So, uh, now that someone fired a gun outside of a Jewish synagogue and preschool (that was in session) here in the U.S., is now the time we can talk about rising antisemitism on the left in the U.S.?
Because here’s the thing: American Jews have been trying to raise the issue. Over and over and over. And repeatedly we’ve been told we are paranoid, that “real” leftists/progressives aren’t antisemitic, that our pointing out truly troubling language being used by those that identify as anti-Zionist or pro-Palestinian isnt a real issue but is us being secret Zionists and whining to distract from Israel’s wrongdoings…
Jews have been written off, ignored, silenced, and even threatened for bringing up the rising tide of leftist antisemitism and antisemitism in some pro-Palestinian activism. We’ve been told that it isn’t the time, that diasporic Jews’ concerns and fears can’t be addressed right now because of what is happening elsewhere, if, of course, they are even based on reality at all.
Now that shots have been fired outside an in-session Jewish preschool, rooms full of toddlers - not by a neo-Nazi, not by a white supremacist, not by a MAGA idiot, but by someone who shouted “free Palestine” - now can we talk about it?
I can speak only for myself, but I am not asking you not to care about the plight of Palestinians in Gaza, I am not asking you to support the Israeli government. What I am asking you to do is include us in your activism, to listen to us when we tell you that some of the rhetoric being used on the left is dangerous to us, to believe us when we say that there is actual antisemitism on the left.
Because if now is not the time, I suspect that the only time will be when it is too late.
