ADL CEO Says There’s an “Antisemitism Problem” on the Left

Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt declared in a July 9 Newsweek op-ed that there’s an “antisemitism problem” on the left.

“While extremism on the right has dominated the public conversation for much of the past five years, from moments during the 2016 campaign to the Jan 6 insurrection, right now the challenge is also rising among certain elements of the far left,” Greenblatt wrote. “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 antisemitism. We all watched in horror as Jewish diners at a restaurant in Los Angeles were attacked and a Jewish man was beaten in broad daylight near Times Square – both by participants in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.”

He blamed the recent spike in antisemitic incidents in part on “an anti-Israel animus,” including from “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.” As examples, Greenblatt pointed to Representative Betty McCollum (D-MN) introducing a bill that called for the Biden administration to cease funds to Israel for “bombing Gaza into oblivion” and Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) comparing the United States and Israel to Hamas and the Taliban.

“This kind of anti-Israel sentiment is not limited to the halls of Congress,” Greenblatt wrote. “It is spreading. And it is dangerous.”

In the cultural sphere, Greenblatt pointed to instances in which a man’s restaurants in Detroit were given one-star reviews because of his open support for Israel and how “an Israeli food truck was disinvited from a [Philadelphia] food festival after organizers received threats because of its participation.” Overall, the ADL has recorded 251 antisemitic incidents since May 11, a 115% increase over the same timeframe a year ago.

“Demonizing Zionism as a concept represents a kind of anti-Jewish racism,” Greenblatt wrote. “Delegitimizing the Jewish state with exaggerated claims and unhinged charges, then dismissing the connection between that level of inflammatory rhetoric and the violence perpetrated against Jewish people, is willfully ignorant at best, intentionally malign at worst. Excluding Jews from political coalitions or public activities is discrimination, plain and simple.”

Greenblatt noted that some progressives have spoken out against antisemitism from the left, “but we need all our allies to listen and others to engage authentically. This might not be easy. It may require some serious self-reflection on the part of some partisans in order to admit their biases and acknowledge their insensitivity. But it’s imperative that leaders from all corners of society clearly, forcefully, unequivocally condemn antisemitism full stop.”

Writer Peter Fox tweeted that Greenblatt’s op-ed was “stunning.” “Antisemitism isn’t exclusive to one party. It is pervasive. A very sad, but important read.”

https://twitter.com/thatpeterfox/status/1413605784936718338?s=20