Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on April 29, 2024

When I came to meet Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, Joe Bidens special envoy for combating global antisemitism, in her office at the State Department late last week, she had something she wanted to show me. It was the cover of New York magazine from January 1996. BEING JEWISH, it said over a giant American flag that had some Jewish stars mixed in with the five-pointed variety. As anti-Semitism fades and Jews assume ever-greater prominence throughout the Establishment, the subhed said, its time for Jewish Americans to let go of the idea that they are outsiders.

Amazing, right? Lipstadt chuckled when I looked up at her.

Of course, that message has always seemed completely alien to me, a Jewish refugee from the Soviet Union, where our second-class status was legally codified and omnipresent to the point where it was obvious even to me, a child. But it felt even more ridiculous given what has taken place in America in the six months since October 7, when Hamass attack and Israels reprisal have unleashed a debate so emotional and so often shot through with antisemitism that it has made many American Jews question and reevaluate their placeand their safetyin American institutions. This comes just after the Trump years, with the attendant synagogue shootings and chants of Jews will not replace us having barely faded into memory.

The New York mag take had aged poorly, it was fair to say. And that was why Lipstadt, a respected academic who famously specializes in Holocaust denial, wanted to show me that cover. So on this, the first day of Passover, I bring you my conversation with Lipstadt. We spoke about not just the clashes on campus and the remarkable staying power of antisemitism, but also of the differences between anti-Zionism and antisemitism, and between right- and left-wing antisemitism. But even more importantly, she reminded me that this holiday encapsulates both the tragedy of the Jewish experience and its triumph, its richness. In the seder it says, In every generation, they rise up and try to destroy us, she said, quoting from the Haggadah. But theres a second sentence there: God saves us. You dont believe in God? [Believe in] our culture, our tradition. Its a positive thing.

I hope you find our conversation, which has been edited for clarity and length, as fascinating and inspiring as I did.

Julia Ioffe: My partner, who is not Jewish, was horrified to realize just how ubiquitous antisemitism is. One day he told me, I dont get it. Why do people hate Jews so much? Do you have a good answer?

Deborah Lipstadt: First of all, its like asking, Why do men hate women? Theres no logical reason. Not to be too simplistic, but think about the etymology of the word prejudice: pre-judge. Antisemitism is the oldest hatred and its worked into the DNA, the soil of Western culture. You need someone to blame things on. Covid? Jews! Look at Pfizer! Whos the head of Pfizer? A Greek Jew. Look how much money they make!

Its a virus. Its a virus because it never goes away. More importantly, it mutates. How could you have a hatred that works in Nazi Germany and works in Communist Russia? That works on the left and works on the right? Claims that Jews are capitalist and that Jews are communists? Jews are pushy and want to be in places where theyre not wanted [and that] Jews are clannish and only want to stick together. On one hand, these contradictions reveal antisemitism is ridiculous, but also how it mutates to fit the situation. And it all starts from the same source.

The template is the same: something to do with money; something to do with smarts, but malevolent smarts; something to do with punching above your weight; secretly maneuvering. And the other element isand this, by the way, comes straight out of the deicide story, the death of Jesushe wanted to chase the money changers out of the temple. Jews were small in number. Rome was the real power, Rome didnt want to kill him. But the Jews said, Crucify him, crucify him! Jews! Those little Jews in Judea, a little tiny state, got Rome, the greatest power in the world, to do its bidding. Doesnt make sense, but thats all part of it.

And then the other element is the Jew as the devil. Because in Christian theology, what are the two characteristics of the devil? The devil is the only entity that can harm God, and the devil does his handiwork and disappears before you know youve encountered the devil. George Soros? The Rothschilds? The hidden hand.

You were watching Columbia University president Nemat Shafiks testimony before Congress just now. What do you make of all these hearings?

Let me say this about the hearings of the previous three [university] presidents: [I dont know] whether they were lawyered up, or whether they were so entrapped that they couldnt explicitly say, Genocide is wrong. Calls for genocide are wrong. Columbia said that today. I think theres a relativism [in how institutions define discrimination], especially when it comes to antisemitism.

Why?

Because the Jew doesnt present as a victim of discrimination.

Now? In America?

Now. You and I are sitting here. What discrimination? You know, you have a good life. You walk down the street, nobody bothers you. You get stopped by the police in a traffic stop, youre not worried youre going to be shot. Youre well-heeled. The perception is that you cant be a victim. And not only cant you be a victim, but youre an oppressor. In a lot of the rather simplified, if not simplistic ways, the world is divided into oppressors and oppressed. If youre not oppressed, then youre an oppressor. And how can the Jew be oppressed? Youve got an ambassador sitting here to deal with antisemitism!

