My latest JNS column went up today. It calls out the Muslim American community for its collapse into virulent antisemitism—something proved by both survey results and the evidence of our eyes—and outlines what the Jewish community and US authorities should do about it.
There are probably two reasons there has been so little action on this issue. First, the Muslim American community is portrayed and portrays itself as oppressed and persecuted (it isn’t) and this naturally makes it uncomfortable for those who ought to know better to criticize it, even when it is engaged in manifestly immoral and illegal behavior. This kind of cultural immunity is also why it’s so difficult to get action taken against antisemites from other minorities.
The second reason is that the situation of one minority persecuting another minority not just on an individual basis but en masse has not been seen on this scale in the US for over a century. The last example I can think of is the 1863 New York City draft riots (they’re portrayed, somewhat sanitized, in the film Gangs of New York) in which the city’s Irish minority unleashed a horrific pogrom on the Black minority.
In that case, the US Army—including troops just returned from Gettysburg—marched on the city, opened fire on the mobs, and even shelled parts of Manhattan from gunboats. Brutal, no doubt, but it was effective. The riots stopped and the Black population of New York was saved from further violence. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that again. If the authorities take the proper actions now, it won’t.
The usual excuse offered for the pro-Hamas, pro-genocide demonstrations currently polluting major American cities and campuses is that they are exercises in “free speech.” In other words, however appalling the shouts to slaughter Jews might be, they’re protected under the First Amendment.
Let’s set aside for a moment that the pro-genocide thugs have committed acts of physical violence and vandalism that are not protected speech under any conceivable definition of the term. Set aside as well the fact that most university and college speech codes explicitly do not protect hate speech, and therefore, on campus at least, there is no excuse for not shutting these people down and expelling them.
I would contend that even in the case of the public demonstrations, chants and signs like “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” “intifada,” and “gas the Jews,” among others, do not constitute protected speech.
The classic example of speech that is not protected is “shouting ‘fire!’ in a crowded theater.” In other words, if you are actively endangering lives through reckless speech, you are not afforded the protections of the First Amendment.
It is my view, and I believe most thinking people would agree with me, that if shouting “fire!” in a crowded theater is not protected speech, then shouting “kill the Jews!” in a crowded theater is definitely not protected speech. And these people aren’t just calling for the murder of Jews in a relatively small enclosed space. They’re doing it by the thousands on the streets of major cities and in the public spaces of revered (for some reason) institutions of higher education.
In other words, the authorities have no excuse. We are not faced with unpleasant but protected speech. We are faced with unprotected and indeed illegal incitement to terrorism and racist violence. Those engaged in it should be arrested and face the appropriate legal penalties, and the American Jewish community should be demanding as much.
There are two extremely common arguments being used by people of moderate to mediocre intelligence who are attempting—rather desperately—to find some reason for supporting the Palestinians despite their recent rampage of crimes against humanity.
Both arguments appear compelling on the surface, and often leave us struggling for an answer, but they are fairly obviously fallacious once examined with care.
The first is the “both sides” argument. It goes something like, “Yes, the Palestinians did [insert horrible things] but Israel also did [insert horrible things], so what’s the difference between you?”
The obvious response to this is to point out that, generally speaking, the claim that Israel did the horrible thing is a lie. That’s often the case, but the problem is that these people aren’t looking for a real answer, they’re giving you an excuse for indefensible sympathies. As a result, they simply won’t believe you.
So, the answer should be: “Then what are you getting so excited about? If you really believe both sides are equally bad or good, you have no compelling reason to support one or the other, or indeed to take any stand on the issue whatsoever. Any choice you make will be purely arbitrary, unless you’re a racist.”
At that point, lock eyes with them and ask, “Are you a racist?”
They will have no answer; because, of course, they are.
The second argument is stupider, but it is very popular, because it makes bad people feel good about themselves. It is the argument that Israel is “powerful” and the Palestinians are “weak.” Thus, these people claim, they must support the Palestinians because they have a moral obligation to support the weak against the strong.
Obviously, such an argument can only be made by someone who is desperate to believe they are a saint, and know quite well that they aren’t, because there are no saints. Nor, in fact, have such people usually made any effort to be saints. They think that by simply holding certain opinions, they become saints.
This is all very silly, of course, but it is psychologically compelling to silly people, and thus extremely common.
The most obvious answer to it is to say that, yes, Israel is quite powerful. But for geographic, demographic, and political reasons, it is also quite vulnerable, as was demonstrated on Oct. 7. Thus, the equation of “powerful” and “weak” is somewhat more complicated than it first appears.
It is better, however, to go to the core of the issue and demolish the moral pretentions of the self-appointed saint in question. Simply say, “Can you imagine what would happen if Israel wasn’t powerful? Can you imagine what they would have done on Oct. 7 if they weren’t too weak to do it? Thank God Israel is more powerful than the Palestinians. Terrorists should be weak and should be kept weak. It’s the only thing that prevents them from committing the most horrendous crimes against humanity at will.”
I doubt that any of these answers will persuade anyone who has already managed to reconcile themselves to the innumerable atrocities the Palestinians have committed over the past century. However, they do at least puncture these people’s cosmic self-regard and may prompt others to question certain popular fallacies and cliches.
On a lighter note, God bless Star Trek: Lower Decks. It’s getting me through this.
You’re the bravest writer in America right now. Your stuff is gold.