A Scapegoat For All Occasions

The sad truth is that anything I say today will alienate people I care about. I’m a proud Zionist, but going into this election, it was made crystal clear from countless posts that if Trump won, it would be the “fault of the Jews and Israel,” and if Kamala won, it would be, you guessed it, “the fault of the Jews and Israel.”

We “Chosen People” are the knee-jerk response in countless conspiracy theories and are said to control the media, Hollywood, and yes, even elections. You hate Trump? Haven’t you heard? Jews and their evil AIPAC helped elect him. Their dual loyalty makes them one-issue voters, and Trump will help Israel commit genocide. Oh, you hate Kamala? Haven’t you heard? Most Jews still voted Blue. They are so disloyal and ungrateful to the only friends they have (Republicans), and they are why Trump might lose! (Ironically, while people on the right and left throw stones at each other over differences in Israel/Gaza policy, those who hate us see no difference between the two parties, with each being labeled pro-genocide in their warped minds.)

Ironically, while people on the right and left throw stones at each other over differences in Israel/Gaza policy, those who hate us see no difference between the two parties, with each being labeled pro-genocide in their warped minds.

All roads in the brain of the conspiracy theorist lead back to us. Remember that little thing called COVID? We were blamed by both the anti-vax movement on the right for being profiteers behind the evil vaccines, and vilified by extremists on the left who said we created the virus. As much as I would love to make my mother proud and be all of the things all of the time, even my narcissism has its limits.

I’m no political strategist nor analyst, but I think Kamala made a huge error by not picking Shapiro as her VP and throwing away Pennsylvania and who knows what else in the process. Yes, it meant losing Pennsylvania, arguably the most important battleground state, but that’s not the only reason.

In spite of what social media and college campuses scream at us, it’s partly an optical illusion. Most of the country, for the most part, is not hateful towards Jews. Europe might be, and Amsterdam seems to be, but thankfully the United States is still overwhelmingly welcoming to me and my tribe. Oh, it’s getting much worse each year — per the FBI and ADL, the numbers are definitely trending in the wrong direction. But if you throw a dart at a random American, they are far more likely to embrace you as a Jew, and even offer empathy toward Israel, rather than question your horns or loyalty.

We all knew there were two picks that the Democrats were considering for VP. The watered-down version was that one was the extremely popular governor of Pennsylvania, who would lock up that most important of states. And the other was milk toast, not offering any real gains in any states. Oh, and the one that gained Pennsylvania was Jewish. When Josh Shapiro was passed over for Walz, countless Jews and our allies got nervous. Why turn away the surefire victory of the most important state unless it was just to appease the haters of Israel and Jews around the country? I’m not claiming to know the machinations and strategy of the Democrats; there may have been other reasons entirely. But I can speak to how it was perceived. And for many, our Spidey senses were tingling.

How much of a difference a pick of Shapiro would have made we will never know; I can assume it would have at least been a closer race. But for the conspiracy theorists, fingers were once again pointing at the Jews. Harris lost the election because of Israel. Jews funded Trump. Jews avenged Shapiro. Jews, Jews, Jews. For a people who make up just 0.2% of the world’s population, we sure are on people’s minds more than I’d like.

Boaz Hepner works as a Registered Nurse in Saint John’s Health Center. He moonlights as a columnist, where his focuses are on health and Israel, including his Chosen Links section of the Journal.