But now, of course, my argument is that antisemitism is, first and foremost, a threat to Jewsand often a lethal threat to Jews. But its also a threat to democracy. You have Jewish families in France, many of whose children attend Jewish schools, keeping their kids home last October after Hamas declared a day of rage after October 7. That showed that the families felt the authorities either wouldnt, or couldnt, protect them. And thats a loss of faith in democracy, because democracy is built on trust.

Youve described antisemitism as a threat to national security, and to national stability.

Theres an anecdote from Thomas Rids book Active Measures about an outbreak of antisemitism in West Germany in 1959. Tombstones were knocked over, swastikas were painted outside of synagogues. It was 14 years after the end of the war, so people began to think, Oh my God, the Nazis are back. This was exactly the time when West Germany was trying to enter multilateral organizations and becoming a manufacturer of arms. And people were saying, Wait a minute, should we do this? The Nazis are back. Fast-forward, 20, 25 years and a defector from the K.G.B. says, Oh, that was a KGB operation. What were [the Soviets] doing? They were using antisemitism as a destabilizer.

The Russians did the same thing after October 7th in France.

Thats right. Its the same thing: This is a tool we can use because its familiar. My job here, when I first came into office, was really two things: protect Jewish communities abroad and get different governments to take this seriously, and work on the Abraham Accords. Now, its really to transmit the message that antisemitism is not just the threat to Jews, its also about democracy, national security, and stability. This is something really serious, something that bad actorsor as they call them in the I.C. community, malign influencerscan use to make you feel like maybe democracy isnt the best system.

After 2016, many people on the left tried to paint antisemitism as a right-wing phenomenon. Now were dealing with left-wing antisemitism. How are they different? How are they similar?

I used to talk about a spectrum. Now I talk about a horseshoe and I talk about extremism. Its true that most of the lethal actions, certainly in the United States, have come from the right. Pittsburgh, Poway, etcetera. But those on the left, the extreme left, have shown themselves to be horrendously willing to absorb and promulgate antisemitism in a way that, if it werent so dangerous, would be laughable. The Democratic Socialists of America chanting Hands off Iran! Hands off Iran! Do they know what the women there are dealing with?! Or, Houthis, Houthis, make us proud! They have slaves!

Sure, but what are the similarities and differences between left- and right-wing antisemitism?

One is talking about a white, Christian, homogenous societyso the Jew as interloperwhereas the other is talking about the Jew as oppressor. Compare the former, for example, to right-wing racism. The racist on the right is generally punching down: Blacks are okay as long as they know their place. And their place is not in the White House and their place is not at my kids school or as my boss. Their place is still somewhat under me. And thats true of how the right wing sees Jews, too. Whats different with antisemitism on the left is that it sees itself as punching up. Its going back to the template: Jews are more powerful. Jews are richer. Jews want to control me. I have to protect myself by any means necessary.

Are you worried about the election season heating up and antisemitism getting worse if Donald Trump wins?

I cant talk about that. Hatch Act and all that. I cant talk about politics and get involved in that. But let me say, I have been concerned for a long time about how antisemitism is used as a political tool. Right, left, center, Christian, Muslims, Jews, atheistsit doesnt matter. Its become a useful political tool. And thats really scary to me.

Last question. We often see, especially after October 7th, a grouping together of antisemitism and Islamophobia. What do you think about that?

Look, when George Floyd was murdered, many people condemned the racism which was behind the murder and how he was treated. And no one said to them, Okay, if youre going to say racism, you have to also say, and Islamophobia and misogyny and antisemitism. When you see an action, youve got to call it out. Then you step back and put it in the broader perspective. You say, This was racist. And how is racism like antisemitism? And how is it like misogyny? How is it operating as a prejudice?

After 9/11, when there was a surge of not Islamophobia, but hatred of Muslims in this country, crazy Islamophobia, crazy hatred of Muslims, you shouldnt have issued statements that said, We are against Islamophobiaand antisemitism. Because it wasnt about antisemitism. You call it out for what it is. Otherwise, you end up with this undifferentiated mishmash in which neither can be really fought.

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Deborah Lipstadt on Antisemitism's Threat to Democracy - Puck - Puck

Category: Anti-semitism
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