I have read comments by Jewish people expressing their dismay that the far left has switched into rabid anti-semitism in such an addlepated one-step fashion. These Jewish people thought they were part of the far left, that these newly-minted anti-semites were their friends.
Then … snap! … their “friends” are backing people who call for the annihilation of Jews. I have heard from other Jewish people who say that they are afraid to wear their Star of David jewelry. They are afraid to publicly identify as Jewish for fear of violence. Still others say they fear for the safety of their children who are attending universities. Here. In America.
Mobs in Russia search a planeload of passengers, looking for Jews to kill. And people American Jews thought were their friends are fine with it. Anti-Semitic threats have reached the point on the University of Pennsylvania campus that campus officials have alerted the FBI.
This isn’t a concern for Palestinians. It’s hatred. it’s anti-semitism. Old school, right out front and plain to see. And it’s coming from people who, up until a few days ago, American Jews who were active in far left politics thought were their friends. For them, this sudden betrayal is like being thrown through a car windshield. They are stunned, horrified, angry, and disaffected.
How do they process this?
Here’s my 2 cents.
I spent 18 years in elective office. During that time, I pretty consistently did what I thought was right. Looking back, I made mistakes. I was sometimes wrong about what was the best thing. But at the time I made the decisions, I almost always did what I honestly thought was right.
That meant that every so often I would enrage either the far right or far left with their absolutist thinking and punishing self-righteousness. At one time or another, I’ve been the special hate object of both sides. One thing I learned from that is that there’s not a nickel’s worth of difference between them.
The far right and the far left use the same tactics, suffer from the same self-righteousness, have the same indifference to the damage they do, and take the same self-righteous pleasure in the pain and suffering they inflict. They’ll idolize you one minute and try to destroy you the next. It’s all the same gratifying frisson of satisfaction to them.
I’ll admit that the ease with which the far left turned on the Jewish members of the far left, painted a target on them and began attacking them was a bit stunning. But, for someone like me who has had the same target painted on her by the same people, it’s not particularly surprising.
People on the far right and the far left that you have known for years and thought were your friends will turn on you in one step when the far left or far right group that runs them demands it. They will use everything they know about you, every bit of trust and intimacy you placed in them, to try to destroy you. And they will enjoy doing it.
The truth of the matter is that the political spectrum is not a line. It’s a circle. And the far left and the far right sit side by side in the blows-hot-and-cold, crazy mean part of the circle.
I don’t know what to say to Jewish people who thought they were part of something with the far left and are now experiencing this phenomena as the horror of seeing the terror that is encoded in their genes coming at them from people they thought were their friends.
All I can say is that these people who have turned into anti-semites in a one-step move didn’t trip when they did it. This is how they treat other human beings.
My advice, for what it’s worth, is don’t let them get into your head and change you and make you abandon your values. Do what you think is right. And don’t let the grief over their betrayal consume you.
Stand up for yourselves. You are not alone. You have allies. Fight back, but fight smart. You can defeat this.
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