Column: How Not to Fight Antisemitism 1

“I didn’t want my ‘no’ vote to be misinterpreted as ‘I want Jews to be killed”’

– S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, soon to be ousted?

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania – We are all well aware of the need to confront the antisemitism that is overwhelming our world, but we can dispute methods that some of our brethren employ which are counterproductive.

Like what? Such as spending $14.5 million to unseat a problematic congressman that is not even necessary. Engaging in violence or committing illegal acts against anti-Israel activists. Reflexively branding any critic of Israel an antisemite. Abruptly defending Israel’s actions without an understanding of the situation. Or participating in sideshows which will have no impact on the final outcome.

These examples together can form a guidebook for “How Not to Fight Antisemitism.” Such tactics evoke stereotypes of Jews, violence as a response, defensiveness, ignorance, vilifying critics and squandering time and effort.

A veteran pro-Israel organization which spent $14.5 million to oust U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman in the June 25 Democratic primary displayed excessive wealth and power. Bowman, who is widely viewed as anti-Israel, probably would have lost without the expenditure of $14.5 million to educate voters in New York’s 16^th congressional district of his failings.

Most of the district’s voters live in southern Westchester County which comprises most of the district, which includes a small sliver of the northern Bronx in New York City. Southern Westchester is home to a large Jewish presence and  the district has one of the densest populations in the country. The voters are well-educated and probably know all there is to know about Bowman’s actions related to Israel.

Yet a super PAC affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee assailed Bowman with television commercials, campaign literature stuffed in mailboxes and excessive phone calls costing $14.5 million, according to The New York Times. AIPAC was not the only big spender, but its contribution amounted to nearly three-fourths of expenses on behalf of George Latimer, the popular Westchester County executive.

Curiously, AIPAC focused on Bowman’s domestic votes and hardly mentioned Israel, but who could not figure out that this campaign was about Israel?

Latimer was nominated and the district is heavily Democratic, so Latimer is expected to be elected on Nov. 5. He probably could have gotten nominated with far less help from AIPAC, maybe with no involvement at all.

So what does that say about American Jews? From the vantage point of Israel’s critics, AIPAC with its money and power succeeded in pushing an elected critic of Israel out of the picture and that us Jews, most of us being white, took down another Black man. That is what all Jews needed to rid themselves of an enemy. Never mind that AIPAC is not targeting Israel-bashers like Reps. Rashida Tlaib or Ilhan Omar. Or that district voters were too moderate for Bowman. Or that AIPAC does not reflect the level of influence of all American Jews.

Bowman, incidentally, exploited stereotypes of wealth, power and even Jewish racism in his comments during a debate with Latimer, “I’m an outspoken person of color. I’m an outspoken Black man. I fight against genocide in Gaza, and I fight for justice right here. And his supporters don’t want that because it challenges their power.”

Conversely, Bowman’s defeat does not represent pro-Israel attitudes in all other districts. Says Democratic pollster Mark Mellman in a pre-primary interview, “Assuming the outcome is as we expect it, the message is going to be that being pro-Israel is not just wise policy, it’s smart politics.”

There are still plenty of districts where voters do not support Israel or are apathetic.

Violence and other illegal acts will obviously turn off people. Fortunately, that has been limited among Jews, but some of what our brethren have done could weaken our status – as has happened with pro-Arab activists.

On May 1, at the University of California-Los Angeles, numerous fights broke out when pro-Israel activists charged into the perimeter of an anti-Israel encampment, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reports. Fifteen people were hurt.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called for an investigation and proclaimed the violence to be “absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable.”

But Jewish UCLA freshman Eli Tsives explained, “It makes us look really bad. This was a small group of what the majority of the Jewish people actually believe. We don’t support what they did.”

In mid-May, Philadelphia police investigated extensive vandalism at a downtown coffee shop owned by an Arab and Muslim woman who contends her business was targeted for her verbal support of the Palestinians, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Jasmine Taibi-Bennoui, who owns the Lombard Café, said her business was extensively vandalized after hours in which the café’s three security cameras were disconnected and there was tampering with the cash registers.

She noted that someone plastered stickers depicting the Israeli flag around the property, and she added that she filed four complaints to police over confrontations and threats made toward her and her staff, the Inquirer reported.

Leading elected officials and Jewish groups condemned the vandalism and other problems, according to the Inquirer.

It would take another column to comprehend how other misguided tactics hinder the fight against antisemitism. That is coming.