Ben Cohen
JNS, Feb. 25, 2022
“Under the current political regime, spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories is out of fashion,” wrote author, Ilya Yablokov.”
Jews and dictators normally don’t get along. History is replete with examples of strongmen who reviled the Jewish communities in their midst. Many of their names spring easily to mind, like Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini, along with the Assads, Saddam Husseins and Gaddafis of the Middle East, all of whom regarded Jews as being at the heart of the devilish conspiracies against their totalitarian dystopias.
More fundamentally, societies ruled by unaccountable, opaque politicians preserve themselves by finding enemies where none exist. That is another reason why Jews, easily visible and practically powerless, too readily come into the frame, though other minority groups have proven vulnerable to this strategy too.
Ben Cohen is a New York City-based journalist and author who writes a weekly column on Jewish and international affairs for JNS.
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