Education cannot kill antisemitism

The American Jewish establishment is still pursuing its old, failed policies.

My new book, Self Defense: A Jewish Manifesto, is now available at Amazon via Wicked Son Books and the Z3 Project.

There is an old adage that states: “When something isn’t working, first stop doing it.” This is good advice, as proven by how rarely it is obeyed and how often this dereliction leads to disaster.

Perhaps nothing has borne this out in recent years so much as the American Jewish establishment’s complete failure to effectively fight the massive rise in antisemitism that now plagues the United States.

For decades, the establishment thought that it was interdicting antisemitism through “advocacy,” back room lobbying, and, above all, education—especially Holocaust education.

We now know that all this was an abject failure, and the proof is the evidence of our eyes: despite decades of efforts on the part of the establishment, antisemitism is worse than ever, violence against Jews is commonplace, and calls for genocide are ubiquitous or, at the very least, “depend on the context.”

In other words, the establishment’s failure is manifest and manifestly catastrophic.

The establishment, worse still, shows no signs of change. As Talleyrand said, “They have learned nothing and forgotten nothing.” The establishment is, one regrets to say, beholden to their old and failed policies, terrified of the possibilities of radicalism and self-defense, and just when they should be organizing a new Jewish civil rights movement, resolutely refuse to do so.

This was underlined by a May 31 New York Post article that described “new” efforts to combat antisemitism on the part of the venerable American Jewish Congress.

According to the article, “The American Jewish Congress is creating what it calls ‘AJCatalyst Lab,’ a venture-style incubator designed to identify, support and ramp up high-impact initiatives to deter a rise in reported Jew hatred.”

How antisemitism today is merely “reported” is a mystery, but the article goes on the describe the “Lab,” saying it “will provide start-up funds for activism, strategic mentorship, operational support, media advice and access to the AJC’s national and international network.”

Moreover, it will have “Impact Investors” who are “leaders in law, media, policy, technology, communications, fundraising, and education who will oversee a portfolio of carefully selected projects chosen through a competitive process.”

I freely admit that I have no idea what any of this means. It is jargon-laden gobbledygook, and it is entirely unclear what any of this is intended to actually do.

The only indication we have is given by AJC president Daniel Rosen, who says, “It’s not just about screaming louder, but about screaming more effectively.” Given that there is no indication as to how “screaming” is going to interdict antisemitism and antisemitic violence, one imagines that the only result of this will be that American Jews swiftly lose their voices.

Ominously, there is only one real indication as to the new project’s goals. The Post states: “Education will be an important component of the Lab, providing young people with information and historical facts to counter the hate mongering fed to them about Jews and Israel.”

The purpose, says Rosen, is to “drive critical thinking” and “get kids to hit the pause button.” This is matched, bizarrely, with a statement by Rosen: “We need a new playbook going forward.”

The statement is bizarre because, if education is the project’s only practical goal, then there is no “new playbook” whatsoever. It is merely the old playbook dressed up in language vaguely reminiscent of tech industry and social entrepreneurship jargon, and there is literally no chance that it will be any more effective than it has been in the past. It is clear that, even if it isn’t working, the American Jewish establishment will not stop doing it.

There is a good reason for the failure of the establishment’s old playbook: Antisemitism cannot be killed by education. It is impossible.

This is the case because antisemitism is not, as the establishment tends to imagine, a result of ignorance. Indeed, this is conclusively proven by the fact that the most antisemitic people and institutions in America are the best educated and the universities that allegedly educate them. Antisemitism today is, for the most part, an elite pursuit, embraced by the most knowledgeable among us.

The reason for this in turn is simple: the nature of antisemitism itself. As I said, antisemitism is not the result of ignorance. Indeed, it has nothing to do with knowledge whatsoever, and therefore nothing to do with education.

Antisemitism is, in fact, a psychological disorder, a mass psychosis, a folie de tout le monde—a madness of all the world. Hence its intensity, its absolutism, its enormous motive power, and above all, its total derangement.

The proof is antisemitism’s ability to embrace the most extraordinary delusions: the blood libel, the Gaza genocide lie, the Elders of Zion, and a million other examples.

What this means is that, contrary to establishment delusions, antisemites cannot be educated. They refuse to be educated. They refuse because knowledge and truth cannot possibly grant the sadistic pleasures of hated, which allow them to vent the rage and violence that lurk in every human soul, only waiting for the excuse to burst forth and strike at their chosen target.

This means that antisemitism is very difficult to fight. After all, tolerance and understanding are nowhere near as pleasurable as hate. The benign is never as attractive as the sinister.

Nonetheless, while antisemitism cannot be educated, it can be resisted. Violence can be interdicted, the haters marginalized, and the Jewish people liberated by their own spiritual and physical capacities.

This requires, however, that elusive will to resist. Resistance requires defiance, strength, and the willingness to engage in active self-defense. It requires the courage to resist the entire world.

This is a daunting task. Resistance is always difficult. It is, however, effective. Indeed, it is the only thing that is effective. Moreover, deep down, all Jews know this, because it is only due to our willingness to resist the entire world for centuries that we have survived.

If the American Jewish establishment is unwilling to reconnect with the Jewish legacy of defiance, then they must be replaced or, in their stead, new movements must arise that are prepared to take their place.

This is an absolute imperative, because it is now clear that, if American Jews wish to remain both Jews and Americans, they might fight for it. Thus, the fantasy of educating antisemites must be forgone in favor of resistance. It is long past time for the resistance to begin.