The great Broadway show “Fiddler on the Roof” got its title from the precarious state of the Jews who lived in Eastern Europe in the late 19th century. The U.S. has long been a place where Jews could live safely and prosper, whether religiously observant or assimilated. But now American Jews are experiencing increasing anxiety about their place in American society, and it’s highly ironic that this has been brought about because of their relationship to Israel, the homeland where the world’s Jews should feel safe.
Antisemitism has a long history all over Europe; perhaps because Jews have generally set themselves apart from others wherever they live, having their own peculiar customs, even when they have largely assimilated themselves into non-Jewish societies. Maybe it’s because so many people looking for power find their way to it by blaming others in conspiracy theories with no basis in fact. This was Donald Trump’s path to power, though in his case the “other” were immigrants rather than Jews. Make no mistake though, he is a friend to the government of Israel, not the Jewish people. His hateful rhetoric has opened the door to antisemitism all over the U.S. and the results have been deadly. His persecution of American universities for their “tolerance of antisemitism” is a smoke screen for his lust for power. It is particularly unsettling that he wishes to create a list of Jewish students and employees at the University of Pennsylvania and that a court has ruled in his favor. It is shocking that American Jews who support Trump because of his defense of the Israeli government can’t see that otherwise his actions mimic those of antisemitic people throughout history.
Zionism was a response to centuries of persecution of Jews in Europe. In their own country, they would no longer be the “other.” They dreamed of returning to Palestine, the land of their ancestors, and making it their own once again. But what of the Arab people for whom Palestine was a homeland for centuries? They were dismissed by the Zionists, who favored expelling them and letting them find some other place to live. The defeat of the Nazis, who had murdered most of Europe’s Jews, and the dissolution of the British Empire provided the Zionists the opportunity to create this homeland. International support was forthcoming given the trauma that was inflicted upon them during the war. But Israel was born in violence, and with dreadful leadership on both sides has been plagued by warfare ever since. Today’s leaders are religious fanatics who dream that their enemies will disappear through some military solution. But there is no acceptable military solution for two peoples who need to live on one small piece of land.
The United States has always supported Israel, and for many years it made sense based on the idea of a two-state solution after the 1948 partition of Palestine. But under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership any hope for that is gone. His skillful manipulation of American presidents, with the help of short-sighted organizations like AIPAC, has made that support unconditional, disconnected from any need to respect the rights of Palestinians. After the horror of October 7th, Netanyahu’s genocidal response to it and Biden’s failure to constrain that response, our government has been drawn in to the conflict. Even worse, Netanyahu has manipulated Trump, who knows nothing of foreign affairs or diplomacy, into a senseless war on Iran, leaving the U.S. in a weakened position with no good options. Suddenly the old trope of Jews having power over world affairs has some basis in reality. And the Jews, who are not the Israeli government, are blamed.
American Jews are thus put in an impossible position. Netanyahu’s policies are indefensible. And it must sicken any Jew with a sense of history to watch the Israeli government and many of its citizens become the oppressor, inflicting on others the suffering that has for so long been brought to them. But after October 7th we know, without a doubt, what would happen if the Israeli government failed and the most extreme elements of Arab leadership (who have the guns) had their way. What are we supposed to do? In opposing the dreadful actions of Israel abetted by our government do we give aid and comfort to the fanatics on the other side of the conflict who would murder the Jews of Israel? Thus the despair of Israel/Palestine has been brought to our country.
Joseph Blumenthal lives in Northampton.