it. And how morally reprehensible was it for an American president to have effectively financed Iran, thereby enabling it to ramp up funding its own nuclear program, endangering the United States as well as financing the attacks on Israel by Hamas, Hezbollah, and Yemen’s Houthi government. The Biden administration and the Democratic Party (and particularly its Jewish office holders) need to explain themselves on this matter.
Finally, the universities which have allowed physical intimidation of Jewish citizens should be held to account by our government withdrawing all public funds that they currently receive. And neither political party should excuse support among their members for the terrorists, supported by Iran, who threaten Israel and, ultimately, all Americans.
Jeffrey Paul
Cincinnati, OH
