A half-century ago, the Jews of San Francisco felt much more secure from the slings of anti-Semitism than Jews elsewhere in the country, according to a Commentary article of mine at the time. The conditions leading to that sense of security are even more pronounced today: the virtual absence of discrimination in employment, housing, civic or political life. Just check the number of Jews elected to public office — including the U.S. Senate — without causing eyebrows to rise. But despite the absence of those marks of hostility, there is today a palpable sense of uneasiness among Jews in this area that was not present 50 years ago — or even 10 years ago.
The reason for this new uneasiness is, if course, the heightened drumming of anti-Israelism. Most disturbing, this is happening within a portion of the same liberal circles that were actively at our side in the fight against anti-Semitism and other bigotry. Liberal college professors and leaders of churches, labor unions, ethnic and racial groups, civic life were all prominent in the anti-Nazi rallies we held during the period in which a remnant band of the Nazi Bund was roaming the streets of San Francisco. They were at our side in all activities against anti-Semitism.
Anti-Semitism was anathema to them — and they all say that it still is. But among them, a significant sector has taken up an “anti-Israel chic” that singles out that nation for the most absurd and double-standard charges: Israel is the imperialist power oppressing the indigenous Palestinians; it is Israel that blocks peace; the suicide bombers are regrettable but understandable and “martyrs,” while the Israelis defending against such action are “murderers.”
As an example, a Jewish professor at Bard named Joel Kovel wrote this simplistic distortion in a recent issue of the Jewish magazine Tikkun: “There should be no doubt that those [the Israelis] who have dispossessed others and illegally occupy their national lands, have to bear primary responsibility.” This anti-Israel chic has been taken up by some other Jews, professors, media pundits and self-defined “progressives” such as the Rainbow grocery, which wanted to boycott Israel for human rights violations — but not Iraq or Syria!
Most of the anti-Semites of the right wing still hate Israel as a Jewish nation, although they hate Arabs as well. But that’s a different battle still to be waged, as is that against most of the Arab students here. More frustrating is the sector on the left that has been absorbed by anti-Israel chic. That sector may be a minority of the liberal population, but it is particularly vocal and influential because it has a special impact on the media and on college campuses. It is also so disturbing in this area because it is a larger sector than it is anywhere else. And it is so frustrating because it is the same sector that helped San Francisco stand out in the fight against anti-Semitism.
How can we respond to this influential anti-Israel chic among our former friends? The operative question to them is: What do you want Israel to do? They say, for example: Israel should get rid of most of its settlements, give up land for peace, give more aid to the Palestinians, allow the establishment of a Palestinian state, get rid of its “war-mongering” leaders and be less harsh toward its antagonists.
Well, except for the last two items, weekly surveys show that the majority of Israelis agree with them. But these Israelis need some firm assurance that if they give up most settlements and much land for peace, they will get peace. The indications are contrary. When Israel withdrew from Lebanon, when Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered everything but the kitchen stove, the terrorists proclaimed victory and redoubled their efforts. They control the Palestinian population,
and their purpose seems clear enough: the dismantling of Israel, the subjugation of Israeli Jews, at best. That is why the Israelis need firm measures against terrorism, and they are going to re-elect Ariel Sharon, who also says he is still willing to negotiate.
So, in the face of all that, what do those of the anti-Israel chic want Israel to do? Faced with this question and the facts, the more reasonable among them might falter. Presumably, this lot does not want Israelis to commit mass suicide. But most of them probably will not falter because chic is never a rational posture, and in this case it is tied up with other knee-jerk postures, such as anti-Americanism. So, although we continue to ask the question, we have to concentrate on keeping the mainstream from being infected. We can succeed in doing that, but the San Francisco area will not be as benign for the Jews as it was 50 years ago.