Is it true, or is it false, that the primary venues of BDS and anti-Semitic anti-Zionism in the West today primarily come from the progressive-left, including the grassroots / netroots of the Democratic Party?
False.
It's as simple as that. In what follows, I will restrict the analysis to antisemitism and anti-Zionism in America, because that is how I assume the question was intended, given that it specifically mentions the Democratic Party.
First of all, the focus on BDS is misleading. While BDS in indeed is a scheme cooked up to appeal to stupid leftists and liberals, and rears its head in left-leaning forums and organizations, we must not lose sight of the fact that BDS is only one small and very particular aspect of antisemitism and anti-Zionism.
If the question is about the problem of antisemitism or even anti-Zionism generally, then focusing on BDS in particular is like having a bad baseball team and focusing on the third base coach. It is not intellectually honest to ignore the pitching, hitting, fielding, managing, and everything that is more important and consequential than the third base coach. Likewise, when it comes to evaluating the huge problem of antisemitism, it is not intellectually honest to hone in on BDS and ignore all of the other manifestations of it out there.
When antisemitism and anti-Zionism are considered in their totality, the primary venues in America are, quite simply, NOT the progressive-left and/or the netroots.
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We were all traumatized by the insane (yet simultaneously banal) anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric we saw at Daily Kos, and were rightly scandalized by the way it was tolerated by others. As I've said before, it should eternally shame the admins of that website, and should be a blemish on the record of any politician that participated there after the rhetoric became prominent.
BUT... The stuff at Daily Kos is child's play compared to the antisemitism / anti-Zionism that can be found in right-wing forums. Spend any time browsing through right leaning forums and you will encounter antisemitism so bad it will make you want to run and hug Sandra Tamari screaming "Thank you for being so moderate!" In our justified outrage at the insane yet banal anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric at Daily Kos, it is easy to lose sight of the orders of magnitude worse rhetoric that is out there elsewhere.
Just to point to one illuminating example, there is the "Manosphere" website Return of Kings. The people who comment there are a mixture of paleoconservatives, libertarian sadists, corporate raiders, and basement dwelling nutjobs - the political mirror image of the Daily Kos crowd. And the antisemitism there is off the charts! Just go read the 1100 comments attached to an article where ironically the author is actually trying to get them to tone down the antisemitism. True, in those comments you won't find much advocacy for BDS. But you will find hundreds of people charging Jews/Zionists with controlling the world through communism and feminism, with carrying out the genocide of 100 million (or 100 billion or 100 trillion - pick your number) Christians, shooting Palestinian children for sport, asaassinating all enemies, and Jews actually deserving every antisemitic act in history. You will also find near universal Holocaust denial. Some of the people there appear to literally believe that their lives are in danger because they dare to criticize the Zionist power structure supposedly running the world. And the amount of aid that they claim that the US sends to Israel every year? Well, let's just say that they can't settle on a number but it is somewhere between eleventy googleplex trijillion and infinity.
I must emphaize that Return of Kings is not even supposed to be antisemitic. It is supposed to be a website to help men with their "game" with women, and to deal with issues supposedly arising from too much feminism in society. It is simply a website that attracts a lot of people on the political right, and lo-and-behold, the Jew-hate that results makes Daily Kos look like the ADL.
That is just one example, but just read through any right-leaning forum not controlled by the Republican party or a media organization and you will see the same or similar. Am I saying here that the right in general is full of insane antisemites? No, I am definitely not. But I am saying that if one is going to use what is posted at Daily Kos and similar fora to evaluate the antisemitism/anti-Zionism present in the progressive left, then one must also use what is posted at right-leaning fora to evaluate the presence of antisemitism/anti-Zionism on the right. If one does so, the clear conclusion is that antisemitism is worse on the right.
Let's also not forget that most violent antisemitic incidents are still carried out by the right-wing, such as the recent Kansas City shootings. Plus there is the undeniable phenomenon that the Mondoweiss crowd primarily supports the Ron/Rand Paul wing of American politics.
If you still feel that antisemitism is worse among the progressive netroots than among the equivalent demographic on the right, I humbly suggest the following simple thought experiment. If you had to appear as a conspisuous Jew at one of the two following places, which would you choose: A) at the next Daily Kos Netroots Nation convention, or B) at Cliven Bundy's militia encampment? I believe that any honest person will choose option A, and that says something about the relative amount and virulence of antisemitism among segments of the left versus segments of the right.
In summary, in American politics antisemitism/anti-Zionism is simply not primarily the province of progressives. The right wing, in its paleoconservative and libertarian wings, has a significant problem with antisemitism, and if one is to judge by the amount and virulence of antisemitic fora, a worse problem.
I will qualify this by saying that in Europe the situation is indeed different, because social conservatism is largely taboo there and the leftist parties have become thoroughly infested with Islamists and their sympathizers. On that continent it is indeed more accuate to say that the primary venue of antisemitism/anti-Zionism is the left. However, there are still the examples of Jobbik, the National Front, and other explicitly antisemitic/anti-Zionist right wing parties.
Still, when we are talking about American politics it is inaccurate to say that the primary venue is the liberal netroots and/or the Democratic Party.
I would argue that if we're talking American politics, the discussion would best be kept to political sites, then.
ReplyDeleteI think 'game' sites are ultimately much less influential on the political discourse in our nation than are huge, mainstream political blogs like Daily Kos.
You do have me reconsidering my thoughts a bit, but I'm not ready to change my mind yet based on just this.
Yes, right-wingers may ultimately be more antisemitic than left-wingers, overall.
Or they may not be.
But, these people at least don't seem to be carrying their hatred into mainstream conservative political forums yet?
Perhaps it's because their hatred is of the blatant 'Old Antisemitism' variety, which is still widely reviled as hate speech amongst polite society.
Then I'd further argue that we need to wipe out the 'New Antisemites' from our mainstream company, as well as the right did theirs a while back.
Interesting post regardless, Fizziks. Perhaps this can lead to a fruitful discussion!
You're right Jay... this can lead to a fruitful discussion with people who are willing to be factual and non-hyperbolic regarding the issue.
ReplyDeleteTo start that discussion I think your commentary about Conservative blogs and anti-Semitism is a very interesting point. I would say that in some ways their assumption that Jews will vote with Israel over the interests of the United States is an unspoken and in many ways unrealized case of anti-Semitism. AND I would go so far as to be critical of those Right Wing Jews who play directly into that stereotype by assuming that anyone who doesn't do that is somehow "less Zionist" than others.
Anyway, I think that underlying anti-Semitism coupled with words "not spoken in polite company" by the Right adds up to anti-Semitism on the right. HOWEVER, I would agree that those views might not constitute outright hatred that permeates the Hard Left and Left blogs like Daily Kos where apologists like David Harris Gershon and a whole cast of "dumb as bricks" activists try to justify some of the very worst aspects of political discourse.
I would say that the right has gotten better at hiding it's underlying anti-Semitism and that when you say: "
Perhaps it's because their hatred is of the blatant 'Old Antisemitism' variety, which is still widely reviled as hate speech amongst polite society." you are absolutely right.
As for wiping out the "New anti-Semitism", I am in absolute agreement with you on that point as well. However, saying things like "President Obama supports the Boko Haram" is not helpful (nor factual) in the least. It is much more useful to use facts and straight up history to push those who are anti-Semites out of the Progressive/Liberal political polity.
fiz.. don't forget the Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn in Greece.
ReplyDeleteI just read this again and I believe you are correct in many, many ways. This is an excellent and intelligent response that won't get any acknowledgement from the original author of the question because honestly... they have none.