Anti-Semitism Is Dead!
Sure. Along with racism, misogyny, homophobia, and classism.
Yesterday, Politico published leaked groups texts from young Republicans in New York State, and they are every bit as horrifying as your worst imaginings.
I think it’s particularly important to talk about this now, as Trump is being lauded for helping to bring home the Israeli hostages and broker the end of the Israel-Hamas war. As an Israeli friend told me recently, “He has done a great thing for us.”
We could speculate endlessly about Trump’s true intentions here, and in this moment of celebration they really don’t matter. And anyway, impact over intent, right? What we do is more important than why we do it.
Mostly I agree with this truism, especially when it comes to good intentions with negative consequences. For instance, the Soil Conservation Service promoted planting kudzu in the South in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, as a way to control erosion. It turned out, though, that kudzu can outcompete anything in its way, destroying native ecosystems and earning the nickname “the vine that ate the South.”
What about iffy intentions with good outcomes? Personally, I think that’s what’s happening here. I suspect Trump’s intentions had more to do with his monomania about the Nobel Peace Prize and his bromance with Netanyahu, who wants to cleanse Gaza of Palestinians, than with truly wanting to create peace. However, his actions have helped stop Israel’s attacks, at least for this moment, and liberate the Israeli hostages who had been held by Hamas for two years. That’s a win whatever the intention.
BUT INTENT MATTERS TOO, especially in politics. The young Republicans in the group text above were gunning hard for Trump’s approval, as their texts clearly show. Those close to Trump, and those who want to be closer, know exactly how to court his favor: through egregious expressions of racism, homophobia, misogyny, and yes, anti-Semitism. Jokes about gas chambers and Hitler. References to “expecting the Jew to be honest.” As Politico reported, “Epithets like ‘f——t,’ ‘retarded,’ and ‘n—-a’ appeared more than 251 times combined.”
Trump’s particular genius centers around bullying. He is a master of using any and all leverage—accurate or not—against groups he wants to vilify and dominate. Right now, he’s using the specter of anti-Semitism to bully higher education and corporate America into bending to his will. Not because he cares about Jews (as members of his own family have written, he cares about nobody but himself), but because that specter activates a lot of support for him.
But next month, next year, Jews could be—I predict will be—targets in his crosshairs. His devotees know that—hence the anti-Semitic language in these texts and in many other contexts.
Trump’s complete lack of morality makes it incredibly complicated to unpack the truth about anti-Semitism in the U.S. these days. Like many other American Jews, I’ve cringed at the way accusations of anti-Semitism have been used to cudgel institutions into submission. But I also know it’s still a very real issue, along with Islamophobia, racism, homophobia, misogyny (remember “grab ‘em by the pussy”?)
So sure, let’s celebrate the hostages’ homecomings, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the quiet skies over Gaza. But let’s not be fooled into following a wannabe dictator into darker and darker terrain.