The rabbles of pro-Palestinian elements in response to the current Israel-Hamas war persist. As I observed their protests, their chants, and overall response to Hamas' cruelty, I noticed that a major source of support for the Palestinian cause is the Far Left/the woke/so-called "progressives." It was notable enough where I started writing about why a political entity dedicated to helping out disenfranchised and marginalized people would turn on the Jews. Last week, I explored three theories: the "Oppressor/Oppressed" framework, falsely viewing Jews as white, and resenting the successes of the state of Israel.
I want to continue by going over two theories related to Jewish and Israeli success. One is that the Far Left loathes capitalism and the other is that the Far Left cannot tolerate when minorities shed their victimhood status and make something of themselves. The final theory, which I will leave for later, takes the first five theories I have posited and turns them on their head. Hopefully, this can provide insight into this conundrum of woke anti-Semitism.
4. The Far Left despises capitalism. Up until the 19th century, Jews were disproportionately financial intermediaries because there were few professions available to Jews in Europe. The stereotypes surrounding Jews and money continued to foment in the 19th and 20th century to the point where the Jewish people became the personification of the market economy, one that persists to this day. Think of some Jewish entrepreneurs: Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, casino magnate Sheldon Addison, co-founder of Starbucks Zev Siegl, William Rosenberg (founder of Dunkin' Donuts), Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Levi Strauss, Arthur Blank (co-founder of Home Depot). The association between Jews and business has not disappeared.
George Mason Professor Ilya Somin posits a theory in which the Far-Left support for Hamas is not an aberration in terms of defending the indefensible. After all, the Far Left has excused the mass murder and human rights violations from the likes of Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Che Guevara, and Pol Pot. If you can forgive Stalin's gulags or Mao's Great Leap Forward, odds are you can stomach Hamas' attack on Israeli citizens. Why would they do that in the first place? Because for many on the Far Left, capitalism is the greatest evil in the world. Israel is yet another example of how greater economic liberty is successful, which simply sets off the Far Left. The conflict in Israel represents a fight between Western liberalism and opposing movements. It does not matter that Hamas oppresses women, LGBT people, and religious minorities. What matters is supporting an anti-Western or an anti-capitalist regime, even if its ideology differs from that of the Western Far Left.
5. The Far Left cannot tolerate that Jews overcame victimhood. This gets at to what philosopher Michel Foucault called "political reason," or the rationale that justifies the existence of relationships of power (e.g., between the governor and governed). Modern "progressivism" is obsessed with totalizing these relationships and destroying barriers between the state and society to the point that the governed becomes dependent on the state.
With this mentality, it is no wonder that the Far Left is obsessed with the figure of the victim. A victim is by definition vulnerable, and in the Far Left's eyes, therefore in need of the state's intervention. What happens if that vulnerability is temporary or even transcended, especially if by the exercise of effort and will? The modern state becomes less and less relevant and the ideology of the Far Left is undermined.
This brings us to the Jews and the modern state of Israel. While dealing with the traumas of the Holocaust, the Jewish people were able to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and create a thriving, democratic nation-state. Over time, Israel made it clear that it wanted to cast off feeling vulnerable or victimized. Zionism is a return of agency to a persecuted people and a reconstruction of dignity. Israel symbolizes the repudiation of perpetual victimhood. Israel also shows the world that victimhood can be transcended, which is something the Far Left cannot abide by. It would also explain why the Far Left decided to throw Asian-Americans under the bus when it came to affirmative action.
Contrast that with Palestine, which represents perpetual victimhood. There have been other crises that have created refugees: World War II, Kashmir, the current war in Ukraine, Syria, and the Jews in Arab countries that were expelled in response to the creation of the State of Israel. Those refugees were either re-settled or in the process of being re-settled. Even with an entire UN agency dedicated to the cause of "helping" Palestinians (UNRWA), not to mention 50 Muslim nations and 22 nations in the Arab world that could take in these refugees, the Palestinian refugee crisis is not-so mysteriously unresolved.
6. Far-Left anti-Semitism is not supposed to make sense. Anti-semitism doesn't make sense. People have hated Jews because they are deemed an inferior race and others because Jews are perceived as rich and powerful. As we have seen, Jews are blamed for capitalism, although Marx and Trotsky were Jews. Jews are blamed for communism, even though Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman, and Ludwig von Mises were all Jewish. Jews are hated for being outsiders, but still hated even when they blend in, as we saw with 19th-century France and 20th-century Germany. Whether viewed as weak or powerful, capitalist or communist, religious or secular, anti-Semites will find a reason to hate Jews because "haters gonna hate."
You know what else does not make sense? Wokism. It functions as a fundamentalist religion in which colorblindness is considered racism, logic and reason are deemed as part of so-called "white culture," and they think that microagressions against emotionally fragile people are worse than Hamas kidnapping, raping, torturing, and decapitating civilians. I have tried to make sense of how woke people think. As my blog illustrates, that has been an elusive task because woke thought is steeped in illogic.
We see this Orwellian approach with how the woke approach the Israel-Palestine conflict. For the Woke World, barbarization is civility, terrorists are freedom fighters, and rape and decapitation are deemed acts of resistance. The Far Left screams about Israel being a genocidal state, yet Israel shows no evidence of committing genocide. Meanwhile, there are a significant of number of Americans, particularly on the Left, believing that Hamas' actions have justification. Since its founding in 1988, Hamas has expressed genocidal intent. What they did on October 7 to trigger this latest war shows what they would like to do. Plus, a senior Hamas official stated earlier this month that they would commit another pogrom like October 7 if they could.
Jews are also called "colonial settlers." It does not make sense for multiple reasons, one of those being that Jews are indigenous to Judea and Samaria. Arabs, on the other hand, are indigenous to the Arab Peninsula (not the Levant, where the modern state of Israel resides). Saying that Israeli civilians deserved what Hamas did because they are colonizing settlers is tantamount to victim blaming. There are other Israel-specific responses to illustrate the Far Left's incoherent response to Israel, including "Queers for Palestine," which makes about as much sense as "Chickens for KFC."
Postscript: Whether it is due to animus against capitalism, the Jewish people rejecting perpetual victimhood, or an over-simplistic "oppressor versus oppressed" framework, or any number of misconceptions surrounding Jews or Israel, this woke illogic regarding Israel is being used as a litmus test for the Far Left. At least in a U.S.-specific context, anti-Semitism historically came from the Far Right. Now we have to be mindful of anti-Semitism coming from both extremes of the political aisle. I think the woke Left will not have a grip on U.S. culture (or even global culture, for that matter) for much longer because people are getting fed up with woke nonsense. Regardless of its impetus for embracing anti-Semitism, I hope there has not been so much damage done that it contributes to the United States becoming a bona fide authoritarian state.
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