The double standards and hypocrisy aimed at American Jews

With new people, the question would inevitably arise: "How can you help us here? The situation on American campuses is frightening, and is only getting worse."

By DOUGLAS ALTABEF
A participant wears a Trump "Make America Great Again" yarmulke as they attend a White House Hanukkah reception where U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on anti-semitism in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S. (photo credit: REUTERS/TOM BRENNER)
A participant wears a Trump "Make America Great Again" yarmulke as they attend a White House Hanukkah reception where U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on anti-semitism in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S.
(photo credit: REUTERS/TOM BRENNER)
It had become part of a familiar and disheartening pattern. Every several months my CEO and I would travel to the US to meet with supporters and friends of Im Tirtzu, Israel's largest grassroots organization, and one particularly visible and effective on Israeli campuses.
In many of our meetings, particularly with new people, the question would inevitably arise: "How can you help us here? The situation on American campuses is frightening, and is only getting worse."
While pointing out the limitations that success in Israel might portend for success in America, my CEO, Matan Peleg, would note that the on-campus student to student interactions/confrontations were only the tip of the iceberg. The real confrontation will be fought in courtrooms and the halls of power.
In that regard, supporters of Israel have just been given a major piece of ammunition. President Donald Trump this week signed an Executive Order which extends protection under Title VI of the Civil Right Law to Jewish students who are being subjected to antisemitism at colleges and universities that receive federal funding. The definition of antisemitism is expected to match the one set down by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which may include "targeting the State of Israel conceived as a Jewish collectivity."
The very good news is that the Federal Government has recognized the toxicity and hatefulness of anti-Israel behavior on a growing number of campuses, and the reality that such hatred is increasingly blending into or indistinguishable from garden variety antisemitism. Title VI is a powerful weapon because it is aimed at the soft underbellies of universities: their pocketbooks.
The implications of this are undoubtedly being noticed by campus administrators, who must realize that their traditional default response of a perfunctory defense of free speech is unlikely to carry the day against such Federal designation.
So much for the good news. The all too predictably bizarre news is the response to the Executive Order. Not the applause part, but the condemnations. Not surprisingly the most vehement criticism included responses from Left wing Jewish organizations.
A very smart friend of mine recently told me that he now takes all criticism of Jews and substitutes "black" for "Jew" to gauge what the likely perception would be. This enables him to perceive the rampant double standards and hypocrisy that accompany attitudes towards Jews.
Applying this mindset to the criticism levelled by these Jewish organizations yields shocking results. J Street, which only the naive or deluded can call pro-Israel, opined that the "executive order...appears designed less to combat antisemitism than to have a chilling effect on free speech and to crack down on campus critics of Israel."
If we make the black/Jew switch, would J Street be incensed about the free speech rights of White Supremacists? Would they be concerned about critics of Black Lives Matter from Alt Right groups?
IfNotNow, which makes no secret of its contempt for Israel, sees only more antisemitism in the order itself. Why? Because the order defines Judaism as a "nationality." As they see it, this becomes an invitation to view American Jews as "not, well, American." Blacks are defined as a race.  Does that make them well, not American?
Actually, what Title VI identifies are groups who are being discriminated against by virtue of the fact that their members are who they are. There is no need to define Jews as a nationality, nor a religion, race, nor a people. For Title VI purposes, the classic definition used by Justice Stewart concerning pornography works best: "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it."
While regarding Judaism as a nationality and not just a religion enabled Jews to be deemed a minority for the purposes of coming under the Title's purview, the reality is that those espousing antisemitism on campuses could not care less how Judaism is defined. They just plain hate Jews.
Title VI thus becomes both a Rorschach test allowing everyone to see in it one's own sensibilities, but also a moral litmus test. If an organization, which purports to care for the welfare of the Jewish State, not to mention the Jewish People, is willing to subordinate those concerns to a political agenda, then from a Jewish perspective, they have departed from the tent.
Selectively applied "free speech" concerns (concerns that would instantly fall away when applied to other groups feeling discrimination), which provide a rationale for subordinating one's concern for one's own, are moral obtuseness which should completely disqualify such people for speaking on behalf of Jews.
Such groups and individuals have succeeded in creating the new phenomenon of the "asaJew." "As a Jew, I can say that Israel is racist." "As a Jew, I am ashamed that a Jewish State is oppressing poor Palestinians."
What they are cynically doing is donning the mantle of Jewish identity in order to disparage it; to appear to value one's identity as a Jew, solely for the purpose of disparaging the very essence of that identity.
Ironically, Title VI protection for Jews might result in Jews being singled out for antisemitic behavior. As sad and dreadful as that sounds, would it actually be a surprise?
The author is the Chairman of the Board of Im Tirtzu, and a Director of the Israel Independence Fund.