Left Mystified How Its Tolerance Of Antisemitism Emboldened Far-Right Jew-Hate

“Who could have known?”

Berlin, May 27 – Progressives expressed horror and surprise today at the realization that accepting Judaeophobic elements under their umbrella for the sake of a greater societal good may have signaled to radicals on the other end of the political spectrum that anti-Jewish rhetoric and behavior will no longer spark the same level of vehement opposition it once did.

Prominent thinkers and leaders on the political left gave voice today to concerns that welcoming unabashed antisemites into their ranks and countries could have given figures on the Right the impression that antisemitism can, in fact, have a respectable place in society, and the far-right acted accordingly.

In an essay in the German magazine Bild, entitled “Who Could Have Known?” a group of leading intellectuals from both sides of the Atlantic lamented their inability to foresee such a development. “Here in Germany, of all places, how were we expected to predict that tolerance of antisemitism on the part of some elements in society might lead to its violent manifestation elsewhere?” wondered the thinkers. “We thought admitting migrants from societies  in Africa and the Middle East with de rigeur, even government-sanctioned, antisemitism wouldn’t pose such a problem – that these migrants would be so overwhelmed by our tolerance that they’d cast away a part of their culture that’s been instilled in them for generations. A parallel process has taken place in the US Democratic Party.”

“Whether or not that casting away has taken place,” the essay continued, “we unwittingly demonstrated that deep down, we do not view antisemitism as an inherently harmful phenomenon, and certainly not worth alienating potential allies over it – and that, in turn, freed radicals on the far right to give greater voice to their own Jew-hate, knowing that it would brook less blowback than they feared.”

“The essay is of course correct,” noted Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN). “But I disagree with one of its major assumptions – namely, that we on the left need to change anything. Everything bad in the world is the fault of the Right, so blaming ourselves for being too tolerant, too open, too loving, will only play into the hands of those who want more hate. I refuse to accept the idea that I or my allies bear any culpability for the Pittsburgh or San Diego synagogue shootings, which were carried out by the far right. Of course I have no compunctions about collectively blaming the American Jewish establishment for anything bad that happens in Palestine, but if you refuse to accept that part of me, you’re the racist.”

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