What we saw in Amsterdam just a few days ago is deeply disturbing. It has been quite a while since we were last faced with images of Jewish people being hunted down in the centre of a European capital. What are we coming to? And how did we end up in this mess?
A new wave of antisemitism is on the rise across the West, especially during the last year, and as the state of Israel has been clashing with Muslim extremists in the Middle East, things in many cases seem to have gotten out of control.
Leftists, liberals, progressives, hard-line nationalists, human rights advocates and activists, but also moderates from all political backgrounds, have accused Israel of a disproportionate response to last October’s terrorist attacks. Many even accuse Israel of carrying out genocide against Palestinians.
It would be naïve and superficial, however, to suggest that the reason behind this new wave of antisemitism is really the current military clashes in the Middle East. What is happening in Gaza or Lebanon is just an excuse for confrontation. The underlying reasons go much deeper.
It is important to note what we have seen during this last year on campuses of Ivy League American universities – but also in Europe. Palestine and its cause have become a trend amongst the liberal academic communities. Teachers and students unite in a movement that is reminiscent of the Vietnam era, chanting the “from the river to the sea” slogan.
The more woke one is, the more pro-Palestine. You will hardly find pink-haired youth without a Palestinian shirt, flag, pin or the traditional keffiyeh.
And then comes an uneasy realisation. The whole woke ideology is a direct descendant of the postmodern philosophical movement, which in its turn has its roots in the so-called Frankfurt School and its critical theory. But most prominent scholars of the Frankfurt School were Jewish. And so were many of the French and European post-structural thinkers.
In fact, it was the Holocaust which led so many theorists to conclude that the Western world should be brought down. Their general idea is simple: if the West is capable of such a monstrosity, then its whole civilisation is not worth preserving.
Hollywood and the legacy mass media have also played a huge part in promoting the woke paranoia. And it is more than needless to say that many Jewish people excel in those fields, leaving their mark, if not calling the shots.
To make things even more interesting, according to a Politico analysis which came out last May, Soros, Rockefeller and Pritzker are among the biggest donors of pro-Palestinian activists and organisations in American academia and civil society. So, yes, Jewish billionaires actually finance antisemitic activities.
And to top it off, according to exit polls, the American Jewish community did not at all change its liberal stance during the last US presidential election. On the contrary, 78 per cent of Jewish Americans voted for Kamala Harris.
So there you have it, the Jewish paradox: on the one hand, liberals and progresses nourish an antisemitic agenda, which manifests itself in the most appalling ways. On the other hand, Jewish communities and prominent figures largely support liberal and progressive ideologies.
Of course, all true Conservatives, who love freedom, fight for real human rights and wish to defend the identity of the West, unequivocally condemn antisemitism and fight against it. Never again. It would be more than welcome though, to have a little more help in this struggle from the Jewish communities themselves.
Nenikékamen! We won!