Antisemitic protesters target Jewish neighborhoods. We won't be intimidated. | Opinion
The best – and I believe only – path forward for the Jewish community is one that has repeatedly proved effective against cancel culture: Stand tall, be proud, don't apologize.
Antisemites are trying to make Jews go away by any means necessary. Violence, threats, intimidation, name-calling, dehumanization – it’s all designed to make Jews afraid to live their identity publicly and proudly.
Just as significantly, it’s designed to make Jews socially toxic enough that others are scared to come to our defense.
We saw this clearly Tuesday night in New York, where "anti-Israel" protesters chose to demonstrate not in front of the Israeli Consulate or the United Nations headquarters but in a heavily Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn.
Cancel culture and antisemitism have similarities
Modern antisemitism looks a lot like cancel culture. Once you take that approach, you start seeing the similarities immediately.
Antisemitism and cancel culture are both built on narratives, not facts, and are therefore impervious to contradictory information.
Antisemites across the political spectrum see Jews, who make up just 2.4% of American adults, as having unearned, outsized influence. This makes them oppressors to left-wing social justice activists and an insidious cabal to right-wing conspiracy theorists.
The fact that Israel in my view isn’t committing anything close to a genocide in Gaza hasn’t stopped progressives from making accusations about Israeli (Jewish) bloodlust. The existence of Jewish conservatives who support restrictive immigration policies haven’t stopped neo-Nazis from chanting “Jews will not replace us.”
That’s not to say antisemitic claims aren’t worth refuting – they are, but that won’t solve the problem. Antisemites dehumanize first and rationalize later.
Antisemitism and cancel culture both target their victims everywhere they live and work. The Brooklyn Museum has been subjected to frequent protests – but vandals targeted the houses of its Jewish director and Jewish board members with antisemitic graffiti. The dean of the University of California Berkeley’s Law School saw rampant antisemitism on campus, which quickly extended to his own home.
Regardless of context, the message from cancel culture’s self-appointed foot soldiers is clear: “Watch out, Jews; we know where you live.”
It’s important to note that antisemitism and cancel culture both have a public component. Sure of their moral superiority, antisemitic cancel vultures proudly splash evidence of their activity across social media, often to acclaim. Criticize them or dispute their claims and you invite a wave of online backlash that usually includes violent threats.
Public attacks require a public response. Our community needs to realize that our antisemitism crisis is also a communications problem.
The best – and I believe only – path forward for the Jewish community is one that has repeatedly proved effective against cancel culture: Stand tall, be proud, don’t apologize.
Cancel culture depends on its victims being cowed by the mob. Both individually and collectively, Jews should reject the premises of antisemitism and refuse to capitulate.
Sen. John Fetterman and former Sen. Ben Sasse speak up
Public figures who have embraced this approach, including Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman and former Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse, have seen considerable success.
After Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel, the senator of Pennsylvania avoided the equivocations and “both-sides” arguments that characterized many of his colleagues’ responses.
“The United States has a moral obligation to be in lockstep with our ally as they confront this threat,” Fetterman wrote. “I also fully support Israel neutralizing the terrorists responsible for this barbarism.”
His support has not wavered, and his approval rating rose after that statement.
As universities across the country failed to condemn antisemitism and keep their Jewish students safe amid antisemitic anti-Israel protests, then-University of Florida President Sasse was unequivocal: "A lot of the protesters say ridiculously, historically and geographically ignorant things.”
Fetterman and Sasse – neither of whom is Jewish – made their values and commitments clear and unwavering, and they were rewarded for it. They weren’t uncontroversial, but they were respected. And beyond the immediate impact of their words and actions, they helped create an environment that helped others support Jews without fear of reprisals.
Regardless of how we respond, however, silence isn’t an option. Turning the tide of antisemitism will require the Jewish community and our allies – individually and collectively, publicly and privately – to fight back.
Sacha Roytman is CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement.