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Some Progressive Activists Have an Anti-Semitism Problem

(Newsweek) Jonathan A. Greenblatt - While extremism on the right has dominated the public conversation for much of the past five years, right now the challenge is also rising among certain elements of the far left. Over the past several months, we've witnessed a series of incidents in which progressive activism, often displayed as pro-Palestinian advocacy, has morphed into single-minded anti-Israel aggression - and sometimes outright anti-Semitism. Perhaps most disturbing is the inflammatory rhetoric coming from elected officials, including some members of Congress who have made spurious claims about Israel's actions and pushed a narrative that falsely accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing, systematically murdering Palestinian children, or of somehow being an apartheid state. Vandalizing synagogues and attacking Jews to register dissatisfaction with Middle East affairs isn't activism; it's anti-Semitism. Demonizing Zionism as a concept represents a kind of anti-Jewish racism. Excluding Jews from political coalitions or public activities is discrimination, plain and simple. It is imperative that leaders from all corners of society clearly, forcefully, and unequivocally condemn anti-Semitism - full stop. And it's even more important and meaningful to do so when the hate happens to come from their own camp. The writer is National Director of ADL (the Anti-Defamation League).
2021-07-12 00:00:00
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