In the past few weeks, there have been a series of stories by Jewish writers about what happened to them when they seemingly unleashed the fury of right-wing anti-Semites online by writing something deemed unfriendly toward or critical of Donald Trump, or in one case, his wife, Melania.
The toxic response from the angry internet/social media mob, now commonly described as part of the alt-right (alternative right) movement, has seemed to confirm what writers on the Left have believed for a long time: that while the Left may be critical of Israel, or its settlement policy, or of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, these criticisms reflected nothing more than policy differences. If you want to look for anti-Semites, they are on the Right, not the Left. Now it seems they have come out of their caves, attracted by — as some seem to think — one of their own.
The charge that Trump himself is an anti-Semite is ludicrous. People who know him, his family, his business associates or his company’s employees can quickly disprove that charge. If Trump were an anti-Semite, on the same wavelength as his ugliest backers, by now he would have disinherited his daughter Ivanka, or distanced himself from her, her husband, Jared Kushner, and their children. After all, Ivanka converted to Judaism, a Modern Orthodox version no less, and keeps a kosher home and is Shabbat observant.
But for those who want to label Trump a fascist or Nazi, also false characterizations, sticking anti-Semite into the brew is helpful. There are plenty of ways to criticize Trump without sticking a label on him that does not fit.
This month’s Commentary magazine has perhaps the most serious article on the new alt-right phenomenon and its anti-Semitic character: “Trump’s Terrifying Online Brigades” by James Kirchik. The article begins with the story of GQ writer Julia Ioffe, whose profile of Melania Trump, a mixed review for sure, was certainly not a great surprise for what one would expect of any mainstream glossy publication’s profile of the wife of the hated presumptive Republican nominee. The mainstream media largely has no use for Republicans in any year, but especially none for Trump. If one expected a puff piece fitting the publication, as one would surely see for a profile of Michelle Obama, Valerie Jarrett, Hillary Clinton, Jane Sanders or Jill Biden, one would have to believe that the “soft” popular magazine press is less orthodox liberal in its orientation and more interested in balance than the major networks, public radio and television, and newspapers.
In any case, the assault on Ioffe was outrageous, ugly, and scary. This was not the only such recent incident. New York Times writer Jonathan Weisman experienced a similar Twitter assault: after retweeting an article by Robert Kagan on emerging fascism in the United States. Kagan’s article and its conclusion are certainly debatable and rejectable, but again the attacks on Weisman were anti-Semitic to the core. Bethany Mandel had a similar recent experience, and there are sure to be more before the current presidential campaign is over. Without question, Trump’s campaign seems to have opened the door to nasty anti-Semites to join the “pubic discourse.”
Of course, as anyone who witnessed the attack on Trump supporters at the University of Illinois in Chicago or in San Jose, California, this week, it is obvious that horrible conduct and actions by those who do not care for Trump is as egregious, if not more so, given the real physical assaults that occurred, as the threats from Trump supporters appearing online. Much as those on the Left have sought to excuse the violence perpetrated on Trump supporters by Mexican-flag waving, American flag-burning mobs as Trump’s fault for his provocative comments that incite certain minority groups, there have also been arguments that the wave of online anti-Semitic attacks on writers critical of Trump proves that anti-Semitism is only a problem on the Right.
Kirchik put it this way: ”While it’s certainly true that most of Trump’s supporters are neither racists nor anti-Semites, it appears to be the case that all of the racists and anti-Semites in this country (and many beyond) support Trump.”
The conclusion is, to put it simply, ridiculous.
