By Barbara Kay
Antisemitism is the most ancient of hatreds, and not, as many progressives would like to believe, an obsession of the far right and white supremacists alone… Conspiracy theories have targeted Jews as a religion, as a race and as a nation.
Islamophobia, by contrast, is a recent invention, conceived to advance blasphemy laws in western countries, to suppress criticism of Islam and Islamic practices under the rubric of hate speech. Certainly, many people hate and fear Islamic triumphalism, but actual violence perpetrated against Muslims is expressed as individual hate crimes, not the outward form of a movement devoted to Muslim dhimmitude or eradication.
Democratic Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s repeated use of classic antisemitic libels aroused indignation in her colleagues. Their instinctive response was to call for a resolution against antisemitism, which would serve as a warning to Omar and others that punitive action would be taken in the event of further hateful utterances.
Omar’s circle of support rallied to her side, however, and after some debate, the resolution was depersonalized and universalized to include “African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans…Jews, Muslims, Hindus…and others.” Poof! Omar was not named, no censure of her was expressed and the House Leadership refused to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee…
Afterward, Omar crowed on Twitter that “It’s the first time we have voted on a resolution condemning Anti-Muslim bigotry in our nation’s history.” This makes no sense. Omar is the culprit, but she not only ends up with no punishment, she scores a win for what I call Islamophobia parity: the new rule that the scourge of antisemitism may not be mentioned without a requisite nod to the scourge of Islamophobia. Except, of course, a “scourge” is something systemic, and there is no such scourge directed against Muslims in the West.
On the contrary, in terms of a “systemic” attitude amongst western political and cultural elites, Islamophilia is rampant. Compare the normal response to the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre – sorrow, an outpouring of sympathy – with the New Zealand mosque massacre: sorrow, sympathy and, as well, hijabs donned by the Prime Minister and media people, not to mention the call of the muezzin over the airwaves. This was sympathy overlaid with fear.
The pusillanimity of the Democratic Party did not go unremarked by observers across the aisle. Texan Republican Sen Ted Cruz drafted a counter-resolution that expressed what the Dems’ dumbed-down resolution should have done. It’s a model of clarity and integrity on the history and nature of antisemitism…
Islamophobia parity is ascendant everywhere in public discourse, and the Democratic Party embrace of the syndrome is only the most ominous example of it…The reality is that Jews in America are increasingly indifferent to their heritage, and more inclined to consider themselves progressives first, Jews second. Politically inclined Muslims represent a voter base on the demographic rise and many of them are Muslims first, Americans second. The Democratic Party is their political home now. Do the math.
Barbara Kay is a columnist for the National Post, and a CIJR Fellow
