US Jews grapple with election-year eruption of anti-Semitism

“The McGill Daily’s refusal to give a platform to pro-Zionist commentaries has racist dimensions and xenophobic overtones as the viewpoints of Jewish students… and supporters of Israel (avowed Zionists) are deemed persona non grata”, Mike Fegelman, the executive director of the media watchdog group HonestReportingCanada, said in a statement.

First, because the glee with which Trump’s victory was greeted by Israeli ministers will not have gone unnoticed – nor the reasons for their contentment.

Citizens of the Jewish state are as eager as ever to visit, and Trump’s election apparently hasn’t altered any of their travel plans. Justice minister Ayelet Shaked expressed hope that Trump will move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.

“What we need to do is bitch-slap the Republican Party”, Bannon said in a 2010 radio interview. Contrary to the beliefs of many Orthodox Jews, just because his daughter converted to Judaism, it does not mean that Trump will ensure Israel’s safety. Rabbi Dr. Leonard Matanky, Honorary President of the RCA, stressed the statement’s request that “both the President and the President-Elect not pivot from longstanding US policy that a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties”.

These developments have stunned U.S. Jewish leaders, who in recent years had been more focused on anti-Semitism in Europe and on addressing complaints of anti-Jewish bias on college campuses amid the debate over the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) also criticized Trump’s appointment of Bannon his White House chief strategist.

Now come Bannon’s Jewish defenders, including Morton Klein of the Zionist Organization of America, Bernie Marcus of the Republican Jewish Coalition, and Alan Dershowitz.

A Jewish head of an organisation dedicated to combating hate crimes in the USA has said that if the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump creates a national database for the religion’s followers, he will register as a Muslim. “We must stand with our fellow Americans who may be singled out for how they look, where they’re from, who they love or how they pray”. That is why polls consistently show that most American Jews don’t support settlements and the occupation, just as most American Jews are no doubt appalled by the new political order taking shape and are outraged at the positioning of some Jewish leaders today. We, as religious Jews, can not preach about intolerance if we do not defend other people against that very injustice.

Last week, RespectAbility, a disability advocacy group, posted what it said was an internal Donald Trump transition team document titled “Trump Cabinet Possibilities”.

The contrast is as illuminating as it is damning. Get it? There are a ton of Jews in the banking and entertainment industries, and Bannon worked alongside them.

Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter might like to take that up with him. While I fundamentally disagree with that appraisal and also of the article, I find it hard to characterize Bannon as an anti-Semite because Breitbart ran it. Breitbart has also personally attacked me, but that doesn’t change my views.

The majority of Muslims and Jews voted for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, afraid of the implications for their communities if an openly racist Trump came into power. Supporting civil liberties is incompatible with delegitimizing non-violent activism against Israeli policies. “That will earn you the title of anti-Semite”.

– Ben White is the author of Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide and Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy. Trump’s courtship of Russian Federation, his intimations of support for the Syrian regime, and his suggestions that the United States should play a less prominent role in the Middle East all could run counter to Israeli interests.