Blaming Israel is the moral coward’s answer to antisemitism
There has been no comparable surge in attacks on Russian Orthodox believers or Shia Muslims in response to the actions of Russia or Iran. Yet when Jews are targeted, “Israel” is invoked as justification
This past January, the Beth Israel synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi was firebombed. Not to be confused with Temple Israel in Michigan, where last month an attacker rammed his truck into the synagogue building, which also houses a children’s nursery. Or the Adath Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, which was targeted by a terrorist firebombing attack in 2024.
Inevitably, there will be those who look at the names of these synagogues and try to connect them to recent actions of the State of Israel, in some warped attempt at justification. So at this point it may be apposite to point out that this is not the first time that part of Beth Israel (founded in the 1860s) was destroyed in an antisemitic attack. In 1967, scant months after it opened at its current site, the synagogue was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan. Not to be confused with the Beth Israel synagogue in Meridian, Mississippi, which was also bombed by the Klan, in 1968.
Yesterday, there was an arson attempt at a shul in north-west London. Bottles, containing what is believed to have been a flammable substance, were thrown at Finchley Reform Synagogue. Thankfully, they did not ignite.
This comes on the heels of last month’s firebombing attack on four Jewish community ambulances (which serve anyone in the vicinity, Jewish or non-Jewish).
In the wake of such attacks, along with the boneheaded conspiracy theories and “false flag” claims, comes another class of people. You can find them quite easily on social media, because more often than not they have “anti-racist”, “human rights” or “be kind” in their bios. And the ‘argument’ they make is something like this:
“If Israel hadn’t tried so closely to associate itself with Judaism, people wouldn’t be confused into conflating the two. If there is a rise in antisemitic acts, it is the fault of Israel.”
What would really, really help is if Jewish people like myself were not largely being left to make the point alone
It is not just non-Jews making this point. Various anti-Zionist Jews make it quite often (they are then naturally amplified by the same “anti-racists”, who when it comes to Jews appear to suspend their understanding of the concept of Tokenism.) But to anyone with more than two brain cells to rub together, it is obviously a deeply disingenuous claim, as world events clearly show.
Russia’s ruinous war against Ukraine is now in its fifth year. In January, the Islamic Republic of Iran massacred tens of thousands of its own citizens. No one in their right mind would see such actions and then take out their anger on Russian Orthodox Churches or Shiite Islamic centres in the West – and no-one with an ounce of self-respect would attempt to justify such actions if they happened. But with Israel, basic ‘anti-racist’ logic goes out the window – and none of the people parroting the line about Israel causing a rise in antisemitism appear to have the basic introspection necessary to admit that their theory is about as valid as the long-disproved notion that the world is flat.
What would really, really help – and I’ve said it before, and will no doubt say it again – is if Jewish people like myself were not largely being left to make this point alone. We’re looking around us, at many reasonable and intelligent people, who for reasons of their own have refrained from lending their voices on our behalf. Who have been inexplicably silent, instead of calling out these grotesque pseudo-intellectual ‘justifications’ for acts of violence committed against Jewish individuals, property or institutions.
You don’t have to like Israel or its actions. You just need to be willing to stand up and say ‘you’re making an excuse for antisemitic bigotry’.
Trust me, when you do that, we notice, and we’re grateful.
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