[Baltimore Sun] Antisemitism is becoming the new normal in America | GUEST COMMENTARY
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I’ve been saddened by a rise in antisemitism in my country, the United States. I recently returned from staying in a small town in Germany with Catholic German friends. My wife and I have been to Germany twice in the last year visiting big and small cities. I was amazed by the many signs on the walls of buildings that condemned antisemitism. I was comforted watching their newscasts that would feature an individual in court, their face blurred, about to be incarcerated or punished for antisemitic protests. The caption of those news segments said “antisemitism.” They didn’t glorify the anti-Israel protests that I believe our media does.
On our visit to Germany, we initially did not mention that we were Jewish. The people were already friendly, but they became friendlier when they learned that we were. They don’t tolerate antisemitism. If you apply for citizenship in Germany, you must agree that Israel has a right to exist.
What troubles me about antisemitism in the United States now is that many don’t even realize they are antisemitic. The American media has strongly exacerbated individuals’ underlying antisemitism and other forms of hatred.
The term “genocide” is frequently thrown around by the media and some politicians when discussing Israel’s war against Hamas. These statements and the protests against Israel are driven by people who are antisemitic, naive, or both. They use selectively biased information to justify their rhetoric. Why is there so little mention of the historic accord between Saudi Arabia and Israel that was close to being signed when the October 7 attack occurred? Where are the protests about the killings of innocent people in Ukraine or in conflicts in Africa and Asia? Why is the term “genocide” rarely used regarding those hostilities? The Watson Institute found that more than 400,000 civilians were killed in the U.S.-led wars after the 9/11 attacks. I don’t recall “genocide” being used to describe those conflicts.
Horribly, when a faction such as Hamas starts a war, there are going to be innocent people killed. If Hamas was knowledgeable enough to stage this attack, it had to be knowledgeable enough to know what the fallout from it would mean for the people of Gaza. Perhaps Hamas did know, but sadly had less regard for those Palestinian children and innocent citizens than the individuals who are protesting against Israel want to admit.
In Hamburg, there was a plaque on a cathedral that said during World War II the town was partially destroyed and many innocent adults and children died. They did not use the term “genocide.” Despite the carpet bombing that occurred, the authors of the plaque did not blame the Allies. Instead, they blamed the Nazi leaders for putting the population in danger. Why in Germany do the victims understand, but in our country, many Americans do not?
My concern about the American media’s contribution to antisemitism also involves what they don’t report. Five thousand Palestinian Israeli citizens are serving in the Israel Defense Forces. Israel attacked Hezbollah when non-Jewish, Druze children were killed recently by a bomb from Lebanon. There are mixed marriages in Israel. There are more Israeli Palestinian and Muslim Arabs in the Israeli parliament today than all of the Jews serving in Muslim countries’ parliaments combined. I’ve met wealthy Palestinians and Muslims while in Israel. Many players on the Israeli national soccer team are Muslim or Palestinian, and so is the team’s recently retired captain. I watch Israeli TV series where Palestinian and Muslim Israelis are among the stars.
Why are these topics not seen on any of our news shows or published in our press? Positive news that could help people make more informed decisions is rarely if ever shown. There is positive news for the media to report about Jews, Palestinians and Muslims working, living and vacationing together. But the media has chosen not to show that kind of news. No group should be hated for how they identify or worship. But hate sells. The media exploits hatred to increase viewers, and antisemitism is one of the oldest forms of hate. For naive individuals who just want something to protest about and for antisemitic Americans, it’s an easy sell.
I don’t agree with everything that Israel or its politicians do. I don’t support a minority of Jewish Israelis who attack law-abiding, peaceful Palestinian Israeli citizens simply because they are Palestinian. But to selectively punish this country for protecting itself when attacked can only be defined as antisemitism, not anti-Zionism. And Jews who do not support the Israeli war effort to defeat Hamas are in my mind completely out of touch with the reality of antisemitism.
The many Germans we met repeatedly stated how ashamed they were of their country’s behavior and ideology during Nazism. They were embarrassed by Germany’s antisemitism and motivated to eliminate any remnants of it. I wish I could say the same for the media and many people in my country.
Larry Fishel (lrfishel@gmail.com) is a psychotherapist in Towson.
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